What are the best, smallest high end speakers?

[Justdafactsmaam]

What is the objective definition of a small or big speaker? I’ve been in the room with the Dutch & Dutch 8Cs. IMO they are small.

 

[Purité Audio]

TThe 8Cs are, (19 X 10.5 X 15”. and 26 kilos each.
Keith

 

[VintageFlanker]

hahahah it's like 4x the size of the KH80

Actually, it's more like seven times the volume.

What is the objective definition of a small or big speaker? I’ve been in the room with the Dutch & Dutch 8Cs. IMO they are small.

Great. That's (really) only in your opinion, then.

The thread title is "smallest high end speakers". There's no universe where 8C could be considered as such. As Keith just said, these are standmount speakers, literally heavier than most midrange floorstandings...

The objective definition of small or big is not that hard. Define an average volume over every bookshelves/standmounts actually on the market... the 8C are waaay north of it.

 

[VintageFlanker]

I’m not going to argue with a bunch of audio nerds over how big is big. I’d rather watch paint dry. If some of you feel you have gained some sort of moral victory here by shouting down my ****ing suggestion then I suggest you all throw victory parties in your parent’s basements and invite all your action figures and imaginary friends to the celebration.

My god, a simple “thanks but no thanks that’s bigger than what I am looking for” would have sufficed.

But instead it has to turn into a socially disfunctional nerd boy pissing contest.

Ciao.

You really need to calm down. Like, real quick.

 

[Chrispy]

These are portable speakers? Size limits are what particularly?

 

[terryforsythe]

I'm partial to speakers with concentric drivers. I would look at the Genelec The Ones (pick which size you like) and the KEF Reference 1 Meta. They both measure extremely well, but I confess that I have not heard either of those speakers.

 

[USER]

But seriously, OP you are already on the right track. It is going to be tough to beat Genelec or Neumann at the size you are very clearly asking about.

I myself use my poor man's Genelecs on my desktop, which are Google Nest Audios ($99 a pair when on sale) EQ'ed via Roon. I use my regular monitor sound bar--EQ'ed with Equalizer APO--for web and video audio.

I would say EQing something else is the best alternative.

 

[darakon]

Best small Speaker?
For me something different: Harbeth P3esr
I would prefer them any time over a Neumann or Genelec (I also owned them), if it is about having fun listening and not about analytic listening.

Harbeth P3esr work fine for me in the living room (distance around 2,5 Meters).
But they worked a lot better on my desk.

 

[Mort]

Philharmonic audio True Mini
11.75" H x 6" W x 7.5" D
$380
Probably pretty darn neutral, but maybe not the 'best'. Upgraded 'Mini' is bigger and better.

 

[recycle]

In case you want to listen to 20/50 Hz subbass, any choice of small loudspeakers requires the use of a subwoofer. Assuming your budget is not an issue, for compact monitors I recommend the new Barefoot 03 ($2K pair)


https://barefootsound.com/footprint03/

 

[Roland68]

New in town. By best I mean flattest and most objectively true sounding to source material. I would prefer actives but passive suggestions I would be open to. Is there a law of diminishing (literally) returns with smaller speakers. Physics does kick in the smaller you go. I am talking compact.

So far I have KH80 and Genelec 1 or 2 on my list. Mucho thanks.

Maybe you can still find a pair of T+A LIGNUM LGR 10.
Approx. 17.8 x 5.9 x 6.5 inches, 4 kg, very high quality construction, with ring radiator and a 14 cm long-throw chassis, very high quality housing, but passive.
Thanks to the bass reflex opening on the front, they can be placed directly against a wall.
I would be reluctant to give mine away.

 

[highender]

Sun Audio Purified 4, desktop model.

Comparable external volume with KH80 DSP and measures better imho, but much more expensive and needs external crossover and amps. And a sub of course.

 

[DSJR]

Best small Speaker?
For me something different: Harbeth P3esr
I would prefer them any time over a Neumann or Genelec (I also owned them), if it is about having fun listening and not about analytic listening.

Harbeth P3esr work fine for me in the living room (distance around 2,5 Meters).
But they worked a lot better on my desk.

I like the P3ESR as well, but the price is high these days for a small passive speaker (how much *better* are they REALLY, over say, a recent baby-model Wharfedale Diamond?). The NLE1 active that's coming soon may be a useful and noticeable upgrade on the concept, but retail they're three grand, which is high compared to our established pro favourites here. They *will* be sold via domestic dealers though and that is factored into the price I'd suggest.

 

[Digby]

Presumably you have a budget? I'd try and listen before you buy. Some say the room dominates, but I think you can at least get an idea which you prefer. For example, Genelec and Neumann speakers do not sound the same, you may prefer one or the other style of presentation.

 

[Killingbeans]

New in town. By best I mean flattest and most objectively true sounding to source material. I would prefer actives but passive suggestions I would be open to. Is there a law of diminishing (literally) returns with smaller speakers. Physics does kick in the smaller you go. I am talking compact.

So far I have KH80 and Genelec 1 or 2 on my list. Mucho thanks.

KEF LSX II seems like a pretty neat little package.

Not as flat on paper as the monitors from Neumann or Genelec, but I doubt it makes much of a difference when simply listening to music.

As long as there's a resonable low end extension with a limiter to prevent over excursion and there's good suppression of resonances, the frequency response becomes less critical. Doesn't mean any wonky frequency response will do, and "cheating" by having an off-axis response that's all over the place doesn't help either, but poor bass response and resonances are far more damaging to the perception of quality.

 

[speedygonzalez]

Dutch & Dutch should be on your list

The Dutch Dutch speakers are too big. When I say small I mean you can easily hold it in one hand. If you need two because of size it's too big. If you need two because of weight it's too heavy.

There are a couple in development but not available quite yet.
Keith

What does quite yet mean?

Presumably you have a budget? I'd try and listen before you buy. Some say the room dominates, but I think you can at least get an idea which you prefer. For example, Genelec and Neumann speakers do not sound the same, you may prefer one or the other style of presentation.

Budget could be higher, I just don't think going crazy is going to be a benefit here.

 

[terryforsythe]

By best I mean flattest and most objectively true sounding to source material.

Budget could be higher, I just don't think going crazy is going to be a benefit here.

These statements are somewhat contradictory, though in HiFi typically there are diminishing returns as price goes up.

I recommend that you watch this video by Amir, who started this forum, explaining speaker measurements:

This is another good video series explaining speaker measurements: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnIxFR_ey0b37Ex4KV2mBz-kYB7QLffR1

Then, I recommend that you do the following:

1. Pick a budget.
2. Determine whether you want active speakers with built-in amplification or passive speakers using an external amplifier.
3. Determine the maximum physical size of the speakers you want.

Then, find the best speakers for you that meet the above criteria. Understanding the speaker measurements as explained by Amir and/or Erin should help.

The following speaker scores provided in this forum by sweetchaos may be very useful to helping make your decision:

For passive speakers: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-recommendations-for-usa-by-sweetchaos.28296/

For active speakers: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-recommendations-for-usa-by-sweetchaos.28269/

Also, you may want to look at speaker reviews with detailed measurements provided herein my Amir and others, and provided at Erin's Audio Corner.

 

[Miguelón]

I personally recommend Genelcs 8030C, or if you want something even smaller 8020 D (not as smooth as the 8030).

Kef lsx II is a good option but IMHO they don’t worth the same money as Genelecs though they are more “all in one” because internal DAC, bluetooth and wifi

 

[Waxx]

I would also mention the Neumann speakers, like the KH80, or if you want more bass without a sub, the KH150 (but they won't be tht small). Genelec also got small models that are objective good, but i'm not a fan of the Genelec sound in general as it's fatiguing for me.

And the 8C is not small in any way for me. It's a good speaker for certain purposes, but not when it has to be the smallest possible, and not the univerasal do it all like some thnk here. And if I insisted on a small cardiod speaker, i would rather have the Kii Tree, without the BXT than the 8C, it's smaller, has dsp build in to fix the room, and i like the sound more (on personal subjective level), altough the 8C is a great speaker on it's own. But both are not small enough for the OP purpose i guess...

 

[Miguelón]

I would also mention the Neumann speakers, like the KH80, or if you want more bass without a sub, the KH150 (but they won't be tht small). Genelec also got small models that are objective good, but i'm not a fan of the Genelec sound in general as it's fatiguing for me.

And the 8C is not small in any way for me. It's a good speaker for certain purposes, but not when it has to be the smallest possible, and not the univerasal do it all like some thnk here. And if I insisted on a small cardiod speaker, i would rather have the Kii Tree, without the BXT than the 8C, it's smaller, has dsp build in to fix the room, and i like the sound more (on personal subjective level), altough the 8C is a great speaker on it's own. But both are not small enough for the OP purpose i guess...

Neumann kh 80 is a good speaker, I tried 2 weeks at home when renovating my monitors.

Bizarrely, despite good measurements, it didn’t sound well at home: so muddy in mid range, I don’t understand why (I put it on the same stand floor as Genelec and adjust gain and bass with the ipad app, which works great).

I also dislike the digital conversion and posterior analogue reconversion inside the DSP, really needs a SPDIF or AES/EBU input as kh 120 ii. Genelec 8320 has the same issue, given the lack of space as a possible reason I will prefer no XLR input and just the digital one.