Polk ES10 for a 2.0 desktop setup?

[caspianed]

Hi all,

Very new to the audio community. Have been wanting some speakers for a while now, and finally have some money saved up (budget $200, USA). I've been looking through a lot of forums here to figure out what speakers to get since I've been listening to music out of my laptop this whole time.

I already have a Fosi Audio BT20A Pro. I originally saw the Micca RB42's on YouTube and was going to purchase those. Reading the discussions on this website led me to two of the best 4' speakers (at least to my knowledge): Neumi Silk 4's and Polk Signature Elite ES10's.

The Silk 4's seem great and are $50 cheaper, but are extremely ugly. This does matter to me. I want to purchase the ES10's but I'm aware they're made as satellite speakers, not desktop speakers. However, would it be fine to use them as desktop speakers in my bedroom?

Also open to other suggestions (as long as they're pretty). Room isn't big, about 12x12 feet. Also, why are the Micca's so bad according to this community? I don't really understand the graphs to be honest.

Thanks in advance

 

[staticV3]

Hi @caspianed! Welcome to ASR.

If they have to be passive speakers, then I think that nothing beats the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR:

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR desktop/bookshelf budget speakers. I purchased them recently from Amazon for US $118 including Prime shipping. But I hear they go on sale for much less money. The build quality is incredible given the very low price: The...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are even Mod instructions online to turn it into a truly exceptional bookshelf speaker later down the line:

Affordable Accuracy Monitor Review

This is a detailed measurements of a modified Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speaker by @Dennis Murphy called Affordable Accuracy Monitor (AAM). He was kind enough to send me a sample. I let him explain the mods but basically the tweeter was replace with a higher quality one and a new modified crossover was...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sadly, you cannot get them new anymore.
There's an open-box pair on Amazon right now for $240 though you may be able to find one cheaper on eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace etc.

If active nearfield monitors are an option, consider the JBL 305P MKII or 306P MKII.

 

[caspianed]

Hi @caspianed! Welcome to ASR.

If they have to be passive speakers, then I think that nothing beats the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR:

Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR desktop/bookshelf budget speakers. I purchased them recently from Amazon for US $118 including Prime shipping. But I hear they go on sale for much less money. The build quality is incredible given the very low price: The...

www.audiosciencereview.com

There are even Mod instructions online to turn it into a truly exceptional bookshelf speaker later down the line:

Affordable Accuracy Monitor Review

This is a detailed measurements of a modified Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speaker by @Dennis Murphy called Affordable Accuracy Monitor (AAM). He was kind enough to send me a sample. I let him explain the mods but basically the tweeter was replace with a higher quality one and a new modified crossover was...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Sadly, you cannot get them new anymore.
There's an open-box pair on Amazon right now for $240 though you may be able to find one cheaper on eBay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace etc.

If active nearfield monitors are an option, consider the JBL 305P MKII or 306P MKII.

Thank you for the quick response and warm welcome @staticV3! I appreciate the active suggestions but personally would like to use the amp - it's a birthday gift!

I looked into the Pioneer's and shot some messages on FB Marketplace, but I'm curious about your thoughts on the RB42's and ES10's. On a listening demo on YouTube (I do understand these aren't a real way to test speakers), the ES10's actually sound too bright with 0 bass, so I realized it might be a bad idea and now I'm back to the RB42's as my primary choice. Any suggestions from here? I'm reluctant to pull the plug on the RB42's since they would be close to the wall (about 6' away, with one in a corner), and everyone says they need to be far away from walls to sound good.

 

[staticV3]

Thank you for the quick response and warm welcome @staticV3! I appreciate the active suggestions but personally would like to use the amp - it's a birthday gift!

I'll looked into the Pioneer's and shot some messages on FB Marketplace, but I'm curious about your thoughts on the RB42's and ES10's. On a listening demo on YouTube (I do understand these aren't a real way to test speakers), the ES10's actually sound too bright with 0 bass, so I realized it might be a bad idea and now I'm back to the RB42's as my primary choice. Any suggestions from here? I'm reluctant to pull the plug on the RB42's since they would be close to the wall (about 6' away, with one in a corner), and everyone says they need to be far away from walls to sound good.

Polk like their treble boost and the Micca is clearly a poorly designed speaker:

Micca RB42 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Micca RB42 bookshelf/desktop computer speaker. I purchased my sample from Amazon and it cost US $149 including Prime shipping. This speaker also seems to be the favorite of youtube bloggers, helped partly by generous seeding of such...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[tw 2022]

another good option in the used market is the emotiva b1 ( or b1+) ....there is also a Dennis Murphy mod for that speaker....the Polk should be ok if you can't find the emo or pioneer...

 

[caspianed]

For anyone in the same situation as me in the future:

I bought both the RB42's and ES10's.

Objectively, the ES10's produce better sound, but they aren't as enjoyable to listen to as the RB42's for me, even with the bass muddling the mids and highs. This might get a lot of hate from people who are audiophiles (which I am not at all), but I don't really care. The ES10's are 100% better for something like watching movies, where you have an entire system + subwoofer. As a 2.0 desktop setup? Hell no, not even for the better sound. It's simply not fun and enjoyable, unless your music taste's bass department is virtually non-existent.

Can't really get my hands on BS22's in my room to A/B test with the Micca's, so I'm wondering if I should pull the plug on the BS22's for $180 without being able to return... that's a problem for another time

 

[kyuu]

Also, why are the Micca's so bad according to this community? I don't really understand the graphs to be honest.

Because they have a terrible frequency response and the woofer distorts badly. They're bad speakers. Nobody says you're not allowed to enjoy a bad speaker, but that doesn't change the facts. It doesn't do its job of reproducing the sound you feed it with any competency.

It sounds like you want some bass response from your speaker. You're either not going to get that or it's going to be badly distorted with a cheap speaker using a single 4" woofer. The issue is that really, unless you look around at the used speaker market, it's not really possible to get a decent pair of new speakers for $200 or less for the pair. Every option I can see has serious compromises in one way or another.

If you can get those Pioneer BS22s in your budget, I absolutely would. They actually have a little bit of bass capability and are way more competent than any of the $200 and under options currently out there.

 

[jayeeyee]

A bit late on the response but I'd say "pass" on the Polk ES10s. I had these speakers for my Desktop PC setup which I mainly use for gaming, movies, music, etc., and the highs are obnoxiously harsh on my ears. You'd be hard-pressed to find any 4" speakers that can offer good low ends, you can't beat physics in this case. I have a Sunfire Super Junior sub that took care of what the ES10 lacked on low ends but the high ends we're really unenjoyable. I boxed it back up and stuffed the ES10s in my closet, now I'm running KEF Q150s for my desktop nearfield which are day and nights better.

 

[TechnoTroll101]

I can recommend the Heco Aurora 300 - but I've got to admit that I'm also thinking about to test and compare the Kali LP-UNF.

 

[caspianed]

A bit late on the response but I'd say "pass" on the Polk ES10s. I had these speakers for my Desktop PC setup which I mainly use for gaming, movies, music, etc., and the highs are obnoxiously harsh on my ears. You'd be hard-pressed to find any 4" speakers that can offer good low ends, you can't beat physics in this case. I have a Sunfire Super Junior sub that took care of what the ES10 lacked on low ends but the high ends we're really unenjoyable. I boxed it back up and stuffed the ES10s in my closet, now I'm running KEF Q150s for my desktop nearfield which are day and nights better.

This is exactly what I found. The ES10's genuinely hurt to listen to, even though they sounded so clear - I returned them. I stuck with the Micca RB42's and love them - probably because I've never had any other speakers before. But I think that's fine! Their size is perfect for what little space I have. There's definitely so many better options out there but many of them don't output the bass the Micca does at such a small size, which is something I really care about.