Well I think this applies to all speakers, but they will always benefit from an ideal room… you’d need enough space for treatment, convenient placement of doors/windows/ac/etc., an even spread of room modes/standing waves, left/right symmetry… Having said all that, we’re sometimes stuck with what we got and it’s a compromise we have to live with. Alternatively, any room can be improved (unless you got a cube for a room).
So although nearfields are more flexible than other speakers, they are not exempt from the same problems that “regular” speakers encounter. Hope that helps!
My first HiFi setup was in my room in my parent’s house. 15’ x 15’ Cube, one window, one door, folding door closet, each in a different wall. I’d never heard the term “Nearfield”, but I learned how to position speakers to make them work well in that cramped space. That experience served me well in setting up the speakers for my nearfield.
Nearfield means setting up speakers such that the majority of sound that reaches you is from the speakers directly, with a minimum of sound from room reflections.
Such a setup is done specifically to remove room issues as much as possible.
I’m not sure what you are meaning when you say nearfield. Maybe you have a different goal in mind.
I can’t agree with that statement, there are plenty of cases in my opinion. However, it is not just headphones Vs speakers, it headphones Vs speakers + everything else surrounding you.
Yes, that’s my goal, to eliminate as much of the room as possible, since I’d have to move my speakers to different rooms throughout the year. I just don’t know how possible it is to minimize the effect of the room.
The wildcard in all this is what will sound satisfying to you, rather than what is perfect or recommended.
I’ve had a high-ish end speaker setup and have heard large, high-end setups.
But due to life circumstances, moving around and available room I also know that I can be satisfied with an a/v receiver and entry-level bookshelf speakers - as long as there is some flexibility to put the speakers where they need to be in the room.
If you have to put one speaker in the fireplace and another in the corner then no amount of money spent on speakers is going to rescue that.
If you can get bookshelf speakers out into the room, several feet from any walls, and have your listening spot so that your location and the speakers are roughly an equilateral triangle, you have a good shot at a workable nearfield setup. The speakers will disappear (ie you don’t hear sound coming from them individually) and you have some amount of imaging and soundstage in front of you.
Are you going to have bass down into the sub-20’s and realistic orchestra sound levels in a large room? No.
But you will have the sound outside your head and in the room. This might be enough of a different experience to be satisfying even if in absolute technical terms you could get more from headphones with the same budget.
That elusive $1400 check is burning a hole in my mind. I know I can’t concentrate at work listening to headphones, so my current fantasy is Schiit Modius and Aegir, powering the Mini Maggie system. Maybe I do need nearfields somewhere. I think I’ll do it when I hit production level 4…
I have a pretty good setup here in my “fun” room. I use an ADI-2 DAC to connect my speakers (near field Genelec speakers/subwoofer) and a switch box connecting an Audeze LCDi3 IEM (heavily EQed), Focal Clears, UM MEST IEM, and Hifiman Ananda.
So let the contest begin! Weeks go by, drum roll, conclusion.
I love every single one. I switch between them based on mood, music, how many beers. I’ve become a speaker, IEM, and headphone agnostic. They all have differences that don’t make a difference. What they all have in common is that they sound damn good!
One important lesson learned. Switch em up if you want to keep the sound fresh. Not listening to something, but something else, for a few weeks and switching back makes a particular device sound brand new. EQ it to something new and it is new.
As many of you know I’ve been lusting after a pair of Magnepan .7’s for my office, as I sit here alone with first no sound, and now sound produced by my Rectilinear XI bookshelf speakers which scream 80’s as Coppertone, Harvest Gold, and Avacado appliances scream 60’s.
Called Underwood today - I’m about an hour from their store in TAX FREE Wilmington DE. https://www.underwoodhifi.com/
And pulled the trigger on the .7’s. Now for a 2 month wait.
Underwood said that the “special acrylic base” isn’t in the catalog anymore, apparently after it was discovered to be a bit unstable in that there are no screws attaching it to the speakers, and had some damage do to speakers falling over and stands digging into them.
I went for off-white grill cloth and silver aluminum trim. Apparently all trim options are now included. I have darker wood furniture in my office, so Cherry was an obvious choice, but dark woods are not real popular now. And there is some silver aluminum trim on my whiteboard.
Probably will try to hide/route wires in molding around the office floor.
I tried to avoid calling some whom I knew were following the thread. No the flowers aren’t standard, and their presentation is a bit dry. I have a few more lush plants in the office. Nothing that will get the company in trouble, although Hempfield Township is across the street and Hempland road a half mile away.
Well the Underwood guy has this plan where I bring the better half along to pick them up, and he sells me the 3.7i plus a bass panel for our living room.
