The Proac D2R is getting great reviews and is well within your budget. Might be worth a look.
Good luck
Good luck
~$6K mini-monitor recommendations?
Looking to upgrade my LS50. It is for a workstation using desk stands so looking for something small for nearfield. I also want to switch to something sealed or front-ported due to limited back wall distance. Right now I’m considering the 805 D3 and Raidho X1, I’ve heard both and like the X1 sound more but 805 has much higher WAF. Maybe stretch to Magico A1 but never heard any Magico. Harbeth 30.1 is on my shortlist as well. I don't need much bass extension, mainly care about mids/highs. Anyone else have suggestions? Thank you.
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Spendor D1 (discontinued) if you can find them. Dealer I bought my Spendor D1’s from is licensed Spendor and Kef dealer and told me no comparison between D1’s and LS50’s. Of course the Spendors are double the msrp, so there’s that, but still well below your $6k budget. Hard part is finding them new. I have Spendor D1 and SA1 (Spendor last two top-of-line mini monitors), and I find the D1’s to completely outperform the SA1’s in every way (but I am admittedly very partial to the LPZ in-house Spendor tweeter used in all D Series speakers as compared to the old 3rd party soft dome tweeter that the the Classics and A series use). Spendor and Kef are both of the BBC speaker lineage, so if you are looking for that classic Brit sound, worth a look. Note that both D1 and SA1 are sealed (acoustic suspension), so I use a subwoofer with both as there is not a lot of deep base extension, as you’d expect. I have heard the LS50’s but only casually; have never given them a serious audition so I don’t have a personal opinion on strengths/differences between the two, but my dealer had both as demo’s for years and had compared them over many different amp/source combos. |
What amp are you using and approx what are the distances the speakers will be from the desk/side walls/rear walls? Many of the recommendations you’re getting are totally wrong for nearfield placement close to boundaries! At least start with models designed for nearfield. From the pro world: e.g. ATC SCM12 Pro (passive), Focal Shape 65 (active). Harbeth P3ESR or LS3/5as should work, too, being sealed and very small. |
I own the Harbeth M30.1 and the Harbeth P3ESR. I think for your application the P3ESR would be a better fit. I have owned many of this type of speaker, Spendor, Kef, etc. and the P3ESR is my favorite of the lot. The KEF LS50 is not a BBC type speaker. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=harbeth+p3esr+review&view=detail&mid=5D7EB69CCEBBAAE793... |
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