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Help Me Choose or Confuse Me More

Hello All

I need some help. I have tried asking this elsewhere but need a group of well-rounded, more brand-agnostic opinions. 

Moved into my home office when covid hit. I needed a quick set up, because it was temporary. Now it's not temporary. So I'm upgrading some things.

I'm in the command chair about 15 hours a day. I'm on video conference meetings an average of 5 hours, the rest of the time is split between music via Tidal, or Amazon Prime TV. So I'm either paying attention to meetings, working on docs projects/sending or answering emails/approvals or projects while listening to music or background TV. 
 
Current Set Up: 2017 13" Macbook Pro > Samsung QN50Q80T > eARC Out > Certified 4k 2.0 USB-C to HDMI > Bluesound Powernode 2i > Kimber 4VS bare wire > KEF Q100s on SoundRiser Pro stands and a Rythmik F12 sub crossed at 80hz sitting in the corner. The home office was a spare bedroom at 11'2" x 9'11" with 8' ceilings. I've added moderate room treatments about 60 sq ft with some bass trap in the ceiling corners. I've gotten a bigger desk 74"W x 39"D and use a desk-sized mouse pad to help with reflections. Also hardwood floors, but I put a runner rug down with carpet pad underneath. 
I am nearfield at the desk, about 36" - 40" from tweeter, and usually the phone dB meter is between 55-65 dB.       

Upgrades Coming: Mac Mini (more ports and faster guts) and NEW SPEAKERS. I just don't know which ones.

Short List (in no order)...
Kef LS50 Meta - about $1500. I like the Q100s but know there is better. The LS50 folks love them, but is there THAT much difference from the Q100 to the LS50 Meta?  
Harbeth P3ESR - $1500-$1700 range used. The Harbeth folks love them, but historically I haven't loved standard 2 way speakers. Something about sitting distance and time alignment.
Omega CAM - about $1500. I had a pair of the Super 3i about 5 years ago and liked the sounds, but had them in my man cave system and they weren't big enough for the room. The Omega alnico guys love them, but I'm not going to use tubes for 15 hours a day.     

Even given the sub I have I wouldn't describe myself as a basshead, but some highs are very unpleasant to me. After a recent hearing test I'm out at 15KHz.

What should I get? ≤$2k and used is ok. I do not live in a part of the country where I can go listen, basically 2+ hours from anywhere.  
128x128mpschenck
mfmncrew
4 posts
 
Please do keep us posted. If I ever come across a pair of The P3’s I will definitely give them a listen.
I have a similar (slightly larger) office setup. I have a Peachtree 125se running a pair of NOLA Boxer 2. I have not found the need to move a sub in there and I have one available to do that if I choose to. I stream Tidal and sometimes a track will distract me because I just feel “wow, that sounds good”. The Boxer 3 has an improved cabinet design over the 2 series. I am considering upgrading.
If you ever have a chance, give them a listen. 
desktopguy
342 posts
 
To O.P.: If you mentioned distance from back of speakers to back wall, I didn’t catch it. And that distance really matters in a small home office.

My home office is maybe 13’ x 13’, but a large double closet bump-out makes it more like 11’ x 13’. I’ve had 6 pairs of monitors here: started out w/3 pairs of powered monitors, but gave up on those. I’m on my 3rd pair of passives. I’ve always had a single sub (current sub is the excellent JLAudio e110).

I learned 3 important things in my system:

1 - Sealed/acoustic suspension speakers work way better than ported ones (the speakers are only ~1 ft from back wall, actually a large picture window w/blinds always down. All 3 passive monitors are sealed, and the bass seemed relatively unaffected by proximity of the back wall.

2 - Speakers that feature a musical/merciful upper midrange & treble are way easier to listen to hour after hour.

3 - And you needn’t look only for speakers advertised as nearfield speakers.

I really hit paydirt w/the passive ATC SCM12 Pro monitors. These sealed monitors are pretty big, but the sound is impressive: very good sound even at low volumes (that’s unusual), and when I crank it...wear a football helmet.

I just upgraded to a vintage pair of KEF 103.2 monitors--also sealed, even larger. They were never intended for nearfield use, but they are excellent in this office. Really fine sound. As amazing as the ATCs are here, I think I prefer these vintage KEFs. I cranked them for the 1st time yesterday and was astounded at how well they boogie. They also sound very good at low volumes, almost equalling the KEFs in that essential attribute.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
dbphd
1,624 posts
 
I usually use the Ayre VX-5 Twenty (175 watts@4Ω, 350@8Ω) with KEF Reference 1s, but I briefly tried it with the LS50s. I was surprised how good that pairing sounded. I noticed the same thing when I switched from a Parasound A21 to A23 amp, the LS50 just didn’t sound the same. They seem to need a good amp to shine.

For practical purposes the LS50s have sufficient in-room bass for most music. Add a couple of subs, and you have a very nice full range setup.
mpschenck's avatar
mpschenck OP
11 posts
 
So I bought a pair of P3ESR Sesames in black last night, and went a little crazy and ordered an NAD M10 as well. I figure I spend about 90 hours a week sitting here so I might as well have what I want.

@ mfmncrew
Will do!

@ desktopguy(good name BTW)
The Q100s are pretty close, about 2" on the closest corner with a lot of toe-in, BUT they are front ported and I have an acoustic panel mounted on the wall behind them. Also, I’m be able to keep the Harbeths a bit further away since they are 2.75" less depends than the Q100s. A couple of things about the sub. I own 2 12" subs the Rythmik and an SVS SB-12, but I like the Rythmik more, I figured why not drop it in here. I have it crossed over at 80Hz and with the volume so low I actually very rarely "hear" them. The only times I know it even on is usually watching sci-fi, BladeRunner 2049 and the most recent season of The Expanse stand out in my memory.
I will say, I have been been ogling some matching small REL subs for the corners, but maybe that’s just dumb.
soix
8,967 posts
 
Congrats!
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