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Looking for a Quality Desktop Solution

Holiday greetings to my fellow audiophiles.

I am hoping you have some suggestions to complete a desktop audio system for my home office.  I run Roon in my main two-channel system and have a MRendu as a streaming Roon endpoint I'd like to use as the start for this system.  So I need a DAC/Amp and either powered or passive small form near-field monitors since I don't have a ton of space on my desk.

My budget is 3K.

Thanks,

David

decal
ghdprentice
7,158 posts
 

I use Totem Mite speakers and a small Matching sub on the floor. They are beautiful and sound terrific near field. Natural and detailed. You must be very careful in a desktop situation not to have a noisy system or harsh  speakers.

 

 

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
993 posts
 

This could work for amp.  Plenty of $$ left over for nice speakers.

 

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
993 posts
 

There are a pair of Quad S-2 over on usaudiomart for ~$1K. I had the S-5 model for about a year and rue the day I sold them. Still looking for another pair until this day. Might be a good solution for the recommended "Behind You" config.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/quad-s-2-loudspeaker-page-2

soix
9,675 posts
 

On a desktop in the near field I think the KEF LS50 concentric driver topology makes a lot of sense. If you get the powered version you might be able to just plug in your Ethernet or streamer and be done. Best of luck.

jdoris
972 posts
 

I've been happiest with single driver in desktop type application.  No driver integration issues, and they can sound good at low volumes.

 

 

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