Suggestions for small full range speakers for my Den?

[HarryY]

I've been away from any serious music for some time now so
now I'm building up a small system for my Den / Home office.

I purchased an 8 watt per channel tube amp kit. and now I'm looking for a small
set of full range speakers to fit an area (max) 10" wide, 15" tall and 15" deep.

I will be sitting approximately 3' to 4' away from the speakers as they will be on the ends of a 7' long desk.

I'm not opposed to building but I would much prefer a kit as over scratch building.

I realize that Small and good base don't quite go hand in hand but I did see some Fostex
speaker designs that looked interesting if they were scaled to the area I have available.

Suggestions?

Thank you

 

[zman01]

HarryY,

What sort of music do you plan to listen to?

 

[scottjoplin]

Budget?

 

[HarryY]

HarryY,

What sort of music do you plan to listen too?

Typically rock (a lot of it older) Pink Floyd, Older Black Sabbath,
Blue Oyster Cult, Yes, Santana, Occasionally some newer rock.

Sadly my hearing had taken a bearing from working around Naval aircraft in
my youth. So that tends makes me tend to like a little louder crisper sound.
Though I still like some base as long as it's clear and not muddy.

 

[HarryY]

Budget?

That's a bad question as I tend to blow the budget more often than not.

Lets say $1000

I'd like to say far less but I'm getting older and my idea of what
something should cost tends to not quite match today's prices.

 

[zman01]

Typically rock (a lot of it older) Pink Floyd, Older Black Sabbath,
Blue Oyster Cult, Yes, Santana, Occasionally some newer rock.

Sadly my hearing had taken a bearing from working around Naval aircraft in
my youth. So that tends makes me tend to like a little louder crisper sound.
Though I still like some base as long as it's clear and not muddy.

HarryY,

In my experience single driver wide-band drivers don't do rock that well... a compact FAST (Full-range Assisted with woofer) system would probably suit you better, or a traditional 2 way.

 

[HarryY]

HarryY,

In my experience single driver wide-band drivers don't do rock that well... a compact FAST (Full-range Assisted with woofer) system would probably suit you better, or a traditional 2 way.

Thank you

That gives me a different direction to look in.

 

[scottjoplin]

The Jordan Eikona might suit you due to its rising response. There are a couple of small box plans here loudspeaker plans - E J Jordan Designs and the unit is available in the USA from here https://www.arsharmonia.com/jordan-eikona-2/
Wilmslow Audio supply full kits, shipping may be costly FULL RANGE UNIT Loudspeakers

 

[HarryY]

The Jordan Eikona might suit you due to its rising response. There are a couple of small box plans here loudspeaker plans - E J Jordan Designs and the unit is available in the USA from here https://www.arsharmonia.com/jordan-eikona-2/
Wilmslow Audio supply full kits, shipping may be costly FULL RANGE UNIT Loudspeakers

Thank you

 

[planet10]

Harry,

A popular small speaker is our uFonken (free plans available) and increasingly the newer uFonKenPlus (full plans part of a paid planset & come free with driver purchase). I mention these 2 as flat-paks are available.

The larger milliSize boxes are also available as flat-paks (some plans free, others in paid plan-sets). We also have some of the even larger Classic Golden Ratio boxes available. Here a picture of a UK built pair of the narrow version for the Alpair 7.3.

All would easily fit your budget.

In my experience single driver wide-band drivers don't do rock that well... a compact FAST (Full-range Assisted with woofer) system would probably suit you better, or a traditional 2 way.

Do keep in mind that being near-field makes a big difference and Zia’s comment is not necessarily valid. That said here is a picture of a small FAST we are working on for a gentleman in Italy. I have been listening to just the midtweeter run full-range so far, have to connect all the bits to bi-amp them.

dave

 

[Jerms]

Parts express gallery of speaker projects forums....
The Bantams or the Heliums. Ideally use with a subwoofer. Also ideally, don't mount them straight onto the desktop to reduce bounce off the desk surface.

 

[HarryY]

Parts express gallery of speaker projects forums....
The Bantams or the Heliums. Ideally use with a subwoofer. Also ideally, don't mount them straight onto the desktop to reduce bounce off the desk surface.

My desk is 32" front to back with back being a shelf with monitors attached.

So the speakers will be lifted off the desk by 9"

it will pretty much put the speaker right at ear level.

 

[HarryY]

Harry,

--- snip --
The larger milliSize boxes are also available as flat-paks (some plans free, others in paid plan-sets). We also have some of the even larger Classic Golden Ratio boxes available.

---snip ---

All would easily fit your budget.

--- Snip ---

 

[mikejennens]

Since you're looking for something somewhat compact and for near-field use, I think full-range might be ideal. Many of the Mark-Audio drivers are exceptional. And I believe you can get GREAT speakers for far less than $1000. With all that's available this day and age, price and quality aren't always directly proportional.
The Mark Audio Alpair 7.3 is phenomenal! Planet 10 has plenty of plans available, so no charge and some fee based, that will get you plenty of high quality sound out of a number of different drivers. And if you'd like more bass than you feel a full range might offer, the addition of a small sub can really add a lot to an already great system. If you'd rather go with a kit than build your own cabinets, there are plenty available.
For desktop, my experience has been GREAT with full range speakers. The imaging is outstanding. I'd recommend looking into these types. In my opinion, you won't be sorry!!!
Mike

 

[Jim Shearer]

Just a thought: Since you want some bass & capability to play loud at times (?). Maybe consider the Mark Audio Alpair 10.3 in a 0.25 ft^3 sealed enclosure stuffed w/ fiber (like Parts Express Acccoustastuf). I broke-in pair of A10.3 in 'sealed' cardboard boxes & was surprised at the bass. The larger size of the A10.3 will allow for higher SPL than the A7.3. Modest sized box, no need for cross-over, and (IMO) no need for baffle step correction. In near field listening, I don't think I would want a sub, but others will surely disagree.

A10.3 are still on sale at Madisound (IIRC): $85. Heck of a deal! Only caveat I would give is that break-in must be done slowly & carefully per Mark Fenlon's instructions.

Cheers, Jim

 

[planet10]

And break-in continues out past 1000 hrs. A10.3 works very well in a 13 litre miniOnken. The basic Classic Golden Ratio boxplan is here; Frugal-phile | Box Library / Mark Audio

DAVE

 

[Bigun]

I have not found small speakers to be idea for rock music either, but the best performance I've heard from a DIY full range driver small speaker is this one:


Martello enclosure for FR88EX

 

[HarryY]

I really appreciate the info, Admittedly I've been out of the game for a
long time so I'm trying to read what I can and absorb some knowledge.
So I can make a decent choice.

For this go around a Kit (at least for the cabinet) will get me up and running and
I can always play more in the future as it comes to putting a new system in the living room.

 

[chrisb]

for a drop dead simple kit (granted the boxes aren't the best) - something like these?
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...0e-diy-kanspea-4-full-range-speaker-kit-pair/

if you want to go small 2-way?:
https://www.parts-express.com/tritr...r-kit-pair-with-knock-down-cabinets--300-7126

Bass can always be reinforced with separate woofer(s)

 

[planet10]

fkanspea-4-full-range-speaker-kit-pair

A cheap, good value FR setup. Choose FF85/105wk or the FE88 SOL (althou with this one you’d probably want a better cabinet)

tritrix-mt-bookshelf-speaker-kit

Another 2-way with an ugly impedance curve.

dave