Nearfield Speakers

Look at some of these for ideas…based a little bit on what you asked for and power available at your fingertips. My own recommendations are based on brands i have some familiarity w/ not necessarily these exact items. There are hundreds more as you well know but these fit your area and equipment as per specs. The falcon at 15 ohm and 86db are just not a particularly good match w/ your amp IMHO. I’m sure others will offer alternatives soon. :+1:

https://devorefidelity.com/devore-fidelity-speakers/orangutan-series/micr-o-speakers/

4 Likes

Here is a local group i like to visit often looking for niche items that catch my fancy. Decent people, never had any issues w/ folks that i have dealt with. More ideas and opportunity for you to research.

Not sure if this the right thread but wanted to post here before creating one. I am pretty new to 2ch world but what would be good names/models to look for if I wanted examples of highly efficient nearfield speakers, say to be powered with an amp putting ~3.5Wpc into 8ohms.

If we are talking about nearfield 2 channel, not on a desktop here are some of my recommendations.

Klipsch Heresey, Decware Tube Tots or T6, Various Omega models, surprisingly, various open baffle designs i can speak to great experience w/ the Spatial Audio M4 triode masters.

I have used 1.75 watt 45 monoblocks on my Spatial audios, Heresey and Omega with satisfation.
The Tube Tots perform better w/ some more juice 6wpc is good.

The Decware T6 is being built to play w/ minimum 2 wpc and seems like a nice speaker but i don’t have hands on experience w/ it.

Ideally try to look for speakers w/ 96 db sensitivity or more.

I also really enjoyed the Devore baby O’s and Ojas horns in a small space. Those are past the $5k price point and harder to get your hands on but worthy contenders :pinched_fingers:

3 Likes

Oh, the simple single driver Ojas is available, i heard the one with the horn added on top but this one is pretty damned great too and as long as you feed it more than 3 wpc should be good to go.

1 Like

One last pricey model i have seen used nearfield is the Voxative standmount. The AF 2.6 is 99db efficient.

The Decware T6 is where i would spend a few minutes researching more than some of the others. He built that little speaker to play with his 2 watt amp and is offering it at a reasonable price.

2 Likes

don’t you mean our Spatial Audio M4?

1 Like

Yes dear…:rofl: the Spatials are shared speaker’s with dual shared custody.

1 Like

Thanks for the suggestions Nick. I have seen Klipsch Heresey and Forte mentioned in some places but when I go look at specs, they usually mention maximum wattage of 100wpc but not minimum so I wasn’t sure what was ideal. I’ll do some more digging.

Warning on the Heresy, they are a bright speaker and can also “get in your face”. They take allot of work to position well. I swear though, they WILL disappear and image like demons if you get them placed properly and will work well within 5 feet of your head in the triangle. My preference is to use tube equipment with them. The midrange has a particular quality that not everyone is a fan of, it’s well known as having a tendency to be “shouty”. I’m a fan of the quality, only you will know your own preferences though.

That stat you want to look for what the manufacturers efficiency rating is dB @ 1 W @ 1 Meter. A lot of vendors use a voltage 2.83 @ 1 M but it’s not as universal and not as accurate IMO due to speaker load variance. Anyway, what you do is use that dB @ 1 watt rating as your starting point.

Say a speaker is 86 dB rated @ 1 Watt @ 1 M. You start with that and double the wattage for every 3 dB up. So that 86 dB efficiency speaker would use 2 watts to play at 89 dB, and 4 watts to play at 92 dB and 8 watts at 95 dB and so on.

So a speaker that has a higher efficiency rating of say 96 to start with will play as loud with 1 watt as a speaker that has an efficiency rating of 86 dB at 8 watts.

So for a lot of people, say speakers that are VERY efficient, say 99 or 101 dB, an owner may never play them with more than 1 watt of power. That’s why Nelson Pass has his line of First Watt amps, because of saying goes, the first watt is the most important.

With that formula you’ll be able to get relatively good sense for all speakers. Granted you have to know what 70 dB sounds likes and what 90 dB sounds like. But the other rule is that 10 dB higher is double the volume. So 100 db is twice as loud at 90 db.

2 Likes

Oh, i almost forgot about the Tekton speakers. There is some value to be had here and we have some current sales on the mid-sized towers. Here is another smaller speaker that will perform with you wattage preferences, built to play within your parameters. They have several options and are reasonably priced with many reviews to give you a better idea of their character and performance.

Check these out too…do research though, don’t take my word i have NO hands on experience with Tekton.

“Thanks for the suggestions Nick. I have seen Klipsch Heresey and Forte mentioned in some places but when I go look at specs, they usually mention maximum wattage of 100wpc but not minimum so I wasn’t sure what was ideal. I’ll do some more digging.”

Ok, so understand something, the low power game is not for everyone. Most speakers prefer wattage, good wattage tube or solid state or even a mixture. Once you start hitting 96 db sensitivity or 100+ db sensitivity the rules change a bit depending on the speaker and set-up. All of my speakers that are 96 db sensitive and higher require attention to the set-up and feed. Anything beyond 100db actually need you to know what you are doing. Noise and hiss WILL become a factor, sensitive speakers will amplify and let you hear everything in your chain, the good and the bad.

I have set-up my rooms for low power, high dynamic performance. I listen at only certain times to maximize quiet and low background noise produced by the house and daily activities. My living room can get as quiet as 28db, best i can measure. That’s really quiet as far as ambient noise goes. I will listen to music at under 45db…that’s really low volume. I value soundstage and holographic presentation more than frequency response and tune my systems to maximize the qualities i most prefer. I play music to emphasize the strengths i desire, genre based, and album specific.

I have not asked you details on your equipment or room, recommendations have been based on the very limited wattage you specified. Wattage this low has limitations, allot of them… i made the assumption you have experience in the game and are well aware of the sacrifices and particulars of low power. :man_shrugging:

5 Likes

These are all good things to know. I am fairly to new to 2ch and will be setting this up in likely a medium to small-ish sized room which is why I thought nearfield listening would be better for me. I might eventually get dedicated speaker amps but for now I would start with my Studio B which puts about 4W into 8ohms.

Ah, very good info to know, I have used the studio B to power speakers, near field and midfield in a room is fine, it’s actually really good, it helps take allot of the room acoustics out of the equation.
Really high sensitivity speakers worked best w/ the Studio B. 96+ db sensitivity in my experience. You will have to make custom speaker cables, not hard but they will be needed. If you try to use a subwoofer, the Studio B will take ground feedback which can be heard through the HP taps. To use HP’s if you have a sub hooked up you need to actually disconnect the speaker taps to be on the safe side.
If you have a budget for them the Devore Baby O’s would sound really nice with that amp.

I have used my studio B with my K-horns, no complaints, if i were the type to have one system, that would be an easy multi-use combo to live with. :pinched_fingers:

1 Like

I have got to write up the Decware Tube-Tots, I have procrastinated on these for too long and shipping times are starting to extend as more people learn about them and try them out. Decware hasn’t fully sold 100 pair yet but they are almost there, maybe after the next batch they will surpass 100 pair sold.

New under $1400 shipped, they look good to me, they are fairly small and work great as stand-mounts in both my large and small listening rooms. Despite what Steve claims they really do need at least 6wpc and have no problem when fed quality watts at over 100wpc.

These things scale, period. :flushed: No matter how expensive the front end feed i give them, I honestly don’t feel i have yet found the end of their abilities. Every fine nuance they can reproduce, they are so very easy to blend w/ a variety of subwoofers i have tried on them, you can bi-amp the little buggers, they feed well with tube, class A and Class A/B power. They adjust slightly and will take well to each and every DAC i have mated them with. They are rear ported and their bass output can be enhanced based on room placement, they don’t need allot of room yet don’t get lost in a large room. I have enjoyed them on various genre’s to include modern Rap and EDM which is not normal for this style of speaker. They are fast and tight, really tight but can show some bloom when called upon. The only genre i felt was meh at best was large orchestral pieces, this type of music really requires the big boys, really large speakers IMO.

They don’t have tweeters, if you need to have your ears pierced on the highs these are not for you, they don’t lack a wonderful top end, but for those that require air and highs that exceed 12k there are much better models of speaker available. They don’t pound out bass nor have an extended bottom end, again other makes are available that will do better there. They do have quality bass, beautiful detail in the depth they are able to reach. My preferences center around a beautifully represented midrange and they shine exemplary here and they do this for what’s considered “cheap” in this hobby.

They are small and easy to ship if you get bored of them and decide you want to sell them off later on. Keep this in mind when purchasing speakers, big speakers are a harder sell. They are solid, like rock solid…tapping them you can tell there is heft in the material and build. They have one feature i personally disliked and changed, the little brass bar steve uses to connect the 2 binding posts does not allow banana plugs the full depth they need to seat well and you also can’t easily use spades or bare wire with these little bars in place. I replaced the bars with high quality jumpers and have not looked back.

Happy to answer more detailed questions if need be. These are keepers for me, plain and simple. Spend what your wallet allows, i really like nice things too, I swear though these little, very simple speakers are well designed and can probably satisfy most folks who are looking for great sound within a reasonable budget for an average living space. :man_shrugging: :pinched_fingers:

Ok, i feel better now, i dislike it when i sit on little hidden gems and don’t speak out but insist on just hoarding the joy for myself😬



11 Likes

Someone asked me if i was over-hyping this little speaker and its performance in a private message. Not really, it’s performance in my home has been excellent, though i’m happy to recommend a “better” speaker, some folks can only find value relative to the amount of dollars spent, for you I’m happy to point you to the below 2 speakers.
We all have our own sense of value, i would happily trade up my Little Tube tots for the Voxative Hagen Monitors in keeping with a speaker with a similar theme.

I would also happily recommend this Ωmega monitor;

3 Likes

I was looking at the voxativ hagens but with the lack of reviews out there and the freq range cutting off at 60Hz, I decided to pass. It does look like a serious speaker but too much to go in blind.

I know there’s some debate on whether or not a desktop setup is a “nearfield” setup but currently the distance between me and my speakers is about 4’ which I would consider “nearfield”. I still don’t have a ton of distance behind my speaker but I’ve added some 4" bass panels to help with any bloat.

Has anyone tried ATC speakers for nearfield? I was looking at possibly going for the best they offer the SCM20p and hopefully be “done”

Finally made the decision and bought an amp for the Decware Tiny Radials I won from a Schiit Meet back in April. The setup I am using is my Mystique Evo B4B 21 > Nitsch Magni Piety > Schiit Rekkr > Tom Stanley’s Tiny Radial Speakers. The guy who made them for a special prize at the Schiit meet told me this, “Also I took actual Decware mini radials in on trade for a pair of mine and I prefer the sound I achieved. DecWare tells you how to build them but I modified their design. Same drivers of course.” So far, I am loving it, but want to wait for my subwoofer to come in to really test them out at a different placement where my Polk R200 is at. Might also want to look into an anti-vibrating stand for them because they are vibrating my entire desk and my carpet floor even without a subwoofer lol.

10 Likes

Some constructive suggestion, take the left speaker off the cardboard box. If you are worried about height find a brick or something not hollowed out, and not paper.

7 Likes