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Best budget speakers for near-field/small space

Hi Ladies & Gents,

First time on Audiogon.

Coming from headphones, due to dorm constraints, I'm finally going to be able to get a speaker setup once I move into an apartment at the end of the year.

Sharing an apartment with a few mates, so I'll be setting up the speakers in my bedroom. The room is probably going to be pretty small (about 12 by 8 feet), and with my bed, wardrobe and all, optimal speaker positioning might be a problem.

Hence I'm thinking of going with a near-field setup, on my desk with my computer since that's where I do most of my listening. I could swap my chair and desk with a nice recliner as well, but its going to be near-field either way.

My budget for speakers and amps is pretty tight. Under 1000USD (please don't tease =) and the lower the better. I'm looking for the greatest bang for my buck what with being a student and all.

I listen almost exclusively to Jazz. Mostly 50's 60's bop, hard bop etc. Some acoustic singer-songwriter stuff, and indie rock as well, but only occasionally.

At the lowest end of the spectrum the Audioengine A5 looks interesting. Possibly paired with S8 subwoofer. Being active, I'd save on electronics and could add a DAC down the road, to pair with my Macbook Pro.

At the upper end of my budget, the Magnepan MMG looks very attractive especially with the great reviews on the web. Potential worries: read that they need a really beefy amp that might cost a bit, and more importantly, positioning. I don't believe these speakers were made with near-field listening in mind so that's a bit of a worry.

I've also heard many great things about the Linkwitz Pluto. And since its available as a DIY I could save some bucks (though I have no experience whatsoever, so its a bit daunting).

Other active/passive studio monitors seem to be decent choices as well. The KRK Rokit series, Dynaudio BM5a etc seem like viable alternatives, but I'm worried that they won't be as 'musical' as hi-fi speakers and might end up being cold and too revealing (might be a problem with badly mastered records, especially all those bright RVG remasters).

I have incredibly limited experience with speakers. More well-versed with headphones only. So I really need your help!

Many thanks in advance!
milesandcoltrane
milesandcoltrane OP
17 posts
 
Wow! Thanks a bunch guys! I have some serious auditioning time ahead of me. Once I clear my internship interviews this week, I'll be heading down to some stores to try and sample as many of these speakers as possible. Right now though the Audioengine A5 paired with a modest DAC+/-modest preamp sounds like a good idea for the low cash outlay and flexibility.

Also read some great stuff about the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1. A friend had the older series which I listened to some years ago out of a budget pre and power amp combo, don't remember which brand but I was quite impressed. Any word on how these speakers stack up to the ones recommended above.

I've also been reading some great things about the Triangle Titus XS.

And strateahead thanks for including your setup. A bit too high-end for me at the present time, but it sounds like it'll knock my socks off! =)
afranta
180 posts
 
If you go with active speakers, you might want to take a look at the Matrix Mini-i DAC. I don't have one, but have been reading good things about it. For example, here: http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?rdgtl&1272311461
newbie13
242 posts
 
Ascend Acoustics do very well for near field listening.
swampwalker's avatar
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swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
A little late to this party, but you could do worse than a pair of NHT M00 active monitors (there were a couple of pairs up for sale here w/in last few weeks for under $300.00. I would add a Music Streamer+ USB DAC which can now be had for under $200 used, which would provide the analog output directly to the M00s. They have a switch for near or midfield listening. I use a pair just this way, with an NHT Passive volume control which would cost you $50. then when you are feeling richer, add the NHT S20 sub that is designed to go w M00s and for under $1k you will have a very accurate system that images remarkably will even w a computer monitor in between. Oh, I would add some Aurelex dampening pads under the monitors, which are tapered so you can "aim" the monitors up or down which usually is necessary w desktop rig. My big rig is more than 20X as expensive and I am continually amazed at how good my computer system sounds.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
You can pick up a pair of active Quad L12 used for well under your budget. A friend had the in pretty much the same circumstances you'll have them in. They performed very well.

No matter what you buy, try and get a good set of stands if at all possible. I knew they were important, but didn't realize how mportant until my friend moved his speakers from the desk to a pair of stands.

If you absoutely can't do stands, I saw something on Music Direct's website that isolated speakers from a bookshelf. Looks promising, and I think they can be returned within 30 days if they aren't.
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