Near field monitor advice please

You should also look at pro, self powered monitors. :)

Co-axial drivers will mitigate driver integration issues due to distance limitations. 

oh, a coaxial is a good idea. :)  Would you consider a kit from Madisound? :)

Also, Madisound has some really neat full-range (i.e. 1 driver) kits too that fit on a desktop really nicely.

They're about $4500 a pair but a  Genelec 8331a is about the best you could get.  Others I would consider Neumann and Adam. 

A monitor like Genelec 8331a is really designed for mix-down recording engineers with features such as the coaxial mid/tweeter and fully configuration dipswitch EQ - meant to get as flat as possible.  Don't get me wrong, this could be an amazing sounding speaker (I just have never listened to one).  Be aware that this Genelec does use metal dome tweeter (in case you are sensitive to these).  I generally tend to avoid the metal domes after years of listening.  They have a tendency to have a bright edge (due to the metal breakup distortion).

I'm currently using Yamaha HS8 monitors in a very-nearfield scenario.  The speakers are literally only two feet away from my ears.  The tweeters are 3" further away compared to the woofers, but I still love the sound (they are re-capped / upgraded / modified).  The Yamaha HS8 are likely not good enough for what you're looking for.

My next set of monitors will be the Adam A77x (which are kind of larger than normal).  They look like an MTM center channel speaker, but they are actually a 2.5 way design.  Two woofers, both doing bass.  Only one of the woofers is doing midrange and then a ribbon tweeter.  The internal amplifiers are Class D for the woofers, but Class AB for the tweeter (I really like Class AB amps better because they are more open and natural sounding to me).  The entire setup is purely analog.  They are within your budget at $2500 a pair.  There is a separate "A" model and "B" model which use a different woofer for the midrange.  You can swap them around to see which configuration performs better in your situation.

The upper end Adam monitors use all Class D amps and also DSP. That means that the analog signal coming in is converted to digital for full DSP/EQ before being sent to another DAC inside the monitor for conversion back to analog.  It's great if you want DSP for doing EQ / room correction, but I don't think it's going to be as pure and/or transparent as the purely analog "lower end" Adam models.

Just an additional note.  The Proac, Spendor and ATC options all use soft-dome tweeters.  These can be very pleasing to listen to, but they are not as high resolution as hard dome tweeters.  However, they are more forgiving on bad recordings or source equipment.

The Genelec metal dome tweeter is going to be more picky on good source electronics (i.e. DAC / preamp).  The Adam ribbon is going to be the same, but likely smoother sounding than Genelec metal dome.  I couldn't even begin to give you a "Genelec vs. Adam" opinion.  They are going to be radically different.

Agree with pro speaker recommendation.  I’d go ATC for their excellent sound and sealed-box design.  Best of luck. 

Not all Genelec use class d amps. The ones do with their coaxial mid and tweeter. The 80x0 series use AB amps. Neumann uses AB amps in the KH310. If you want nearfield listening use what the pros use who use them day in day out. DSP is becoming a necessity on the newer monitors don't be afraid of it it works wonders. 

I reconfigured my office, and got a used pair of B&W D100i. I have them horizontal on bookshelves, seated ear level, opposite my desk, flanking my monitor for imaging, paired with a self powered sub.

Office never sounded better

https://speakerholic.blogspot.com/2015/04/b-dm100i-speakers.html#:~:text=This%20is%20a%20nice%20poli....

After research, I limited my choices to boolshelf 2 way, 6-1/2" driver size, NO PORTS, keep the depth around 11" max for shelves.

Not all Genelec use class d amps.

FYI, I never said that Genelec uses Class D amps.  I only describe how Adam does their amp configuration.

If you want nearfield listening use what the pros use who use them day in day out.

djones51 - have you actually sat down and listened extensively to these monitors?  Or are you really just repeating "what the pros use".  The professional mix-down engineers have a completely different requirement and agenda to provide a mix that is pleasing on most variations of consumer stereos.  That does not necessarily mean that their preferred "monitors" would be exactly what an audiophile wants.  It really depends on what the "audiophile" wants.

The point of day in day out is the new coaxial Genelecs are easier on the ears, less fatigue, it has nothing to do with agendas. They have low distortion in the bass region, very smooth coherent speakers. If he was looking at a higher price point I would toss in Dutch and Dutch 8c, bit more WAF, though my wife thinks the round Genelecs are cute. I was under the impression the OP "audiophile" was looking for nearfield monitors? 

Harbeth P3ESR.

Might look into the Tannoy Autograph Mini speaker.  Beautiful and sound that way.

Is this the same room as the NS5000 or a different room? If it is a different room then I think a KEF LS50 regular or Meta is great. However, I would not put it on the desk I would put the 3 monitors up against the wall and then the speakers behind me. It is great this way. I have tried LS50’s, Audience 1+1 V3, and Audioengine 2 on my desktop and they were only adequate. Putting the LS50 behind me was a fantastic improvement.

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7605

Now if your NS5000 are in the same room as these computer monitors send me a PM and I will give you more info of someone local to you who will make them sing. I just did this and it is shocking how incredible the improvements are in my small room. I believe your NS5000 are in a small room from our past conversation.

BTW - the Thiel CS3.7 and the NS5000 were my finalist for my office but since the office is so small I went with the slightly less bass heavy CS3.7. Still considering the NS5000 for my downstairs in 2021.

After buying and selling multiple 'quality' speakers over the last 5 years or so I would buy a kit and make my own...or a used pair of persona b although I have never demoed the b 3' from my head.

You could investigate single driver speakers and connect them to an OTL amp. Get rid of two problems - the speaker crossover and the amp transformer. It won't be perfect but it might get you closer to happy nearfield listening. In my experience you don't need a big OTL amp to achieve this effect, if you use active speakers - you can use a headphone OTL amp for the main gain, and go from there to the speaker amp, just giving the OTL sound stage a bit more muscle.

You know, I just thought of them but some salk wow1 would be a good little speaker for that applicatio... check them out!

I agree with the recommendations for Salk Sound and Madisound. However, most monitors are not designed for nearfield listening. Purchase monitors from a company that is willing to help with tweeter attenuation. You can swap out the resistors yourself. Tell a rep whether you want to increase or decrease the tweeter level, and they should consult you with different resistor values to experiment with and which resistor to swap. It might be as simple as adding a shunt resistor to the crossover. In this case, you would twist some wires together if you're not comfortable with a soldering iron. 

The monitors designed for nearfield listening most likely have a flat frequency response for studio purposes, so I don't recommend pro-gear for daily listening. 

Check out the offerings from Taylor Speakers and Selah Audio. Taylor Speakers makes cabinets for kits available on Madisound. Rick Craig from Selah Audio sells monitors of his own designs. He might be able to tweak the crossover for nearfield listening. He's very knowledgeable, and his customer service is excellent. I recommend that you have a conversation with him. 

How handy are you in the DIY realm? The Satori Ara 2-way speaker kit can be purchased with beautiful prefabricated cabinets addressing time alignment, diffraction, and standing waves. The entire kit can be purchased with upgraded Beryllium tweeters for under $2k. 

I forgot to mention the Carrera speaker kit from Meniscus Audio. It uses the Hiquphon OW1 tweeter and the 5.5" Scanspeak Revelator woofer. This speaker falls within your budget even if you commission Taylor Speakers or Salk Sound to make the cabinets for you.

This site shows a clear image of the crossover schematics for the Carrera speakers.

Thanks guys settled on atc scm7s so far loving them!