Speakers for a room (~500$)

Hi,

I’ve been reading about speakers, audio system, DAC, amplifier, speakers and I need a bit of help to choose my setup as there are too many variables for a beginner like me. So here I go:

  • Where and why: For a 12 square meter room, to play music mainly and watch movies. I listen to electronic music, a bit of jazz, and that’s it really!

  • Budget: I don’t care if it’s passive (I will buy the required gear needed to make it work properly) or active, but the total shouldn’t be more than 500/600$.

  • Setup: Either on my desk or I can purchase some stands.

I think that’s all, any question or recommendation please let me know!

Thank you in advance!!!

Hmm, I think a good passive setup for you might be the micca rb42, topping pa3, topping d10, and if you wanted to add a sub, the Bic America F12. I think this would cover your bases in a compact and nice setup that can be flexible in the future

If you wanted some active speakers instead, the vanatoo t0 is pretty sweet and you can also add a sub later on if you wanted to

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I agree I pretty much gave this same setup. Micca rb42, topping pa3, and JDS el dac, and Polk sub. Cost maybe $520 total.

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Is your room perfectly square? If so, positioning may be tricky, but I highly suggest for you to do as much room treatment as possible with the remainder of your money. It goes a long way!

P.S. There are some hacks you can do without purchasing fancy diffusers and such.

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Yes, there are some simple ways to treat your room for little or no cost. If he is going to be using them nearfield on a desk setup, the room does not matter as much though compared to a room setup

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Thank you very much for all your input!

For my room, it’s more rectangle than square, basically. I’d say something like 2 (maybe 3?) by 6 maybe? And I have noooo knowledge at all about room treatment but not much space either sadly. As said I can either put the speakers on my desk or, because it’s nicer apparently and look way cleaner, on stands.

I will also pass on the sub I think, I live in Japan, people are mental about noise, so just the vibration would make them call the cops for sure.

As for the setup, I was indeed considering for the active the vanatoo t0 (don’t like the design, but it’s fine) and the t1e but don’t know if it’s worth to spend the 600$ in my space?

And for passive, thank you for the DAC and amp it sounds perfect. I didn’t read anything about the RB42 but will for sure, I was just a bit sceptical about the low price (but it’s me being an idiot). I was actually considering the Klipsch RP600m, but again, it might be not worth it for a beginner and in my space?

Sorry if I’m being a bit picky, I just want the right thing, and money is not really a big issue in any case here. I’ve just fantasized about having a nice set up for years but was living in 6 square meters until now (japan yeyyy).

Again, thank you for all your advice!

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If you were to go that route, I would start off with the t0 first before jumping to something like the t1e

Those are pretty great speakers, but I do think you might want to start off with the miccas and you can upgrade down the line to the 600ms if you like

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+1 for the rb42 pa3 combo… very nice sound for a ridiculously good price… I recommend listening to the rb42s before deciding whether or not to get a sub… low end is pretty good :ok_hand:

Honestly on a desk I don’t really think I would consider a sub unless you want tons of spl

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Thank you guys for all your replies!

I will most probably go for Vanatoo t0 then.

I like the rb42 as well but the AMP might take too much space, my apartment is not that big (Japan and space), and I would also have to find space for the DAC and the cables and so on …

At least I can drop the vanatoo on two stands behind my couch and it will be all. And I won’t have the constant envy to upgrade, but a sub, look for new things haha!

my brother is also kinda hoping for a 500 dollar speaker setup for a 4K TV when he gets a living room

there will definitely be movie watching and some TV but definitely more focused on gaming… with a Wii, PS4/5, PS3, and probably later wii U and stuff. (he’s specifically big into RPGs and multiplayer games)

Well if you consider active speakers I can vouch for the Kali Lp6. They pound on the low end and have great mids and highs. 80watts. I have them in my home office/ music room and they are great I was running them off a Smsl SU8 but now they are connected to my Asgard 3. When I first bought them I thought I would need a sub but Nooooooooo!. Having the dip switches on the back (highly customizable) and being front ported makes them even better. Total cost for speakers and dac was $500.00