Thanks a lot!
So I think neutral, especially for my use case scenario, but a bit of warmth won’t hurt.
Btw I was considering passive too, although active would be much easier for desk setup and that’s why that was preference.
But please if you have any suggestions let me know, just to fit in my budget a bit.
I’m enjoying the combination of the Emotiva BasX A-100 ($220) and the Klipsch R-41M speakers ($130, sometimes on sale for $95)
A vote for the Kali Lp6 in white… as for the hiss maybe you might hear it in between songs but it is not bad, I use them and have for quite awhile. I never even notice the hiss at all unless somebody reminds me and I listen for it… Also if you want a 6.5 inch woofer desktop monitor these rock!
Thank you very much, I’m considering them and color fits perfectly!
Thank you very much I’ll look into that for sure!
You can add a bit of warmth when selecting your DAC/Amp. I recently switched from a Topping DX7S to a Schiit Jotunheim with multibit DAC and my T5Vs are noticeably warmer.
I just got a set of the 305s and I find them very nice! There is a touch of audible noise, but that can be managed by the volume control, and at listening levels it’s inaudible to me.
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Oh thanks, nice to know that.
Awesome dude, good for you, I’m considering them as well and this really helps, tyy!
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Also, scotch tape refills make for great stands! 
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I’ve been looking for a desktop set up as well, with the additional criteria that I want bluetooth connectivity. Hiss is a big nono as I easily get annoyed by it.
Would the Kanto Yu4 be something you could consider? They’re $329 on Amazon in white. I’ve listened them at a noisy store environment - when placing ears next to tweeter there was a distinct
hiss - and I did not want to take the risk of taking them home to listen in a quiet environment where the hiss will be more more audible, I would imagine. Hiss aside, sounded great. Audioengine A2+ seems like a popular alternative too but apparently weak on bass; should be cheaper than the Yu4’s though. It’s smaller so fits the desk more neatly.
Edit: Edifier Luna Eclipse look like an interesting pair of speakers too - which will fit well within your budget; and comes in white 
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Yes they pretty much all do it. Specially right next to it. Audible in listening position?
Depends on room or back ground noise levels, source, signal, power and distance from speakers. Usually when playing music it’s not audible.
If you cannot lower the sensitivity/signal level of the speaker or just a have good enough speaker, the white noise is there. Haven’t found or know, any budget class speaker that would be “silent” from 1 feet / 30cm or under that distance and there is change. Noise level will rise to be audible, with more volume. Worst ones make noise even with just power on.
If you budget up like 8 or 10x you get silence. Probably even in white but no bluetooth.
Might be easier to have preamp with that feature.
Yes they pretty much all do it. Specially right next to it. Audible in listening position?
Depends on room or back ground noise levels, source, signal, power and distance from speakers. Usually when playing music it’s not audible.
Hard to say for the Kanto Yu4’s. It was a very noisy store and there was no way I can emulate the noise levels of my home there, which is why I placed my ears directly next to the speakers. I wouldn’t mind if they made a noise, but cannot be heard when around 90cm away (desktop usage).
Noise level will rise to be audible, with more volume. Worst ones make noise even with just power on.
The KEF EGG Duo’s are one of those “worst ones”. Very noisy in my opinion for desktop usage, and I ended up visiting the KEF store and confirm all their EGG Duo’s displayed had the same noise, so it was a design cause, and not interference etc. at home. Had to turn them off whenever not in use, and ended up not using them at all because of this.
If you budget up like 8 or 10x you get silence. Probably even in white but no bluetooth.
Might be easier to have preamp with that feature.
I’m no audiophile nor techy so I’m not sure how to make a set up with bluetooth from a set of speakers without. It’s only the OP who needed them in white. I’m open for different colours (walnut is nice). KEF LSX seem more quiet? Buchardt A500 seem nice - but heavily backordered and 6x the price.
Have been wanting to go and test these but not there yet.
Laziness and covid and all… Was not a fan of the bigger ls50 in a sound demo.
Don’t know about the white noise levels with these.
No worries. KEF has an official store here. I’ll go take a listen over the weekend to see if it creates any noise of concern.
When I was last there diagnosing the hiss on my EGGs, I recall taking a look at the LSX and did not hear anything vaguely as noisy.
I was actually intrigued by the Triangle LN01a but unfortunately no official distributor locally so I can’t test for noise before ordering online (and thereby voiding warranty; I believe).
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YU4’s hiss should not be audible, even in a quiet room, positioned 1m away from speakers. We tweaked the gain structure of the YU4 and YU6 compared to our previous speakers specifically to reduce noise on desktop / nearfield. Keep in mind that on desktop you will either need to use optical or run a ground loop isolator in line with 3.5mm to squash ground loop issues. YU4 is grounded and when connected via analog to another grounded device, like a PC, you will hear noise.
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Hi there, I’m not sure how active this topic is but maybe it helps someone that falls into here. So I’m agree that Audioengine A2+ doesn’t have enough bass “natively”. But for hiss noise, they are clearly super good for their price range. To solve the bass issue, I’ve created my own way and super happy with the result for the last 2 months. I mean it is mind blowing good. I own A2+ for about 5 years. Usually used it with a bluetooth dongle (since mine doesn’t have bluetooth itself) and without so much electricity noise around. But for the last year it was driving me crazy because of my room and devices are changed completely. After spending almost 3 months and tried so many methods, finally had the best ever audio from A2+.
Move them away at least 40-50cm from your ears. Put some vibration reduction under them (can be silicone legs etc). And finally, buy a qudelix 5k.
Yes, those are headphone amplifiers but i couldn’t get anything closer to the pureness of the audio quality and bass by anything else i’ve tried. Especially software based eqs are compressing the audio and i dont like it. I’ve created a perfect preset for A2 in qudelix app. I’ve never heard anything close to this friendly pair in that price range. Before that i’ve tried fosi audio dacs with 2 band eqs and they are worthless for adding bass to A2+.
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Welcome to hifiguides!
Great write up, glad you found a solution that works.
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emotiva b1+ or sony sscs5 w/ loxjie a30