Quoting freediver:
1:If your unwilling to be a guinea pig,& absolutely don’t want traditional looking speakers, look at Orb Audio,Gallo Acoustics,or maybe the Focal Dome,all of which are highly reviewed & well liked in audiophile circles...
2:If you go the route of unpowered speakers then you’ll need to add a desktop amplifier/control center...Most of the available choices are going to be Class D based like maybe the new Creek 4040 or PS Audio Sprout 100...
3:Seems to me a pair of audiophile level,wireless,noise cancelling headphones would be an excellent choice here..Look at Mark Levinson,Focal or Dali...
4:A SUPERB,wired headphone system should also be a viable option in this instance...
Thanks. In reverse order, for your points (3) and (4), I do have various headphones of various types (ranging from daily-beater NC Boses to true audiophile headphones with a big tube headphone amp) that I use in other cases, but these don't obviate my desire to have actual desktop speakers; I still do need these.
For your points (1) and (2), those are interesting suggestions; I hadn't realized there are so many spherical speakers out there! And it does give me more options. Unfortunately these don't solve the problem of how to power them; the Focal Domes are asking for 25W–100W for example (the Gallos don't list a range, even in the owner's manual; the Orbs seem to be able to make to with 20W).
Both of those amps are interesting, but I already have a DAC and a preamp (though I'm of course not obligated to keep using them, if there's a better integrated solution).
Quoting zlone:
The Genelecs aren’t any uglier than the Elipsons, unless you foolishly got the bare metal finish on the Genelecs. 😀 Seems like a lot of work and expense to change to a passive speaker, guessing the extra wiring and clutter will not help with WAF. I would stick with powered. I liked my Audio Engine speakers when I had an office system, but guessing the Genelecs beat those.
Well, YMMV of course, but I think the Genelecs are pretty ugly (as are the Audio Engines, which I do have in another room, and like very much, sonically at least). Also I disagree about the extra wiring--I already have a DAC and a preamp, and each Genelec has a power cable and and interconnect, so adding a power amp to the electronics stack and removing a power cable from each speaker strikes me as an improvement or at worst a wash.
Happy to hear more suggestions!