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desktop speakers

Neil P

pfm Member
What do people do about small speakers on their desktop? My desk is 60 cm deep, and any bookshelf speaker near the back will have about 35cm of desk in front of it for the sound to bounce off. Small speaker stands?
 
I use a couple of those foam speaker stands music gear places sell that slightly angle the speakers upwards, with a few inches of magazines underneath at least until I sort something better out.
 
I just bought some Isoacoustics stands a couple of weeks ago. Height and tilt adjustable. Was a little skeptical given the cost but they definitely made a positive difference compared with foam pads previously, much better. Surprisingly the volume seemed to drop significantly, so have had to turn it up!
The latest desk iteration:

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With the foam blocks I still get some lower frequencies using the desk as a sounding board, those look interesting.
 
Also moved from foam pads to the 155 Iso. and noticed a worthwhile improvement.

You can get a deal from Pro Audio shops on occasion and also Juno via eBay. There are posh versions but apart from being silver can’t see how they differ/beat the cooking versions.
 
To answer your implied question I don't think you can do much about desk reflections other than to try to EQ them away. Studio monitors will often have a dedicated knob for it (mine do) but otherwise since you're presumably at a computer when listening anyway you can use DSP.

Otherwise you'd have to look at some kind of physical absorption

I have my monitors up on isoacoustics stands and while they're great for vibration they do nothing about reflections.
 
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What do people do about small speakers on their desktop? My desk is 60 cm deep, and any bookshelf speaker near the back will have about 35cm of desk in front of it for the sound to bounce off. Small speaker stands?
Raised the speakers - ear halfway between tweeter and woofer. Use sealed enclosures (ProAc Tablette 10) sitting on some quietpc acoustifeet anti-vibration feet. (stuck to the surface below, not stuck to the speakers) Very few speakers will work fine close to a wall, cannot stand the cheap "computer speakers".
 
I have found that using speakers that work well about 30cm from the back wall, putting them on stands to bring the tweeter to ear height and toeing them in worked together to give the best sound for a desktop system.

Finding speakers that worked really well in the nearfield was a surprising random process. I tried lots of speakers, including LS3/5AS and meridian M30's, before accidentally alighting on a pair of tiny rear ported AVI Neutrons courtesy of Facebook marketplace.

I use fisual dynami desktop speaker stands, which are relatively cheap.

You will also use your mono switch and balance control, if you have them.
 
I popped a soundbar on the wall of my small study. Takes v little space, sounds better than the desktop speakers I used before.

Tim
 
What do people do about small speakers on their desktop? My desk is 60 cm deep, and any bookshelf speaker near the back will have about 35cm of desk in front of it for the sound to bounce off. Small speaker stands?

My entire audiophile journey is about finding the perfect desktop speakers.

The only way to avoid reflections meaningfully is to eq it off. Desktop reflections are usually at 140hz iirc but it depends from desk to desk.

Speakers like eve audio has in built desk eq. Alternatively you can use rme adi-2 dac or computer software eq to eq it off.

My advice is to ignore desk reflections. I find room reflections and distance to speakers more problematic than desk reflection.

For such short listening distance, driver integration is a problem. Use 3-4inch woofers or concentric designs.

Don't waste time on 5 inches
 
I'm just hovering over the buy button on some ISO 155 stands for my powered monitors, £90 (inc postage) for some plastic and poles is triggering my miserly tendencies ;)

Edit: Ordered, will give some feedback later in the week, I was sat working and could feel the bass through the desk while typing so will give them a go.
 
What do people do about small speakers on their desktop? My desk is 60 cm deep, and any bookshelf speaker near the back will have about 35cm of desk in front of it for the sound to bounce off. Small speaker stands?

I hung mine off a shelf above the desk using a couple of angle irons - set them slightly toed in - perennial problem permanently placated ;)



Hifiset2019a by mik tec, on Flickr
 


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