Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Nearfield Speakers Suggestions?

I recently got my first M, and I found my Zeppelin is no longer suitable for desktop duties and needed an upgrade.

Is there any suggestions for a compact 2.1 setup. I will be hooking up with USB from my Mac as a source, and happy to go either active or passive route.

I have read DSP3200 could be considered for nearfield, but the foot print is too large for my liking.

I do have a 2 metre long desk, but it is against the wall as well which makes it complicated.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Not a true 2.1 setup but a F80 works very well on my desk. I'm guessing it's a significant step up from a Zeppelin.

Ken

DSP3100 are 7.65" wide. Much easier to set up than DSP33s.

DSP3200s only have SL connectors, which means you need an adaptor for SPDIF.

I'm presuming any sub will be hidden out of sight.

My son uses a trio of M33's which are wall mounted and sound great. His PC desk is not as wide as yours (approx 1.4 metres wide). They are supported with a quality sub and powered by a 568.2.

Prior to the M33's he used a pair of Pro Ac response satelites which are much smaller and easier to accommodate. These are so good that I have pro missed to never sell them and I now use in my bedroom. I could not recommend these enough if you can find a pair.

I took them to the Pro Ac factory a couple of years ago for replacement drivers and the owner of Pro Ac told me he uses a pair of these in his home.

I use a pair of DSP33s fed by a USB to SPDIF converter (see my Office system in my signature below).

The controller (necessary with DSP33s as they have no IR detector) is a 565 which I had lying about. This limits the throughput to 48k. An alternative would be a 562 which may pass 96k (never tried) and not enforce that limit as it only switches and doesn't process. The USB to SPDIF could feed the DSP33s directly and I could just use the 565 for comms/volume control - never tried it but it should work; this would also allow 96k.

The speakers (second hand) worked straight out of the box with no config - perhaps I was lucky? They are insightful, musical, they image brilliantly and give the facsimile of excellent bass. They sit on the large solid desk top against a wall and have rubber bumpons fitted.

I believe that the DSP3200s would need a controller too so they would not work with just an SPDIF to Speakerlink adaptor from a USB to SPDIF device. Happy to be corrected.

What sort of budget?

I find the Yamaha YST-15/20 (quite old now) sound pretty good considering their construction, age, size and price. You can sometimes pick up a pair with the active servo sub for less than �30.

For more money, I'd be using M/D33s I think.

Good point on controller for DSP3200s, Gianni, there's no RS232 either for vMSR.

Similar issue with DSP3300s as well.

Many thanks for all the suggestions. It is pretty hard to pick up M/D33s here in Australia, but had a look at the Proac tablettes and Harbeth P3ESR and they may be the size I am after.

Living in regional Australia sometimes make purchases of Audio equipment a bit difficult as there is no way of demoing before I buy.

Really like the transparency of Meridians - so trying to find something similar here.

I think a 512 remote extender will do that for all the DSP.

Config the master DSP as controller.
One MSR is needed.

Connect the 512 to:

1) DSP33 or DSP3100 (legacy DSP that has SPDIF input)
RCA cable from source to the master DSP
S-lead between the DSP 512 placed at source is connected to a M-lead with a female DIN240 degree connection instead of the DIN240degree plug.
The other end of the M-lead go in the master DSP.

OR 512 place at speakers
The DIN240 degree plug of the 512 get changed to a DIN180 degree plug (direct in the master DSP).

2) DSP3200 or DSP3300 (SL DSP) your audio source is SPDIF with a AC12 or Reviver.

AC12 need a RCA cable from source(512 plugs direct in AC12)

Reviver need female DIN240 degree connection for 512 (instead DIN180 plug).

3) If your source has an AES (digital symetrical output), then you can do a pure cable/adapter solution like:
XLR plug (connected at your source) >>>>cable to>>> Master DSP with RJ45 plug(for audio input).

Second cable has a DIN female 240 degree connector for the remote extender on one end and the other end of the cable get mixed/add to the RJ45 plug of the first cable (comms).

Hi, the KEF X300A might be nice. Never heard it myself however.