There are 2 kinds of nearfield system:
- The kind where the owner chooses to listen at a smaller distance that absolutely necessary in his/her room, for whatever reason. So for example a stand-mounted 2-way system is heard from 6 feet away (with a lot of space behind each speaker), when the system could just as well be heard at more conventional distances; or
- My kind, a cramped home office (13’ x 13’) w/a desk pushed against the front wall & the speakers mounted on the desk ~3 feet away & 3-4 ft apart
Nobody would chose my nearfield system as the optimal way to hear this or that speaker. Still, it’s all I have, and after having 4-5 pairs of powered 2-way speakers and 3 pairs of passive 2-ways here, I formed a few conclusions:
- Ported speakers might work if the port is in the front, but if in the back, trouble ahead
- I get better results all around with sealed/acoustic suspension 2-ways. Not only do they interact less with room boundaries, but the subjective quality of bass notes is much better
- Get each speaker off the desktop as much as space/height considerations allow. My present speakers, vintage KEF 103.2s, have 4-5" from the bottom of the 8" woofer to the bottom of the cabinet. I place each speaker on 3" tall foam supports. It helps tighten the already tight bass
- Use an electronic crossover to get the lowest frequencies off the desktop and to a good subwoofer. I can only fit one sub, but it’s a good one (JLAudio e110). The crossover is a Marchand XM6 with the variable crossover (24 dB/octave slopes up & down) set to 80 Hz. As most sealed 2-ways I’ve had here have a -3 dB point of ~50Hz, my crossover is set comfortably high, ~1/2 octave above the -3 dB point. I can’t localize the bass to the sub and it makes the desktop mounted speakers sound tighter, less boomy.
I’d love to have more room to play with, but I simply don’t. Years ago I had large living room situated 2-channel systems. Those were the days, but those days are gone...