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Mini Speaker Recommendations


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These are an outstanding value at only $328/pair, but are 8.5" deep and the port is in the back. Add an Elemental Design A3S - 250 subwoofer, a 14.25" cube, $350, and you'll have a great sounding system for any secondary room.

 

13.3" MacBook Air, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD; iTunes/Bit Perfect; MacBook Air SuperDrive; Western Digital My Book Essential 2TB USB HD; Schiit Bifrost USB DAC; Emotiva USP-1, ERC-1 and two UPA-1s; Pro-Ject Xpression III and AT440MLa; AKAI AT-2600 and Harman Kardon TD4400; Grado SR80i; Magnepan MMG Magnestands; and, Rythmik Audio F12

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Give the small M-L Motions a listen. They use a Heil type tweeter but would need a sub as they only go down to around 75Hz. Only available in gloss black I think.

 

Tom

 

tomE[br]Bryston BDP-1, Bryston BDA-1, Oppo BDP-95, Rogue Audio Sphinx, Montor Audio Silver RX8s. [br]Analog: LP12, Alphason HR100S, Benz Micro LO04 and Rogue audio Triton phono pre

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You might try a pair of LS3/5A. This is quite an old design, originally by the British Broadcasting Corporation, who did not make them themselves, but licenced them to several speaker manufacturers, with a very rigid specification.

 

A few companies still make them. Spendor do a particularly nice improved one, which of course is no longer to the precise spec, so they have to call it something different.

 

Possibly above your budget, but not all that expensive. Worth a listen.

 

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Totem Mites or Dreamcatchers are very good as well.

 

 

13.3" MacBook Air, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD; iTunes/Bit Perfect; MacBook Air SuperDrive; Western Digital My Book Essential 2TB USB HD; Schiit Bifrost USB DAC; Emotiva USP-1, ERC-1 and two UPA-1s; Pro-Ject Xpression III and AT440MLa; AKAI AT-2600 and Harman Kardon TD4400; Grado SR80i; Magnepan MMG Magnestands; and, Rythmik Audio F12

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  • 4 weeks later...

Paul:

I have been looking at this discussion and thinking about desktop speakers. Your comment about the PSB Alpha B1s being front-ported (actually, they are rear-ported) got me thinking about the difference between the two. Is the difference simply that a front-porterd speaker can be placed nearer to the rear wall? Does this make any difference in a near-field set-up where the speakers are toed in towards the center?

TIA

 

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Well, as far as I understand speaker design - which is not all that far - the choice of front or rear porting is much more related to how close to the wall you are designing for. If you have a couple of feet from the wall, rear porting seems to be preferred as it will produce more bass reinforcement.

 

On the other hand, front ported speakers are reputed to have tighter bass response, a little more like you would hear from sealed boxes.

 

Effectively, I tend to like front ported speakers better. But that's very much a personal preference, as I like my bass to be there but tight, not "bloom" so much as other folks do.

 

I think that the front porting might be a slight advantage to you in near field listening, but there is only one sure way to know. :)

 

-Paul

 

 

Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat DAC.

Robert A. Heinlein

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Port lication is tricky. As a matter of fact any porteded

Speaker is tricky, because its a fairly uncontrolled beast. As far as mini speakers go, you'll have to go for ported, or you simply won't have a mini speaker with any bass.

 

I have designed many mini monitors and the Hummingbird is what I consider the smallest possible while still able to produce music (rather than sound that can be interpreted as music).

My absolute favorite is the 7888 studio monitor, which is designed following the legendary Acoustic Energy AE1.

 

Now, both have ports facing foreward because, with mini monitors, the tuning frequency is rather high (70-75 Hz) which is needed to create full bass (how weird this may sound, it is true) this also means you get a lot of midrange leaking through the ports, which you will receive heavily out of phase with a port firing backwards, leading to a blurry sound.

 

So i would always choose a mini monitor with front facing ports if you want proper dynamics a sufficient "fast" bass.

 

So I agree with what Paul experiences.

 

Both mentioned designs are on my website. The 7888 I use in my own studio.

 

- edgar

 

www.edgaraudio.com <--- My DIY Audio site: full description on most items below:

Synology NAS - MUSE (W7/Hiface/VDAC music player) - Edgar Audio PSI NG Interlinks - Pass Labs X2,5preamp - Edgar Audio PSI NG Balanced interlinks- Electrocompaniet AW180 power amps - Edgar Audio LSP Loudspeaker Cable - Provenance loudspeakers.

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Thank you for your kind comment.

 

Should you really be interested, I have drivers, cross over components and even the right diameter pipe for the ports available.

 

This is a speaker that is so popular, I build it frequently primarily for fellow mucisians who do some sound editing...

 

- edgar

 

www.edgaraudio.com <--- My DIY Audio site: full description on most items below:

Synology NAS - MUSE (W7/Hiface/VDAC music player) - Edgar Audio PSI NG Interlinks - Pass Labs X2,5preamp - Edgar Audio PSI NG Balanced interlinks- Electrocompaniet AW180 power amps - Edgar Audio LSP Loudspeaker Cable - Provenance loudspeakers.

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Edgar:

I sent you two email messages almost a week ago but have heard no response from you. Don't know what is going on at your end... I found a wood worker to help me (on CL) and he's ready but nothing from you. I'm going to tell the wood worker to forget it and order a pair of AudioEngine P4s.

 

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Before you buy any speakers, do yourself a favor and check out the B&W 685. I was very skeptical about them but found a used pair on Audiogon for $380 so I bought the unseen and unheard. After two weeks of waiting for their arrival to Tokyo, I immediately hooked them up to a small Wadia 151 powerdac fed by a Micca 950B with my flac and i'm floored. No noise, no hum, no hiss, just clear beautiful midrange and the bass was extremely amazing. Man, these might not compete with my 805Nautilus at home but they will certainly 80-90% close. I was prepared to couple them with a REL sub but I don't think I need to anymore. I'm curious of how much better they sound when driven with alittle more power than the 25w/ch by the Wadia, say like a Peachtree Nova. These suckers are really awesome for their size.

 

QN

 

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sacman:

The B&W 685s have been on my radar for some time. Glad to hear you like them. Are you using them in a near field setup? My concern with the 685s was that they might be good monitors but not the best in a near field configuration...

 

Too late for me anyway - I have already ordered a pair of AudioEngine P4s and have a new REL T-3 to mate them with... I really like the AudioEngine A5s which I have been using for a year and a half or so but I wanted a little more in the bottom end because I listen to a lot of piano + stand-up bass + drums. The AudioEngine P4s are front ported and so are engineered for near field (or at least placement near the rear wall) and will allow me to hook up the REL via its Neutrik cable. I was having problems with single channel directional cues because of the single channel line out connection with the REL (and the relatively high crossover). Not optimum - e.g., hearing the bass in the right channel of the AudioEngines but not in the subwoofer... Too strange.

 

I'm not quite ready to hook up everything yet - waiting on my receiver to get back from the shop but everything else is here. I'm finding the wait for the receiver to be difficult. 8^)

 

I am using a glass TOSLINK between my iMac and my Schiit Bifrost after trying several different cables (both TOSLINK and S/PDIF along with my V-LINK) and glass makes a big difference in my set-up.

 

Enjoy your B&Ws!

 

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Paul:

Thanks for your clarification. I am used to keeping my head in the sweet spot between my desktop monitors (rear-ported AudioEngine A5s) so whatever speakers I get to replace them will be toed in and tilted up but only 8-10" from the wall. A front port will direct the bass at my ears while a rear port will direct the bass into the wall at an angle. I am not hurting for bass in my desktop application - I have a REL T3 - it is more a question of balance in what I am hearing... You're undoubtedly correct that the only way to know is to listen to the speakers in situ. I'm currently leaning towards the AudioEngine P4 which is front-ported.

Regards,

Mike

 

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Boy Howdy: I think you're right about B&W 685 in the near field usage. I am using them as a far field and the image and sound stage they provide is tremendous. I also heard a lot of good things about the AudioEngine. How do you like the REL T3? I almost bought the Q105 Mk2 to complement my 685 as the Neutrik connector is the only way to connect to any integrated amp without a dedicate LFE output. I agree with you on the glass toslink. Did you have a chance to compared them against USB and Coxial equivalence?

 

QN

 

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sacman:

I really like REL subwoofers and have several of them. I find them to be remarkably easy to integrate into a system and match levels with existing speakers. These are very musical, sensitive subwoofers (as opposed to HT boom-boom subwoofers) and are very unobtrusive the way I use them. They compliment monitor/bookshelf speakers as well as "full range" tower speakers.

 

MySchiit has no USB unless I upgrade it. I tried several different TOSLINK cables and a few S/PDIF digital cables with my V-LINK in between my iMac and my Schiit Bifrost. Jason at Schiit recommended the TOSLINK connection with my setup and I agree with him. In another system I did try TOSLINK vs. S/PDIF with my V-DAC plus V-LINK but I think I have a strange set-up there. I did end up going with TOSLINK but I think with less distance between computer and dec that a S/PDIF connection would probably sound better... Still working on that system...

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the last few years I have tried a lot of gear on my desktop from DACs to amps to speakers. Few mini speakers have impressed me, but lately I have found one that really does and it takes up very little real estate. It is the RBH MC-4C.

Although they don't make a lot of bass, they don't cry for a sub like some small speakers I have heard. Their strengths are: fabulous midrange, top end, and incredible imaging. They are beautifully made and can be run with grills on, in fact all my listening has been with grills on. Although they use metal drivers, you would never know it as they are warm and natural sounding. I have them set on the Audioengine tilt up stands made for their P4 and A2 speakers.

The only caveat with these speakers is they are a sealed cabinet making them not all that efficient. I run them with the 45w/ch Parasound Z series half rack pre/power combo which are another desktop prodigy that I just love. The synergy between the Parasound and RBH is wonderful. However, to fill a kitchen with music, the Ampino will likely not have enough power, but I thought I would throw this out anyway. At the desktop, maybe the Ampino would work.

 

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I have been travelling a lot. I just browsed though my mail account ans saw the emails. Sorry for not noticing them before. My mistake. I'll do better ;-)

 

Regards,

 

Edgar

 

www.edgaraudio.com <--- My DIY Audio site: full description on most items below:

Synology NAS - MUSE (W7/Hiface/VDAC music player) - Edgar Audio PSI NG Interlinks - Pass Labs X2,5preamp - Edgar Audio PSI NG Balanced interlinks- Electrocompaniet AW180 power amps - Edgar Audio LSP Loudspeaker Cable - Provenance loudspeakers.

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