Small active desktop comparison + need advice on passives

Active bookshelf speakers:

Background:

Spoiler: Background

My old Vanatoo T0 that I'm using as desktop speakers are having the occasional issue. Also, they don't quite sound right with my sub, sometimes. Time to consider new speakers. Made a few posts in general speaker thread and sent a few PMs and texts, but the response was generally everyone was as curious as I was, so I'm making this post to share my informal / casual findings (2 expert members here did have some good feedback though - thank you both). Do not expect any rigorous level of objective measurements or properly conducted scientific testing here.

Everything being tested here was demo-ed in store or purchased with my own money from retailers (who were made aware that I was only demo-ing and may return the speaker). I am paying for return shipping and potential restocking fees too. And no affiliations or corporate / company discounts for anything tested. AudioEngine A5+ is a used personal loaner from another member that only cost me gas / time.

Use case:
For background music and casual use most of the time while working or on computer. Also about 1-4 hours of serious listening, 2-4 hours of media, mostly old film or YT documentaries, tutorials, lectures (read - typically not super high production value), and/or another 1-4 hours of casual gaming per week. Doesn't need to get loud as again, it's background music and even when I listen seriously, I don't listen that loud. Nearfield usage 3-4 feet away on average. Considered studio monitors and "home audio" speakers to have a few more options.

Constraints, roughly in order of importance.
- No bigger than 12"H x 9"D x 7"W
- NO LOW LEVEL HISS - this really bothers me and still does with my T0 years later. I know this is part of class D amps, but I've heard enough of them without hiss to know it's possible.
- Around or less than ~$1-1.1k and sound better than my current T0.
- Works seamlessly with Windows and Mac. I'm not patient enough to mess around every time I need sound for a few seconds or for casual / background level usage.
- Relatively insensitive to placement as I can not drastically alter my setup. Yes, I am aware that this can seriously limit sound quality, but in this use case, I'm not willing to tear the room apart to do better. I do have a few inches fore/aft and L/R to adjust placement and did use hockey pucks to adjust tweeter positioning so thy would aim at my ears. Speakers were about 50 degrees on each side, desk setup doesn't quite allow for the ideal 60 degrees on most speakers. Don't have space for big stands, but will most likely get small ones after thinking about it. Desk has relatively minimal amount of stuff on it.
- Integrated amp and isn't a space heater. Yes, I am also aware that having an integrated class D amp typically seriously limits sound quality and scaling. - this changes later, see conclusion
- There were more constraints initially but same thing - see conclusion.

Setup:

Spoiler: Setup

For anything I purchased to try at home, either USB input into the integrated DSP / amp or Yggdrasil A2 > speaker (with amp) XLR in, depending on what the speaker has. Listen briefly for function check, pink noise for ~2 hours for burn-in while I do other stuff, then listen casually for a few hours and evaluate. Listen seriously for ~20 min. Then revisit each speaker again in another day or two after listening to other speakers and compare 1st time vs 2nd time notes - this functions as a low level check against mental burn-in.

Stuff I ruled out before the test. Yes, this is extremely subjective, feel free to agree or not:

Spoiler: Ruled Out

KEF pretty much anything - the highs are too much for me after 10 minutes.
Yamaha HS5 - Every Yamaha monitor I've heard before has a sound signature that is fatiguing after a while, including these.
Focal bookshelfs - Most Focals are too shouty with too much metallic timbre for me unless I can really tune the sound
Klipsch Fives or Sevens - Didn't hear, but I don't like most modern horns and the few reviews I glanced at online did confirm these have the modern horn sound
iloud - I listened to these vs my T0 in the past and preferred / purchased the T0. Not bad though for the price.
Kanto TUK - didn't hear it myself, but I saw enough repeated feedback online to suspect that this isn't for me.
Kali Audio IN5 and JBL 305 - Too big. Their other options are also too big.

Stuff I tried at various retailers in non-ideal demo room settings and ruled out:
KRK rokit 5 - wasn't an upgrade over the T0 in terms of technical performance and resolution / clarity to me. Pretty easy to listen to though.
SVS - seemed to be voice and setup for home theater and the like. Didn't like it as much with a few test tracks, just felt a bit slow and not as clear.
B&W 600 S3 - doesn't stand out in any way and IMO are not worth the price. Can be fatiguing with the wrong music.
MartinLogan - tried their cheapest/smallest option and it wasn't an upgrade over T0. All others are too big. IMO not worth the price.
ADAM T7V - Probably my favorite speaker I demoed in big box stores but had the fatal flaw of A LOT of hiss. This is also the main complaint I see about these online. Wasn't "the best" in technicalities, but they had a sound signature that sounded like they would work for a lot of stuff but I think it's because there were somewhat colored in the ribbon tweeters. The highs could have been more distinct they sounded glossed over (like how some not DACs gloss over fine details). Were "less flat" (not in terms of FR) with music vs other cheaper studio monitors I've heard before. Not fatiguing at all. Felt more like an indistinct wall of sound vs pinpoint sound coming from a point, but not nebulous sounding.The A7V may have been an option, but nothing available for demo in person and I didn't want to tie up more money in this test.

Edifier Airpulse A80 - Looked interesting, didn't get to try, but I saw mention of some oddness in the mids and highs - my guess would be something in the cross over between ribbon tweeter and woofer. Similarly, I wanted to try it, but I didn't want to tie up any more money in this test.

There are other speakers I tried and ruled out before this, mostly because I didn't like the sound. A lot of them fell apart with busy music.

Note that many, but not all, of the above had varying levels of hiss at 3-4' away.

Speakers I ended up testing:
1) Neumann KH80 - Something, somewhere, just didn't sound right and so much of the sound seemed distorted. I can't place my finger on it because it was so much - to my ears at least. There wasn't a big obvious dip or spike at any particular frequency. Highs 8-12k sound off - cymbals sound almost like they're white noise instead of cymbals - this is on all 4 settings for mid/bass adjustment (labeled "desk size adjustment" on the back). Repositioning, adjusting, tilting up and down, etc. didn't help. No hiss though. Switched DACs just to check, didn't help.
$549 per speaker, can sometime get a used one for less. For the price, I'd much rather buy something else.

2) Genelec G Three - Low level hiss after warmed up (10 min) - the least hiss out of the 3 that did hiss. Relatively agnostic to minor positioning adjustments (in my setup). There are multiple dip switches on the back to adjust the sound as well. I settled on -10db total and -4db "deep bass" with all other dip switches left alone on default. -10db because it was too loud for me otherwise (even with computer / source set to 15% volume). -4db deep bass because it seemed to make everything else more clear by not trying to play at the lower end of what it can do. I don't know the nuances of how Genelec tunes, but I have experienced this same thing with other speakers where they offload the bass during demos before.
Regarding the sound - it just was. Nothing stood out in any way, good or bad, aside from the speakers sound slightly "distant" at lower volumes. Nothing was super clear or hazy. Nothing sounded "fast" or "slow". etc. Was not metallic of fatiguing after a while as i initially feared. Heard most things, but no high level of micro detail or macro dynamics. Resolution was not at the level I expected for the price. Held up with busy music 99%, like 2 very short sections of Judas Priest Painkiller were still slightly smeared. I know the Yggdrasil can make technically better sound than what these put out though.
$695 per speaker, can sometimes get a used one for less. Pushes the budget a little and while there's nothing really wrong here, I really don't know if these are worth it. If these were several hundred cheaper for the pair, I would have kept these and called it a day.

3) Vanatoo T1E+ - Basically a more refined and smoother "less effort sounding" version of the T0. Like a child with short legs is working hard (T0) to walk at a certain speed vs a tall adult (T1E+) casually strolling at the same speed. Not too sensitive to positioning. A bit more energy in the highs compared to the others but less than the T0 (which would become a little fatiguing for me with music after 3-4 hours) and a little more forward sounding than the other 4. Not a shouty in your face sound though. And more highs but not enough to bug me. FR probably the least even out of all 5 I tried.
Not very sensitive to positioning (in my setup). Not hugely more resolving or better technical performance than the T0, but it is better. Switches places with the AM5 depending on the song. I did like it better for media vs the Genelecs.
The hiss isn't loud by itself, but it's more like a high noise floor (across everything) instead of just a higher pitched sssssss that most other speakers mentioned have (including the T0). It made it much more audible to me and really bugged me each time after 30 minutes or so. For this reason alone, they're going back. Otherwise, these were pretty good. Between these and the Genelecs it would have been a harder choice.
$650 for a pair. B and C stock units are often available for less.

4) PSB AM5 - A little more hiss than the genelec (once genelec was warmed up). Hiss was only in the tweeters here. USB micro B input DOA - device could not pick up USB at all and I didn't see any kind of driver download with PSB. Tested the same cable elsewhere - cable works fine. Ended up using optical, which won't work long term as it feeds my Yggdrasil normally.
The on board DSP didn't integrate well with my sub - regardless of how I adjusted the settings. I was mostly getting a little bit of sort of indistinct bass thuds below ~40-50hz (which is absolutely not the case when I feed the sub with Yggdrasil directly or with the old T0 or new T1+E). Bass passed through through the AM5 didn't work with bass heavy organ music (recorded at an organ that goes down to about 17hz). If I use Daft Punk Doin It Right at 2:46 (3rd bass note in row of 3 bass notes) it felt like the heft was gone and I was only hearing the very bottom half of the note from the subwoofer and the speakers are trying to do the rest instead of offloading more to the sub. Finally tried with some drums, electronic, and other bass specific test tracks it was more of the same.
Positioning and placement sensitive (in my setup). Exact positioning on desk and distance to walls didn't matter as much. However, I had to sit somewhat precisely to get good sound and the speakers had to be angled just right. Even if I just stacked stuff under the speakers - it didn't sound as good to me vs angling. Flipping upside down so the tweeters were on top wasn't quite right either. a small cotton towel, neoprene sheets (not a mouse pad, but a 2mm sheet), and an open cell foam didn't change the sound a lot so I don't think it was reflections either. Not sure.
However, once things were set up, the sound was good for the price. A very relaxing and easy sound but not warm, slow, or congested sounding. Perfect for background listening actually. Had enough resolution, texture in sound, granularity, micro for the price. Just don't want to deal with the above and the broken input for a casual setup. Sounded good with just about everything without glossing anything over. Compared to modern B&W or MartinLogan "easy listening chill at home relaxed sound", I'd pick these 9/10 times.
I paid $460ish shipped for a pair of B stock and I cannot tell why this unit would be considered a B stock. Broken USB input seems to be a separate issue as their B stock guaranteed 100% function, just not 100% cosmetics.

5) Audioengine A5+ : No hiss at all. The most musically voiced option I tried. It sounds like there is a slight bump somewhere in the upper mids and throughout half of the highs. Woofer didn't seem super stuff and I think it had a small silk tweeter. Clarity is about the same as the T0 but resolution is a bit more with the A5+. Integrated pretty well with my sub after some minor adjustments to the settings.
Downsides are 1) the timbre was a bit off with orchestral music. 2) The tweeters first and when really busy, the woofers too fell apart with very busy music (metal, rock, busy orchestral, etc). Otherwise it held it together pretty well.
Sensitive to desk positioning and placement (in my setup and owner's setup too) and I had to tilt the front end up. Once that was set, my own positioning wasn't as important.

What I'm keeping:
Nothing.

T1E+ too audible hiss for me. Genelecs I don't think are worth the cost. A5+ falls apart with busy music which I listen to a lot. AM5 input doesn't work and is too sensitive with me having to sit in an exact spot. Fine for serious listening, not ideal for casual usage. KH80 just didn't sound right in any way. The first 4 I could see myself keeping if things were different.

Conclusion:
After thinking over what happened, one of my constraints had to give. After feeding Genelec G Three and KH80 from my DAC instead of just USB in, I realized I didn't mind giving up a DAC output for this (and just swapping the input on my other amps more often) as much as I initially expected. Combined with how most things I tried had hiss, I have decided to just get passives + a physically smaller amp or two very small mono blocks. Yes, this is "just" background and casual use most of the time, but at the same time, even when listening casually a lot of time I can't "unhear" the things that bother me.

So, in the next post, I ask for advice for passive book shelf speakers.

 

So, these are the passives I'm considering - I need feedback if anyone has it:

Again, size is the main consideration. Also listed are the mfg sensitivity specs in case anyone has a general amp recommendation. I know from hearing some other speakers with "same sensitivity" before off of the same amps at the same volume - the spec isn't everything. We see this in headphones too. But we still need something to go off of.

- ATC SCM 7 - 84dB (@1W @ 1m) - simply put, these were good. But I have been told twice that these need serious amplification which isn't going to fit in my desk area very easily, otherwise they're kind of wasted.
- Polk R100 - 86dB - I hear a lot of good things about these. I tried the L200 and they were actually good for the money. A tiny bit bright for me with what sounded like a bump in the middle bass and middle highs to me (which I don't want). A little bit but not too much sibilance. Slightly forward presentation. However, the R100 is supposedly more laid back, more neutral, no shrill-ness or sibilance. The cheaper R series has the same drivers as well but is cheaper as Polk uses a cheaper cabinet, cheaper crossovers, slightly different porting in the R series vs the L series. So almost the same performance but for half the price - for how well the L200 performed, being able to get the R100 for half of that would be good just from a performance standpoint. Supposedly the R100/200 vs L100/200 all sound different enough from each other in terms of voicing, etc, so I'll need to find a R100 to try if I can.
- Sonus Faber Lumina 1 - 84dB - I hear a lot of good things about the tonality and timbre of these. Have the same sensitivity as the ATC 7 but I was told that somehow these still sound OK without as much amplification.
- Dali - various models - A lot of people comment about how good these are overall and are also not fatiguing at all (similar feedback to the Polk but a very different sound I guess). Menuet (most expensive, 87dB), Opticon (mid price 86dB), Oberon 1 (less expensive 85dB). Spektor (budget option) being considered but general feedback seems to be the Oberon 1 sounds really similar but is just "better" in most ways and Oberon 1 is within budget.

- Triangle BR02 - 89dB - Cheap option. $250-300 for a pair right now, good for the money based on what I can tell, these are likely to have a relaxing sound that will work for background music while still being capable of engagement. Higher sensitivity means I can probably get away with "less amp" too. However, are these going to be any better than current Vanatoo T0?

- EDIT: Dynaudio Emit 10 (85dB, less $) and Evoke 10 (84dB, more $). I just remembered hearing a pair or two of Dynaudio in the past (not these models) and they have a house sound that I may like for this application.


Lower on the list:
- Revel 105 - Looks good, but feedback is these tend to tilt bright. Don't know though, haven't heard these.
- Wharfdale - Diamond 12 the time I heard it was OK, Denton 80th is supposedly better but borderline too big - warm sound.
- Q 3010 - The other one I've heard and I liked were too big (don't remember if it was the 3030 or one from the 5000 series). Neutral sound overall without being overly analytical. 3010 probably isn't at the level of performance I want though.
- ELAC Carina, Debut, etc. - Most ELAC options are just a little bit too big. I usually like their sound though.
- Buchardt anything - Good like the ATC was, but too much $ for this application (for me)
- GR Research and CSS audio - these seem to be two of the top DIY options. Both are slightly too big and it seems like the GR Research [edit: both] are not ideal for nearfield listening and needs to be from a few to several feet from a wall. But I remember reading about these on SBAF in the past and feedback seemed universally good here. I have mediocre at best wood working skills but after watch a video of each one being built it doesn't look like I'd be in way over my head. edit:[Similarly, PartsExpress options are also too big.]


I'm sure I'm overlooking a lot of options. I have also heard other bookshelf passives that I didn't like in the past but I didn't particularly like them and hence am not mentioning them.



Haven't looked hugely into speaker amps yet.

 

I love my Mackie HR624 MK1 powered monitors and always recommend them for this kind of thing especially and also because they are so cheap used. Not the new shiny finished MKII that are made in China, I don't know about those. The wood finished MK1. No hiss, and they. just have the best tone, better than any headphones I've ever heard. Not resolution monsters but you don't need that. Vocals are perfect.

The speakers are so consistently flat, they didn't even sell them in matched pairs. Though of course age and environment will affect them so I would advise getting a pair that were bought at the same time and lived in the same place(s) through their life.

And you've got a lot of controls on the back to adjust for room acoustics. I've never heard them sound bad in about 20+ rooms I've had them in. Different, but never bad.

You can easily find them on Craigslist for $350 or less. Just make sure you get the ones that have visible wood grain finish on the top and sides, not the shiny "piano black" finish of the MK2. And make sure the woofer cones have no indents. They were studio mainstays so they're all over the place. I still use them as a reference for FR and tone when making my headphones. So often I'll be bothered by a problem in a headphone I'm working on and then get kind of lost in it and I play the song on my Mackies and it's like "yup, thats' what it is supposed to sound like". I especially have never heard a headphone with treble as flat and tonally correct as the HR624 mk1.

Someday I'll get something more resolving and more dynamic with better bass, but I imagine it will take work to get such perfect tonality and FR.

 

For passives, I recently got some Fyne Audio F300s; their smallest bookshelves. Mine were on sale for $199.

Working nicely with a Schiit Gjallarhorn. They are probably still breaking in (had them maybe 2w?) so waiting for a haze they have to go away.

Probably the best, small speakers I've heard and owned. I have owned CA Minx 10s/11s/20s/21s, B&W M1, T+A TLR 10s and 20s (which aren't bad with good amps) (not counting the Vienna Acoustics Haydns as small).

 

Super interesting post, watching with interest.

I've had the A5+ for close to 10 years now, pretty much just for background noise in my office. They've always served me well, but my listening is far from critical. Definitely a very low noise floor, which is in stark contrast to my Kanto at home, which audibly squeal and hiss when there is no music playing. But I have noticed the rubber woofer surrounds in the A5+ are degrading a teeny bit (hard to protect them from the sun), so will need to replace them eventually.

My needs are generally really simple, and it's easy to narrow the field. If they are active, they just need to have the volume control on the front! But I will watch out for your passive combo selection...

 

I always recommend this to people nowadays, install a good window film. It will reduce your cooling bills in the summer and also protects from solar damage.

 

Briefly - finished the comparison earlier this week with a few speakers. Will write up later.

For now though - I have it down to 2 final choices for the desk setup - one pair of speakers is more colored, the other pair is a good studio monitor sound. For those of you who have gone through different setups and/or do studio work - were you more satisfied with the "neutral studio monitor" sound for a near-field setup and the "colored fun speakers" for a bigger room (mid-field listening, living room or listening room setup, etc). Or the other way around? Will one setup present more hard to solve constraints than the other?

If it matters, I do not need to do actual studio work. The bigger setup will not be as constrained by amplifier and equipment size whereas the near-field setup will be somewhat limited.

 

Yes, I prefer it this way around. But if it´s mainly going to be for background music with desktop use, neutral might be more tiring. For background use they also should sound good when playing at lower levels.
I'm using passive Usher S-520 monitors for my desktop setup. Good enough for now. Something in between neutral and fun. They have the bass ports at the front, and they work quite well standing close to the wall.
Looking forward to your report...

 

The only model I have experience with is the T1E Plus. Hiss is well beneath the noise floor of my room, which is 35 db at my listening position, and is only audible if I put my ear 3" from the speaker. Desk placement swamps the measured frequency response of a speaker in a typical desk setup, and most of the speakers you tested have very good directivity which makes them highly amenable to EQ. Have you developed a 'house curve' for your listening position, or explored whether EQ adjustments could confirm your concerns with the tonality of a given speaker?

 

If it's mostly low-level listening, go with the V shaped speaker. This is literally why there was a "loudness" button on old receivers, since our perception of the lows and highs is diminished at quiet levels.

 

Will it be an issue if you get distracted at your desktop setup? If not I would probably go for colored speakers there and in main setup, fun sound is what it's all about, no? Go with what gets your feet tapping and puts a smile on your face.

 

Extra bass can be a problem in nearfield, especially if near a wall (not sure if that’s your situ). Not to mention potential desk resonances. If that’s your situation (it is for me) you may need to EQ down your bass anyhow.

 

Passive bookshelf speakers:

Got to try some passives earlier at near-field and mid-field distances after the active shootout. These were all done in store environments so unfamiliar chains and environments but typically decent or good room treatment, quiet (I don't visit when super busy if possible), etc. Also, for this reason, and because my room and positioning will vary, I'm not going to comment as much about imaging or sound-stage because this will inevitably vary.

No sub concurrently run with any of these in demo rooms, but I will be running a sub concurrently when I use it.

There were some other things I heard in the mix here, but I either didn't like them or didn't find them noteworthy so I'm not saying anything.
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Spoiler: Everything sunny all the time always in North Korea???

One oddity to note first:
I still find it slightly hard to believe that I just haven't heard many bookshelf speakers I like very much under a few thousand dollars before (homes, a very few studios, and a very few public places that have actually nice speaker setups) and suddenly I hear several in a row that I not only like, but these were mostly at lower price points too. Oddly, as a mental check, when I listened to music in my car right after each time, it still sounded how it always sounds, no better or worse. My headphones and existing Vanatoo T0 sounded the same when I double checked at home as well.

I don't (knowingly) have days where everything just sounds really good or really bad. Nor have I had noticeable amounts of shiny new toy syndrome before either when trying gear (those of you who have listened with me in person can probably confirm this). Not sure if I was positively biased in some way for this comparison or if I really did just hear stuff I liked more with good synergy, but I figure this is significant enough that I should make a mention here.

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The below were tried with a tablet > Marantz streamer > Marantz 50 or 70s amp, don't remember which. One big open showroom but there was a structural pillar somewhat close to the area behind the speakers (fine with me since I have walls to deal with). I moved the chair back and forth between 3-6' away.

- Dali Oberon 1 and [edit: Menuet] - Slightly drier overtones and overall holographic sound. Somewhat warm tilt but not in terms of FR with booster upper bass / lower mids. More in terms of the timbre and color in the sound - these are definitely colored sounding. VERY good to my ears for acoustic wood instruments - maybe this has to do with the wood fiber (or maybe pulp) woofers? I haven't heard cello or upright string bass sound this good (subjectively "good", not necessarily the most subjectively accurate... but still accurate) before on any speaker under several thousand $ before. Most other speaker materials don't seem to have the same overtones and colors in them as a lot of favorite cellos and string bass I've heard before. Textures and minor oscillations in the way a bow was being pulled came through.

Piano didn't sound "super correct" so to say on the initial impact of the notes, but I was able to hear a lot more of the "inbetween" in a piano when it's played vs "just the notes". Like I could almost hear the soundboard in the piano - don't know how to describe it better. Cross-overs went well on organ and piano. Didn't fall apart with busy metal, electronic, and other music afterwards but also sounded good with solo instruments or vocals. Electronic or otherwise "synthetic" music was still enjoyable but lacked some of the depth, authority, impact, and heft that one may expect from other woofer materials (of the same size). I guess in other words, the bass is more rich in the way a traditional string bass is - full and warm - and not so much UMPH like modern bass often is. I'm fine with this as I'm going to run a sub concurrently. Neither were too sensitive to positioning.

The different models all sounded very similar other than technicalities were better as you go up the line. However, the Oberon 1 (cheaper one) sounded slightly more cohesive and "magical" at nearfield distances. The Menuet at midfield distances and slightly higher volumes then became more cohesive. No sibilance on a few test tracks but not because it got glossed or waxed over soundwise (I was initially worried about this speaker not being good with little details in the highs when I first heard the speaker). The dealer didn't have the Opticon in stock at the time but supposedly a better Oberon with a similar sound. Menuet is their nearfield specific speaker (it's also the smallest) and I think is supposed to have a slightly different tuning - as mentioned above though, despite this, I thought the Oberon 1 was slightly more cohesive closer up though. Menuet did have better technicalities.

EDIT: My mistake - I heard the Menuet and Oberon 1, not the Opticon 1.

- Totem (forget name) - actually a somewhat similar house sound to the Dali but not as holographic and less colored and more accurate instead. A little more resolving and clear at times, other times was about the same. Bass was more quantity-wise and more impactful but didn't have that inherent warmth and fullness of the wood woofers. Most of the comments are actually going to be the same as the Dali otherwise.
EDIT: Was not the Totem Bison, it was a discontinued model I forget the name of.

- Rega Kyte - A little bit bright and a slight forward presentation. Somewhat similar to the Polk L200 in sound and voicing, but no mid bass bump and the middle highs bump is slightly less and slightly higher up. Not as high as 8-12k "cymbals" though. And not fatiguing with the small bump. Resolution and texture was not as good as Dali or Totem to me though. Ever so slightly smeared with busy music but less metallic / edgy sounding as metal tweeters. This seems to be a tradeoff I've consistently noticed with most stuff in the price range I'm looking in. A small amount of sibilance on one of the test tracks I use. Woofer size and material not specified it was a much smaller woofer than the above yet the bass was about on par with the Bison, just a hint more more "small speaker" sounding. Bass remained tight and structured during Marion Hill's "Breathe into Me" (a lot of transducers, DAC, amps will make the bass in this song really sloppy) and the first part of Weeknd's "The Hills" (same thing, bass can get sloppy and also just sound weird in a lot of small woofers).
Pretty good sound for the price IMO. They also just sound like they were made for near field listening. Not as positioning sensitive during the demo as the other two. Good product overall, just not quite the sound I want.

I didn't try the speaker it but I found out that Harbeth has a sister company I cannot remember the name of now. Elected to listen to the Rega and Totem speakers more in the time I had though because I was enjoying myself + this company has a similar sound to Harbeth (classic BBC radio warm sound / tuning) which is not my general preference.
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The next two were demo'ed in a large wide open space on a Audio Research I/50 amp and McIntosh CD player. I moved my chair back and forth 3-7' away.

QUAD Hifi - discontinued model. (They're re-doing the lineup after being acquired) I think it may have been the S1 or S2 but I'm not very sure. Kind of a mix of 80% "brighter more typical American tuning" and 20% "classic British tune" to the sound. But was not as detailed as any of the above speakers I tried and could not handle a "busier" section of a live Hotel California recording (I don't listen to enough Eagles to know which one it was). Not as resolving as the other stuff I tried. Not bad, I can understand how the store was able to sell through a lot of these in the past, but for a similar amount of money, I would prefer something else.

Sonus Faber Sonetto - Natural sounding, great tone when turned up a little more. Slightly bright in the top end, but not as much as the Lumina 2 (from memory)... also just better in several ways vs the Lumina 2 to my ears. Not forward sounding though. Hint of smearing with the string instruments in the same recording of Hotel California. Everything else was fine. Everything sounded a little bit colored but the overall sound was also somehow very natural. This is one speaker I can't actually fully characterize the sound of other than I felt like it had a lot of tiny flaws but was very enjoyable overall / big picture if you prefer just a little bit of brightness. Their "lower end" speakers are IMO a bit overpriced (MSRP at least), and while I won't be buying one because I think they would be better as bookshelves for a little bit louder midfield listening... I can still recommend these if someone does like this kind of sound signature.
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Bluesound Powernode streamer / dac / amp for the next two. I think this was paired with everything more out of convenience of a quick setup rather than "it's the best". I sat about 3-4' away on the chair and floor.

ATC SMC 19 - The SMC 7 I wanted to hear wasn't available for demo at the time.
Anyways, even with a "not ideal amp", ATC sounded as good as I remember. I could definitely tell it would have been better with a "better amp" but IMO contrary to the advice I was given (by people who know what they're doing much more than me), I don't think these are money wasted without the "better amps". Sounded better at louder volumes and when I stood a little further away as expected for a speaker of this size, but even for a speaker of this size, I was impressed by how good it sounded too close and at too low volumes.

Anyways, out of everything I tried during these demos, this was to me, the best speaker in terms of technicalities, resolution, detail, accuracy, etc. Also, still very engaging - not flat or boring at all. Studio neutral done right. Not fatiguing. Not sibilant at all but not because it glossed things over (like what some gear does). Something in the woofer just sounds good and correct with about everything I tried in it, even if cello and string bass was not as colorful and vibrant as the DALI or an actual cello or string bass in person. I was really close to just asking for the SMC 7 and walking out right there. I also lost the desire to demo anything else after this.

The only reason I didn't drive home with this right away is I realized that I don't want uncolored and revealing for random live performances on Youtube, some not very high production value media or games, background music, etc. - even casually, I can't "un-hear" the crappiness sometimes.

MON Acoustics - Mini - I wasn't looking for these and was done listening, but the store people were curious about what I would think of these after I demo'd and commented on the other stuff. After hearing these, these are a well implemented tweeter / small woofer very small speaker combo if you like the FR tuning.
These didn't quite have enough highs and the upper or mid bass sounded emphasized (in terms of a FR bump). Bass drops off fast as expected for the small size so maybe that's what the bass bump is for - to have something before things just fall off of a cliff. Timbre was very slightly plasticy at times - not enough to bother me, I didn't even noticed it until after a while. Highs sounded slightly recessed somewhere. Sounded like it was specifically made for nearfield / small room / small desk listening. Very positioning / placement agnostic in the environment I tried it in. I sat with ears level to tweeters then 2' too high then on the floor and sound didn't not get significantly worse somehow. I actually got good staging and imaging, first with proper positioning, and still mostly so regardless of how much I tried to purposely mess up within reason. Also, really good build quality.
Reminded me of the ADAM T7V but passive and with slightly different voicing and the tiny bit of oddity via the tweeters seems to be in a different spot. These have noticeably better performance (much more $$$ of course). Two main flaws 1) they definitely "sounded small" - because they are very small - but they don't sound as small as they actually are 2) I don't know if they're $2k good. I suspect part of the premium is actually in the small size though - I can't recall the last time I saw heard something this small sound this good. Overall, an interesting experience, even it it's not what I'm looking for.
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Polk L200 - see above comments. R100 was still not available.
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I didn't get to the below and also just lost the desire to demo after hearing the ATC:
Didn't get to try the triangle speakers mentioned above as the only dealer near me who could demo them was just too far away in the opposite direction and didn't have other stuff I wanted there at the same time.
Didn't get to try the dynaudio evoke and emit for the same reason. I also received feedback from dealers and then saw feedback online that all of their more recent speakers are going to be warmer than pretty much any other speaker they did carry, which is not what I'm looking for.
I previously thought all ELAC bookshelves would be too big - they actually have a smaller one "Carina" that I am curious about but not enough to tie up $1k to try them. That and bluntly put, I don't think I'd pick these over the ATC anyways.
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Conclusion:
For my personal preferences, for nearfield listening, I liked the Dali and ATC speakers the most, even if the bigger ATC were not ideal for that. For midfield listening in a larger room, it would be Totem or ATC. Again, different sounds.

If I had more space and could justify it, I would actually buy both Dali and ATC. They were both that good for me. But, since I only need 1 pair, it's probably going to come down to
1) What is more convenient at my desk for amplification?
2) What will I want when I get a different setup for a bigger living or listening room. i.e. do I want accuracy and correctness at the desk and the enjoyable colored sound in a bigger listening room? Or do we go the other way - chill with colored enjoyable sound and appreciate accuracy, performance, and resolution when listening seriously.
FWIW, I would say I am a resolution whore so I would want to have and be able to easily hear good resolution when I listen seriously in a bigger setup. But my understanding is that it can be more difficult to achieve in some bigger setups.

I haven't decided as of right now.

 

Decision is made. Going with the more colored Dali Menuet over the more neutral ATC 7 for nearfield.

1. @rlow @Armaegis and others - you guys are right. Overlooked this in initial considerations. Quiet and neutral is harder to do in terms of human hearing which we cannot easily overcome. Quiet and colored is somewhat easier. Also, given how good the ATCs were at moderate (for me) and above volumes, how a bigger amp really sound like they will do the ATC more justice, and how I'm a resolution whore, I think it makes more sense to go big with ATC neutral sound.
2. Got very good pricing on the Dali Menuet (only OK pricing on the Oberon 1) - I heard it's been somewhat tumultuous on the dealer side for Dali speakers lately so maybe I lucked out here w/ regards to timing.

 

These hiss.

 

Good choices. The SCM7 and the Menuet are currently my two top potential choices for nearfield at the moment. Elac Carina also on my list. I almost bought the Menuet SE, but I couldn’t get past the look of them, so have been waiting for a good deal on the non-SE but just haven’t come across them yet. Glad to get some impressions of the Mon Acoustics as well because I had been eyeing a set of used ones for a while but really didn’t want to pay that price. I may pull the trigger on the ATCs or the Elacs soon.

 

I heard these at CAPFest and was very impressed with the sound for the size. They hung with their larger siblings fairly well but clearly couldn't fill a much bigger room than the maybe 9x15 room they were in.

The designer was very proud of their weight and had us all hold them for a moment. 5.2kg each? Very solid aluminum construction. The price is tough, for sure.

Only comparably sized, good sounding thing I've seen is the Trenner & Friedl Sun which is even more expensive and doesn't reach the depths of the Supermon.

 

Just to clarify - I assume you have the actives, or is do the passives somehow hiss too?

 

Yes, I have the actives. They are the older version, before the purifi drivers, so I don't know if the newer ones have been improved on the hiss front.

Fwiw, when I measured them, my room at the listening position (~3M from the speakers) was about 2dB louder with the hiss which I calculated to mean that they contributed about 17dBspl. It's enough that with very quiet listening I find it mildly intrusive. But the speakers are good enough in other respects that I kept them despite this.

 

That’s pretty disappointing considering the price of their actives. Did you contact them about it to confirm its expected/normal?