I've been going in circles looking for a replacement to my current desktop audio setup, which I'm looking to down-size since massively up-sizing my monitor it's a bit crowded. So for short version, after speakers that that tick most or all of the following options ... - Active - USB Input - In lieu of that, digital input - Sub/pre out - Narrowish, < ~150mm width (i.e. probably not 5"speakers) - Something I can bear looking at for 8h+/day... subjective but a lot of active monitors fall foul of this - Class-D amps ideally... due to a mostly-proven theory that AB amps hate the janky mains quality here and I'm not buying another regenerator - Up to £800 or thereabouts I have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo for my mic, and I could use that, but I'd actually like to get rid of that box as well... I'm just not sure how yet. My Plan A was Kef LSX on the basis what reviewers say, but scratching the surface there seem to be a lot of people that report in the real world they're garbage - unreliable/hiss/disconnections/etc My Plan B was Audioengine HD4 but they feel like a downgrade, and it's not like me to downgrade hifi. But maybe they're better than I think. Also Class-AB though. My current Plan C is Focal Shape 40 and an Audient Evo4, a little wider than I'd like but should be fine, are also class A/B, no digital and I'd need to make an abomination of an adaptor to use with the sub. Replacing the Scarlett with an Evo4 on the basis that I can then hide it in the cable tray since with Audient's full SW control I shouldn't need to touch it. There's a high chance since I've been going in circles for so long that I've considered all bases and there's just nothing that ticks all the boxes, but nowt worse than a month after a purchase realising you should have gotten something else entirely. EDIT: And there's a Plan D that I've just considered, of a small hypex/icepower amp that can be hidden under the desk along with the Evo4 and keep the same speakers
Might fall into the same 'downgrade' category as the Audioengine, but he Ruark MR1 gets consistently good reviews and ticks those boxes. Plus if you have a Richer Sounds anywhere nearby you can likely go have a listen first rather than having to take a punt.
Huh, I thought Ruark were more of a Sonos sort of affair of wireless "system" speakers. I was wrong. They're sharp looking I'll give them that, and even if it is a "downgrade", I don't know that that's really a problem, practically speaking anyway. I'll do some reading
