~$6K mini-monitor recommendations?
I owned the Raidho X-1s for a stretch. They are amazing when listened to at a distance, spaced 9’ apart and with 2-3 feet of clearance behind them. If setup isn’t perfect, they are not a special speaker. Just because a speaker is not rear ported does not mean distance to back wall is irrelevant. What is your projected distance behind the speakers? What about spacing between them? |
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. |
