Do you have a reference? I couldn’t find anything explaining why this would be.
Phantom center is definitely one of the reasons why I think speakers provide a better experience than headphones. The fact that I can close my eyes and actually visual the singer right in front of me instead of split between my left and right ears makes the music much more believable.
Placement can affect a lot of other things which is why people are very hesitant to go speakers and believe that headphones is all they really need. If someone has a desk that can accommodate speakers, I would encourage them to try some small nearfield speakers in a small triangle just to see what happens.
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That was a typo - should have read “aren’t rear ported.” I fixed the post.
Front ported or sealed allows the speaker to be placed closer to a room boundary in that it’s less likely to excite a room mode in the bass frequencies due to the air/sound exiting the port and reflecting off the wall. If it exits the front port or is a sealed design, it lessens the reflection, though you then have to worry about chuffing.
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I have a prior relationship with Starke Sound and had an opportunity to get them that wouldn’t come up again.
My desk is pretty small, so I put them on stands behind my desk. They’re gorgeous and would look equally great being on top of someone’s desk if you have the room.
No, they don’t need to be far away from the wall. This specific model is intended to have the ability to use as a mounted, on-wall speaker if the user decides to get that version.
I run some Harbeth P3ESR bookies on my desk. SVS 3000 Micro under. Purifi based class D amp. And EQ set after I did some basic measurements with a UMIK1 and REW.
Sounds excellent!
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Everyone’s hearing is different but it’s hard to imagine someone not having a completely different experience listening to speakers compared to headphones. They might prefer one or the other but they would be different experiences.
My thing with desktop speaker setups is you’re partially hosed before you start since a desktop is a lousy environment accoustically.
Ideally you don’t want anything in the space between the speakers but usually you have a monitor (or 2 or 3) there. You also have the reflective desk surface and your head is not too far from the desk.
It also depends on your goals/needs. I find I can have an enjoyable setup for listening while at the desk by using speakers with 3" full-range drivers. It’s not intended to fully recreate a concert hall or go down to 20hz but does image, is not fussy about setup and doesn’t have any major flaws that detract from the experience.
I’m using these now: Kanspea 3"
If you’re producing music that you sell and depend on the income to survive you might have different goals and things get more complicated.
I guess this doesn’t help all that much but deciding what your goal is ahead of time can help set expectations and lead to a happier ending.
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While I agree that the desktop setting can be lousy, it’s not too different than a living room with a TV in the middle of your speakers. Even with these limitations, I think speakers can present a very good image and natural presentation to the music that headphones can often have trouble with. For someone who predominately listens to music with vocals, I haven’t found a headphone that can replicate the phantom center. Comfort is a big advantage to speakers as well.
My goal is really to continue to move up to hopefully get better bass, soundstage, details, timbre, etc etc. However, I know just like headphones, speakers also have pro and cons as you continue to pay more. Sometimes you’re just paying for the finish or just the brand name. I have not heard any full driver bookshelf speakers but they do interest me. One that I came across that seem to might work well nearfield was the raffai audio bantam. It’s very new so there’s not really any reviews on it so I’m unwilling to blind buy it.
This is a useful observation to keep in mind. It’s also why I have lower expectations with my desktop setup, and why I don’t want to spend big $ on a setup.
We’ve covered a quite range of speaker options here, from $ to $$$$ 
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Oh no, I have never bought them. I heard them once, I am just saying they are small nifty speakers. Price wise, performance and size were the only reason I recommended it.
I feel like it would be better to get decent speaker, and invest money into amps. Guessing you got plenty of dacs.
Onto your second comment, I think phantom center is one thing. But it’s the entire sound stage. I wouldn’t say my separation is amazing, and it definitely does fall apart when it gets busy.
I started with headphones, then home theater. Using my AVR to listen to music in stereo I really enjoyed the experience much more.
I still use headphones almost daily but it’s down to probably 20% of my total listening time. Far less than when I first started and honestly only enjoy headphones with cross feed. Since I favor stereo listening.
I think from home theater it’s the visceral experience. Right now when I listen to movie soundtracks on roon in stereo it’s like good god. It is way more clear and far more impactful. Makes me realize why streaming is crap, audio wise at least. A 4K player provides a lot and I do not have one.
Also the entire wall of sound. I wouldn’t say it’s holographic, but feels much larger. Just like home theater the immersive aspect.
Like dune for instance, and I feel my speakers have great dynamic range even for a semi budget setup. My main listening room houses my home theater, and separate stereo speakers for music. My stereo speakers are better, yet the whole multi speaker home theater deal is probably more power and provides “walls” of sound front left and right.
But as stated, I see that equally important as lowering jitter, is speaker placement. Also I have better time alignment with my speakers by leaning all my towers back. I measure all the corners of my speakers from each edge to the wall to make certain they are spot on maybe minus 1/8th of inch error.
It has massive improvements over all. You just want to experiment and see what works best. Not certain how much near field differs from normal stereo listening. But I still feel the Golden triangle should be employed regardless.
My current room is pretty bad, it’s 13 ft by 13.5 ft but it’s away from disturbing the peace. So I settled with that. A square room is known to be horrible for audio and reflections. I utilized the Golden triangle which was suggested to me and it’s very nice now, to me it sounds better than my old room for certain
Anything is possible you can make it work. Just advising you to go step by step. You can sell 400 dollar speakers for 300 if you choose to upgrade but you maybe more than happy enough to settle. Just leaves you room to keep your pockets happy if that matters to you.
I was looking at this the other day, do you think this will be good to use for meetings as well as I do have fair amount of meetings for my work?, also does it get annoying having the volume knob at the back ?
All audio sounds… too good. And yes, having the controls on the back is inconvenient. No getting around that, so to speak!
In a room that shape, you really need to look into some proper sonic treatments. Bass traps for the corners as a start. You’d be surprised astonished at what a difference that can make.
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Yea this is on my radar, however currently I have my room directionally inappropriate. I would have to 180 everything. Cause my door is at a corner, so I can’t place a bass trap with the door being blocked. Maybe I’ll get a mobile one.
I know any person in audio would think I flew over the koo koo’s nest. But I swear it sounds better 
Not trying to spend crazy money right now. I want to pass all of 2022 without buying anything audio or at least not purchase anything from Black Friday to Black Friday.
1 year of rehab x.x
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There you go. Room treatments aren’t audio. They’re anti-audio. Should give you a bonus for 2023
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I’ve had 5 or 6 sets of 2-way speakers (some powered; some passive) in my desktop system over the past 10-15 years. My home office is 13’ x 13’ and full of stuff, including 2 complex desktop systems (main system has electronic crossover + sub + amp + speakers + headphones; side-system has headphones only). Further complicating all this is that both systems have DACs w/2 pairs of RCA outputs, so both systems have 2 headphone amps and/or amp/preamps on those outputs.
Final complication: I have very little space (10-12") behind the 2-way speakers and back wall in the main system.
I’ve learned a few things from all this:
- Sealed/acoustic suspension speakers work better here than ported speakers. They’re more tolerant of placement near boundaries; the bass sounds better IMO; and they cross over to the sub quite readily at or just above their resonant frequency
- You needn’t confine yourself to 2-ways advertised as being good for nearfield use. Many 2-ways sound great in the nearfield. My current nearfields are vintage KEF 103.2s, large 2-ways w/8" woofers: borderline huge for this desktop, but they sound like a mission bucks
- It almost always helps if you can put some dense/hard foam between your desktop and the bottom of each speaker. This helps control slap echo from the desktop and helps tighten bass
- Finally, if you use a sub, pay close attention to the high-pass crossover. If you don’t have one–if you’re simply running the 2 main speakers full range & the sub using a low pass filter cutting off frequencies above, say, 60 Hz–you’re going to get boomy mid-bass due to duplication of amplification by those frequencies by sub & mains.
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Yes indeed that’s true. I just chose the setup I have now as I got two options. Either the bass trap is going in the spot near the door or my surround speaker will be sitting there.
I figured having the surrounds out of the way was a better deal. As it could be knocked over when entering the room and also would have to be moved constantly.
I do have acoustic treatment. On the walls behind my speakers, and first reflections. Going to get some on the roof as well.
But yea huge bass traps are going to need some thoughtful planning and a decent budget, for real bass traps at least and not the foam counterparts
Foam in the corners up to or from the ceiling can be good. Foam traps broadly while the ones that look like surreal bottles affect narrow frequency bands
Yea I saw that on a YouTube video recently, this gentleman had those cylinders and was talking about acoustic treatment importance.
But as mentioned the door is in the corner, so whatever goes in the corner has to be moved.
I have 7 speakers on the floor, a tv stand for the center, 2 audio racks, my desk/chair in a fairly small room.
Did @driftingbunnies figure something out yet? Honestly wouldn’t rush. Waiting always turns up some good treasures even those cravings are impossible to fight and satiate
Nothing really to figure out. It’s kind of meant for recommendations and kind of a depository for those who might be interested in finding nearfield speakers in the future.
Currently I’m using SB Acoustic ARAs for my nearfield speakers but are definitely considering others for future upgrades. Most speakers I’ve researched for upgrades have 0 mention of nearfield capabilities so it’s really a tossup whether something more expensive will be better than what I have now.
Audioengine 5+, no sub, sturdy stands. I’ve had them for years. 13’x15’ office. Headphones when I get serious. I love these a lot, but then again I’m not at the level that considers acoustic treatment. No slam intended.
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