Proac Tablette Reference 8 Signature or Tablette 50 Signature used are below $1.5k. Forward sound and can be a bit bright with some solid-state amps. Detail and imaging are exceptional. Proac 1SC also worth considering. |
Rega R1 and cheap too!
Ditto Proac 1SC but hard to find these days not too many show up used. |
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Cane and Abby nearfield design...I have heard they sound amazing especially with an SET |
If you want neutrality, go with the JBL monitor line of speakers. The 4300 line, these are used speakers that show up occasionally. For near field listening, the imaging with these can't be beat. |
Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII or Contour S1.4 if you can stretch a bit. |
Usher monitors-BE or X series |
any ls3/5...price no object,bravo combak....yada yada |
ProAc 1sc is hard to beat. I have those and a ProAc 140. Seems the 1sc wins, all the time. But of course, all listening must be done with the grilles off. |
My recommendation would depend on how near of a nearfield you're talking about. Like less than 3 feet? And how would you expect to mount them: on a wall, on stands, on a shelf, etc. |
My best experience with near field listening was with a pair of Acoustic Energy AE1 Signature, you can go for the newer version or which ever version that fits the budget.
I would think LS3/5A would be great too. |
I'd like to sit between 3-5 feet and use stands. I want something where the sound wraps around my head like headphones. Not a speaker with a deep soundstage that fills the room. |
First of all, to me, the best near field speakers are the ones with a sensitivity rating of 99 dB and higher. Because you do not need lots of power to increase the SPL. A low power amp is all you need. Less power, less noise, more music. Make sense? Why go 5 watts when you only need 500 mW? A high sensitivity speaker, set up right with decent amplifier (not noisy ones) is very dynamic and will produce all even the small nuances you will have a hard time hearing on less sensitive speakers. In the same token, set up is important so as not to have a noisy system.
Secondly, in my opinion, active speakers are much better at nearfield listening than conventional ones. The amp only "sees" the voice coil of the drivers thus, are not subjected much to freq shifts from the XO required for a two or more designs. Read about it, you will understand why.
regards |
"Less power, less noise, more music. Make sense?" Not really, high sensitivity speakers are prone to let more noise in and through. Why would there be more music? Low powered amps (500 mW) will have less headroom and will probably clip sooner. Many active speakers still have XO's. |
Look into the Omega line of speakers. They are a high eff. single driver design. Give Louis at Omega a call. He will set you up right. |
Boy , if you had a few extra thousand you could get into a set up like this
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1260483048&/Gradient-Helsinki-1.5-speakers
The closest to a headphone setup I've seen. |
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I went for the Proac 1SC and they are awesome. Exactly what I was looking for. |
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Hi
Has anyone ever use open baffle speakers in a near field listening environment?
I'm hoping to get a pair of open baffle speakers that feature the Audio Nirvana 'Super 12' Cast Frame Full Range drivers and was wondering if anyone has used them or any OB set-up in a nearfield environment. How did it sound?
I'm going to be approx 6ft away from the OBs and they would be about 5ft apart.
Thanks in advance. |
