Very Small High Quality Speakers

Also totem dreamcatchers if you can find them.
Neat iota is the obvious choice and easily available new/ex dem/preowned.

Mu-so qb g2 not an option? I hear these are a nice full sound for such a small box.

I think the Iotas are pushing the limit of what you can get for that size. Any smaller and you are in sub satellite territory with something that can give a convincingly big full blooded sound at the expense of (a lot of) clarity.

The latter isnā€™t a bad thing. I went for Bose AM series speakers in the past and given the room constraints it was totally the right decision and they were worth every penny for the 15 years I was in that situation.

Magico Q1

These are no longer produced, but still available second hand.
Possibly the best ratio performance/volume.

image-asset

4 Likes

No theyā€™re no good, heā€™d never get any work done, theyā€™re far too much fun.

2 Likes

This is what we use in our conservatory. Ours is an elderly Lifestyle 5 system which was a 2.1 system designed for music.

Weā€™ve change the standard cube speakers for the jewels as the large cheaper speakers faded in the harsh sunlight and the jewels are all plastic/metal construction. The jewel speakers can be wall or ceiling mounted using brackets and you can also get floor and table stands for them.

You can get passive versions of the systems too. We had a 3 series in the kitchen with the sub on top of the fridge and ceiling mounted single cubes powered by an old Creek amplifier hidden under the kickboards. This was less successful as the bass was overcooked and I put some acoustic wool in the port to control it. We replaced it with a Muso QB in the end when we bought a larger fridge which was really tall. The active systems allow you to adjust the bass level on the subwoofer and I have mine set quite low. A Yamaha streamer feeds the system which I control using Roon via a UPNP bridge.

The sound these systems is quite satisfactory but doesnā€™t pass much muster for serious listening if you are used to the delights of high end audio. Most people would be delighted though as it does sound very pleasant and a little bit of tweaking with Roonā€™s DSP helps fill out the midrange. Itā€™s a very ā€˜safeā€™ sound with no rough edges. Now Iā€™m working from home I have it playing all day on internet radio or Roon radio as my office joins this room. I have a Muso QB in the study which takes a line input from the Bose to spread the sound into this room.

For difficult spaces these systems do work well. Hereā€™s a picture, the ā€˜music centreā€™ is underneath the left hand sofa (the remote is radio, not IR) and the subwoofer which is quite large is on its side underneath the corner sofa. Although high up the jewel speakers really do fill the room.

4 Likes

New even now that the Meta is out.

Iā€™ve actually been really pleased with the sound from my AudioEngine A2 (previous model, current is A2+). Reaaly impressive for the minute size, perhaps worth checking out some of their other models?

A lot of options. Dali Mentor Menuet as mentioned earlier used would fit the bill. I have a pair and the sound quality is rather good, easy to drive too.

1 Like

Russell k 50 black are a very nice sounding neutral sounding speaker at around 750 pounds, well worth a listen.

1 Like

Ophidia MINIMO 2
Very nice

Yah thanks for the photo, great to see them in perspective!

Great photo - looks like a really enjoyable room. Growing up our neighbours had the a Bose Lifestyle and I always thought they were great for what they were. Agree not a critical listening kind of thing but worked really well to fill a room with music, background or otherwise, without being the focal point.

1 Like

Yeah Iā€™ve looked at these beforeā€¦ if I decide to go with an active monitor then theyā€™re a good candidateā€¦ of course that means I wouldnā€™t be able to pick up a vintage Naim to drive them, which would be a shame! :slight_smile: Interestingly there is a small passive Audioengine speaker but itā€™s larger than the A2.

Ok, this looks really promisingā€¦ the original Minimo even better from size standpoint.

Thanks for the tip. Led me to look at more of what Dali has to offer as Iā€™m only familiar with their full size floorstanders. They have a nice oberon on-wall that may actually be a good compromise and take the depth issue out of the equation. Interested to hear if they are able to manage the lower frequency as claimed.

I recently received a Spendor S3 / 5 in a second system and I am very fascinated by them. The sound is natural, pleasant and a very well defined mid-range. I listen to them with Dac V1 and Nap 140. Excellent with Nap 200. Maybe they will match well with UnitiQute.

3 Likes

Screenshot 2020-11-06 at 16.19.08

What about Antony Gallo for a desk system ? This one is Ā£300 each

1 Like

Iā€™ve always been impressed with the Boss cube speakers. I saw them in a bar a few months ago and they sounded fantastic. Iā€™m considering getting them for my home office. From experience, they make everything sound good. Yes, you lose a fair bit of detail but for background music I think they sound superb.

Yeah Iā€™ve heard good things about those. May not have the space for themā€¦ but on the short list.