Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Near/mid/far-field are all about direct and reflected radiation ratios. In essence - the further you get from the speakers, the more reflected sound you're getting into the mix. How much more? It depends on how reflective (and how dispersive) are the surfaces in your listening environment. Near field only deals with above-Schroeder frequency effects, so bass response will still be dependent on placement.

How close you can actually get to a speaker will mostly be dictated by the driver arrangement. It's one of the reasons why there are so little 3-way near fields. And even then the main advantage of near-field 3-way is higher SPL and better midrange. A 1+8" Genelec can already go down to 36Hz, a small 3-way won't go lower.

 

I haven't done any sub bass testing, but Dirac tells me that the lowest frequency at +- 0dB is 36 Hz in my room. The automatic Dirac filter target starts at 29 Hz, though. I would post a picture, but I don't know where to upload it.

Concerning my subjective feelings about the bass, I love having some hard slamming kick drums on some records like the debut of Rage Against The Machine. You can really feel the kick.

This is something I'd love to improve even further in the future, but I am not sure if one or two subwoofers will help with this. I will have to read up on frequency charts, bass management and how to connect all this to Freya in the future, then I decide if I will go this way or leave it like it is.

 

In a small room, even nearfield listening gain much with room treatment also...The 2 most important factors are vibrations controls, and few people know really that, it seems, cleaning the electrical grid where the audio system is embedded...This is the more rewarding upgrading effect...Not buying another more costly toy... My system is all in all(amp,dac,speakers,headphone) 1000 bucks+cost of damping,and room treatment,and cleaning the principal line, and I have music...To improve it really will cost me 20 thousand dollars...One thousand versus 20 thousand, that's give you an idea about the S.Q. one can achieve with some low cost methods on installation of the audio system after a good choice of vintage products for sure...

 

I don't know if they qualify as audiophile, but anyone looking for small nearfields on a budget should check out the Vanatoo Transparent Zeros. They're really small but sound like much larger speakers and don't go obviously wrong anywhere in the frequency response except for the physically impossible deep bass. A lot of connectivity options too. They would have gotten my Golden Schlong nomination had I thought of it in time. Super impressed at ~350 USD.

 

Going insane testing Sierra Luna, KEF LSS50W, and JBL LSR30X in nearfield. They all do something better than the other. The KEF sounds better than the last time I heard them a few months ago.

Thinking of splurging and getting the Genelec 8331, not sure how I would input sound through them tho (I think they take XLR like the JBLs).

 

Yes, it has XLR input (analog or digital). I've been curious about the 8331 for awhile (it only started to become available recently). I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend that much, and the optional GLM calibration kit is another $500. It is getting rave reviews from the pro community, but their priorities don't always align with audiophiles.
http://www.musictech.net/2017/12/gear-of-the-year-2017-product-of-the-year/
http://www.musictech.net/2017/11/genelec-the-ones-review/

 

I’m going insane testing speakers, just got the B&W 705 S2 bookshelf’s yesterday just to try in nearfield, they are definitely not neutral but the sound does appeal to me a bit more than the Sierra Luna’s and they sound pretty good. The manual says the 705s should be 1.5 meters apart but I only have them 1 meter apart but they sound coherent enough to me. The KEF LS50W sounds really good to me with the proper EQ adjustments made through the app (did not realize how important those adjustments are when I first got them). But the one year warranty on them is causing me pause. Looking to somehow try the Revel M106 and maybe the Genelec 8330 as the 8331 is just too pricy for me and I wouldn’t be able to afford the GLM system for them. Still waiting on a speaker that on first listen can give me an it factor.

 

Eyeing Focal Shape 65 for the home office I'm renovating, anyone heard them?

Fairly long & narrow room (like 2:1 proportions) with speakers on a table on a long wall way off to one side, with shelves above them and stuff ... double passive rads make me moist for that kind of application.

 

I have these and I love them:

https://www.amazon.com/Swan-Speakers-M200MKIII-Bookshelf-Long-Throw/dp/B001GIOFTM

These are great for nearfield listening.

 

Is using average bookshelf speakers (6-7 inch woofers) about 3-4 feet apart not good for nearfield?

Looking at the ATC SCM 7 V3, anyone have any impressions on those?

 

How far from the listening position? FWIW, one high end dealer describes it as "ideal for desks and other nearfield listening situations": https://store.acousticfrontiers.com/products/atc-scm7-v3

 

3-4 feet apart but about 2.5 feet in front of the center is where I sit. I hope the ATC SCM 7 v3 is the answer as the B&W just doesn't sound neutral enough for me, it changes female vocals making it sound better most of the time but other times it sounds extremely unnatural. They sure look pretty though...

The Sierra Luna's vocals sound weird to me, everything else is great but I'm not sure but I feel fatigued by the vocals playing through the Luna.

But the more I listen to these varioius speakers the more I realize that the unmodded HD 800 I have been listening to all these years is not actually very neutral...

Also the Nuforce STA 200 amplifier I am using seems to do the job for all the speakers I am testing, I don't get any clipping and nothing sounds underpowered to me (Although I would take my opinion with some salt, this is the only speaker amplifier I have tried except for a cheap Sony receiver). My Sys preamplifier works great too except for at super low volume levels where only the right channel will play (seems to be a common issue based on reading the descriptions for the Schiit Saga and Freya).

 

Lots of people don't get along with ribbon tweeters. They are hard to get right, i tried and gave up. Nothing like a good softdome to me...

Whether a speaker can be used nearfield is usually down to driver integration at the listening spot. You want tweeter and midrange to be close together.

 

Yep, it happens to all analogue pots, to some degree.

 

They both don't use pots (in the conventional sense). They're resistor relay networks.

Sys is literally a pot, PCB, and some connectors, and as such will exhibit significant channel imbalance at very low levels.

 

Never said they did, I did mention analogue pots like the sys

 

You quoted Saga and Freya, then said all analogue pots have this issue.

You did.

 

New JBL 3 Series MkII incoming, including 6,5" woofers.

http://www.jblpro.com/www/products/recording-broadcast/3-series-mkii#.WlTksHkiGpo

 

hi
I have the atc scm7v3, kef ls50, p3esr
the scm7v3 are to my ears more neutral tonally then ls50. i think they are a good buy at the price i paid used. ls50 image better though then both.
in order id take
p3esr
scm7v3
ls50

hope this helps