Speakers for a confined space

[Scottes]

I currently have a pair of Klipsch SB-2 bookshelf speakers. They are about 10-12 years old. Recently my 25+ year old NAD 3300 Monitor Series integrated amplifier went belly up. (I got my money's worth.) I am now using a rather low-end Denon AVR-1705 Home Theater receiver. I only listen to FLACs played off my PC, and I have an Audioengine D1 DAC.

70s rock was all I listened to for many years, and have gone through 3 sets of Klipsches over ~30 years. But now I listen to a lot of different types of music, I listen to it at a lower volume now and have a desire for crisper, brighter sound.


But the biggest change is that I moved and my music is now confined to a small home office. I am *extremely* limited in speaker placement. I am stuck in a corner with the speakers about 2.5 feet away from each ear. My Klipsches sound a bit muddled. I don't think the placement is letting the rear-facing ports do their job very well, and I get the feeling that the receiver might be under-powered - though this might be because I am listening to music at a lower volume than I used to. These speakers do sound great when loud, but when I turn them down they seem muddled and I miss a lot.

Rearranging my room is not really an option, or really a desire. Making it good for music is beyond my budget, and I just don't think these Klipsches are right for me any more. Headphones are out because I can't wear them for 10-14 hours, and I need to hear the rest of the house.


So I am looking for some advice for shopping for new gear. I am strongly leaning towards new speakers, but could be convinced that a new amp and/or DAC will make a sufficient improvement. How should I pursue my shopping and auditioning? With speakers so close to my ears, are there things I should look for in a speaker, or avoid? Is a new amp going to make that much of a difference? Would a better DAC help? Any advice in general?

As for budget, I would love to spend a mere $600. From my research so far, I don't think this is really going to be much of an improvement. If convinced, I can spend up to $2,000 - but the speakers and amp would have to be a massive improvement.

Thanks in advance.

 

[j_garcia]

Sounds like you might be looking for something good for nearfield. Audioengine P4 or without an amp to power them, maybe A5+ Audioengine - Join the computer audio revolution

IMO, there are a lot of speakers that are better than the SB-2s even at $600, easily.

 

[bikemig]

If you need to shove your speakers up against a wall and they need to be small, I'd recommend the Audio engine P-4 speakers. They run $250 a pair and you could pair them with a small sub. I really like my P-4s and they benefit from being near a wall or a boundary since that tightens up the bass. The other speakers that would work well are the NHT superzeros. They're sealed and small and you can shove them against a wall as well but they really need a sub. NHT is having a pretty good sale right now so you can pick up the superzeros and the super 8 sub for around $460. If you want to ditch the av receiver, you could just get a pair of powered monitors. Emotivas has a nice range of powered studio monitors; you could pick up the smallest ones, the airmotiv 4s for $314.

 

[Scottes]

So what is good for nearfield - brands or types? What should I look for? Or should a decent salesperson know when I describe my situation?

I like the idea of components so I can upgrade in steps, so I have discounted the Audioengines.

 

[bikemig]

I'm not sure what you mean by upgrading in steps. The P-4s will work well for the situation you describe and you probably won't find them in a store. The NHTs are great as well and you should be able to find those in a store even though they are internet direct. The emotivas are only internet direct. All of these speakers have a money back guarantee. In any case, I'd look for something that is either sealed (the NHTs) or front ported (the audioengines). There are a lot of choices esp. in your price range if you are looking at studio monitors. I'd take a look at the focal cms 40 and the adam a3x both of which come in just a little over $600 for the pair.

 

[j_garcia]

The P4s are passive so you have no restrictions using them in any setup. I don't think you looked close enough. The A5s are active.

Nearfield studio monitors I'd look at some KRK Rokits or Mackie passives. NHTs are a solid choice too.

 

[Scottes]

I'm not sure what you mean by upgrading in steps.

I mean buying separate pieces - speakers today, a new amp in the future, better speakers later, an SACD player in the future...

The P4s are passive so you have no restrictions using them in any setup.

I did not realize that Audioengine sold passive speakers because all the ads that I have seen showed amplified ones.

I don't think you looked close enough.

LOL, no, because I haven't looked at all. I've seen ads pass by, but I have not started looking at anything because I don't really know what to look for.

 

[bikemig]

I've tried a number of different speaker configurations for a near field set up. I've taken three things away from this. The first, is that I don't like speakers that are too large. I find that they don't image well when they are too large and you are sitting close to them. I know other people like large bookshelf speakers for this kind of set up, though. The NHT superzeros and the audioengine P-4 are on the small side. Small speakers aren't going to produce much bass and so a small subwoofer is useful. I recently added the Energy ESW M8 to my audiongine P-4s and I'm really happy with the combo: Amazon.com: Energy ESW-M8 NA 1,200-Watt Subwoofer: Electronics. The second is that is that some kind of base for the speakers is really useful since it decouples the speaker from the desk and ideally the tweeters are directed roughly towards your ears. Audioengine makes some desktop speaker stands like this but frankly this would be a good DIY project as well: Audioengine - Store. Third, a lot of speakers just don't do well when pushed up against a boundary. So I like sealed or front ported speakers because they tend to do better. When you put all that together, it might make sense to go with a pair of quality powered or active monitors since they are designed to work in a near field set up like this. Dynaudio, Adam, and Focal all make well regarded active monitors that fit within your proposed budget. Plus if your desk is cluttered, powered monitors allow you to ditch the receiver which helps clear up some space.

 

[fmw]

Checkout recording monitors at any pro audio dealer. These are used for near field listening by the recording engineers as music is recorded and recordings mixed. The higher quality ones are very accurate. I use a pair of them as my surround speakers in the home theater. $600 should do just fine. You might also want to ad a subwoofer to help round out the bass frequencies.

 

[sholling]

As others have said what you need to look at are near field monitors and perhaps a small sub to go with them. Regular bookshelves can be a bit piercing at arms length. Unfortunately the home-office speakers in my signature have changed or I'd recommend those but I have not heard the new ones. If I were you I'd go down to the nearest Guitar Center or the local equivalent and listen to a few possibilities. I've only listened to a few near field monitors so I'll leave brand recommendations to others. I will say that if you are going to place them within 6" of the wall I'd want sealed or front ported speakers. Note that some are passive and others are self powered and do not require a receiver.

 

[Scottes]

Thanks for the input and info, folks. I have some new knowledge to help with my shopping on Saturday. Thanks!