What desktop speakers are you using?

[Things change I've changed]

I disagree heavily. The amp is fine, especially at the distance I use. I know this because I've also tested the LS50W which is self powered and I could barely tell a difference from my passive LS50s when I had turned the DSP bass boost off on the LS50W (so they got returned).

The D3045 is 50w per channel of stable power - that means at any ohm dip it stays 50w, unlike most other amps. Plenty of power. The Aria 906's actually dip down further than the LS50s do.

As for the B&Ws, you really just need to look at their frequency graphs - they're absolutely awful if you want an accurate sound. B&W employs a house sound that is very much hate it or love it. I tried some 685's in the past and knew I hated their house sound.

The main thing that gets me about the LS50s is they have a very characteristic bump in the 2-3KHz region that is an infamous fault of the tweeter KEF uses. I've been used to it for quite some time and simply wanted to try a speaker without that bump.

See these listening windows comparison graphs:

Aria 906:


KEF LS50:


The Aria is much smoother in the treble region compared to the LS50 (fewer large bumps are better), which a very slight more warm bias (although both are still considered bright speakers).

And here is the 705 S2 (couldn't find a graph for the 706 but it will illustrate what I mean):


B&W loves doing that to their speakers and I absolutely hate it.

First and foremost as I said, I knew you would disagree, but 100% that amp is not getting the best out of those speakers, otherwise that amp is the only amp anyone ever needs!, that amp is not magic, it has it's limits, if your looking at £1000 inefficient speakers then that amp is going to be a weak link in the chain, I have not met one human being that would agree that a 50w amp is getting the best out of the LS50's, they are known to scale incredibly well with higher end amps and clean power, they suck it up and they open up amazingly, more air and the bass comes through better.

I do agree that B&W have that 'House sound' I have a few of their speakers, but that has changed quite a lot with their new generation of speakers that use the continuum drivers, interestingly that video I posted the reviewer also wasn't a fan of the B&W 685's either.


edit -

This what the LS50's can do with a proper amp,

Obviously I'm not saying go out and grab a 4 grand amp but it just shows how well the LS50's scale.

 

[kidloco]

So far, so good. They're quite a 'bright' speaker, so the signature isn't too different from the LS50s - they're just not as metallic sounding and a fair bit smoother when it comes to trebles. I found the LS50s could get muddied and painful if there was too much heavy treble instrumentation going on; I'd need to dig the LS50s back out to make a proper comparison though which I'll do closer to the end of the month (it took me around a month to get used to the LS50s when I first got them). However, I already expected this from the frequency graphs that I looked at.

Bass is obviously noticeably greater. The LS50 has almost none in comparison while these dig down a fair bit more.

Tweeter dispersion is also superb. The LS50's are point source so for desktop usage like I am doing you shouldn't be able to get better than that - yet I don't feel I'm losing anything with the Focals. Moving my head around I cannot really tell a difference in the highs and even when I'm moving around the room there aren't any real big dips in the highs until I move to extreme angles. In short, I can barely tell a difference from the LS50s in that regard.

If I do decide to keep them, I think I'll plop for a black gloss finish though. Seems to be universally preferred and I did like that on the LS50s.

I have them in black gloss and they have a really great finish.

my only issue with them was that at low to moderate levels the bass was a little wanting.

I fixed this by getting a Rel T5i which after a bit of tweaking blends in seamlessly. It just makes them sound fuller.

 

[Tephnos]

Well, I entirely disagree about the whole amp debacle as it is.

Power is power. Wattage literally doesn't matter unless you use it. How much am I using at my desk before I blow my hearing? Probably a few watts at most. Why would I need hundreds of watts? It's an insane misunderstanding of what an amp does.

What matters is how the amp can handle fluctuations in the load - this is irrespective of whatever wattage an amp is. I can definitely tell you that the NAD handles fluctuations perfectly, because the signals that draw the most power (the bass ones) play just fine. Wattage is not the final word in the quality of an amp's ability to drive speakers. Damping factor is a much better metric to look at.

Cost doesn't mean anything in audiophilia, except to justify why someone should spend more needlessly without knowing much about how their gear actually works under the hood, IMO.

Now in what situation would I need a more powerful amp? When I have a much bigger room and need the power to project sound further. I simply don't need that at my desk.

In either case, you didn't comment on the fact that I had LS50w's side by side with the LS50s and still could barely tell a difference with the built in EQs turned off. You can't get more perfectly amplified than the LS50w.

 

[Tephnos]

I have them in black gloss and they have a really great finish.

my only issue with them was that at low to moderate levels the bass was a little wanting.

I fixed this by getting a Rel T5i which after a bit of tweaking blends in seamlessly. It just makes them sound fuller.

Yeah, expected. Bass is always the first to go on any speaker when the volume is turned down. Some amps have a 'dynamic EQ' functionality that boosts the bass as the volume is lowered to counter that.

 

[Drizmod]

Creative MegaWorks THX 2.1 250D that I bought around 15 years ago and are still rocking today!

 

[Somnambulist]

Had a pair of Event Opals I've been using for a few years, wouldn't mind something less industrial-looking and with a built-in DAC and various other modern features, but for the price I got them I don't think I'll be able to get anything better for a long time.

 

[dfour]

An old set of Logitech G51. Brilliant speakers for the price I got them for and there age.

 

[Vince]

I'm using a pair of kef hts2001's they do the job for what I use them for. Old but decent little speakers.

 

[Seearbe]

I'm using some Alesis M1 Active 520 which are nearfield studio monitors. Work great at close range and you can get the sense of volume without disturbing the family, although they crank if you need them to.

I'm now contemplating getting a cheap 2.1 system and using them to create a 4.1 setup, keeping the monitors up front and the cheap speakers as rear surrounds.

 

[SonicSW20]

An "old" Denon S81 system:



Got it cheap (half RRP) about 10 years ago, great for the money at the time.

 

[Zeebedy]

Logitech G560 RGB Speakers and sub-woofer.

 

[rhysduck]

Just a pair of Sony Playstation Wireless headphones

 

[DrCheese]

Still use my Z-5500's I bought wayyyy back in 2006! - Only have the front 3 hooked up and the sub. I toy with changing them but honestly I struggle to find anything half way decent...

 

[fobose]

Creative MegaWorks THX 2.1 250D that I bought around 15 years ago and are still rocking today!

Love it! Recently had to retire my set as the right or left speaker would stop working until I left the power to the sub off for a few minutes. Still have them sitting in my spare room waiting for me to take them apart to see if I can see a dry joint somewhere!

 

[ToTheMax]

Still use my Z-5500's I bought wayyyy back in 2006! - Only have the front 3 hooked up and the sub. I toy with changing them but honestly I struggle to find anything half way decent...

Loved my Z5500 before something blew in it couple of years back. The standby power on it is outrageous though, something like 30w for it doing nothing fyi.

 

[jcr]

i have focal xs speakers and a xonar essence sound card. give off a great sound.

 

[AndreWright90]

I still haven't invested in a good pair of speakers but for the time being I am using the logitech Z313's with a subwoofer under the desk. For €50 I cannot complain at all, sounds great for the price.

 

[Ninco!]

Q Acoustics 3020i Bookshelf Speakers.

Great speakers cost/performance, more than enough for my needs.

 

[andy_mk3]

I've got some Edifier R1600T Plus speakers, had them for many years now. I'm no audiophile but the sound they produce I really cannot fault for what I use them for.

 

[Demon]

With a budget of £500-£600 I ended up with the following:
2 x DALI Zensor Pico - Small 'desk' sized speakers (great of near field listening) - £120 (Now replaced with the DALI DALI SPEKTOR 1 for the same price)


Paired with a TEAC A-H01 DAC/AMP (Uses the B&O Ice Power Amp) - On Sale at £115 at RS (Bargain!, RRP was £399) - The NAD C3020 v2 is a good alternative for £299 (in the black friday sale!), obviously the NAD C3045 above is better but it's £499)

Then added a sub (BK Gemini II) - £239



Perfect for me, these really gel together and give me everything I want in a setup and crucially work for all music genre's I listen to (which is quite a range!)..

My advice is go to all teh HiFi shops and ask for recommendations, then audition. I know you may worry they will flog you something they can't get rid of, but in reality they will probably give you an amp/speaker combo that just sound notably better than anything you would come up with yourself.