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About the room, I know the size effects the compression and how loud you can get it(right? just starting to lean my stuff here) but I really only need the bass to be tactile loud in a very small area. So like, with my current set up, I have these towers from the 70's (no, not kidding) and I feel like if I could only push them a bit more, I could be happy. It wouldn’t sound great overall and the highs suck what with cone tweeters, but I could keep lying to myself that it's acceptable. I have them both 3' away from me aimed directly at my face, and directly at each other for that matter. They're raised a bit on these short shelves and box in the desk rather nicely. Now I'm starting to understand that doing that can destroy stereo imaging or something.This is not my exact area of expertise but, i'm not sure you can get what you want for less than $1,000. If you want to blow the roof off that size of a room, you are looking at spending much more! What do you have for amps?
I was thinking about monitors. I don't like the idea of active though, modularity and flexibility is the name of my game. I'll also state that I would like to get the most possible output I otherwise can, while retaining high efficiency, for the money. But if a studio monitor would be considerably better for the type of music I listen to, then sacrificing the maximum output I guess is a good choice. Just as long as the total power requirements is basically the same on both types of options. Like I said I can almost get whatever and put them where they need to be, along with one extra caveat, relative to me sitting 3'- 4' feet from a wall. If I was was to get larger towers, then if they need to be farther away, so be it as long as it's still able to reach tactile levels. Just trying to get the most for the money.I don't think a huge high efficiency speaker is right for this scenario.
First off, you are sitting 3' away, you won't be using more than 10 watts even at ear bleeding levels. With this budget, I would look into some active speakers. They are easier to position, come with amplification, and are better suited for a nearfield application. They need to be in front of you, toed in, to form an equilateral triangle with your listening position.
I would recommend the JBL LSR308, the 8" woofer is going to give you a nice thump and these will play louder than you can care to listen, at about $450 a pair, they would be a great deal. Crystal clear sound, and no need to buy a receiver/amp.
Then go and grab an SVS PB-1000. Put this in nearfield and it will give you plenty of chest thumping bass. It also has a built in 80Hz high pass filter so your 308s will blend well.
A Schiit Modi 2 uber combines a DAC and preamp into one unit and lets you control everything. You would hook up the DAC via USB to your computer, and then run RCA from the DAC output to the Sub input, and then from the sub output to the speakers.
I guess you're right. Thank you. I'll be going studio monitors and dual subs. I thinks it's partly about curtailing expectations. Part of me want to compensate for my lack of a SO by getting something with as low a spouse approval rating as possible! But it's not necessary. All I’ll really be missing out on is the ability to deafen myself while piddling around the room.Speakers placed at your sides is not going to work, and having them that far apart is not good either. Do you have any space below the monitors? Your best option seems like mounting them above and angling down. It's not ideal, but it's better than any of the other choices.
I know you are concerned about output, but you need to realize that nearfield power requirements are in the single digits. The speaker sensitivity is the SPL you will get with 1 watt of power at 1 meter away. To add 3dB to the SPL, you double the power. So an 89dB speaker, will hit 92dB with 2 watts of power, and 95dB with 4 watts. 95dB is like listening to a jackhammer across the street, it is uncomfortably loud for any considerable amount of time. The THX reference level is 85dB with 20dB of headroom for dynamic peaks, so you can see that it doesn't take much at all to get the speakers loud enough when they are so close.
It's hard to beat the value of studio monitors, and those JBLs are very popular. To get chest thumping bass, you need a sub, buying bigger speakers isn't going to be as cost effective, and it will only be harder to mount them given your limited space.
The O2 is a fine DAC, but I recommended the Modi 2 Uber because it also has a pre-amp for your active speakers, and volume control. The O2 is more geared towards headphone users. Your Focusrite is a perfect substitute though, it gives you a USB DAC and volume control for active speakers.
Make no mistake, those JBLs would have no issue deafening youI guess you're right. Thank you. I'll be going studio monitors and dual subs. I thinks it's partly about curtailing expectations. Part of me want to compensate for my lack of a SO by getting something with as low a spouse approval rating as possible! But it's not necessary. All I’ll really be missing out on is the ability to deafen myself while piddling around the room.
Still, any passive models you would recommend? Even if it's a slight less of a value, if I could get a bit more speaker for lack of an integrated amp, that would be cool.
I actually need to adjust the setting on my stand. That should give me about 7-9 inches of clearance under the bottom bezel of the monitors.
Also, I'm reading that sealed subs have less output, sensitivity, and mostly extension; but should be faster and punchyer. I don't know if you're familiar with my genres of choice (I don't expect most people to be) but for something like that would the tradeoff be worth it?