I need a little help picking my first 2.0 speakers :)

[Chocolot]

Hi everyone!

Nice to meet you all. I've decided it's a good time to properly dip my toe into the audiophile world after sitting on the side-lines and watching for quite some time but kinda need a lil advice from the audiovets as how to proceed.

I'm looking to set up a new passive speaker system to run from my PC (and eventually maybe add BT in the future etc) . I already have a pair of (active) Edifier 360dbs and I do love them however they do have faults that are quite annoying such as a relentless bass and a terrible remote (like, the worst remote I've ever seen, wtf were they thinking?).

I've always had 2.1 set ups but I want to focus on clarity for this set up, more specifically, really great mid-ranges from a 2.0. I like bass but I don't ever really feel it's the part of music I crave when I'm listening.

So far I've been considering PC (optical out)> Topping E30ii (optional to bypass the eh Yamaha DAC)> Yamaha E-S301.

I have no interest in bass heavy songs really and so rarely listen to any rock or metal etc.

---

For reference, below are some of the types of tracks I mostly listen to. (sorry for all the Clair Obscur tracks, it's literally the perfect OST and fits my average listening quite well).

I seem to heavily favour female singing voices in case that's relevant? The high pitched strings of violins not getting distorted and really piercing the msuic is so pleasing to me too (see around 3:50 of Une Vie A T'aimer below for instance):

Clair Obscur: Aline

Claire Obscure: Une vie à t'aimer

Clair Obscur: Alicia

Attack On Titan: Zero Eclipse

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

With all of this in mind, I'm looking for a pair of 2.0 speakers that will really, really focus on the mid-ranges and highs rather than floor shaking bass. I want to be able to hear as many details as possible while really getting a new appreciation for good soundstages etc. I am looking for a speaker that 'wows' not with bass or pure loudness but the sense of depth, clarity and 'feel'. I hope that makes sense?

They will be on my desk by my monitor so technically near-field and at a toe in. About 30cm between the backs of the speakers and wall. With this in mind, I won't need crazy high volumes.

I'm happy to spend up to (around) £500 on the speakers alone to start with. I know I might not get a top of the line super amazing speakers at that price but I'm an audio peasant so to my uncultured ears I'm sure they will be good.

I've been looking at these speakers as options:

• Elac Uni-Fi 2.0
• elac Debut 3.0
• Elac Debut Reference DBR62
• Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2
• Dali Oberon 3 (apparently sound great but poorly made with cheap comps?)
• Triangle Borea Bro2 (heard great things and then...mixed things)
• Wharfedale Diamond 12.1
• Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary Editions

With the songs above as reference, I'd really appreciate either the best pick from the above or a speaker you think would be a better pick.

Thanks alot everyone!

 

[vomitcoffin]

I just made a very similar post the other day (I'm also shopping around for a passive nearfield set up). Unfourtunately I dont have much firsthand experience with any on you listed. A friend owns the Elac debut b6.2 speakers, I believe. And I didnt recall being very impressed, though they certainly didn't sound bad. I'd add KEF to the list, if your buying new - I thought for the money q150/350 both sounded great, and while the centered tweeter driver array should give a wide/filling sound, i think they are both rear ported, so may need to play around with placement on a desk.

I think you could look at older ADS, like L400 (L200 or L300 similar too) - its high on/top of my list after owning some of larger models, as I really enjoy their crisp imaging and non-fatiguing sound. I almost want to stop talking about them as they are harder to find now...

 

[aeberbach]

Have you looked at the Adam Audio T5V monitors? These are powered monitors but they are perfect for desktop use. Balanced or single ended connection. I am impresssed with the sound from these things, I think they have a clarity in the upper range that no desktop speaker I have tried can match. I don't think they need a sub and don't touch controls on them after initial setup. Audio Science Review

One of the reasons I ended up here is that onboard PC sound can be pretty bad - the kind of bad where you hear noise modulated with the contents of the screen or mouse movement. When you are running single ended connections around near monitor power supplies and power cords and all the other mess at the back of the PC it can be very noisy. So you probably want an external DAC, perhaps the one inside an audio interface. Then you're going to need an amplifier and for best noise rejection you want balanced connection between them. I went through all this then decided that it just made sense to have the amplifiers in the speakers. The side benefit of using an audio interface is mixing. I mix sound from two computers, one phono (Schiit Skoll - balanced, again) and I have room for one optical/coax input. That can be my CD player or Sangean Net/FM tuner. On the whole it's a lot easier.

 

[Chocolot]

I just made a very similar post the other day (I'm also shopping around for a passive nearfield set up). Unfourtunately I dont have much firsthand experience with any on you listed. A friend owns the Elac debut b6.2 speakers, I believe. And I didnt recall being very impressed, though they certainly didn't sound bad. I'd add KEF to the list, if your buying new - I thought for the money q150/350 both sounded great, and while the centered tweeter driver array should give a wide/filling sound, i think they are both rear ported, so may need to play around with placement on a desk.

I think you could look at older ADS, like L400 (L200 or L300 similar too) - its high on/top of my list after owning some of larger models, as I really enjoy their crisp imaging and non-fatiguing sound. I almost want to stop talking about them as they are harder to find now...

Hi!

Thanks very much for the info there.

Super interesting you didn't like the 6.2s. Elac certainly seems to have a divided experience with it's listeners...more so than other brands it seems?

I'll certainly look at the KEFs you mentioned! I've heard good things about the 350s but haven't really checked them out for some reason.

I haven't heard much about the ADS so I'll see if there are any around and check out some reviews

 

[Chocolot]

Have you looked at the Adam Audio T5V monitors? These are powered monitors but they are perfect for desktop use. Balanced or single ended connection. I am impresssed with the sound from these things, I think they have a clarity in the upper range that no desktop speaker I have tried can match. I don't think they need a sub and don't touch controls on them after initial setup. Audio Science Review

One of the reasons I ended up here is that onboard PC sound can be pretty bad - the kind of bad where you hear noise modulated with the contents of the screen or mouse movement. When you are running single ended connections around near monitor power supplies and power cords and all the other mess at the back of the PC it can be very noisy. So you probably want an external DAC, perhaps the one inside an audio interface. Then you're going to need an amplifier and for best noise rejection you want balanced connection between them. I went through all this then decided that it just made sense to have the amplifiers in the speakers. The side benefit of using an audio interface is mixing. I mix sound from two computers, one phono (Schiit Skoll - balanced, again) and I have room for one optical/coax input. That can be my CD player or Sangean Net/FM tuner. On the whole it's a lot easier.

Hey!

I haven't actually checked those speakers but I will check them out now, thank you!

With regards to noise, I'm hoping I'll be okay. I have a high-end mobo, the Z490 Aorus Xtreme (bit older now but it's been great for 5 years now). The motherboard itself has a rear end DAC with a Texas Instruments TI OPA1622 onboard amp and I've not noticed any interference to any speakers I've ever connected it to however I have only connected them to active speakers.

The PC luckily has an optical out which I was hoping to feed into the Topping E30ii and then into a Yamaha E-s301. Hopefully this may be reasonable enough to get them sounding reasonable from the PC?

 

[aeberbach]

That little Yamaha looks very good - maybe you could even get away without the Topping, PC direct into the optical input on the Yamaha?

 

[Chocolot]

That little Yamaha looks very good - maybe you could even get away without the Topping, PC direct into the optical input on the Yamaha?

I've heard good things about it, especially the loudness control being a great addition. I was looking at the Denon PMA600 too but people suggested it was considerably warmer.

 

[twiiii]

To do it correctly you have to go where the speakers are and personnally audition them live with the music you like. When I traveled in a RV full time for 15 years we were always stopping at great dealers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I don't do that any more but when I went to see the kids I toped in 8 or 9 different shops to audition speakers. The most surprising was the new Klipsch Jubilee bi-amped. But for me and my smaller space Klipsch Cornwall would do. But I'll stick with my Mcintosh line arrays as the reach an octave below a Cornwall and don't have that pesky overly forward horn sound. Now line arrays are forward for sure. But its not the same as a horn system.

 

[Bill S]

Triangle Boreal BR03 are very nice. Don't know if you have the space for them. Sparkly highs and mids with good bass. They image great. Pretty efficient as well. Have fun.
Bought for my son but I'd pick up a pair in a heartbeat.

 

[coonmanx]

To do it correctly you have to go where the speakers are and personnally audition them live with the music you like. When I traveled in a RV full time for 15 years we were always stopping at great dealers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I don't do that any more but when I went to see the kids I toped in 8 or 9 different shops to audition speakers. The most surprising was the new Klipsch Jubilee bi-amped. But for me and my smaller space Klipsch Cornwall would do. But I'll stick with my Mcintosh line arrays as the reach an octave below a Cornwall and don't have that pesky overly forward horn sound. Now line arrays are forward for sure. But its not the same as a horn system.

Agree 100% with this. Unfortunately there just aren't that many stereo shops around these days. Seems like everything is sold online. But listening is key.

I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to also look at some YouTube reviews if they are available as well. Especially if they are doing some measurements. But this is a hard one. Someone may like a speaker and then you get them and don't find them to be as great. So what do you do then?

Right now I am listening to some Robin Trower "Bridge of SIghs" with my late 70s Scott 166 speakers. And they sound very good. But good luck finding them these days.

 

[Chocolot]

To do it correctly you have to go where the speakers are and personnally audition them live with the music you like. When I traveled in a RV full time for 15 years we were always stopping at great dealers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I don't do that any more but when I went to see the kids I toped in 8 or 9 different shops to audition speakers. The most surprising was the new Klipsch Jubilee bi-amped. But for me and my smaller space Klipsch Cornwall would do. But I'll stick with my Mcintosh line arrays as the reach an octave below a Cornwall and don't have that pesky overly forward horn sound. Now line arrays are forward for sure. But its not the same as a horn system.

I wish I could. There's very few local shops near me that sell the speakers I'm looking at. It's either all Sonos stuff or £4000 speakers which are far too refined for my ears . I might be able to afford the cables for those ones but that's it haha.

Triangle Boreal BR03 are very nice. Don't know if you have the space for them. Sparkly highs and mids with good bass. They image great. Pretty efficient as well. Have fun.
Bought for my son but I'd pick up a pair in a heartbeat.View attachment 3593740View attachment 3593741

I was indeed looking at the BR03's but heard the BR02's might be closer to what I was looking for. I'm certainly not against looking at the 3's though if you've had such good experience with them !

They are a little bigger than I was looking for but tbh if they're that good I'd find a way to make them fit haha. Thank you for the suggestion and pictures, I really appreciate it.

 

[Bill S]

I wish I could. There's very few local shops near me that sell the speakers I'm looking at. It's either all Sonos stuff or £4000 speakers which are far too refined for my ears . I might be able to afford the cables for those ones but that's it haha.

I was indeed looking at the BR03's but heard the BR02's might be closer to what I was looking for. I'm certainly not against looking at the 3's though if you've had such good experience with them !

They are a little bigger than I was looking for but tbh if they're that good I'd find a way to make them fit haha. Thank you for the suggestion and pictures, I really appreciate it.

Should be able to find a place in Europe that has them to listen to. Not much bigger than the 2.0. I just moved my son to a new home and set up his gear in a bigger room than where he had them before. They sound great there with a 30 wpc Marantz.

 

[Chocolot]

Agree 100% with this. Unfortunately there just aren't that many stereo shops around these days. Seems like everything is sold online. But listening is key.

I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to also look at some YouTube reviews if they are available as well. Especially if they are doing some measurements. But this is a hard one. Someone may like a speaker and then you get them and don't find them to be as great. So what do you do then?

Right now I am listening to some Robin Trower "Bridge of SIghs" with my late 70s Scott 166 speakers. And they sound very good. But good luck finding them these days.

Yep that's been my problem. I've watched SO many youtube videos but like you said, what sounds 'good' is subjective. It's kinda why I posted the sort of music I listen to and then type of sound I like, so that people with the experience of the speakers I'm edging toward may be able to nudge me in the right direction. The problem with youtube videos is many of the reviewers disagree with each other haha. Not only that but there does come to a point where information overload kicks in. You have a choice of one or two speakers in your mind and then some tier list gives you a very good reason to add 10 more to the 'short' list haha.

For all of it's faults, Amazon's return policy does help with buyers remorse more than a local store might. A small pro but one that's still there I guess.

 

[Chocolot]

Should be able to find a place in Europe that has them to listen to. Not much bigger than the 2.0. I just moved my son to a new home and set up his gear in a bigger room than where he had them before. They sound great there with a 30 wpc Marantz.

I'll keep looking. I'm in the UK, Dorset based and Google suggested a high-end premium store and a HMV to me haha .

Great to hear the Br0's getting so much love. They were my first speaker shortlisted after I realised the Edi S3000s were the size of my car.

 

[coonmanx]

Those Elac Debut 3.0s seem to get good reviews... I think Erin is a good reviewer because he also does measurements.

 

[coonmanx]

This video hits a few of the ones you have listed...

 

[Bill S]

Guy I know bought the Elacs and Triangles. He returned the Elacs. Audio Science Review took a look at them and concluded they sounded great but didn't measure up to their sound. Shows you it's all subjective. Trust your ears I say.

 

[coonmanx]

Emotiva XB2 get really good reviews... They were in that last video that I posted. Also a review of them by Erin here and a comparison to the Elacs...

 

[coonmanx]

One of the issues is what you can get since you are in Europe. Would hate to recommend something that you can't get there. For example I have no idea of you could get something like this and shipping to Europe could be expensive and not worth it...

 

[coonmanx]

Personally for me, if not using a subwoofer, I would not want to go with anything smaller than a 6.5" woofer. I live in apartment so those Scott 166 speakers are what I generally use to listen to music. The bass won't be disturbing my neighbors. But at the same time I do want a bass guitar to sound like a bass guitar. And for me that sweet spot is a 6.5" woofer. It can do the bass well without it overpowering the music. Which is what I think that you want. Just a thought. Anything smaller than that size for the woofer and I think you would be absolutely needing a subwoofer.