Best small, desktop speakers, $500 or under (new or used)

It's just that they're so old and perhaps mid-fi that I was thinking that maybe big advances had happened since, well, 1988, and I could easily best these things with even something well under $500.

I think you could trounce them multiple different ways for $100, for instance, with the Dayton Audio MK402BTX.

Fair enough!

Someone earlier mentioned powered tannoys. Those are good and come in versions less than 500, and then you could sell your amp and have money left over. There are other great powered options as well. I currently have ATC and Omega monitors but have had many others such as ProAc (which are great), Tannoy etc. One hidden gem is the JVC UX 7000. I just bought another pair for my office. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254608934017

Another great option is the Linn Kan

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184310348338

@lancek Wow, those JVC speakers are $37, used!
As for Omega -- is there more than one Omega or is that just this company? https://omegaloudspeakers.com/

Omega makes good speakers but has terrible service .

@schubert Good to know. Everything on their product page says "sold out" and there is no notice about when things will be back in production. It would be hard to guess what the fate of that company is.

Honestly, my old DCMs give me 90% of what I think is awesome, snare, piano, vocals, and the 'wrong' stuff is modest enough not to bug me. My old Tukans were good for me at under $400/pair. Most ADSs I hear give me most of what I like. I'm sure the $1500 speaker can do it better, but maybe not. They give me more base, but the high end is too subdued. Or they soundstage is super big, but the sensitivity sucks for my 60 watt amp. ALways a trade off.

Check out Orb Audio.I used to have some along with a little sub for under my desk.https://www.orbaudio.com/

I just got Vanatoo's T0 and they are fantastic - especially with the a sub... 

Last month bought a B stock Vanatoo Zero pair for $319 for my computer.  They looked new and I am very satisfied on sound. I have had some pretty nice desktop speakers in the past, these top them all. 

Nobody is going to suggest a pair NHT C1 ?

https://www.nhthifi.com/products/16548-c-1-bookshelf-speaker

Now Hear This being one of those long standing, good sounding speakers brands that's quite affordable. Easy to drive, well made and doesn't try to lend 'it's own' sound.

I'd second the Paradigm ATOMs that others have suggested. Still pretty hard to improve on for the size and price.

The powered Adams are for tracking / mixing and while they will reproduce a dynamic, detailed and full scale range of what's been recorded they're meant to be impartial and they are. No imaging what so ever, that's for home audio speakers. I use their big brothers at work in the studio and they're great but I'd hate to have to listen to them for long at home. IMHO

The NHT sounds interesting. Their website suggests 100 wpc for amps and the speakers are 85 db. I have a 60 w amp but won’t be listening that loudly...hmmm. I have heard and like the Atoms. 

In both cases, these choices don’t seem all that much better than my Pinnacles. I was hoping for a next level speaker. Perhaps too much to ask. 

Hey, maybe you should keep the Pinnacles. You seem to like them. 

The pinnacle speakers are disappointing but they are not so terrible that I might not keep them for home theater surround. They are decent but not great. I am hoping that for focused and near-field listening I can do better with a newer speaker as described in the original post — but I don’t think I can do better if the replacement speaker is at or below the price-class of the pinnacle speakers. That is why I keep returning to them as a metric.

I own nht C1's and also kef q150s.  The nht's can be found less expensive than the link provided, just do a quick search.

I prefer the Kef's personally, but ymmv.

NHT and KEF -- really thinking about them.

@b_limo
http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/pinnacle-pn5-plus--452.html
$149 in 1986 = $350 today.
Of course, look at some ELAC speakers at the lower price points; many say these are doing a far better job than their peers. I don’t know what was said about Pinnacles at the time.
Also: some repairs. Woofer replaced on both; one from Pinnacle, the other from a Dayton audio woofer which fit. Tweeters original.

They are quite different. NHT are sealed, Kef are rear ported. Kef are quite a bit larger footprint. 
NHT are more forward sounding. Kef have more bass. 
NHT look nicer, nice piano black finish. Kef wood trim looks pretty cheap. 
But to me the Kef sound better playing from Bluesound Powernode 2. 

You’re killing me, man. Thinking thinking...

LoL, there nice little speakers my Man!  The concentric design is great for near field since you don’t have to be back a certain distance for the drivers to integrate; they’re already perfectly integrated as they are a point source.  They image well even off axis and they play plenty loud.

The reference series is a step up from the entry level “q” series.

If you like rosewood (which I do)  they are awfully pretty speakers.

They come with grills which on the Q series are optional, not that you want to cover up those beautiful drivers.

They sound fantastic and I was planning on keeping them as my main speakers but things came together that allowed me to get some Carrera BE’s

I already got a quote for $220 for the pair, to upgrade the entire crossovers with brand new, completely assembled crossovers, using Clarity CSA caps and Solen and Goertz inductors with Mundorf Film resistors on the tweeter.  Thats from madisound and it would be a plug and play upgrade.

They had an original msrp of $1200...

what more could you possibly want for $425??
Original boxes, styrofoam packaging, original literature?  Got it!

I’ve even got a bow I’ll put on the box, no joke!
 

Hilde45 Some if these recommend speakers seem large for a desk. Do you have a size cutoff? Rear ports will need 4” minimum from a wall, if no rear wall this may help placement. 

I owned the bigger version of this and never used it to it's full ability since I was too close to the back wall and side wall. If you have the space check out the smaller version here for $480 used. I think this one has the front and rear drivers but not the side drivers.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649624657-clairaudient-the-one-bookshelf-speakers/

i am love this thread
mon

@canibefrank -- it's great to talk about options in audio when the constraints and functions are fairly defined.

@superultramega

Here’s an indication about size of speakers and distance from wall for ports —

Here’s an example of TOO LARGE:
PARADIGM MINI H 13.4 x W 8.3 x D 11.4

Here are examples of GOOD SIZE:

PINNACLE speaker dimensions:11.37 H x 6.75 W x 6.5 D

PARADIGM ATOM H 10.6 x W 6.7 x D 8.7

I think front ports would be helpful. I find it hard to get them more than 8” from their walls.

I paid $389 for my C1 pair new on Amazon about a year ago, FYI. Sealed is nice for desk and with only 8” behind. They are currently in my main HT system, which maybe could be considered a promotion from backup duty in my third music system, where the Kefs are (or maybe a lateral move, haha). If your amp is neutral or laid back, the C1’s should be fine. If your amp is forward, then maybe not.
The Kef q150, while rear ported, do include port bungs.

I’ll give a little more feedback on the Kef q150s. 
I am a Spendor fanboy. Have D7’s in my main system, D1’s in my secondary system, and SA1’s as the main speakers in my 3rd system, with the Kefs as the backups that I rotate thru (along with some NHT Absolute Zeros -ya, I gotta problem, but don’t judge haha). 
Anyway, the SA1’s have $2.2k msrp, the Kefs 600 msrp, and the Absolute Zeros 300 msrp. 
The SA1’s are the best of the three, but it is sure no landslide. 
For example, if I say the SA1’s are a 100 on a normalized scale of sound quality, I’d rate the Kefs a 95 and the Absolute Zeros a 60. (for me the C1’s maybe an 85, but if you like clarity and forward sounding speakers more than I do, you might rank them higher - I do not typically prefer forward sounding speakers). 
So at about one quarter the cost of the SA1’s, the q150s punch outside their weight class IMO. Ymmv. 

@kren0006,how do you think the Q150’s compare to the R100’s?

Sorry never heard R100s so couldn’t say.

I’d assume probably little better but would have to hear both. R100 higher series but also older series I think right? I’m no Kef expert, just grabbed the q150s when they were on sale half price a month ago to get some more variety and was really impressed (admittedly probably wasn’t expecting too much but they were better than expected). 

I think part of it is I’m pretty underwhelmed with my Spendor SA1. They aren’t worth their msrp.

If I include my D1 (3.2k msrp) in the mix as a true reference bookshelf speaker imo (they are fantastic), and rate the D1 as 100, then the SA1 drops to 77, the Kef q150 a 74 on this scale, the NHT C1 a 67, and Absolute Zero a 42.
Just my opinion and damn I am really rambling on here but maybe this helpful for some or maybe n........

Thanks, guys. The NHT sound interesting.

125 responses to a $500 or less speaker. You’re overthinking this My Man

Maybe I already bought some speakers.
Maybe I just like to watch the monkeys dance.

@kren0006, I was pretty impressed with the R100’s so I was curious about the Q150’s as well.  I may have to give those, or the q350’s a try someday as well.  The Q150’s seem to get good reviews.

Bummer about the SA-1’s.  I would have thought that those would have been awesome as well 🤷🏼

Is the R series much better than the he q series?

There is a pair of White,Dynaudio Excite X14's for sale here on Agon.They have damaged cabinets but the drivers are perfect.Comes with full 8 year Dynaudio warranty.Asking price is $550.00..If you could get them for less there is NOTHING for $500.00 that could compete,we're talking a $1500.00 speaker.I've owned a pair & it took $3500.00 Harbeths to surplant them...

I agree on those x14. Before I got the Kefs I was thinking possibly new x14s at $800 or 900 whatever they go for now but didn’t want to spend that much. Then the Kefs went on sale at 300. But the Dyns are better for sure IMO.

I also think those x14 are better than anything else around 500. But it’s all subjective. They would be for me. Ymmv.

Reason I’m so sure for me is when I got my D7 in main system I auditioned two dozen speakers over 6 months before settling on the D7. If my budget had been 5k (which it started at) I would have gone with Dyn Excite (whatever the 5k tower is, forget the number now, maybe x38 or x40). But once I heard D7 I knew I couldn’t keep budget at 5 k and would have to raise it a bit.

Dynaudio typically very hard to drive but that one x14 model isn’t as bad as most other Dyn bookshelf if you look at impedance and sensitivity and read the reviews.

then there are the x14a which are powered speakers but new they and x14 are outside of OP stated budget

Regarding SA1 that someone asked about, they have old tweeter instead of the new one that comes on D series. So they sound like classic Spendor which many love. For me it’s a bit too laid back. Some classic Spendor fans think the D series tweeter too forward but perfect for me. All subjective.

Incidentally the reason I ended up with so many Spendor and NHT bookshelves (I also have Superone 2.1 but never tried them for music, only HT) is they are some of only sealed bookshelves out there and three of my applications really work best with sealed speakers (one inside a cabinet, one on table near wall, third for rear HT surrounds mounted to wall).

I wouldn’t want damaged ones though.
I think that’d be the play for me if I was in market for $500 used bookshelves. Wait for a clean pair of used Dyn x14 at 500ish. They sell new for 800 or 900 for last 6 months at least so eventually should be some used for 500.

The one I’m thinking may eventually replace my Absolute Zeros is Triangle Borrea BR02. Why? Something different, horn tweeter, great reviews.Or maybe Monitor Audio Bronze 2 now on close out?

But I’m already a barely recovering bookshelfaholic as this thread makes clear so I gotta abstain for awhi.....

Those mentions of Dyn excites remind me how much I loved the Dyn evoke 10. I know some are older models, but how do they differ? What did Dyn change in the bookshelves, to your knowledge?

Check out the Scansonic HD M5 BTLs. They are 10.5" high, 50w amp built in and use a sweet sounding ribbon/planar tweeter.  They were $1000 but I believe will be marked down to $500 a pair soon. 

hilde45 (OP)Those mentions of Dyn excites remind me how much I loved the Dyn evoke 10. I know some are older models, but how do they differ? What did Dyn change in the bookshelves, to your knowledge?
I haven’t heard the Evokes but the Excite line was the offshoot of the Audience 52SE.The 52SE was the first Dyn to eliminate the NASTY midbass hump they always used to boost low end in all their stand mount speakers.It also used the initial design for the Impedance correcting circuit to ease amp load & was the first to use the new base formula for tweeter coating that they have perfected today...IMO the Excite lineup from bottom to top is hands down the best affordable speakers Dynaudio ever made...

@freediver
Thanks -- I’ll search around. Just need to *not* be too big.
@verdant The Scansonics HD M5 BTL looks interesting — a front firing port? That’s what my setup needs. But I cannot see it anywhere for sale.

I like the Vanatoo speakers.  They always get good reviews and I have a pair for my desktop use.    https://vanatoo.com/l/transparent-zero-bluetooth/

If your going to get something Micro size like the Vanatoo then look at Kanto & AudioEngine...

I never said I wasn't one of the "monkeys"! 
Please -- I meant that in jest, all. It's a half-smile, half-smirk at the kind of fun these discussions provide. I do learn from them, but there is kind of a circus-like energy!
Peace!