What desktop speakers are you using?

RSR · 20 Sep 2019 at 22:25

I run Monitor Audio Studios and I can't fault them at all.

agw_01 · 20 Sep 2019 at 22:55

aoaaron said:
thanks. do you thinkt he xls 200 would be good for action? i mainly want it for gaming and explosions.

How big is the room?

I run a Cambridge Azur 640A powering some Mission 731s that I've had for years. The room isn't big but I have them on stands in the corners of the room and above ear level, they sound pretty good.

Also got a Schiit stack and some Senn HD25s for headphone duties. Wouldn't mind some HD650s though.

Marsman · 20 Sep 2019 at 23:02

Stewart Mclean said:
The Edifier S2000 Pros arrived this afternoon and apart from a couple of signs they've been opened and returned I cannot believe I got them for £239 !!
I've not gamed with them yet, just been messing about with some music tracks and they sound so good. So happy with them, even though I may have pulled overclockers pants down with that deal !!

That's fantastic. They do look like nice speakers and £160 is a great saving.

Shame there is no subwoofer output for those who might want to add one; but maybe that is something Edifier don't include on any of their speakers.

aoaaron · 21 Sep 2019 at 00:48

Marsman said:
That's fantastic. They do look like nice speakers and £160 is a great saving.

Shame there is no subwoofer output for those who might want to add one; but maybe that is something Edifier don't include on any of their speakers.

Actually no. The 1850DB has a subwoofer out which is why I suggest them to anyone who asks for speakers from edifier.

Stewart Mclean · 21 Sep 2019 at 02:06

Yeah I wasn't overly worried about adding a sub and I don't think I'll miss not having one. The optical input & built in bluetooth was more of a priority for me.
As i said i nearly ordered the S1000DB for £299 before I found these by complete (and so far happy) accident.

Wegason · 23 Sep 2019 at 22:43

Has anyone had any experience of utilising a soundbar plugged into a DAC or their speaker output for use on a PC? I have under monitor space i'd like to use and given i rarely use speakers was thinking a soundbar would be a better use of space than large bookshelf speakers.

Deleted member 77746 · 24 Sep 2019 at 11:00

Philtor · 25 Sep 2019 at 22:55

JBL LSR305 studio monitors. Love them

Ryan Boyd · 28 Sep 2019 at 19:15

Been using Creative T10s for around 2 years great for the desktop plenty of bass and nice mids, trebles fine.

Ryan Boyd · 28 Sep 2019 at 19:18

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-I...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000WQIKJ0

Len Dananey · 28 Sep 2019 at 21:44

I use the Razer Nommo Chroma THX speakers, I have RMA'd them 3 times so far with the exact same connection issues. Have an email from Razer saying they know there was an issue with certain batches sent out. This is my 4th set and had them 3 weeks, so far so good. However, when they do work they are fantastic for what they are. Usually I am using my Arctic Pro Wireless headsphones though, epic and by far the best audio experience I have had. I have 7 different pairs of high end headphones.

Mr Plow · 29 Sep 2019 at 00:15

The sub on my Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX that I bought around 2003 died a couple of years ago so I bought a Denon PMA-50 amp and a BK Gemini II sub and run the original Klipsch speakers to the amp which connects to my Asus Xonar D2X soundcard via optical, very happy with the setup.

Tephnos · 10 Oct 2019 at 21:58

Demoing some Focal Aria 906's on a whim to see how I get on with them.

willhub · 11 Oct 2019 at 10:56

For my PC I have it next to my TV so it's CEOL Piccolo, 2.1 - Wharfedale 9.1's and a BK Monolith + for the sub.

[TBR]MadMark · 13 Oct 2019 at 17:51

Creative Gigaworks g500, had them for years although had them repaired a few years ago (the gel like cooling material had become conductive and it had to be removed). But when the Mrs wants peace and quiet I use a pair of Creative H7 tournament edition headphones.

kidloco · 14 Oct 2019 at 01:15

Tephnos said:
Demoing some Focal Aria 906's on a whim to see how I get on with them.

I have them in my main music system in my living room. How you getting on with them ?

Tephnos · 14 Oct 2019 at 01:52

kidloco said:
I have them in my main music system in my living room. How you getting on with them ?

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.

Things change I've changed · 14 Oct 2019 at 09:04

Tephnos said:
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.

You probably won't agree with what I'm about to say but your amp is definitely letting the LS50's down, they really are not that efficient and they suck up power dipping down to 4 and 5.3 ohms in some tests, they need a meaty power supply and lots of juice, I've listened to them a few times and really wanted them myself but my amp just wasn't up to it.

I really recommend you try out the new B&W 606, or B&W 706, but @ the 706's price range you really need to think about a better amp.

I've been following this chap for a while, he has tested many speakers, LS50 being his favourite for many years.

Fluffybob · 14 Oct 2019 at 09:17

Logitech G51 5.1 system, I just get the wifey to turn the telly up downstairs

Tephnos · 14 Oct 2019 at 16:59

Things change I've changed said:
You probably won't agree with what I'm about to say but your amp is definitely letting the LS50's down, they really are not that efficient and they suck up power dipping down to 4 and 5.3 ohms in some tests, they need a meaty power supply and lots of juice, I've listened to them a few times and really wanted them myself but my amp just wasn't up to it.

I really recommend you try out the new B&W 606, or B&W 706, but @ the 706's price range you really need to think about a better amp.

I've been following this chap for a while, he has tested many speakers, LS50 being his favourite for many years.

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.