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Looking for powered monitors for desktop use

Doomguy
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Doomguy Contributor

Doomguy

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I'm looking to upgrade to some proper speakers for use at my desktop and could use any pointers I can get as I have essentially no experience with speakers or monitors. I've been getting by with the Swan M10s and relying on headphones for when I wanted something higher fidelity, but I want that to change.

My comfortable budget is up to $500 for a pair, though I could be persuaded to stretch a bit if it was worth it. I intend to add a sub in the not too distant future, I just have to pace my expenditure for now. Due to both space and cost constraints I'm thinking 5 and 6 inch models would be ideal, beyond that and it would be a bit of an awkward fit on my desk (my desk is not small by any stretch, but I have two screens and a sizey computer on it, so there's only so much room to spare). I don't currently have room for stands beside my desk, either. I would be using these purely for casual listening pleasure, I'm not doing anything critical or professional with them. Music is my primary concern with my bread and butter being electronic and metal, with some other miscellaneous genres on the side, but they will also be used for a bit of gaming, youtube and movies. My source is an AudioGD NFB15.32, which I can use to control volume, so I'll be outputting RCA but it's no big deal to just buy some RCA to TRS cables. My desk is against a wall and because of this I was under the impression that a front ported monitor would be beneficial, though I don't know if this is true or not.

A few of the new options I've been considering;
KRK Rokit 6G3 @ $435 a pair shipped (after ebay voucher)
Mackie MR524 @ $498 a pair shipped
JBL LSR305P Mk II @ $569 a pair shipped, however it includes a Nano Patch 2 which I could probably sell for $80-90 pretty quickly to bring me under $500. 

I'm also not afraid of the used market, though nothing I've seen on gumtree has been particularly impressive, mostly people asking too much lol. I'll have a look on the classifieds here and maybe make a wtb thread. Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but the desktop audio section is overwhelmingly headphone related so I thought it was better to ask here. Thanks!

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warweary Veteran

warweary

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I like desktop audio, its right there in ones face.

These little speakers don't need much room, so front porting is useful rather than essential i reckon. That said my Vienna acoustics are front ported.  Something to consider is a simple amplifier and passive pair of loudspeakers rather than actives. I run a Nad d7050 with a pair of subs and the aforementioned VA haydn grands and it works well. 

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Doomguy Contributor

Doomguy

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I've thought about going the passive route but I prefer the idea of actives for both simplicity but also the aforementioned space restrictions. Depends on how big and costly a good amplifier that can handle both speakers and a sub would be, I suppose. 

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rand129678 Veteran

rand129678

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32 minutes ago, Doomguy said:

A few of the new options I've been considering;
KRK Rokit 6G3 @ $435 a pair shipped (after ebay voucher)
Mackie MR524 @ $498 a pair shipped
JBL LSR305P Mk II @ $569 a pair shipped, however it includes a Nano Patch 2 which I could probably sell for $80-90 pretty quickly to bring me under $500. 

Nice options there.

 

See if you can store demo some Presonus active monitors too.

 

There's a few models within (or just a tad over) your budget:

 

https://www.storedj.com.au/studio-gear/studio-monitors/active-studio-monitors?FilterFeature=ProductFeatureNames.Name:eq:Brand,Value:eq:PreSonus&PageProduct=1

 

 

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Doomguy Contributor

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2 minutes ago, Snoopy8 said:

https://www.storedj.com.au/isoacoustics-iso-130-mk2-studio-monitor-isolation-stands-small-pair

Highly recommended to use these, makes a big difference to desk monitors. Yes, additional hit to budget but worth it...

Thanks for posting this! I was actually wondering if something just like that existed to be able to get the monitors at the right height. 

3 minutes ago, Music2496 said:

Nice options there.

 

See if you can store demo some Presonus active monitors too.

 

There's a few models within (or just a tad over) your budget:

 

https://www.storedj.com.au/studio-gear/studio-monitors/active-studio-monitors?FilterFeature=ProductFeatureNames.Name:eq:Brand,Value:eq:PreSonus&PageProduct=1

 

 

Do you have some experience with the brand? Funnily enough there's a guy nearby trying to sell some Eris E8s brand new for $490. The only reason I didn't jump at them was just due to the size probably being a little big for my desk.

4 minutes ago, blakey72 said:

Maybe add these to the list. Haven't heard them but watched and read some positive reviews. Shouldn't need a sub either.

Link appears to be wrong?

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rand129678 Veteran

rand129678

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5 minutes ago, Doomguy said:

Do you have some experience with the brand? Funnily enough there's a guy nearby trying to sell some Eris E8s brand new for $490. The only reason I didn't jump at them was just due to the size probably being a little big for my desk.

I've heard the Eris E8.  I had a chance to hookup my Chord Hugo2 (acting as a pre-amp also with it's remote control digital volume control) to hear them and I enjoyed it.

 

I've seen some music producers use them.

 

They take balanced XLR, balanced ¼” TRS, and unbalanced RCA line-level inputs.

 

Edited by Music2496
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blakey72 Grand Champion

blakey72

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18 minutes ago, Doomguy said:

Thanks for posting this! I was actually wondering if something just like that existed to be able to get the monitors at the right height. 

Do you have some experience with the brand? Funnily enough there's a guy nearby trying to sell some Eris E8s brand new for $490. The only reason I didn't jump at them was just due to the size probably being a little big for my desk.

Link appears to be wrong?

Yeah sorry.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/46614/edifier-s3000-pro-active-2-0-bluetooth-bookshelf-speakers

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Doomguy Contributor

Doomguy

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1 hour ago, Music2496 said:

I've heard the Eris E8.  I had a chance to hookup my Chord Hugo2 (acting as a pre-amp also with it's remote control digital volume control) to hear them and I enjoyed it.

 

I've seen some music producers use them.

 

They take balanced XLR, balanced ¼” TRS, and unbalanced RCA line-level inputs.

 

Yeah, RCA in will be most convenient for me. 

58 minutes ago, Music2496 said:

SoundOnSound liked the smaller E5's:

 

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/presonus-eris-e5-e8

Seems like he doesn't think the E8 are really any worse, though considering this pair I've found for the price I have, I can't help but feel it's a good deal. A good $200 less than new from the store, and $100 less than what storedj want for their own open box E8s. I'm gonna chase the guy up and see if they would include a receipt. He said he's willing to demo them so I'm strongly leaning towards giving them a shot. I did the measurements on my desk and they'd be a bit of a squeeze with very slight overhang off the edge of the desk, but I could fit them. 

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Snoopy8 Grand Master

Snoopy8

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1 hour ago, Doomguy said:

Thanks for posting this! I was actually wondering if something just like that existed to be able to get the monitors at the right height. 

The link was for the smallest stand.  Please check the weight of your monitors to see whether you need to go up to medium. 

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Doomguy Contributor

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1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said:

The link was for the smallest stand.  Please check the weight of your monitors to see whether you need to go up to medium. 

Yeah, I noticed that. It's gotta be said that they are pretty eye watering by comparison to the far more economical 'foam slab' style isolation pads that are widely available. 

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Snoopy8 Grand Master

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1 hour ago, Doomguy said:

Yeah, I noticed that. It's gotta be said that they are pretty eye watering by comparison to the far more economical 'foam slab' style isolation pads that are widely available. 

The Isoacoustics are much better and removes the smearing of instruments. Your call on whether to adopt them...

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Doomguy Contributor

Doomguy

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I probably will as I like the look of them ergonomically, being able to adjust to the specific height I want them is something I was thinking about being able to do, but I also appreciate that they don't increase the footprint of the monitors the way the foam slabs typically do. But because of the price, I probably won't get them to start. We'll see.

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sleach Experienced

sleach

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I had a pair of Adam F5 monitors for nearfield listening. The sound was great and the imaging was excellent. I auditioned a bunch of monitors and found that these and the similar Eve audio were most pleasing to my ears.

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