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Super near field monitor recommendations

jamington2004

pfm Member
Thinking of giving up on IEMs which I have used last year or so - but have started getting some tinitus so want to make sure it doesn’t get worse.

So might go to some near field monitors in my office space - maximum 75cm to 1 meter away for listening at moderate volume.

What’s the best way to spend £2-£4K and blow my mind? :)

Preferably active / even digital active like mini Kii Three kind of things?

Look forward to some ideas to get me going.....
 
Thinking of giving up on IEMs which I have used last year or so - but have started getting some tinitus so want to make sure it doesn’t get worse.

So might go to some near field monitors in my office space - maximum 75cm to 1 meter away for listening at moderate volume.

What’s the best way to spend £2-£4K and blow my mind? :)

Preferably active / even digital active like mini Kii Three kind of things?

Look forward to some ideas to get me going.....

For the budget I would be looking at 5.25"-6.5" 2 way or coaxial 3 way plus a 10" sub under the desk. I used to have a 4" 2 way without a sub at my desk which was fine for background but when I wanted to listen in the foreground and raised the volume to standard levels it was asking too much. Perhaps a sub crossed above 80 Hz would have been sufficient but if it was me I would go up a size or two on the midwoofer driver. Raise the speakers well off the desk to ear height and isolate from the desk (a large efficient sounding board) if the speakers are not mounted to a wall.

Neumann is a brand I would consider and if you look at the distortion vs SPL data for the kh-80 and kh-120 you will see confirmation that a 4" driver is too small for normal use. At 1m, standard levels and 20 dB headroom for transients you are looking for a clean output of 105 dB but with 100 dB perhaps acceptable. The 4" driver fails this for all frequencies below about 1 kHz whereas the kh-120 with a sub will deliver clean 100 dB levels. Genelec also supply well designed and manufactured products.
 
For me the crucial thing would be to find something that sounds satisfying at low volumes. You don’t want to be turning it up or it’ll just aggravate your tinnitus. I have this very issue in my home office.

I’d be looking at smaller DC Tannoys. The coaxial arrangement means they remain completely coherent even very close-up and they can sound full-bodied at low volume.
 
Stirling LS3/5A V3 is THE one to blow MY mind but I’m old school and still believe a separate amp is better than a amplifier integrated in a loudspeaker.
An entry level Naim or a little Croft integrated depending on your preference would make them sing if the impedance makes them enough easy to drive.
 
Super near field?

Something with a waveguide, preferably co-axial. Genelec One series would be my first choice, followed by the KEF LS 50 (no, not active) Meta. The smaller Neumann monitors might be worth considering too.
 
Loads of good ideas all thanks - from £800 a pair Neuman - to £4K Genelec One :)

It’s actually made me think - i reckon it’s the sound pressure of the IEMs that have caused the issues.

And I had RAAL SR1a “earfield” monitors before that I absolutely loved but moved back to IEMs for portability. surely they would be the same as nearfield monitors in relation to damage to my ears / sound pressure?

I mean that for the same perceived sound level in my ears - it’s the same for my ears having a pair strapped very near my ears at low volume vs 75cm away at a higher volume?
 
It’s actually made me think - i reckon it’s the sound pressure of the IEMs that have caused the issues.

And I had RAAL SR1a “earfield” monitors before that I absolutely loved but moved back to IEMs for portability. surely they would be the same as nearfield monitors in relation to damage to my ears / sound pressure?

I mean that for the same perceived sound level in my ears - it’s the same for my ears having a pair strapped very near my ears at low volume vs 75cm away at a higher volume?

A problem is that headphones tend generate clean high SPLs without creating distortion or adding room resonances. Perceived loudness more closely tracks an average value than a peak value. From my example above, an undersized 4" driver in a small speaker flattening the musical peaks will likely be perceived as louder than a 5.25" driver preserving the peaks because of the added distortion. Similarly room resonances will tend to increase average values and perceived loudness particularly if it is strong enough to be an unpleasant boom. It is why we need to be a bit more careful with high volumes from headphones than most speaker/room combinations.
 


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