Newbie speaker question - placement?

[fuzzyboy]

Hi there!

 

I've been looking at getting some decent sound out of my computer for a while and finally started doing something about it a few weeks ago. So I did some research and found out that apparently the better solution is doing a PC digital out -> DAC -> Amp.

 

Coincidently I found a used Harman Kardon amp (HK 990) at a decent price, which should cover the DAC and Amp issues, and I'm now left with decisions about speakers.

 

I'm looking at XTZ's 99.26 model. They sound great and aren't too ugly, but I'm having a bit of trouble placing them. As far as I understand (I'm new to hifi) they work best around 30 cm from the wall, which means that I can't wall-mount them. Being 35 cm deep, I'm worried they may be too big to stand on my desk (where my computer is located). My desk is 1.75m long, 0.75m deep, so I'm worried that if I place the speakers 30 cm from the wall, they'll be much too close to me to get a good listening position?

 

I'm not sure if I can make room for decent speakerstands, so my first question is:

 

- are there any speakers on par with the 99.26's, which can be wall mounted and still sound good or fit on a desk? In the same price range of course :-)

 

- am I better off getting a 2.1 set in the same pricerange? I realize that the sound quality of a 2.1 set is significantly lower than a 2.0 set given that cost is the same, but since I can't really manage and optimal listening position with a 2.0, perhaps that outweighs the disadvantage of the 2.1?

 

- with the used HK 990 and a set of 99.26, I'm in the price range of the AVI ADM 9.1, which from what I can understand, aren't too fuzzy about placement. Would this possibly pose a better option?

 

Kind regards,

FB

 

 

[Erwin S]

Most speakers with rear placed bass reflex would be hard to place on a wall. If you are into Scandinavian sound, consider Jamo, they have very good on-walls, like the D500 or D600 systems.

 

Maybe a bracket would be enough to provide some space. I remember hearing some small Dali speakers on a fair and these sounded much bigger than their size, and Dali lets you put them on a shelf:

http://dali-speakers.com/display_content.php/INT/Loudspeakers.html/322/2556

 

Obviously the AVI's would be a great choice too and you would not have to worry about the amp.

 

[Audio_ELF]

Have you considered a set of active pro monitors?