Small speakers up close

I have discovered that small speakers up close are quite a magical listening experience.
I have a secondary system of old components, with some small speakers in a bay window cove. They are two way speakers, about six inches off the floor, angled up and towards each other, about 4 ft apart.
I sat on the floor between them and was blown away by the sound stage. I often hear about sound stage with headphones, but sitting just s couple of feet away from these was far superior to phones. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to many, but for those that haven't tried it, try it. Let me know what you think. I know headphones have a purpose, but I may listen this way more now than with phones.

 

That's really interesting. Are they higher end small speakers, or more general use?

 

Welcome to near field listening!

 

Speakers trounce headphones on any given day. I've recently installed a similar setup for my computer and am amazed at how good my new 2-way, 4¨ woofer mini monitors sound.

 

Mid- level speakers, not high end, not bargain speakers either. Though I bet good sounding bargain bookshelf speakers can still take on high end phones in some respects. The volume doesn't need o be high, the sound doesn't need to fill a large room, but the experience is intimate like phones, yet impressive like larger speakers at higher power/volume.

 

I should mention another benefit over phones. You can get the right soundstage by moving your head to find the sweet spot. I had to give up on phones for a few months when I had a water logged ear. I could have been listening to this setup and moved my clogged ear closer to the speaker to get a decent image.

 

Back in the mid 90s, I had a pair of NHT 1.1 bookshelf speakers. If I remember correctly, I was playing a George Duke CD and all of a sudden, it hit me....my first eargasm!! The NHTs were powered by a Sony integrated amp from a rack system. I was sitting about 3-4 feet, on an ottoman, and it was just sublime. Keep in mind that the NHT 1.1s were bass-challenged speakers and I didn't have any sub. I have trying to find the same level of audio bliss ever since.

 

You're not alone. Google "nearfield speaker setup" or something similar for lots of info.
-Bob

 

Near Field listening is very addicting!

I'm not sure if there is a cure for this particular addiction, I have tried...........

 

Using a near field setup due to there being too much crap in my computer room...such as the monitor and computer desk etc...and there was not a decent way to change things up so bought a pair of Blumemstein Orca Mini's that sit on either side of the monitor,a bout 2-3 feet away from me and I have an M&K sub in the corner and the sound is wonderous. I moved the Vienna Acoustic Bach's upstairs as I did not want to get rid of them just in case I ever get a great space to put them in

 

When I was a kid I had a very small listening room I build beneath the basement stairs in my parents house.

I sat on the one end wall and lined it with 3 big bean bag chairs. On the other wall was the stereo. The better later version had a set of Radioshack Minimus 2 6" 2 way speakers, a decent 45 WPC Radioshack receiver, and a decent Miracord turntable with a Shure cartridge.

Frankly it sounded amazing in that really small room considering the low cost. I spun many a record there as a kid.

It had red shag carpeting, day glow painted walls with a black light and a color organ light that flashed to the music, it was far out man!

 

Another +1 for small speaker, near field listening. I've been doing it with my main system for a very long time. Don't know that I could go back to further than 6' away from speakers listening for my primary system.

I actually haven't even set up my system after moving in May ... too busy, tired when I'm not busy, etc.. My new office/listening room is ~13' square, but does have an irregular French Doors on one side alcove thing that I hope will break up standing waves a little bit. I'm resigned to the fact that I'll probably want to get some treatments for this room, if I ever get around to setting it up.

Nearfield listening is a great way to possibly get away with NOT treating a room, if the speakers can be far enough away from walls etc.. My previous room was 13' x 23' with 10' ceiling, main speakers were ~4' from any wall (one side, the other side opened up another ~5' wide in a hallway) and about 7' from the back wall. I sat a couple feet behind the midpoint of the long dimension. Nice open soundstage, ambience going beyond the wall behind the speakers ...

 

Great story, but something tells me you're leaving out a detail or two. Some organic substance used to enhance those situations maybe.

 

Small speakers are great. I have recently moved house, and have had to mothball the 5.1 system that graced my (much larger) old study. I now have a pair of B&W MM-1 desktop speakers which are quite remarkable. I'm not getting much work done, but my iTunes library (mostly ALAC CD rips) is being thoroughly explored.

 

Agreed, headphones are good if you do not have decent speakers or so as not to disturb others. I have a decent set of headphones but I never seem to ever prefer listening to them over real speakers (just don't tell the folks over at Head-Fi I said that).

I have a couple of sets of Peachtree DS 4.5 speakers. They are also a two way speaker with 4" woofer. The are built like the proverbial brick you know what. When I hold one of the in my hand it almost feels like I am holding a 5lb diving weight as they have a very dense feel in my hand (they also weigh just over 5lbs each).

I have never heard a NF speaker this size weigh so much and sound so good. Talk about NF listening at its best. The 4" woofer is the same one as they, Peachtree, use in their more expensive D4's which retail for $699 (now selling for $599/pr). The 4.5's have retailed at $599/pr and are now being offered for $299/pr direct from Peachtree Audio, with a 5-year warranty. The silk dome tweeter is the same as they use on both their D4's and D5's.

I have a pair of the Era Design D14 towers which weigh 77lbs. and are only 37" tall, knock on these and your knuckles will think that they are banging against a tree trunk. The 14's have a pair of 5" woofers and I believe, the same 4" speaker for the midrange and the same 1" silk dome tweeter and these used to retail over $2K.

For $299/pr, I think that they are one of the best audio buys on the planet and you have a 30-day return policy if you are not satisfied. I would doubt anyone would return these, unless it was to move up to something larger.

 

Sometimes, I like to sit directly in front of a speaker and just listen to a single speaker cabinet. I have a La Scala and I like to lean back against the desk and listen to it nearfield. I find that it gives me a different perspective on the sound qualities of the individual speaker against the other speakers playing a more aggregate sound in the background.

I recently acquired a set of legacy EV Aristocrats and due to room being filled with speakers (and everything else), I just unboxed one cabinet and set it in front of the HT set up and took the speaker wire off of the right front HT/stereo speaker to power it. I like to sit about 3' from it and listen. It seems like the whole band is inside of the speaker cabinet.

Before I moved it out of the way, I had a Zu sub with two 15" front mounted Emminance bass speakers. When you sit 4'-6' away, there is this envelope of bass that surrounds you and it feels like the air around you just got denser, with the audio providing the extra weight.

 

Near Field will help mitigate SOME room issues.
It certainly does not fix all acoustic problems, not be a long shot.
Of course, thats if your concerned about such things.
If you are, dont fall for the "I dont have to treat my room because Im sitting on top of my speakers" BS that always gets thrown around.

 

It would help if you listed your equipment on your profile page, maybe even a picture.

 

I have a pair of AVI ADM9rst actives, though strictly not nearfield and I haven't set them up as such, when listening to them nearfield they certainly give the Sennheiser 650 a good run.

 

I'm going to do a comparison between near field with small speakers and headphones that are in the same price range. I really joy headphone listening, but have never had the sound stage impression that I get with near field speakers.

 

Magnepan Minis near field, which is what they are designed for, are far and away my preferred choice compared to my Audeze LCD-X's. But the X's are useful in moments that I do not want to disturb others or when exact detail is required.

 

I've done my comparison and I'm convinced. Near field beats phones for me.
Small speakers up close have a superior soundstage, comfort, and no listening fatigue.
I really like headphones, but unless I need to keep the music to myself, or need to shut out other sounds with closed phones, I will choose to listen to speakers. I can imagine spending two or three times more on phones, hp amp, and still being less impressed than near field listening to small modest two way speakers.