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Office stereo

Last year I installed two Moon North based systems at home and then, in a flash of guilt-induced generosity, gifted my Naim Uniti Atom + Harbeth P3ESR to my nephew. Meanwhile, at work, I had been making do with a tiny pair of antique Cambridge Soundwork speakers and a sub --- and the sub finally gave up on me after 25 years. I'd love to steal my gift back. Just kidding ... but that means I need your help.

Office is about 130-140 sq ft. Picture below. I have a couple of computers in there and can dedicate a Mac mini to streaming Qobuz. That's all I want by way of music source. 

I don't want bass (or to be precise, my neighbors won't want it). I want clear, neutral near-field listening at low volume. I'm not much into warmth or color. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the Naim Uniti Atom (+ Harbeths) would be a great reference point, though it might be slight overkill for such a small space.

What would you recommend by way of separates or integrated devices?

Using the Naim/Harbeth as a price reference point as well, I am thinking around $7500 in all, but I could be persuaded to budge .. preferably downward. Votes for the reference point also welcome. Thanks all.

 

 

debrajray
debrajray's avatar
debrajray OP
65 posts
 

Thanks so much for the comments. Great leads, and totally open to more suggestions. A couple of points to narrow things down which I neglected in my first post:

1. No headphone listening. I just can't do headphones except for Airpods of necessity when I go jogging. I should have mentioned this, sorry.

2. This is a professor's office in a university. I just love the happy audiophile chaos in @yyzsantabarbara's setup but I can't go there, not at work! My Moons + WWP at home will have to scratch that itch.

3. I don't know much about active speakers so I will follow up on those and look at the options. Otherwise, I will need to get a small preamp/amp in there. Thanks for the Wiim Ultra lead (and of course the Naim remains in contention, as also a Schiit-stack). Other suggestions most welcome.

audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,984 posts
 

we have a perfect solution for you 

 

we import the amazing jern monitors from denmark 

they are tiny and work well nearfield they are made from cast iron and graphite so the cabinets are completely dead and therefore they image extremely well

then add a naim uniti atom for a miniature reference system

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jern14-es-loudspeaker-and-rel-t5i-subwoofer/

 

Dave and Troy

audio Intellect NJ

 

yyzsantabarbara
5,565 posts
 

@debrajray So it seems you have some sanity and do not want to go where I have.

The post above by Dave is something I considered for my small space before I took a flyer on the Magnepan Mini and then descended into an audio maze. 

I liked the idea of the cast iron speaker enclosure for a small room. You may be able to put it on the desk in front of the window. My Mini cannot be placed that way due to the dipole design (the wall of sound effect of Maggies).

 

parkergetdean
1,087 posts
 

that's a big budget, I couldn't spend it. I'd go with the Quad Vena II amp and Dynaudio Evoke 10 speakers.

Or ProAc or Harbeth or Monitor Audio

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
7,996 posts
 

Cambridge Evo 150 streaming amp

B&W 705 S3 or 707 S3. Get generic or original stands, some basic nice speaker cables and you’re good to go. 

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