Small desktop speakers recommendations

[Harpoon]

My home PC previously didn't get a huge amount of use but home working during lockdown has seen the £10 Xenta soundbar prove you get what you pay for... For reference, I listen to all manner of stuff on Spotify as well as Youtube DJ mixes through the day as nobody else is home once Mrs Harpoon goes to work. The PC has a Asus Xonar DGX sound card.

I dusted off a set of Corsair SP2500 speakers from the garage. They are a 2.1 setup with a bloody huge sub - I can hardly get my feet under the desk now. I got these a warranty replacement for another set of Corsair speakers years ago. The power supply for the amp in the sub died on the 2nd day of use Googling shows this to be a common thing and unscrewing the back of the amp shows burnt out & damaged components. The set still works but only with everything turned up to 11 so I think it is bin fodder.

I started off looking at PC speaker sets up to £50/£70 and then, like a true PHer, there's been some budget creep and suddenly "expensive" stuff has caught my eye. The budget spanking options so far are:

• Ruark MR1 Mk2 - £329. Probably the best looking IMO
• IK iLoud Micro Monitor - £229. A bit 80s style (Matsui anyone?)
• Audioengine A2+ BT - £229
• Kanto U2 - £219

I have looked at monitor sets like the Eris 3.5 but I think they are a little too big at 21cm tall and will end up hiding behind the 2 monitors (on a shared central mount) and laptop on the desk.

The Steljes Audio NS1 look a great size but they appear to be EOL and the only colour I've found in-stock anywhere is yellow.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to consider? Any recommendations from the above list?

[lastexile69]

Hi
Not sure if what you're after as no sub included (optional) but I have these and they sound freakin awesome.

Excellent via Bluetooth from my phone too if I fancy it, and pretty passable when connected to TV via Optical too when I tried it.

https://petertyson.co.uk/kef-egg-active-speakers

[911newbie]

Not on your list, but worth considering I think.
Edifier R1280DB
£120 online ish.

Mine look fine, if not as nice as the Ruarks, but then they are much cheaper.
Not too big a footprint on the desk at all. I got the browney woodey finish and they look good in fact.

Sound is surprisingly good. I use mine for listening to music when working.
Not proper hi fi quality of course, but pretty good.

They have bluetooth as well I think. I use the optical out for them.

[Type R Tom]

Have you considered a small class d amp and some standard hifi speakers?

I also love a decent set of headphones for a late-night youtube rave.

[Harpoon]

Thanks for the suggestions so far - will look up the Edifier model and compare on size.

I don't know the first thing about amp's so that would be a new rabbit hole to disappear down. I don't think I'd want to be finding space for another bit of kit either - thanks for the suggestion though.

[Type R Tom]

Harpoon said:

Thanks for the suggestions so far - will look up the Edifier model and compare on size.

I don't know the first thing about amp's so that would be a new rabbit hole to disappear down. I don't think I'd want to be finding space for another bit of kit either - thanks for the suggestion though.

They are really small

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fosi-Audio-TB10A-Amplifie...

[Harpoon]

Type R Tom said:

They are really small

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fosi-Audio-TB10A-Amplifie...

Ah, okay. So what are the benefit(s) of passive speakers with the amp vs an active set like I've shortlisted?

[TurnedEmo]

Wouldn't a decent portable Bluetooth speaker be the answer - I have a Bose Soundlink mini which goes everywhere with me and is used with almost every music playing device I own - be it in my office to play music from a laptop or sitting in the garden playing from my phone.

[Drumroll]

TurnedEmo said:

Wouldn't a decent portable Bluetooth speaker be the answer - I have a Bose Soundlink mini which goes everywhere with me and is used with almost every music playing device I own - be it in my office to play music from a laptop or sitting in the garden playing from my phone.

Exactly what I do.

[belleair302]

I still think KEF Eggs sound great and they look lovely. Ruark are a good buy too but remember to buy a decent DAC.

[AndrewCrown]

Harpoon

I upgraded my IT set up last year... .. i went for these:
https://www.johnlewis.com/bose-companion-20-multim...



A little tall yes and they do sit behind a two monitor set up... great sound quality and the little circular volume mute control is brilliant... tap on/ off .. rotating bezel for volume..

[stevoknevo]

911newbie said:

Not on your list, but worth considering I think.
Edifier R1280DB
£120 online ish.

Mine look fine, if not as nice as the Ruarks, but then they are much cheaper.
Not too big a footprint on the desk at all. I got the browney woodey finish and they look good in fact.

Sound is surprisingly good. I use mine for listening to music when working.
Not proper hi fi quality of course, but pretty good.

They have bluetooth as well I think. I use the optical out for them.

I'm pretty much settled on a pair of these for our new caravan (whenever it gets delivered and we can actually get to go to it!) I'm wanting something really discrete - plan to run an old Raspberry Pi2 via HDMI to the TV so I can select music, then optical out to the Edifiers - should do a decent job for our needs.

There are cheaper versions without Bluetooth/optical input, and more expensive versions with better sound quality, but they all seem to get favourable reviews for what they are.

[Type R Tom]

Harpoon said:

Type R Tom said:

They are really small

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fosi-Audio-TB10A-Amplifie...

Ah, okay. So what are the benefit(s) of passive speakers with the amp vs an active set like I've shortlisted?

Sorry, don't have any specific recommendations but just wanted to point out with one of those amps your open to all of the hifi world and not just active speakers.

[911newbie]

Type R Tom said:

Harpoon said:

Type R Tom said:

They are really small

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fosi-Audio-TB10A-Amplifie...

Ah, okay. So what are the benefit(s) of passive speakers with the amp vs an active set like I've shortlisted?

Sorry, don't have any specific recommendations but just wanted to point out with one of those amps your open to all of the hifi world and not just active speakers.

That was my quandry too - amp + passive speakers, or active speakers.

Sound-quality wise I think there are good options either way.
Size wise the Chinese amps are good and small enough to be tucked away, and there are loads of good small passive speakers.
Costs wise there seems to be not much in it, I went for active Edifiers since it was marginally cheaper than amp+passive speakers.
They get good reviews. There is a chap on Youtube who tests these sorts of speakers exhaustively. Like hundreds of tests... I admire his passion.
Anyway he rates the Edifiers. And now I do too.

The Bose solution looks nice, but is a little expensive, and Bose have their own signiture take on sound reproduction.
No one buys Bose hi fis for a reason I guess.

[geeks]

I went through a similar run about 18 months ago, ended up with a Nobsound () and a pair of Mordaunt Short M10's. runs superbly although 18 months on I am now craving something with a little more umph, I still think the Nobsound is holding back the speakers, I have this morning been researching a replacement for it but can't find anything else that fits the bill, I want a reasonably cheap dac+amp that is small enough to sit under my monitor. I am now looking at changing from a DAC+Amp to a straight amp and a decent sound card for the PC. BUT and it is a big but, the Nobsound for the price is superb and changing will require a reasonable investment in kit!

Good luck OP there are endless choices and combos and it seems almost none of them are the wrong choice!

Take a peak here too https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[outnumbered]

This is more of a not-recommended. In a similar position, I bought some Tibo active speakers from Richer Sounds. They actually sound fine, but have a couple of annoying usability issues which would have put me off if I'd known beforehand, so I'd suggest not buying those

[HM-2]

I've just stepped up from a pair of active AudioEngine A2s (which were excellent) to passive Q Acoustic 2010is, powered from a £100 small form factor Class D amplifier. The difference in performance has been huge. Total cost for both was ~£180, but I did get the Q Acoustics second hand rather than new (they are available from a few places new but few and far between).

The Steljes Audio NS3 are also absolutely fantastic.

[lostmotel]

I'll add another suggestion to the list... Acoustic Energy Aego3 2.1

My girlfriend still has her original Aegos from about 12 years back and I think the current ones are just a facelift, plus some modern touches like Bluetooth. Which is no bad thing, because to my quite picky ear they are fantastic for PC audio, whether it be games, films or music.

[LeighW]

Just jumping in on this thread, I'm looking for some decent speakers for my home pc. I have a Logitec 2.1 setup at the moment, which is not good at all in terms of quality.

I've looked at these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1280DB-Bluetooth...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-Bookshelf...

Any other options, or which should I go for out of these? I want the best sound quality I can get for my ££, with clarity and a decent punch, happy to go to £200 or so if it's worthwhile. This is purely for playing music btw.

Something like this is a possibility, I do have an old Sony amp in the loft, but it is the thick end of 30 years old, and hasn't been used for 20, so I would have to budget for an amp too with these! Open to ideas.

[stevoknevo]

LeighW said:

Just jumping in on this thread, I'm looking for some decent speakers for my home pc. I have a Logitec 2.1 setup at the moment, which is not good at all in terms of quality.

I've looked at these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1280DB-Bluetooth...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edifier-R1700BT-Bookshelf...

Any other options, or which should I go for out of these? I want the best sound quality I can get for my ££, with clarity and a decent punch, happy to go to £200 or so if it's worthwhile. This is purely for playing music btw.

Something like this is a possibility, I do have an old Sony amp in the loft, but it is the thick end of 30 years old, and hasn't been used for 20, so I would have to budget for an amp too with these! Open to ideas.

I was looking at the R1280DB versus the R1850DB (which are essentially the same as the the R1700BT but with optical and coaxial inputs) From my Youtube travels the 1850s do sound better than the 1280s but the former only come in black.
But it really depends what inputs you need on them, I'm needing optical hence looking at the DB's in the first place.

The Q Accoustics will definitely sound better with a dedicated amp though.