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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

Showing 2 responses by crad

crad
39 posts
 
Here are a couple of things to look at that are musical for small spaces and should be under $1k. These are based on used prices combined.

Speakers;
ERA 5 or 4 monitor
JohnBlue JB3 monitor *
Silverline Minuet
Triangle Titus

You can always add a small sub later like a Glow Audio Sub One or similar.

Integrated amps:
Audio Analogue Crescendo
Audio Refinement Complete
Virtue Audio Sensation or mdl.two
Jolida FX-10

Should state preference for sound. Do you want tubes or SS sound?
crad
39 posts
 
While active can be a good bang for the buck but at the same time most in your price range will be low end active models, not the nice upper end models we hear great things about although the Quad 11 could work nicely if you can find them used, in order to fit within your budget. Most active models are designed for pro sound which strives to be very accurate and possibly less musical on old recordings, which can be quite fatiguing especially if your laying back and relaxing to old Miles (trumpet) & Coltrane (sax) recordings.
I don't think I would last very long in the room with a pair of M-Audio active monitors playing "Love Supreme" from a digital source; I maybe wrong.

Suggestion; Please take to your auditions some of your old favorite recordings. Have a long listen, more than just five minute sit downs. Relax and Listen to the music.

Remember, you won't need big monitors for your small sized (98sq.ft.) room.
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