Speaker & amp required for predominantly electronic music, but with some quite specific requirements!

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Aug 10, 2019
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Greetings, It's certainly a very friendly and helpful place here. I've learnt a lot from people's posts; thanks. This said, I don't quite have the insight I need to choose some suitable equipment to demo. I'm hopeful some of you can take the time to guide me in the right direction please? Firstly, the kind of music I play is very varied. It's generally electronic dance (from Old Skool House / Hardcore to Dubstep, House, Techno, Dub and Drum & Bass), to Reggae, Jazz and Funk. This said, I'm also quite happy listening to the Beatles or Adele... The speakers I buy will need to be located on each corner of my desk (approx 1.3m wide and I'm happy to buy desk stands if needed), which is up against a concrete wall. Since I will be listening to music while seated at my computer, there's not much opportunity to bring the speakers forward (which I know is what is recommended). I will also listen from my sofa which is opposite the desk. I sometimes like to DJ and would do so standing at my desk using a DJ Controller (Traktor Kontrol S2). I live in a block of flats. While I'm keen to make the most of the lower frequencies, I don't want to terrorise the neighbours (so haven't considered a sub). The music I play will often be in 320kbit MP3 (downloaded from the Internet), however I do try and source WAV/FLAC when possible. I use the Traktor S2's sound card (which is pretty decent), which connects to my PC through USB, and then has jack and phono outputs. The main concerns I have are: > Digital format of the music I have not translating well > Finding speakers that sound good near to a wall > Finding speakers / amp that are a pleasure to listen to > That the speakers are too big to be comfortably located on my desk > Finding a small amp that can be located on my desk. So around the Marantz MCR603 size (it looks a fantastic device, but I've no need for all the bells and whistles) The budget I have is around the £800 mark, but that doesn't mean I have to spend that! I'm equally happy to buy second hand as I am new. Would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks in advance.
 

moon

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Hi Krispy,

I also love my electronic stuff!

I would have thought some speakers with built in amps would be the way to go.

Look at the Epos Aktimate Range or Quad Active.

Also look at Genelec desktop speakers. they will gobble up your musical taste.

Adam Artist 3 or the 5 would be a good idea, just connect to them via USB. look fine as well.

Right that should keep you in research for an hour.
smiley-cool.gif
 
A

Anonymous

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I would suggest the active route as well

These would certainly get my attention: http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Epoz-Aktimate-Maxi/

Superb speakers and an all round great solution...

I've recently made an 'office system' for my home offcie with my old NAD C320BEE amp and some M/A BX1 speakers - Overall cost me £200 including cables and other bits...

It all depends on what you REALLY want and what you'd be happy with.

Do you want separates or would you be happy with an all in one system etc...

The CR603 isnt the smallest system in the world so you'd need to room to have that placed as well...
 

byakuya83

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Some active or powered speakers would be ideal, as suggested above. Audio Engine are good powered speakers with volume control. You can then add a DAC between the computer and speakers.
 
A

Anonymous

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Thanks for the quick replies. Much appreciated. Active speakers would actually be my preference; I didn't realise they were an option for Hi-Fi (I've only come across active speakers for monitoring). The speakers I currently are the Alesis M1 520 Actives (http://www.alesis.com/m1active520). They were downgraded from some Mackie HR-824's a few years ago.

The HR-824's were lovely speakers, but overkill for what I have now. Also, rather than present a neutral sound, I'd much prefer a system that colours the sound positively. The Alesis just don't sound very nice to my ears. I did demo some KRK Rockit RP6's some months ago which I thought we OK. The 6" woofer made all the difference.

Since I won't be adding a CD player / radio etc., since I can do all this through the computer, I wouldn't really look to seperates. Unless there's a relatively small amp that I can put by one of the speakers.

I'll be sure to have a good look at those recommendations this evening ;)
 

shafesk

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Dont discount the bowers and wilkins mm1. When I demoed them I was amazed at what they were capable of. They are also made for near field listening, have a built in dac and are active, perfect for your situation. They are also way under your budget. Amazing bass, forget the size...they surpise! This is not the lumpy bass I would associate with BnW speakers of the past, its fast solid and punch bass. I also second the above suggestions, the Aktimate Mini is awesome as well. You should also check out stuff from Audio Engine, they also have a matching sub, should you want to upgrade in the future.
 
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Anonymous

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Thanks Moon, hifilover1979, byakuya83, shafesk and datay.

Am I correct in thinking that the reason speakers with 4/5" woofers have been recommended is because anything bigger would not perform properly being placed on a desk and near to the wall?

When I demo'd the KRK Rockit 6's, I realised that it was the larger woofer (compared to the KRK Rokit 5's) that really made the difference. So going for a 6" woofer would have been my preference over my current 5".

This said, could I be better off going for something like the Epoz AktiMate Mini's and a sub (and running the sub at a lower volume perhaps)?

I wasn't too keen on the other speakers aesthetically, as they all looked plastic (at least when looking at the online photos). While the AktiMate Maxi's do appear to be the best options when it comes to sound quality and oomph, again I wasn't too impressed with the styling and have no need for the iPod dock.

The MM1's look great; however I'd be concerned about them being less able from the other side of the room. I'm also unsure how they'd perform when DJing?

It is possible to have great near field speakers that also perform well from a distance and give me a nice and full sound?
 
A

Anonymous

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Thanks again for everyone's help. I ended up going for the Dynaudio MC-15's.

MC15.jpg


I demo'd the Adam ARTist 5, AVI ADM 9.1, Dynaudio MC-15 and Dynaudio 110a. The Adam's were too clinical, the AVI's were nice but missing the mid-range separation I heard with the MC-15's and although the 110a's did sound very pleasant, they were too big for the room I wanted them for (and again, I actually prefered the sound of the MC-15's - which is a good thing given the price of the 110a's!).

I actually had a tingly feeling when I heard the MC-15's with tunes I had thought I new well, but obviously didn't! The amount of detail and clarity was exceptional. I did have concerns about the levels of bass they provide when I demo'd, but now they're home there's more than enough.

The dance music I play sounds amazing, but where I was expecially shocked was playing a few of Mr Bowie's tracks. Wow! I'm sure there are some more suprises in store and especially once I've sorted some decent stands and given them time to wear in.

Cheers ;)
 

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