[JLM]

zoom25, good choices!

KEF LS50 should work well in theory as the drivers are not only coaxial, but coincidental (voice coils aligned in all three dimensions.  But based on short listens I've never been impressed by the sound.  However the LS50 wireless (which is active) is reportedly far superior.  If phase between woofer and tweeter is accounted for should be nearly ideal (a cone and dome can not be expected to sound the same at the crossover frequency). 

Omega should be nearly ideal too, but haven't been able to hear one with the current drivers.

Both of these are largish for a 2 foot distance. 

Have been racking my old brain for the name of a very small high quality single driver speaker (with built-in amp and subwoofer output) intended for desktop use, around $500/pair.  They came in a couple of different cabinet shapes made of bamboo and leather and as I recall were from Canada.  Maybe someone else can think of the name.  Don't know if they're still in business as it was a few years back.

[Kenneth Patchen]

Have been racking my old brain for the name of a very small high quality single driver speaker (with built-in amp and subwoofer output) intended for desktop use, around $500/pair.  They came in a couple of different cabinet shapes made of bamboo and leather and as I recall were from Canada.  Maybe someone else can think of the name.  Don't know if they're still in business as it was a few years back.

A friend in Toronto has bamboo desktops made in Canada, Serene Audio Talisman, single driver, very nice cohesive sound that didn’t blow me out of his work desk chair. Odd wavy shape though, sort of like a shreaded wheat buiscuit married to a dish sponge. But very nice sounding. He’s quite pleased with them.

Golly I would never use the KEF LS50s for desktop purposes.

[JLM]

A friend in Toronto has bamboo desktops made in Canada, Serene Audio Talisman, single driver, very nice cohesive sound that didn’t blow me out of his work desk chair. Odd wavy shape though, sort of like a shreaded wheat buiscuit married to a dish sponge. But very nice sounding. He’s quite pleased with them.

Golly I would never use the KEF LS50s for desktop purposes.

Thank You!!

That's the one.  A high quality, intelligent design for desktop use.  Originally they offered 3 cabinet shapes.  They've turned to a future kickstarter campaign to sell the speakers (apparently cheaper than the original $500/pair).

[Tom Bombadil]

Golly I would never use the KEF LS50s for desktop purposes.

Have never tried a desktop LS50 setup myself, but I have read at least 10 rave reviews of people using them this way.   One was from this guy, who posted a picture of his setup. 

[Canada Rob]

Omega Super 3i and Omega Compact Alnico Monitors are the best I've heard on the desktop.  I prefer single driver for near field use because they have a single point source thus image beautifully with great focus.  With 2 way speakers you essentially have 2 point sources.  The closer you get to a 2 way speaker the worse the phase (mis)alignment becomes.

[witchdoctor]

The JBL 305's or the Studio 230's because of the wave

[planet10]

What JLM says!! This kind of application is ideally suited to a 1-way speaker (with or without helper woofer below the desk), and not too large.

Commercail speakers are thin on the ground. If you are into diying (or can score a diy adjacent), the choices multiply significantly.

We have designed a number of small speakers that would be suitable.

email me if you’d like to dive deeper into what we offer.

dave

[planet10]

...Serene Audio Talisman...

I don’t recognize the driver in those — from the size of the connectors a 3” driver. 3” would be my choice for a speaker used this near-field.

The bamboo ply they are using is not the best grade, good “standard” ply would likely out-perform it, but not be as pretty.

dave

[versus rider]

These have always performed well near field on my desk with a ribbon tweeter. CSS125 full range, OK wide range, roll off around 12Khz, so added aurum cantus G2 ribbons sat on top.

[notany]

If you don't have amplification already you might want to look at the KEF LSX.  Darko has a nice review and says they shine on his desk top.  He has a YouTube video that is worth seeing.  It might not have the performance that you want, but it's pretty good and will fit better than the LS50 or 50W.

[JohnR]

Oops, just realized this is in the Single Driver circle.

[Steven Stone]

Audience has two loudspeakers I've used for nearfield - The One and the 1+1.

Also the Mark Sota single-driver is a fine nearfield loudspeaker.

[planet10]

Also the Mark Sota single-driver is a fine nearfield loudspeaker.

And if you diy there is a large number of small single driver speakers that work extremely well near-field. The available to diy A5.2 is different then, and given the monoSuspension, a tad better than the A5 in the Tozzi. And one can also build a small speaker with the larger A
6s and the A7.3, as well as a number of the line down from the Alpairs can produce very satisfactory near-field speaker.



Here the diy A5.2 in one of the prettier, but harder to build box designs out there:



Because there is only a single driver & no XO, near field single drivers have a further edge over a multiwy because the multiway will not be far enuff from your ears for the disparite drivers to integrate.

dave