Alears:....and I quote.......... 'An unqualified reference to a 'monitor' speaker often refers to a 'near-field' (compact or close-field) design. This is a speaker small enough to sit on a stand or desk in proximity to the listener (called a 'bookshelf' speaker in
hi-fi parlance), so that most of the sound that the listener hears is coming directly from the speaker, rather than reflecting off of walls and ceilings (and thus picking up coloration and reverberation from the room).'
I have a issues with this.
Firstly, monitor speakers, as it mention are 'near field'. Most normal hi-fi systems are far from near field. Most people sit across the room to their speakers, not 2 feet away from them.
Secondly, the nearer you sit to a conventional two way speaker, the more you're aware of the two separate drivers, producing their own specific frequency range. Anyone who has ever got close to a two way speaker will know that moving your head 1cm in any direction can have a huge impact on what is heard as far as balance is concerned. The best speakers for near field monitoring would be those that use a dual concentric driverlike the KEF UniQ designs.
Also, sitting on top of a desk will produce mid/high frequency reflection off the table.