Hello,
I am in the hunt for nice sounding, small, cute looking and affordable desktop speakers. That and a winning lottery ticket.
Passive preferred. Second hand preferred. Vintage accepted.
Compact size will be the main factor.
They are to be placed beside a 27" imac on a small desk for very near field listening at low volumes, to listen to music while I work on stuff on my computer.
I am a former audio engineer . I used to work with Genelec 8030 that I sold in the meantime.
I loved these speakers for their good imaging, natural bass extension, "impactful" feel (you could feel attacks clearly at all frequencies) and analytical capabilities (you could clearly hear all parts within the mix, with good instrument separation). But they are too big (and became too expensive) to put on my desk.
Strangely I never really liked the Genelec 8020 too much. I don't like Adam or Yamaha audio monitors.
Right now I am using Focal XS Book speakers which while not without flaws are not without merit.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/focal/xs-book.htm
The sound is pretty analytical, they don't have much bass but extend naturally, they sound pleasant and have some texture and dynamic. They sound right even at very low level. Sure they are not studio monitor precise and their imaging doesn't extend past the speakers and lack depth. Don't drive them remotely lound or their sound will fall apart. They are made for very near field listening and don't work at distance. But the main problem is the noise/hiss of their integrated amplifier that drives me crazy.
I first tried computer speakers.
The Bose Companion 2 series III and Bose Compact MusicMonitor 3 lacked precision too much and sound was too manipulated. But to be fair they sounded way better than they should for their size. I also tried Focal XS (non book), a 2.1 system. They couldn't fit the bill for listening to music, the satellites weren't going low enough (150Hz), and with the sub under the desk there was a big hole in the low mid/high bass unless putting the subwoofer too high to join their frequency response, which then ends as too much bass. They also had the noise/hiss. However these became my TV speakers and with enough distance, the sub and the satellites blend and I like their sound.
I am wondering about HT sattellites.
I note that KEF made the Picoforte 3, which are HT 3001 SE satellites bundled with a small amp. If I accept to buy a full 5.1 set used, I can get them here for about 350€, and that would go with a sub. I'd have to add an amp. However my experience with the Focal XS were that a sub on a desktop system lack the distance for the sub to blend in. The Kef Eggs are rated down to 70Hz. Would they be enough if used alone? I see a lot of people use Kanto Ora or the likes that don't extend deeper. Or would they be able to blend to the sub on a desktop system if they can go as low as 70Hz?
Focal did the same thing with their Bird speakers. They had Little Birds that went down 120Hz, and Bird that went down 70Hz. These are 5 inches woofers in a sealed box. They were available with an amp that included a small sub inside. They can be had dirt cheap used here (yes, I am in France).
I tried the B&W M1 (mk1), that are rated down to 80Hz. They lacked bass extension. And high extension also. They had a nice tone and nice imaging but were severely lacking in analytical capabilities. They also didn't sound right at very low volume and needed a minimum of level to sound reasonable.
This makes me question the use of HT satellites as desktop speakers, though B&W never tried to sell these speakers as such, unless Kef and Focal.
I auditioned the KEF LSX II in a shop. I don't need all the digital wazoo. Their size is right. They have impressive "outward" imaging. However I found their bass rather bloated, find them not enough analytical, a bit boring, and there is something I didn't like in their mids that I can't put my finger on. Pretty unimpressed, except for the bass they were able to get out of small boxes. I wouldn't buy them. That might rule the KEF Eggs out if they share a similar sound signature, if using HT speakers as desktop speakers was ever a good idea.
Studio monitors might be a solution, Focal CMS40 are not too expensive used and are very compact, there might be others.
My experience with active studio monitor is that they all have that noise/hiss to a varying degree which for desktop ultra near field distance is pretty unnerving. Maybe some newer speakers don't. Maybe some active desktop speakers like Kanto Ora don't? I guess being active you can DSP manipulate the signal to get better sound out of tiny boxes.
I hope you're not too bored after this long read, but if you have opinions on the subjects touched, thank you for chiming in
Thank you,
Nicolas
I am in the hunt for nice sounding, small, cute looking and affordable desktop speakers. That and a winning lottery ticket.
Passive preferred. Second hand preferred. Vintage accepted.
Compact size will be the main factor.
They are to be placed beside a 27" imac on a small desk for very near field listening at low volumes, to listen to music while I work on stuff on my computer.
I am a former audio engineer . I used to work with Genelec 8030 that I sold in the meantime.
I loved these speakers for their good imaging, natural bass extension, "impactful" feel (you could feel attacks clearly at all frequencies) and analytical capabilities (you could clearly hear all parts within the mix, with good instrument separation). But they are too big (and became too expensive) to put on my desk.
Strangely I never really liked the Genelec 8020 too much. I don't like Adam or Yamaha audio monitors.
Right now I am using Focal XS Book speakers which while not without flaws are not without merit.
https://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/focal/xs-book.htm
The sound is pretty analytical, they don't have much bass but extend naturally, they sound pleasant and have some texture and dynamic. They sound right even at very low level. Sure they are not studio monitor precise and their imaging doesn't extend past the speakers and lack depth. Don't drive them remotely lound or their sound will fall apart. They are made for very near field listening and don't work at distance. But the main problem is the noise/hiss of their integrated amplifier that drives me crazy.
I first tried computer speakers.
The Bose Companion 2 series III and Bose Compact MusicMonitor 3 lacked precision too much and sound was too manipulated. But to be fair they sounded way better than they should for their size. I also tried Focal XS (non book), a 2.1 system. They couldn't fit the bill for listening to music, the satellites weren't going low enough (150Hz), and with the sub under the desk there was a big hole in the low mid/high bass unless putting the subwoofer too high to join their frequency response, which then ends as too much bass. They also had the noise/hiss. However these became my TV speakers and with enough distance, the sub and the satellites blend and I like their sound.
I am wondering about HT sattellites.
I note that KEF made the Picoforte 3, which are HT 3001 SE satellites bundled with a small amp. If I accept to buy a full 5.1 set used, I can get them here for about 350€, and that would go with a sub. I'd have to add an amp. However my experience with the Focal XS were that a sub on a desktop system lack the distance for the sub to blend in. The Kef Eggs are rated down to 70Hz. Would they be enough if used alone? I see a lot of people use Kanto Ora or the likes that don't extend deeper. Or would they be able to blend to the sub on a desktop system if they can go as low as 70Hz?
Focal did the same thing with their Bird speakers. They had Little Birds that went down 120Hz, and Bird that went down 70Hz. These are 5 inches woofers in a sealed box. They were available with an amp that included a small sub inside. They can be had dirt cheap used here (yes, I am in France).
I tried the B&W M1 (mk1), that are rated down to 80Hz. They lacked bass extension. And high extension also. They had a nice tone and nice imaging but were severely lacking in analytical capabilities. They also didn't sound right at very low volume and needed a minimum of level to sound reasonable.
This makes me question the use of HT satellites as desktop speakers, though B&W never tried to sell these speakers as such, unless Kef and Focal.
I auditioned the KEF LSX II in a shop. I don't need all the digital wazoo. Their size is right. They have impressive "outward" imaging. However I found their bass rather bloated, find them not enough analytical, a bit boring, and there is something I didn't like in their mids that I can't put my finger on. Pretty unimpressed, except for the bass they were able to get out of small boxes. I wouldn't buy them. That might rule the KEF Eggs out if they share a similar sound signature, if using HT speakers as desktop speakers was ever a good idea.
Studio monitors might be a solution, Focal CMS40 are not too expensive used and are very compact, there might be others.
My experience with active studio monitor is that they all have that noise/hiss to a varying degree which for desktop ultra near field distance is pretty unnerving. Maybe some newer speakers don't. Maybe some active desktop speakers like Kanto Ora don't? I guess being active you can DSP manipulate the signal to get better sound out of tiny boxes.
I hope you're not too bored after this long read, but if you have opinions on the subjects touched, thank you for chiming in
Thank you,
Nicolas
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