speakers for orchestral music in small room.

[rapidtransit]

I am amateur music composer, mainly orchestral music but hybrid as also electronic, use a DAW and need speakers. I mainly used headset till now. I am in small room 2.5 x 3.5m. I can afford up to $1000 AU ($650 US). I understand that puts me in 'budget' speaker territory. I understand I should get active speaker good in near field and no rear ports and be honest with sound. I assume will get stands and put speakers on beside my desk. I do not need to to play music loud. Three names seem to come up, Focal Alpha 65 Evo, Kali Audio LP-6 V2 and Adam Audio T7V. I have not a clue. Any ideas on a speaker that might fit the bill?

 

[JeremyFife]

Those sound like reasonable choices and I don't think you would go wrong. The JBL 306 MkII are often included in selections like this too.
Second hand might be worth considering too: Genelec 8030 can come up at that sort of price.

It probably makes sense to budget for a subwoofer, as you'll miss out on the low end of what an orchestra can deliver. That also allows you to choose the main speakers without adding in a requirement for them to go low.

 

[AnalogSteph]

It probably makes sense to budget for a subwoofer, as you'll miss out on the low end of what an orchestra can deliver.

I wouldn't be overly worried about deep bass with orchestra (it's not like they typically sport a big ol' church organ)... the electronic side may be more of an issue.

If you're not listening loud yet still need good coverage of orchestral dynamics, hiss levels may be an issue. If so, the T7V is known to be quite hissy, while the LP6v2 should be unconcerning. The Focals have no input gain control whatsoever, so if you find plugging in your interface reveals an increased noise floor you may need a monitor controller.

+1 for looking at the used market as well. I know Neumann has pretty competitive pricing down under so in addition to the aforementioned Genelec 8030s, some KH120s or even the old K+H O110s may be worth looking out for. The driver quality in that class (alongside general build quality) is just in a different league.

 

[rapidtransit]

great tips. Much appreciated.

 

[Alexei]

Hi fellow Aussie, if you can tolerate an additional small box on your DAW desk, may I make a suggestion? Rather than only considering price-premium active speakers, how about a small class-D amp with appropriate input types, or even better, something like the $499AUD Wiim Amp with all its accessible equalisation options and input types. I’d suspect they’d be quieter too in their hiss performance.
That opens you up to a huge selection of 2nd hand or modestly priced passive speakers. Please also consider older Wharfedale Diamonds (VI,8,9,10 series) as they are brilliant with rich cello voicing and lively, dynamic percussion within their volume limits.
The eq of the amp can help you tame room modes and boom at your listening position. It will also let you tailor the sound to what you feels natural, unless your desired actives have extensive eq on-board. I can’t tolerate extended listening sessions with my original Kef LS50s without eq, but with it, they’re magic! Eq can be done automatically or manually. Wiim’s 60W/ch->8ohms, 120W/ch->4ohms should be hearing-damage potential near-field in a small room. I don’t have a Wiim but think that kind of thing is brilliant.
Even the flattest, best measuring speakers may sound bad to you after the room dimensions, desk cavity boom and seating position add their detrimental small-room bass modes and frequency response effects. Just a thought…