I have the Beginner setup; Kinter 2020 Tripath amp with Dayton 652 Airs, fed by Chromecast Audio. I keep aborting the turntable purchase, but it’s going to be a Denon DP-300F with a built in preamp. I listen to a lot of Classic Rock, New Wave, and Alternative Rock from the 90s. I use Plex on my phone to Cast FLAC rips of my disc library; I don’t do Bluetooth.
I prefer my bass accentuated, but my highest priority is clarity. This is my bedroom system, so a smallish room at reasonable volume (I have NO trouble keeping >80dB with my current setup). For $400 US, what do I do?
Edifier S2000 Pro and be done with it,
Q Acoustics 3020i with SMSL AD18, or
Klipsch R-51PM and a cheap sub later?
I can’t find ANY of the above options locally for audition. I kind of have to buy on Amazon from a seller that item that takes returns if I hate my first purchase. I like the idea of the headphone jack on the AD18, but not sure how often I’ll use it.
Minimal space. Like, almost none. I drag the speakers out to the edge of the desk (they’re on foam isopads angled upward) if I’m showing off. That’s a strike against the 3020i. the right speaker is kind of jammed in a corner less than 2’ from the joining wall.
I also don’t like the idea of cables from wall to amp to speakers, but that’s how I live now, so whatever. I don’t strongly prefer a PM setup, but I slightly prefer it. The headphone jack on the AD18 mentally offsets the clutter for me.
I really wonder if the S2k is better tuned and EQ’d for its drivers than what I could eek out of the AD18.
Honestly the s2000pro is pretty sweet in how it can dsp and is easy to set up. If you have minimal space I wouldn’t consider a speaker with a rear port, and also since space is a concern, a powered speaker seems preferable. The s2000 pro doesn’t have a sub out unfortunately but bass would be sufficient unless you expect lower than 50 hz
You could go with other powered speakers and a fiio k5 pro if you wanted a good headphone setup too
I demoed The Q3020i when buying my first stereo speakers, they definitely have clarity, good speakers for how much they sell now (200USD over here).
However, I went home with the Monitor Audio Bronze 2. I found they just filled the room better. Q3020 were more narrow, I think? In my limited experience the Bronze sounded better.
Bass is lacking for both pairs, but more for the Q3020 due to smaller woofer.
The thing is, if you don’t have room to space them out, and keep some distance, the bass will not impress you in nearfield.
I would pick edifiers just because of space, never head them however.
The Monitor Bronze 2 is definitely attractive, and they’re only 10% out of my price range. I may go ahead and get the AD18, enjoy the extra authority behind my 652s, and worry about a sealed or front-ported bookshelf speaker later. Or I may just torture myself in decision paralysis indefinitely.
My dumb ass finally read Zeos’ Reddit speaker guide. How do we all feel about a theoretical match between the Wavecrest HVL-1 and SMSL’s “smart” tone shaping? I’m still skittish about the poor measured performance of the AD18, but I don’t know how well the S2000 measures, so…
Reevaluating my state and priorities, I think I’m just going to put a real ($15) crossover in the Airs, re-cap the 2020A+, and put a Fiio K5 Pro in front of it. I may even wipe the tone and volume controls off of the 2020 as a pseudo-dual-monoblock. Thanks to everybody for the ideas!
