Active Desktop speakers pick

[mitchco]

@nocrapman desktop speakers that sit on the desk or desktop speakers that sit on stands behind the desk? Distance between the speakers and your ears sitting at the desk?

 

Indeed this is a tough category as bass response is typically the big issue. 8" woofers will give you the bass, but need to be put on stands behind the desk and far enough back for the woofer and tweeter to properly integrate. Smaller speakers on the desk need to be either at ear height or sitting on the desk angled up towards your ears. But may lack bass response.

 

Digital Room Correction (DRC) can make a big difference in dealing with desktop reflections and toning down the treble as most will sound too bright sitting on the desk. Also, depending on how loud one listens, the DRC can extend the bass response lower at the expense of sound pressure level. I have an upcoming article in the works about this...

 

For desktops, the EVE Audio SC203 and iLoud MTM get some pretty good reviews for actives that sit on the desk that have at least some decent level of bass extension.

 

This is an interesting YouTube channel that does "relative" comparisons by recording the speakers during playback and switching back and forth: https://www.youtube.com/user/skubny/videos

 

Not the end all beat all, but one can hear the differences. Good luck!

 

 

[mitchco]

@nocrapman I must have missed this, are these to actually sit on your desk or on stands behind our desk? Or put another way, what is the approximate distance between your listening position and where the speakers are intended to be? Desk against a wall or open to a room? Pics?

[mitchco]

21 hours ago, nocrapman said:

Desktop but away from wall about a foot. 

3 ft from listening position. 3 feet apart. 

Sorry about the clutter

 

 

Thanks. On the desk and about 3ft. Make sure to check the dimensions of the speakers you are looking at as some so called "desktops" are huge and won't integrate well at 3 ft. distance. Tweeter needs to be ear height or tilted towards ear height if sitting on desk. 

 

The issue with "desktop" speakers at 3ft distance is the size of the speaker that can properly integrate between woofer and tweeter at the short distance and then there is the limited bass response. While I love the Genelec's and Neumann's the issue (I had) is very limited bass response and almost certainly requires a sub. A good solution for that is what @asdf1000has suggested.

 

Look for a response down to 40 to 50 Hz if you can find a speaker that can do it and is not too big for your desk. I have limited room on my desk and I did not want a sub under it either. I went with the iLoud MTM's as they have possible bass response down to 40 Hz through the use of DSP, including a built in version of ARC digital room correction. 

 

 

The "MTM" is designed to minimize desktop reflections by narrowing the vertical response. I have measured the response and they do indeed make it to 40 Hz and have smooth response to 20 kHz. They sound full range. I keep looking under the desk for the sub :-) They cruise along at reference level (83 db SPL) with no obvious over driving of the bass. Most folks are surprised (including myself) at how much low bass they put out.

 

It depends on the type of music you listen to, for me, I like rock, alt, blues, etc., music with kick and bass. I tried quite a few desktops and some were way to big, even with stands behind the desk, but most simply lacked low bass response.

 

I will have an article on these sometime soon here on Audiophile Style, including measurements, as getting good sound on the desktop is not an easy task. 

 

Good luck with your search!

[mitchco]

Don't forget to register to download and run the firmware updater.

 

Good luck!

 

[mitchco]

@nocrapmanI now right! There is some serious tech packed into these bad boys with 100w per channel. Enjoy!

 

@TooSteepYes, I remember. Way too many things going on, but these cool DSP speakers are up next for an article sometime early in the New Year time permitting.

 

As far as connections, I solder my own cables but all you need is RCA to 1/4" phone plugs as a cable or using adaptors on one end. The MTM's have a +4dBu / -10dBV input sensitivity button on the back of the monitor, so one of the settings with work no problem. The monitors are designed with work with both pro and consumer interfaces.

 

Happy listening!