Small Studio Monitor quality bookshelf speakers

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Cujet

Cujet

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I'd like a pair of high quality (good sounding) small speakers to be used as desktop monitors. Something with 5 to 6.5 woofers, but not too big physically.

My current set of monitor speakers are $30 5" woofer/poly tweeter cheapies. The lowest quality stuff purchased in a rush when my other ones lost tweeters. I've had to go crazy with the equalizer to make these sound OK.

I'm powering them by an external amp w/sub. But I could use powered speakers too, if they sound awesome.

Thinking of a set of Polk speakers to match my home system.

Thoughts?
 
Might look at Mackie not knowing price range hard to give high end recommendations.
 
Originally Posted by dave123
Might look at Mackie not knowing price range hard to give high end recommendations.


I'll consider anything $400 and under. Heck, I'd consider more expensive speakers too, but I'm not sure I prefer $1700 ones over $300 ones.

I don't want them too big though. My current ones are 10 inches high then 7x7 with 5 1/2 inch woofers. That's big enough for desktop stuff.

Ohhh, Mackie forgot about them! My mother used to work for them about 15 years ago. She loved the company. I'll ask her. Although she knows nothing about audio stuff. She worked a basic job there.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Cujet
I'd like a pair of high quality (good sounding) small speakers to be used as desktop monitors. Something with 5 to 6.5 woofers, but not too big physically.

My current set of monitor speakers are $30 5" woofer/poly tweeter cheapies. The lowest quality stuff purchased in a rush when my other ones lost tweeters. I've had to go crazy with the equalizer to make these sound OK.

I'm powering them by an external amp w/sub. But I could use powered speakers too, if they sound awesome.

Thinking of a set of Polk speakers to match my home system.

Thoughts?


I'm very fond of my Paradigm speakers, their bookshelf offerings are quite reasonably priced:
https://www.paradigm.com/en/bookshelf

You could also do B&W, their new 600 series is also reasonably priced:
https://www.bowerswilkins.com/home-audio/607
 
The little Polks signature S10 aren't bad but,

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-W0SWK...66Lef5wIVyJ-zCh0nPAF9EAQYASABEgI7pfD_BwE

I like the DALI Zensor best for the money

mid woofer material is the one most important sound quality ingredient
these Danish speakers use a magic mix of coarse wood chip and pulp + polymer blend.

You can check out

Zreviews - he records desktops and satellites them a quality high bitrate location recorder and good cardioid eletrets nearfield

look in his youtube info pull down under the video for the soundtest link

Really awful wierd music choices though.

the little cambridge A40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCxbToxH8Zw
 
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUqyUwKOljQ

polk signature 20

a little big for desktop at 8-9/16"W x 14-3/4"H x 13-13/16"D
_______________________________________________________

Crutchfield customer from Brea, CA on 6/10/2019

Verified customer
(What's this?)
Reading the reviews would give you the idea that these gems are for a surround system...possibly the front channel. While this may be a utilization, my application was to use them as main speakers for a computer setup where I would couple them with a powered subwoofer. Wanting to use them to reproduce good sound watching YouTube has not been a disappointment. Polk quality construction, excellent highs and good midrange, and a reasonable bass response are great qualities. These small bookshelf speakers will not disappoint you. I have the S20 version; and, obviously, they produce a better base...however, the highs and midrange are very similar. If space is a consideration, you will not do much better than these speakers. I would suggest coupling them with the Minx sub for a spectacular result. I would also suggest a minimum of 50 watts rms for a great clean sound. Everyone's taste in sound is so different depending on the type of music listened. These speakers are good for the jazz enthusiast or smooth jazz listener. Other speakers may suit the classical listener.

Pros: Exceptional build quality and very small footprint on the shelf

Cons: Not necessarily a good choice for classical music

__________________________________________________________




But they have the S15 and S10 in the 5" and 4" woofer size.



I think I would go 4" on a desk if not doing post production/mixing.

Me I have monitor headphones stuck to my head. Bass to 25 HZ and all the volume I want .
 
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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
The little Polks signature S10 aren't bad but,

From the Polk S series, I tried the S35 center channel speaker. Obviously this is just personal preference, but I found it overly bright with poor midrange and midbass. It went back to the store.

But I hear people generally like the S20 bookshelves. However, these are rear ported, so you should leave some room behind the speaker to avoid boomy bass. If your receiver has built-in crossover and you're crossing them over to the sub at around 80 Hz, this shouldn't be an issue though.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
The little Polks signature S10 aren't bad but,

From the Polk S series, I tried the S35 center channel speaker. Obviously this is just personal preference, but I found it overly bright with poor midrange and midbass. It went back to the store.

But I hear people generally like the S20 bookshelves. However, these are rear ported, so you should leave some room behind the speaker to avoid boomy bass. If your receiver has built-in crossover and you're crossing them over to the sub at around 80 Hz, this shouldn't be an issue though.





flabby and boomy bass on a desktop for sure. I still like the Dali Zensor 1 for 3 bills.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
The little Polks signature S10 aren't bad but,

From the Polk S series, I tried the S35 center channel speaker. Obviously this is just personal preference, but I found it overly bright with poor midrange and midbass. It went back to the store.

But I hear people generally like the S20 bookshelves. However, these are rear ported, so you should leave some room behind the speaker to avoid boomy bass. If your receiver has built-in crossover and you're crossing them over to the sub at around 80 Hz, this shouldn't be an issue though.




I auditioned PSB, Polk and Paradigm and I left the store with the Paradigm Monitor 11 S7's, as there was no comparison.
 
Originally Posted by Chris Meutsch
Check out ELAC speakers on Crutchfield.

+1

Elac UB5 is very well regarded. Just make sure you have a good amp capable of driving 4 Ohm speakers that are not very efficient.

Also, if OP likes Polk, Adorama currently has the LSiM703 on sale for $449. These are one of the most highly regarded speakers in Polk's lineup, alas, they're kind of big for desktop duty.

https://www.adorama.com/pklsm703mvc...ium=Affiliate&utm_source=rflaid62905


Some other speakers to throw into consideration:
- Emotiva B1
- Chane A1.5

There is a thread on AVS Forum where people discuss some more recent budget speaker options, just to give you some more ideas. Best thing to do is to try to listen to as many as you can before deciding since we all have different sound signature preferences, so going by other people's reviews doesn't necessarily guarantee a good choice for you.
 
Originally Posted by Cujet


Ohhh, Mackie forgot about them! My mother used to work for them about 15 years ago. She loved the company. I'll ask her. Although she knows nothing about audio stuff. She worked a basic job there.


Powered Mackie 524 vs JBL HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUhXtRk9W8


IMO, the above plastic and polymer fantastic don't hold a candle to the Dali Zensor 1 with a decent little amp.
 
caution - audiophile snobbery to follow ..

-
-
Elac and the Andrew Jones show on youtube.

Quite the buzz over the past couple years

IMO, fairly well acoustically designed and horrendously cheaply manufactured

not my value proposition.

Can you find a vintage a KEF reference 101 from the late 70's?

I had been enjoying vintage KEF 103.2 for over a decade -and better than Harbeth. and 250 bucks used.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions!!!! I'm heading down to the local store to see what they have.

The Dali's look good. Maybe a little big. (correction, they are the same size as what I currently have)
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Cujet
Thanks for the suggestions!!!! I'm heading down to the local store to see what they have.

The Dali's look good. Maybe a little big.



They have a model 1 and a 3 . The ones are small enough but a new line is out and soon to be unavailable.

I do like though "wood" woofers - ask any violin maker
smile.gif


Too bad no Mission importer here - or is there now!

Then Small JAMO too ....
 
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Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
caution - audiophile snobbery to follow ..

-
-
Elac and the Andrew Jones show on youtube.

Quite the buzz over the past couple years

IMO, fairly well acoustically designed and horrendously cheaply manufactured

not my value proposition.

Can you find a vintage a KEF reference 101 from the late 70's?

I had been enjoying vintage KEF 103.2 for over a decade -and better than Harbeth. and 250 bucks used.



Not all of us can afford nice things! Just kidding..........I'm happy with my ELAC's currently. It's been two years and they really sound great with my turntable and TV setup. I have one of their center channel speakers as well.
 
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