Per suggestion, I added a sheet of cork to the NestDesk surface and it did smooth the SPL sweeps some, and it sounds better. It's still a plane in front of the speakers so while they are great, I know there are reflections.
I also built a wild suspension mechanism from 1/2" x 1/8' aluminum bar and attached it to the back of the monitor on the Vesa adapter. I simply hung the speakers on the forward jutting suspension ends via the rear-firing bass ports. It was too wobbly and insecure and I took it down; the speakers are pretty heavy. I'm sticking with the desk pad though.
The measured response of the speaker with the external and internal (compact cross-axis inductors) are very close. There is a small difference at about 550Hz but I am nit sure that is due to the filter as it could be partly external since measurement not on same day. Distortion is also about the same. I am just going to leave it as is as this is within acceptable limits.
Comparison of Freq Response:
Harmonic Distortion with Compact Internal Filter:
Harmonic Distortion with External Filter:
Please allow to make my submission of the best desktop I was able to build. The speaker build details are in this thread.
It's a Tang Band W6 coaxial build with passive crossover, and additional EQ to make it smoother. About 20 L sealed, no port as it's near the wall and me, almost headphone mode. Pics in the link above. The curve I'm currently listening:
Measured on computer desktop from my listening position 2 feet from the speakers. Distortion:
I'd be curious to know how it stacks vs other solutions proposed in this thread. As I have no way to know let me provide some subjective feedback.
I have no listening fatigue with my chain. When I WFH I'm usually binge listening for 10 hours and it feels good - perhaps that was the main goal 🙂
At this point my speakers are definitely not the bottleneck of my system, the large impact I have now is the power outlet noise from various devices like washer/dryer and heater, the sound changes during the day based on who knows what.
The speakers and chain resolution is high enough that besides the power the other large impact is the source. I was attacked for this several times so to avoid another flamewar let me say I have a strong subjective perception not based on any facts that the best HiRes recordings sound noticeably better for me than the best CD recordings. I also have an illusion that rolling opamps makes a lot of difference. At least HiRes with proper opamps makes me happy.
Another subjective criteria of where those speakers stand is to compare with live music. First of all, where they don't compete. I've attended >20 operas at NYC Met Opera and a dozen of symphonic concerts at Carnegie Hall and similar venues in metropolitan NY area. That's a totally different level, no compare. I also attended >150 operas and concerts in Europe. There your mileage can vary - some lesser venues are using an amplified sound and the sound could be worse than what I have at home.
Now where my speakers are better. I've attended >60 musicals on and off Broadway, in NYC and metro NJ. Of course there are many shows I never saw, but I saw pretty much most music venues in Manhattan, including those in Times Sq vicinity. As soon as the mics and large black speakers are involved, that's it, my stereo sounds better than this "live" music. Soundwise, Broadway annoys me. The sound is flatter, more distorted and less resolving. I can recall only two exceptions - "The Cats" where I sat at the 1st row and "Farinelli and the King" where Iestyn Davies was singing without microphone, good for him, and I also was pretty close.
The Hadestown: Live From London is so well recorded that I have a full illusion that am on stage and the singers are literally 15 feet from me. The sound is far better that almost anything I heard on Broadway.
Small Jazz venues are usually unamplified in Manhattan, and in New Orleans, so they beat my speakers. But as soon as I move to something like large BB King, that's it, even Jazz may sound worse than what Tang Band delivers. Rock and pop concerts - forget it, they are basically unlistenable by quality and too loud anyway, live rock is dead to me.
The details, soundstage and instrument separation: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 instruments are spread wide and deep, they sound as many separate instruments as they should. Il Trovatore choir consists of several singers singing clearly separately with their voices. With the full choir some of them are still separate, but females mostly sound together, I can split them only during the final 10 seconds.
Texture and air: Step Into Paradise the pianos are rich and deep, the voice is textured and detailed. The room acoustics is very present, I have the full illusion of being on stage. A lot of difference in how the keys are pressed.
The bass: Sarabande goes very deep, the electric cello still sounds like a cello, I definitely hear the instrument texture, the bow movements and friction are clear. Longing the strange drum there gives multiple clean reverberations, it sounds like multiple frequencies overlapping, very unusual sound. Both bass and treble are very airy.
Saxophones, trumpets and other wind instruments are very clean, along with grand piano those are challenging instruments and those speakers do them well. Voices are amazing, with best recordings they sound like a real human, all the peculiarities of the human cheeks, tongue, throat and lung voice are very clear.
I am mostly giving this review as a speaker review because that was the largest leap forward for my chain ever, compared to my previous Dynaudio speakers it's night and day. I strongly recommend this build however it's a complex build, you will be laughing but it took me 5 months of work (my first DIY speaker ever). Read the whole thread for all the caveats. Special thanks to @perceval for guiding me through the process.
It's a Tang Band W6 coaxial build with passive crossover, and additional EQ to make it smoother. About 20 L sealed, no port as it's near the wall and me, almost headphone mode. Pics in the link above. The curve I'm currently listening:
Measured on computer desktop from my listening position 2 feet from the speakers. Distortion:
I'd be curious to know how it stacks vs other solutions proposed in this thread. As I have no way to know let me provide some subjective feedback.
I have no listening fatigue with my chain. When I WFH I'm usually binge listening for 10 hours and it feels good - perhaps that was the main goal 🙂
At this point my speakers are definitely not the bottleneck of my system, the large impact I have now is the power outlet noise from various devices like washer/dryer and heater, the sound changes during the day based on who knows what.
The speakers and chain resolution is high enough that besides the power the other large impact is the source. I was attacked for this several times so to avoid another flamewar let me say I have a strong subjective perception not based on any facts that the best HiRes recordings sound noticeably better for me than the best CD recordings. I also have an illusion that rolling opamps makes a lot of difference. At least HiRes with proper opamps makes me happy.
Another subjective criteria of where those speakers stand is to compare with live music. First of all, where they don't compete. I've attended >20 operas at NYC Met Opera and a dozen of symphonic concerts at Carnegie Hall and similar venues in metropolitan NY area. That's a totally different level, no compare. I also attended >150 operas and concerts in Europe. There your mileage can vary - some lesser venues are using an amplified sound and the sound could be worse than what I have at home.
Now where my speakers are better. I've attended >60 musicals on and off Broadway, in NYC and metro NJ. Of course there are many shows I never saw, but I saw pretty much most music venues in Manhattan, including those in Times Sq vicinity. As soon as the mics and large black speakers are involved, that's it, my stereo sounds better than this "live" music. Soundwise, Broadway annoys me. The sound is flatter, more distorted and less resolving. I can recall only two exceptions - "The Cats" where I sat at the 1st row and "Farinelli and the King" where Iestyn Davies was singing without microphone, good for him, and I also was pretty close.
The Hadestown: Live From London is so well recorded that I have a full illusion that am on stage and the singers are literally 15 feet from me. The sound is far better that almost anything I heard on Broadway.
Small Jazz venues are usually unamplified in Manhattan, and in New Orleans, so they beat my speakers. But as soon as I move to something like large BB King, that's it, even Jazz may sound worse than what Tang Band delivers. Rock and pop concerts - forget it, they are basically unlistenable by quality and too loud anyway, live rock is dead to me.
The details, soundstage and instrument separation: Mahler: Symphony No. 2 instruments are spread wide and deep, they sound as many separate instruments as they should. Il Trovatore choir consists of several singers singing clearly separately with their voices. With the full choir some of them are still separate, but females mostly sound together, I can split them only during the final 10 seconds.
Texture and air: Step Into Paradise the pianos are rich and deep, the voice is textured and detailed. The room acoustics is very present, I have the full illusion of being on stage. A lot of difference in how the keys are pressed.
The bass: Sarabande goes very deep, the electric cello still sounds like a cello, I definitely hear the instrument texture, the bow movements and friction are clear. Longing the strange drum there gives multiple clean reverberations, it sounds like multiple frequencies overlapping, very unusual sound. Both bass and treble are very airy.
Saxophones, trumpets and other wind instruments are very clean, along with grand piano those are challenging instruments and those speakers do them well. Voices are amazing, with best recordings they sound like a real human, all the peculiarities of the human cheeks, tongue, throat and lung voice are very clear.
I am mostly giving this review as a speaker review because that was the largest leap forward for my chain ever, compared to my previous Dynaudio speakers it's night and day. I strongly recommend this build however it's a complex build, you will be laughing but it took me 5 months of work (my first DIY speaker ever). Read the whole thread for all the caveats. Special thanks to @perceval for guiding me through the process.
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@androxylo
nice linear response. the ear is very sensitive to f response getting it right makes your speaker better tonally correct.
coax principle has some advantage like good integration of the tweeter
nice linear response. the ear is very sensitive to f response getting it right makes your speaker better tonally correct.
coax principle has some advantage like good integration of the tweeter