Nearfields for audiophile listening?

I'm curious about the Quested V2108 after using the S7R's. They are supposedly better on all fronts but also twice the price(and size).

Ah well still loving the S7R, so revealing, can tell my pre amp is the weak link now.

@JonnieD Welcome and i think it's quite easy for you to audition some Questeds. Don't want to sound like a shill so it would be great to get some more people here to hear them.

 

Thanks Dennis!

Those Quested's do look good, they certainly compare well price wise to the Focals Solo 6 and other good sounding ones I've heard. So I will try some out at some point. I'd need the S6R for my desk system though, I don't have the space for anything larger. And anyway, I've really loved the ultra near field experience, the imaging on the CMS is superb!

I do prefer infinite baffle in small speakers so the S6R fits the bill there too. That's partly why I like the Harbeth and ATC's too (the PMC's with ATL are good too). Getting a really good active one is a challenge though, which is why the Quested looks good. The active ATC, PMC etc are so expensive!

 

I used to own the Focal Solo6's and i recall them as being a bit forward in the upper mids and lower treble. Definately prefer the Questeds. From what i read the CMS series are better behaved in that manner. But i never heard them so i can't comment on them.

I agree on the prices for the ATC's and PMC's being a bit nuts, btw i found a nice deal which might of interest to you or someone else:
A pair of S6R mk2's for €799 with full warranty, that's two for less then the price of one mk3. Crazy good deal imo.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/quested_s6r_mk2_b_stock.htm

 

Please post your thoughts and impressions on the S6R if you decide to get them They are on my dream desktop speaker shortlist, along with PMC, ATC, Harbeth, and Amphion.

I used to own the Focal CMS50's, but I sold them. Great imaging like you say, but I found them to be lacking in mids and with hyped treble (but we all have different perceptions and tastes).

The PMC actives have passive crossover, so they are not fully "active". Geithain make a well regarded active mini-monitor, the RL906, but it is very expensive.

 

Gets my prize for imaginative model names!

It is a couple of thousand pounds in UK, which is probably a lot for its size, but is not that much compared with other serious monitors, is it? The Geithain price is per pair.

And that one gets my most-desired-based-on-the-internet prize.

 

Yeah, but those are hardly near field. At the same time coax mid-fields do achieve proper summer at smaller distances than traditional speakers.

 

Interesting. Were they the BE tweeter one? I've heard that tweeter sounding nice in one of the TOTL domestic speakers. I'm not a fan of BASH / Class D for mid or high frequency use either so maybe that has something to do it. I favour class AB over those hence the Quested being of interest.

Thanks a lot. Those might be hard to resist!

Will do. I've never heard any Amphion, I'll look into those.

Understood re hyped treble, though I'm guessing as always it depends on what its match with. Maybe my current R2R DAC I'm using is polite in that region.

I meant the newer PMC two two range, those use DSP and separate amps. They're nearly as expensive as ATC though! But as above I prefer analogue amplification and as little digital correction as possible in my systems.

 

Yeah the Solo's have the BE tweeters. Might indeed be the class d amp, but i have a Lyngdorf and that one sounds smooth if maybe a bit boring.

 

Interesting. I didn't know Elac sold raw/OEM drivers.

 

Not significantly cheaper, but there's an offer button for this ebay listing of the Quested S6:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quested-S6-...672364?hash=item440317dfac:g:SvYAAOSwMNxXTyOk

 

Ah yeah, those are MK1's though and no warranty most likely. Still might be interesting for our NA friends.

Not really sure what the differences are between revisions other then the change to the cabinet between mk1 and 2 and the change in color between mk2 and 3.

 

True, I forgot to mention it's a mk1. Still, if he takes a lower offer it might be worth a shot for someone.

 

Yeah otherwise the price is a steep imo.

 

I listened to the Kii Three active speakers last weekend at HifiDeluxe show in Munich with @Serious.

I have to say that I was impressed with the seeming lack of room effect, controlled music rendition, dynamics, resolution and lack of much colouration. However it felt like the music was artificially digitised, polished to perfection, unnatural and lacked microdynamic nuance. My first impression was 'Wow!!' but then the aftertaste was a bit bitter. Serious mentioned that these were active DSP controlled speakers that might have explained the experience. He listened to these twice last week, so he might add his own insight.

edit: Serious did post his impressions here

 

I have to say I enjoyed them quite a bit more when I heard them the 2nd time around with the Götterdämmerung finale. It seemed relatively neutral and the imaging really wasn't too bad. Maybe they really changed some of the settings on day one. I still didn't care for the inherent sound of the speaker drivers.
When I gave them shit about the bass quality it was mainly because people seemed to be expecting something that just isn't physically possible: Bass with the same articulation and control as bigger speakers. The bass quality relative to its size is actually really good, I had just forgotten just how crappy small speaker bass really is. I realized this when I heard the LS50 actives. I haven't heard some of the better small monitors, though.

The DSP wizardry is a necessary evil to achieve the special dispersion pattern - and the dispersion pattern is an integral part of its sound. This is something that is very hard to achieve with a passive speaker of this size. I think some of the ME Geithain speakers essentially do this, probably with even better results.
On the other hand I did feel the DSP and class D stuff very noticeably impacted the overall vividness and realism. Might aswell throw away your Yggdrasil (or whatever DAC) if you consider these speakers, but I guess the 1 box approach does have its appeal. It's not meant to produce the absolute best sound quality, but it is meant to sound really good in a small form factor. If you're looking for the best possible sound I would look elsewhere, but I highly doubt sound quality is the absolute highest priority for someone looking for a small bookshelf speaker anyway. Saying you want the best sounding bookshelf speaker is like saying you want the best gaming laptop. It just doesn't work that way.

 

I totally agree with your comments re DSP and Class D. I wish I was at the Munich show last week, there were a load of things I'd have loved to have heard, including the Kii Three.

If you mean "bookshelf" in a similar way to a use on a desktop then I'd say that personally, my highest priority is the best sound quality possible. Being in the office is always going to bring compromises due to the environment, if you're able to listen to music whilst you work. I'm lucky that most of the time I don't need to use headphones whilst I'm working, so my SQ reference is always going to be my "big" system which excels in most areas. So I want my desktop system to be as close as possible, and there's no headphone in my experience that can recreate a real image in front on you like speakers can.

 

I think it's also worth keeping in mind that the average ear is simply used to hearing speakers in a room with plenty of reflections (even well treated rooms will have some). So hearing a speaker that self-nullifies most of that out might actually feel disconcerting and empty.

But yeah, as mentioned earlier there's really not much point to having a fancy dac if you're going with a DSP enabled speaker. For best results, just feed digital in directly to the speakers.

I'm curious as to how Geithain accomplishes all this wizardry passively.

 

Well yes, sometimes it's just not possible, which is when you start looking for the best small speakers possible. Setting up floorstanders at work would be nuts. But I feel that when you have a space at home for listening to speakers there's really no reason not to get floorstanders, even in a small room.
Obviously you already have your big system. I was mainly talking about small speakers as main speakers.

It is an immediately different sound and many will probably like it just based on that. I think the directivity control is definitely a good thing, it just didn't outweigh the disadvantages of the design for me.
I think the Geithain speakers use super thick foam or something that is effective in the bass range on the back of their speakers.

 

geithain is only effective for bass reflections.
having also own a very famous controlled directivity design in the jbl lsr32, I still think they sounded crap in a untreated room.

no speaker design in existence and no room eq can take reflections out of the equation. Horns or waveguide do help, cardioid response in bass also help, but you will still get terrible comb filtering and fatiguing reflections at the listening position unless extensive passive treatment is used

the only way is with passive room treatment which actually works wonderfully.

 

Good thread with a lot of discussion but the amount of options is a bit staggering for my uninitiated self. I am considering replacing my Yamaha HS50M monitors with something more musical (noting that monitors are generally meant to be neutral). I want active and analog, something I can plug in to my Yahama sub -- don't want to go down the power amp route. Using Gungnir Multibit so as others have noted, not interested in the modern DSP features some brands include.

What are the best bang for the buck pairs in the sub $1000 category, the HD650 equivalents in terms of performance / price ratio? Eve Sc204 perhaps? Adam? There's so many newer products discussed in this thread that I'm not sure whether Genelec is still in the running? Thanks to anyone who can shed some light on the current state of the budget market. (And if, say, going up to $1200 is a game changer, I'll keep an open mind.)