Find me some good desktop speakers

[panteragstk]

Correct. Using an unbalanced audio output from a motherboard is a recipe for disaster with a speaker like those powered monitors.

That's what I figured. A decent USB DAC shouldn't be hard to come by. Topping makes a few that look decent.

EDIT: I should also say I've got a headphone out on my DAC/AMP that I could use for the time being. Powered isn't off the table at all.

 

[Pogre]

Don't have to be active. In fact, if they aren't, it'd save me some effort since I've already got a decent desktop amp.

I always liked my DefTech Promonitor 1000s, so I did a quick search for specs and saw ASR actually measured them. I cannot in clean conscience recommend them to anyone anymore. Hyperbole aside they didn't do too well... lol.

Definitive Technology ProMonitor 1000 Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Definitive Technology ProMonitor 1000 two-way speaker. It was kindly sent to me by a member. It costs about US $250 for a single which is quite high for such a small speaker (owner says he paid a lot less though). But this is from a name brand...

www.audiosciencereview.com

They can be found half price fairly often but yeah... just pass.

 

[panteragstk]

I didn't say this in the first post, but I'm not opposed to building anything either. Just got a bunch of crap out of the garage and discovered I have some 1/2" or 3/4" MDF in a full sheet.

 

[Pogre]

I didn't say this in the first post, but I'm not opposed to building anything either. Just got a bunch of crap out of the garage and discovered I have some 1/2" or 3/4" MDF in a full sheet.

Oh, that might be fun!

 

[lovinthehd]

Maybe the Overnight Sensations, would that be in the right "size" neighborhood? https://www.parts-express.com/Overnight-Sensations-MT-Speaker-Pair-Kit-300-706

 

[panteragstk]

Maybe the Overnight Sensations, would that be in the right "size" neighborhood? https://www.parts-express.com/Overnight-Sensations-MT-Speaker-Pair-Kit-300-706

Hmm. That's a good deal. Especially since it comes with the cabinet. I may have found my kit.

I usually look to meniscus audio for speaker kits (just because they've got so many I want to build) so I didn't think to look at PE. That kit on meniscus is much more expensive and doesn't come with a cabinet.

https://meniscusaudio.com/product/overnight-sensation-loudspeaker-kit/