Need help for speakers choice

[vinvin]

Hello,

First pardon my english (I'm french).

I spend a lot of time on my desktop computer to work, while listening to music, mainly from Deezer Premium (320 kb/s but I plan to switch to their FLAC offer) from the PC app or the website.

I currently have :
- 2 active Yamaha HS7 speakers
- and a DAC : Cambridge DacMagic Plus

My room is 130 sq ft and I am 3.2 ft away from the speakers, sitting in front of the screen at my desk. And my room is not acoustically treated.

I am not a music professional, I just listen to music for pleasure (rock and electro mainly) so I don’t need my speakers to be neutral (as I know it is important for studio mixing, which I don’t do).

A bit disappointed by my Yamaha's, I am looking for new speakers.
Because I'd like some more bass and I don't have any way to add some (no bass adjustment on the speaker or the DAC).
Also, I have compared hi-res files (FLAC...) with 320 kbs MP3 and have not found much difference if any.
So I thought maybe I could try better speakers (and/or add a sub ?).

Budget: 1300 $ max if possible (unless great improvement).

I thought for example of :
- if I stick with monitoring speakers : Focal Shape 65 or Adam A7X ?
- or maybe something more “hifi”, like Acoustic Energy AE1 Active, Audioengine HD6 or active floorstanding speakers like the Triangle Elara LN05A, the Klipsch R-26PF or the Elipson prestige facet 14f bt ? (I don’t need Bluetooth but I did not find any active floorstanding without it...).

I know this is very subjective but I live in french countryside, 9 hours of driving away from any shop where I could listen to this kind of gear…

So many thanks in advance for your help!

Vincent

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi - are you listening nearfield? If so, what are your Yamahas sat on? Because if they are directly on your desk, it won't matter what speaker you use.

 

[vinvin]

Hi,
Yes, I'm only 3 ft away from the speakers.
They are on these pads : https://www.thomann.de/fr/the_takustik_isopad_6.htm

 

[Jimboo]

Kef LSX. Made for scenarios such as yours.

 

[vinvin]

Kef LSX. Made for scenarios such as yours.

I've seen them but they have no analog (XLR...) inputs for my DAC (except a poor "AUX" one...).
I felt they are mainly made for wireless listening, which I don't need.

 

[Jimboo]

Your dac will not plug in via optical cable ? Where is your music coming from please.

 

[rainsoothe]

The first thing to solve, imo, is the Isolation - those pads are not doing much, imo, and there's two reasons for that: 1 they contact the entire base of the speaker, and 2 (the most important one) they don't raise the speakers enough away from the desk - which causes a lot of unwanted reverberation. You should look at something like ISOacoustics L8R (130 or 155, depends on your speaker size - I use the 155 with my HS7, but if you still plan to get smaller speakers, the 135 might be more appropriate).

Secondly, it might be a bad match between the Yamahas and the Cambridge Audio (the latter being prone to brightness, and the neutral HS7 will not mask that). I use a Tascam audio interface with my Yamahas and they sound very good. If you don't need the versatility of the CA (Bluetooth + all them inputs), changing to something from Schiit might be a good option as well).

And, last but not least, I think the Kef LSX are a great suggestion, and they do have optical input if I'm not mistaking, and your CA has an optical out - so compatibility shouldn't be an issue. If you do want to consider these + the ISOacoustics ministands, make sure they fit. Another great active speaker co consider is Dynaudio LYD7 - which do have some DSP settings to help them cope with sub-optimal placement.

For the record, I did try Adam Audio A5X before going with the HS7, and their front port made bass way too overblown on my desk. Also heard some large Adam Audio horizontal monitors and they did sound stellar, but they resided in a heavily acoustically treated room, on stands, and well away from room boundaries.

 

[vinvin]

I can output in optical but if I do, I won't be able to control volume with any button (the DAC's button doesn't work with optical and the KEF's don't have one).
So I would be forced to set volume through windows, which is really annoying...

I have found a great offer for the Focal Shape 65, so I think I will try them and compare with my HS7's.
They have a "set of rubber-tipped feet that are adjustable for height ", so maybe it will be better than my pads ?

 

[Jimboo]

I don't understand the kefs don't have a volume button ? Is that what you mean because they do.

 

[vinvin]

No they don't. Only on the phone app, that's the problem.

 

[Jimboo]

They have two different volume controls, one is an app and the other is the remote.