Quad 9L Active

[mypasswordis]

HE-6 with a 100+W speaker amp.

Edited May 11, 2011 by mypasswordis

[grawk]

k1000s

[Dusty Chalk]

Those suggestions might be alright if he was single, but I'm sure he's going to want to share that experience once in a while.

Focal XS 2.1? (a) They may be "voiced" for the nearfield since they're meant to be desktop speakers, (b ) not sure if they will go loud enough well, and (c ) don't know if they turn sideways well.

Ditto Gallo Stradas (which also aren't active). Though they would be small enough.

Does KRK have anything that small? I'm sure there are lots of actives in the professional and home/project studio market, I just happen to like KRK. And Mackie, but I know they don't have anything that small. Tannoy?

Center channel speakers might work well there, but they aren't usually active -- I.E. two mid/bass's and a tweeter in d'onofrio...d'appolito (or however it's spelled) configuration.

And a lot of professional/home studio/project speakers are designed to be oriented either way.

M-Audio might have something that small.

Just do something custom with a couple of cheap full-range drivers, so that you don't get weird edge effects (doubly so -- once for the speaker ending, and another for the hole starting).

[morphsci]

Well the Audioengine 2 would work, but it sounds like ass. Is that a hard constraint on the width or a preference?

[Dusty Chalk]

See pic -- looks like the wood might flex a little bit, but I suspect that's undesirable -- I would treat it as a hard constraint.

[morphsci]

I did, but he is a DIY guy with wood working tools.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well the Audioengine 2 would work, but it sounds like ass. Is that a hard constraint on the width or a preference?

In most cases I would agree that they don't sound great; except that when placed on stands the mid-bass clears up and doesn't drown out the mids and highs, at which point they're really not so bad.

PS: I bought the A5 at the last RMAF and those are a noticeable step up in sound quality, but I still can't say the A2 sound like ass.

Edited May 17, 2011 by HeadphoneAddict

[The Monkey]

I had the A2s on stands. They sucked.

[luvdunhill]

I had the A2s on stands. They sucked.

Why didn't you tell me before you sold them to me? :)

[The Monkey]

lol, oops.

To be fair, every pair of speakers I've used with my computer just hasn't done it for me.

[morphsci]

Yeah, I originally tried the A2s on the Tyll designed Headroom stands (still one of the best audio purchases I have ever made) and saying they sounded like ass was being kind. Few things in audio have been night and day differences to me but the A5s vs the A2s is definitely one. No side by side necessary or blind test needed here. (waiting for the )

[The Monkey]

I just couldn't get the bass under control with the A2. But then the Quads (both 9 and 12) are really too big for my already cluttered setup. That's why I'd love to try a pair of the b&w mm-1, dsp and all. But they are too expensive.

[jvlgato]

I'll probably be selling my pair of A2's, if anyone would like the opportunity to check the veracity of these statements!

[The Monkey]

Sell them to Marc.

[jvlgato]

Ooh! Surround sound A2's! How 'bout it, Marc? I can package them nicely with a bottle of booze!

I actually don't hate them, the imaging is quite nice. Yeah, the tone is quite thin/tinny, but I didn't expect much for tiny speakers on my desktop. Maybe my standards for such things are too low. I'll admit I don't have a great urge to turn them on all the time. We'll find out when I get the 9L's ...

[jinp6301]

Heh you guys are harsh. For 200 dollars and for their size, they're not bad. But in an overall sound quality, they kinda suck

[HDen]

I also have the A2s and with or without stands they are pretty damn bad

[HeadphoneAddict]

I have an inexpensive set of Sony bookshelf speakers and a cheap pair of Radioshack bookshelf speakers that both sound like ass compared to the A2. Same with my Travagans mini-desktop speakers. Not even the PWD and ZDT can extract any kind of enjoyable sound from those (nor with extra power from my vintage Marantz receiver connected to the PWD). Like I said before, my new A5 are a noticeable step up from the A2, but I bet there are a lot of speakers out there that are not as enjoyable as the A2 on stands. If the A2 were enough to keep me happy I'd have not bought the A5 at RMAF, but I just don't agree they sound like ass (horrible, unlistenable is what I assume ass sounds like).

On my small rolling laptop table (no walls within 5 feet) with MacBook > DACport driving them they have a decent near-field soundstage which is more intimate than spacious, somewhat rolled off highs, and boomy bass - but the mids are not bad and detail is not terribly blurred.

[morphsci]

..., but I just don't agree they sound like ass ...

Then you are wrong.

[grawk]

or a poor judge of sound quality...

[The Monkey]

The question I have is what is an active speaker the same size (or smaller) as the A2 that is significantly better? That seems to be hard to find.

[aardvark baguette]

Can't speak to the A2, but I am very happy with these

When run on flat eq, there is no excessive mids or bass to my ears.

You can add plenty of thick bottom with the sub volume or eq change, but they are well balanced for an economy speaker out of the gate.

Very nice at the price point imo. And they're biamped.

Edited May 19, 2011 by aardvark baguette

[morphsci]

Then you are wrong.

or a poor judge of sound quality...

or both.

The question I have is what is an active speaker the same size (or smaller) as the A2 that is significantly better? That seems to be hard to find.

I haven't really looked at any others in that size range. I went up to the A5's and never looked back. The real problem is that they don't sound better than really cheap WalMart speakers (HPA's comments not withstanding) and yet cost $200.

Edited May 19, 2011 by morphsci