For nearfield desktop use. Using these mainly for music listening and maybe a little music production.
So my budget is around $200 give or take for just the speakers themselves (not including amp or dac).
Whats my best option here?
What type of music are you listening to? And what type of music will you be working on for production?
I listen to mainly hip hop, rap, edm, indie, alternative rock, and some lo-fi. For producing mainly trap, lo-fi, and indie rock.
Gotcha, well if you are going to work with music, I think the 306p would be my pick out of that list, it’s a pretty great all rounder and would serve your uses well. What dac are you thinking, and do you have a monitor control?
Thank you for the suggestion. I will heavily consider those as I was leaning towards those already. What about strictly for music listening purposes? Whats the best speaker for that. I plan on using the topping PA3 dac. And I do not have a monitor control.
The pa3 is a speaker amp, so there is not a dac in there, the topping d10 would be a dac you can use. For a nice monitor controller, you can get something like a mackie big knob passive
Out of that list, I would personally prefer the B5.2 or the rb42 if you wanted passive speakers for music only. That being said the 306 mk2 is still a great speaker for average listening and still actually knowing myself at this budget is what I would end up picking for myself.
The B5.2 is going to be warmer tilted and also a bit wider, the rb42 is going to be almost a bit like a W signature at time with a bit more bass impact. The jbl is going to be more even overall. Technicality wise the jbl is going to be more detailed and accurate than the other speakers, but it’s also might be more harsh at times, but personally I don’t think it will be that big of an issue
Oops I meant to say topping mx3 but I think the topping d10 is a much better choice anyway so I will use that for sure. Thank you for recommending me that. I’m sorry I’m new to all this but what does monitor control do?
It’s essentially a volume control for your speakers to sum it up. You can control it digitally but it can be risky doing that by accidentally sending full power to your speakers, having a physical device to control volume in the analog domain is safer and more simple imo. You can get a cheaper volume control if needed
Seems like 306 mk2 it is! Although the micca rb42 are so tempting as well. Would I need to get stands for these or what do you recommend for placement?
Oh ok gotcha. I’ll definitely pick this up then. Any other things I’ll need like special cables/wires?
A pair of RCA to 1/4 cables from D10 to the Big Knob and a pair of 1/4 TRS cables from the Big Knob to the JBLs
It depends on your desk, you want to make sure to give the speakers some space between the wall and them, also make sure the tweeter is ear level, and they are far enough apart. It really depends so it’s something you will have to play around with. I would suggest getting some isolation pads to decouple them from the desk a bit
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078PQ7TLD/ref=emc_b_5_t
So with the mackie big knob you would want some rca to 1/4 inch ts cables to connect the dac to the big knob, and then 1/4 inch to 1/4 inch cables to connect to the monitors from the big knob
And a pair of these
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-HSS-005-REAN-Balanced-Interconnect/dp/B006H9ZCJ2/ref=sr_1_3
I would go TRS so he can more easily feed the monitors balanced when getting a better DAC in the future.
Ahhhh that’s true, you could do that
Edit: updated previous post
Gotcha! I appreciate it.
Alright sounds good. Thank you so much for being so helpful. I appreciate it M0N! You’re the best. This new audio setup will be thanks to you.
NP, if you have any other questions just ask
Hey M0N these are for both speakers right? This is pretty good deal right? https://www.ebay.com/p/17015797856?_trkparms=aid%3D666006%26algo%3DPRP.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151029144032%26meid%3Df2a3ff0b28ce434caad8f88eecc360fe%26pid%3D100534%26rk%3D8%26rkt%3D10%26pg%3D2322090&_trksid=p2322090.c100534.m4207
That’s actually for one monitor, not two (that’s a misleading page, the actual listening doesn’t show that)
Here is a listing that I found that seems to essentially be an open box, and even includes the cables you need. This is more representative of the price it will be
oh cool thank you! pretty good deal. Also another question. Whats your thoughts about the Wharfedale Diamond 220? Found a pair for about $130 but they only ship to UK which I have someone there that I can send them to for me.
Imo personally I am not a fan of the 220, they are alright but nothing to write home about for me. I think something else to look into might be the monitor se atom