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Recommendation for near field listening at moderate levels

cpkennit83

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Jan 23, 2025
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Hello. Im setting up a budget system for listening in my wfh office. The speakers would be at ear level, maybe one meter from me.
I have a ZD3 DAC and would be getting a single ZA3 amp for this use.
I had 3 sets of speakers in mind, but i dont know if they are any good for this use case. In no particular order:

1- Elac Debut 5.2
2- Q Acoustics q3020i
3- Whaferdale Diamond 12.1

Open to suggestions of any other model, as long as it can be bought in Western Europe/Spain.

Thanks!
 
How about one step larger active monitors as Kali LP 6 V2's? If PC is involved both room correction and EQ tag along with plethora of other staff and mandatory equal loudness normalisation accounted in. You need measurement mic and patience. If you are not planning to use sub's big 8" monitors are still recommend if you have space for them that is.
 
Well i was thinking in getting the za3 plus passive speakers, so under 500€?
Why the active recomendation? Its because they are tuned for near field? I figured the fosi would be a better amp that what monitors use, but im a newbie.
 
Nothing to do with nearfield: speakers are just speakers whether they are passive or active.

Passive speakers have passive crossovers (splitting the signal between tweeter and bass) after the amplification and there are always compromises there. Active speakers manage the crossover before amplification and have separate amplifiers matched to the different drivers. It's more efficient. Active speakers often have DSP/EQ settings too (again, before amplification) which can have a huge impact on the sound. That's massively simplified, others can explain better.

Especially with lower budget speakers (below £1,000 per pair, which still seems expensive to me!) you get better value for money with Active and you are more likely to get better sound quality too.
I'd read up on those Kalis, and perhaps JBL 306 or 308 too

Don't rule out Active
 
For the budget you can find 8" monitors either JBL 308P MKII or Kali LP 8 v2 if you are more lucky and stubborn snooping around even something better for a little more money.
In budget category it's really about more for the money and in package that are actives. You plug LRX from the DAC to them and off you go.
 
Well i was thinking in getting the za3 plus passive speakers, so under 500€?
Why the active recomendation? Its because they are tuned for near field?
No, because of better quality/price ratio. The amps inside match the drivers and need no extra enclosure. The crossover is before the amps, no power loss in a passive crossover. Internal EQ leads to flat frequency response and usually deeper bass. Clipping the woofer amp has no bad influence on the tweeter.
 
For the budget you can find 8" monitors either JBL 308P MKII or Kali LP 8 v2 if you are more lucky and stubborn snooping around even something better for a little more money.
In budget category it's really about more for the money and in package that are actives. You plug LRX from the DAC to them and off you go.
I have a pair of the JBL 308P MKII. They sound great. However if I were buying today I'd get something that also has a digital input.
 
I use ELAC Debut 2.0 6.2's for my nearfield setup, and they work well for that purpose. Currently using a Schiit Gjallarhorn amp for power, but I've used others (restored receivers or integrateds, various class D amps). I think the ELAC Debut speakers are a very good value.

Another option in passive would be to spend a bit more and get the smaller KEF Meta speakers - I like concentric drivers for nearfield.

I do my equalizing via Equalizer APO/Peace and have never used actives.
 
The Kalis are great- I have two pairs of them. But they're awfully large for a desktop, so they're doing service as the sides and rears in my surround system. As I just mentioned in another thread, my favorite nearfield speakers are the Vanatoo T0; they're reasonably priced, sound clean and neutral, and have the best imaging I've ever experienced.
 
IMO buy the best Kalis you can afford. For both near- and mid-field, nothing touches the IN-8v2 for sheer "bang for the buck" -- and their other models are even less expensive and almost as good.
 
Seems like have a pretty wide consensus about the active thing. I will think about it. I was almost sold on the za3 because of its compactness . Those 8 inch monitors are definitely too big for my setup, but something smaller might fit the bill. Also id rather buy something with analog inputs only as i already have a competent dac and i imagine it adds a little bit to the BOM. Seems like i have some diggin to do.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
 
Seems like have a pretty wide consensus about the active thing. I will think about it. I was almost sold on the za3 because of its compactness . Those 8 inch monitors are definitely too big for my setup, but something smaller might fit the bill. Also id rather buy something with analog inputs only as i already have a competent dac and i imagine it adds a little bit to the BOM. Seems like i have some diggin to do.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
IMO you're an IN-5 man, but YMMV. :cool: Kali IN-5 Studio Monitor Review
 
Seems like have a pretty wide consensus about the active thing. I will think about it. I was almost sold on the za3 because of its compactness . Those 8 inch monitors are definitely too big for my setup, but something smaller might fit the bill. Also id rather buy something with analog inputs only as i already have a competent dac and i imagine it adds a little bit to the BOM. Seems like i have some diggin to do.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
It's not that I am against pasives but in the end it will cost you more. If you have concern about longevity of activities there is and higher tier for those and I don't mean Genelecs or Neumann's but Yamahas or older JBL's for a little more money. The push towards 8" is that you don't really need sub's which complicate things a lot and needs true multichannel DAC interface and so on. Just trying to get you there without obvious mistakes and happily.
 
It's not that I am against pasives but in the end it will cost you more. If you have concern about longevity of activities there is and higher tier for those and I don't mean Genelecs or Neumann's but Yamahas or older JBL's for a little more money. The push towards 8" is that you don't really need sub's which complicate things a lot and needs true multichannel DAC interface and so on. Just trying to get you there without obvious mistakes and happily.

Adding a subwoofer doesn't require a "true multichannel DAC" for enjoying music in a 2.1 system. I suppose having a true LFE output could be helpful for Dolby-encoded movies or TV, but I have no experience with that and can't say how much of an advantage it would be given a desktop near-field context.
 
Adding a subwoofer doesn't require a "true multichannel DAC" for enjoying music in a 2.1 system. I suppose having a true LFE output could be helpful for Dolby-encoded movies or TV, but I have no experience with that and can't say how much of an advantage it would be given a desktop near-field context.
It's complicated and if you want to do it properly it does. There is a big difference in very good adjusted by hand digital crossover in PEQ area to pasive low level high pass or integrated filters. I run 2.2 system and there is no substitute for the size when it comes to lows. Two 8" act as single 10" and enough even for mid 30 Hz if they are good and positioned so. Will pass (white noise @88 dB SPL stereo) calibration point even at 3 m and just a bit short at 4 but at near field they will be very acceptable regarding THD there and dynamic headroom (to a point in low bass and certainly in main).
 
I figured the fosi would be a better amp that what monitors use, but im a newbie.
This is probably technically correct, but 1) the amp doesn't need to be THAT good to be transparent and 2) the speaker manufacturer will add the amps in such a way as to avoid any of their weaknesses being audible. So in practice it ends up being fine.

I managed to find a pair of Genelec 8030b for $550 secondhand... very good for the 1m desktop listening scenario!

The 308P MKII is also an insane deal for how it measures, worth considering alongside the Kalis IMO.

AFAIK all the speakers on your list are good, but I agree with other commenters that considering some of the actives in your price range is a good idea.
 
It's complicated and if you want to do it properly it does. There is a big difference in very good adjusted by hand digital crossover in PEQ area to pasive low level high pass or integrated filters. I run 2.2 system and there is no substitute for the size when it comes to lows. Two 8" act as single 10" and enough even for mid 30 Hz if they are good and positioned so. Will pass (white noise @88 dB SPL stereo) calibration point even at 3 m and just a bit short at 4 but at near field they will be very acceptable regarding THD there and dynamic headroom (to a point in low bass and certainly in main).
I have no idea how relevant this is supposed to be regarding adding a subwoofer to a desktop stereo system. Modern subwoofers have a built-in active low-pass function, usually implemented via DSP. Modern powered monitors have tightly controlled woofer roll-off -- essentially, an active high-pass function -- again usually implemented via DSP. Some modern subwoofers -- e.g. my modest old SVS SB-1000 and the Kali WS-xx models -- also have a built-in active high-pass function, again usually implemented via DSP and, given that, even a passive speaker and amp combination would be assured of a smooth transition from woofers to sub.

All that said, why the purported requirement for a "true multichannel DAC?"
 
I have no idea how relevant this is supposed to be regarding adding a subwoofer to a desktop stereo system. Modern subwoofers have a built-in active low-pass function, usually implemented via DSP. Modern powered monitors have tightly controlled woofer roll-off -- essentially, an active high-pass function -- again usually implemented via DSP. Some modern subwoofers -- e.g. my modest old SVS SB-1000 and the Kali WS-xx models -- also have a built-in active high-pass function, again usually implemented via DSP and, given that, even a passive speaker and amp combination would be assured of a smooth transition from woofers to sub.

All that said, why the purported requirement for a "true multichannel DAC?"
No it's pasive fixed point 80 Hz high pass on those not Pro SVS and pretty much any other budget one. You lose a lot of SNR by going trough it and while it doesn't matter for a sub, for mains it does. Usually even on higher tire equipment ADC is worrisome part and DSP is far from flexible. With patience and not limited in anything (expect filters that you can apply only once) you can achieve much better results in transition area and transitions for filters such as self low in equal loudness mimicking role and so on. As knew for it is at 105 Hz crossover neads to be a top of it and we'll as it's directional there for 2.2. By now it sounds like simplified Chinese even we didn't touched it in deep or seriously.
 
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