Passive bookshelf speakers for nearfield listening

[jarneevan]

I plan to setup a simple stereo for nearfield listening.

Speakers would be placed on work desk, roughly about 5 feet apart and 4 feet away from me. Source would be Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify on the PC to HDMI on the TV to Optical on the Stereo Receiver.

I have shortlisted Marantz PM6007 as I can get it pretty cheap at 30k in grey. I am looking for a moderately priced bookshelf pair that is good for nearfield listening and would pair well with Marantz. The max budget for speakers would be around 40k. My preference is to have a laid back setup.

Please advise. Thanks.

 

[chander]

A question here - have you considered the actives for a near field system?

To answer your question check out IndiqAudio, Q Acoustics, Missions, Wharfedales - barring IndiqAudio (as I have no experience with those, but FMs here love them) most others should fit your required sound signature pretty well. Demo if possible (Bangalore has many options), choose what fits your budget and preferences the best. Difficult to suggest that one speaker that you will love .

 

[jarneevan]

A question here - have you considered the actives for a near field system?

To answer your question check out IndiqAudio, Q Acoustics, Missions, Wharfedales - barring IndiqAudio (as I have no experience with those, but FMs here love them) most others should fit your required sound signature pretty well. Demo if possible (Bangalore has many options), choose what fits your budget and preferences the best. Difficult to suggest that one speaker that you will love .

I thought am amp and passive speaker would give me more flexibility. Demo is pretty much ruled out.

I could up the budget by another 20k if there are some compelling options. As it is for nearfield I don't prefer anything that is treble or bass heavy.

Wharfedale Evo4.1 and Elac DBR62 seem interesting. Would they pair well with pm6007.

Also read that Dali Oberons pair well with Marantz but worried about treble aspect.

I am also looking at Polk R200. I liked thier L200. It had quite a vivid midrange and instruments sounded too good, vocals were bit recessed though. But might work for a nearfield if they retained the same sound signature.

Would pm6007 have enough power to drive any of these options?

 

[Pratyush J]

I thought am amp and passive speaker would give me more flexibility. Demo is pretty much ruled out.

I could up the budget by another 20k if there are some compelling options. As it is for nearfield I don't prefer anything that is treble or bass heavy.

Wharfedale Evo4.1 and Elac DBR62 seem interesting. Would they pair well with pm6007.

Also read that Dali Oberons pair well with Marantz but worried about treble aspect.

I am also looking at Polk R200. I liked thier L200. It had quite a vivid midrange and instruments sounded too good, vocals were bit recessed though. But might work for a nearfield if they retained the same sound signature.

Would pm6007 have enough power to drive any of these options?

Since you are in Bangalore, you can contact IndiqAudio and see if they can send their bookshelf for a demo to your place and accordingly you can decide. Whosoever has bought IndiqAudio through HFV absolutely love them as said by @chander

 

[jarneevan]

Since you are in Bangalore, you can contact IndiqAudio and see if they can send their bookshelf for a demo to your place and accordingly you can decide. Whosoever has bought IndiqAudio through HFV absolutely love them as said by @chander

Yes, I am tempted to try them out but their Mishra bookshelves seem too big and heavy for a computer table use. I might have to go for standmount option.

 

[Pratyush J]

Yes, I am tempted to try them out but their Mishra bookshelves seem too big and heavy for a computer table use. I might have to go for standmount option.

Afaik, their gold Mishra's are just about 13-14 inch tall. You can try all Mishra's and see which one suits you the most

 

[jenson]

Active monitors by Genelec or focal from sudeep audio

 

[s_mazumder]

Best part about nearfield listening is no room interference, we can get great sound in a completely untreated room.

Smaller size speakers are more suitable because of 2 reasons -
1. Bigger speakers tend to project the soundstage at a greater distance than smaller speakers, so it'll be far behind the seating position if we sit close to the speakers.
2. Drivers will be farther apart in big speakers, so if we are sitting with tower speakers on our desktop, most of the drivers will be above our ear level. Now this problem can be overcome by choosing co-axial speakers.
Why not this KEF Q150 on sale by our FM, which is just that:

For Sale - KEF Q150 bookshelf speakers with cloth grilles

35K (slightly negotiable) + shipping on buyer's risk and cost. I am selling them as I have upgraded. Located in Uttarakhand. I would rate them 8/10. There are some minor scuffs and a couple of faint cup stains on top of one of the speakers. They really minor though. I think you will have to look...

www.hifivision.com

Active studio monitors do provide a good nearfield listening option and there are plenty of them at good price point, but the choice of modifying the sound according to our personal taste using an amp won't be there.

 

[chander]

I thought am amp and passive speaker would give me more flexibility.

Yes! You have the option to keep changing components infinitely

Wharfedale Evo4.1 and Elac DBR62 seem interesting. Would they pair well with pm6007

In near field based purely on experience and subjective opinion and not on objective measurement based analysis - YES (speaking generally - not specifically for the models suggested). Most speakers and amp should be just about fine in near field as the room is "to a large extent" removed, but it adds other complications, please do consider a desktop stand, absorption pad of some sort, to begin with, will definitely help. Regarding the choice, as your DB levels "hopefully" won't be ridiculous, the PM6007 should power most things just fine.

I am also looking at Polk R200. I liked thier L200. It had quite a vivid midrange and instruments sounded too good, vocals were bit recessed though.

Well you kind of have your answer. If you know what you like, there is nothing better than that. No two speakers and no two ears are "same". So always trust your ears. If you felt vocals were a bit recessed, then try something else Polk, or maybe the Mission MX series.

But might work for a nearfield if they retained the same sound signature.

That is a whole different can of worms. I personally really like actives and like nearfield setups for critical listening, but it has it's own challenges.

If I have to suggest a certain model of speakers - knowing we are clear on the subjectivity of these suggestions - I would suggest QA C20s. I have tried it in dedicated stereo, HT, nearfield, cabinet top, table mounted, stool mounted, dedicated stand mounted and mostly it keeps the "sound signature" intact, with a few benefits/degradations depending on the setup. It is fairly easy to place and is not very picky about where you keep it, it is also a relatively easy speaker to drive.

I wish you luck and I hope you find what you want, there have already been some very helpful comments by other FMs.

 

[jenson]

I thought am amp and passive speaker would give me more flexibility. Demo is pretty much ruled out.

The speakers you have selected are not designed for near field.

Active monitors are designed for such purposes and have controls to fine tine to your taste.

You can play with eq thru your computer to further fine tune to your taste.

It is an easy no frill solution with inbuilt amp.

Something like a genelec or Focal would great
solution...

pardon for digressing as my post is complete ly opposite of what you seek..

 

[captainsubtext]

kef lsx are pretty good on a desktop. I’ve used one extensively.

There is a trade off in sq for convenience and features (I.e. a amp + speaker combo at the same price may sound better).


@fLUX can add in here since he currently has one.

 

[jarneevan]

The speakers you have selected are not designed for near field.

Active monitors are designed for such purposes and have controls to fine tine to your taste.

You can play with eq thru your computer to further fine tune to your taste.

It is an easy no frill solution with inbuilt amp.

Something like a genelec or Focal would great
solution...

pardon for digressing as my post is complete ly opposite of what you seek..

I don't know if I am right but I have the impression that Studio monitors usually have a neutral midrange and slightly hot treble. All my current speakers are on the bright side of neutral. So I really want to try something that is warm.

I am open to active monitor if there are any that sound warm. Do genelec sound warm?

 

[jarneevan]

kef lsx are pretty good on a desktop. I’ve used one extensively.

There is a trade off in sq for convenience and features (I.e. a amp + speaker combo at the same price may sound better).


@fLUX can add in here since he currently has one.

I did demo KEF Q950 sometime back, I didn't like their forward presentation. I heard from FMs that it is the typical KEF house sound signature.

Yes! You have the option to keep changing components infinitely

If I have to suggest a certain model of speakers - knowing we are clear on the subjectivity of these suggestions - I would suggest QA C20s.

I read some reviews on QA C20s, they seem to fit my requirements. Will consider them. Thanks.

One of the reasons for considering Amp+Passive setup is that I could put them on stand and move them few feet away from my desk if on-desk doesn't work out. Also I need to get a DAC for active monitors right?

 

[jarneevan]

Best part about nearfield listening is no room interference, we can get great sound in a completely untreated room.

I completely agree. The idea of having a nearfield started when I first listened to Edifier R1850db that is currently on my desk. The fidelity that I hear is remarkable and I haven't heard that even from expensive towers. I would have happily continued with Edifiers if not for thier treble driver, it struggles when volume is cranked up a bit high. It seem to work well for low res Spotify streams but makes noise when hires tracks with lot of treble content is played.

 

[jai1611]

I don't know if I am right but I have the impression that Studio monitors usually have a neutral midrange and slightly hot treble. All my current speakers are on the bright side of neutral. So I really want to try something that is warm.

I am open to active monitor if there are any that sound warm. Do genelec sound warm?

Presonus are voiced slightly warm

 

[Lizard King]

Also read that Dali Oberons pair well with Marantz but worried about treble aspect.


Would pm6007 have enough power to drive any of these options?

I've done long audition with Oberon and Marantz, though different models compared to what you are considering. Excellent synergy. Presently using a different Dali. They go well together.
Also QA is has good synergy, from personal experience.
I didn't like WD and Marantz, too laid-back and treble shy. Evo 4.1 could be a better job though.

 

[chander]

Also I need to get a DAC for active monitors right?

You can if you want, you can also get a pre-amp if you want. Maybe a tube pre-amp to tailor the sound a certain way. There are innumerable possibilities so depends completely on how simple you want your setup to be. Also "neutral midrange and slightly hot treble" this is not necessarily true either for all studio monitors - most budget monitors strive for neutrality but don't really achieve it falling closer to the consumer level hi-fi sound, I have used cheap Pre-Sonus, Mackies, M-Audios, Yamaha HS, most of them are closer to warm than being bright. Sound can also be tailored to some extent to your liking using EQs if you are using a PC.

 

[captainsubtext]

I did demo KEF Q950 sometime back, I didn't like their forward presentation. I heard from FMs that it is the typical KEF house sound signature.

Yes that’s correct. As I mentioned I was tending more towards convenience. Subwoofer integration was also super convenient.

Sticking to your original requirements, I’ve also had great success running ATC scm11s on a desktop setup with isoacoustic stands. They are on the larger side and need hefty amplification but worth the trouble.

 

[fLUX]

The KEF LSX are not as forward sounding as the KEF Q950 and are relatively laidback in comparison. As @captainsubtext mentioned that in terms of SQ quiet a few passive + amp options would likely sound better but in terms of convenience/form factor & looks this would trump all alternatives.

 

[jenson]

I don't know if I am right but I have the impression that Studio monitors usually have a neutral midrange and slightly hot treble. All my current speakers are on the bright side of neutral. So I really want to try something that is warm.

I am open to active monitor if there are any that sound warm. Do genelec sound warm?

You can't go wrong with a dali and marantz. combo

The suggestion for active was assuming space would be bit of a constraint... Actives give lot of flexibility from that aspect

Do review on genelecs and other recommendations here, if not live demo, tons of videos available which usually gives a jist

Good luck!