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Best powered audiophile (non-"Studio") monitors

post #1 of 2
Thread Starter 
Hi-

There are lots and lots of powered monitors out there which are "studio monitors" - which to me means:
  1. Optimized for nearfield listening
  2. Intended to be dead transparent
  3. Flat frequency response

What "studio monitor" implicitly means to some is that it's not "euphonic" or "fun to listen to". I might be in that camp; I might also not have heard the right ones. I'm also not necessarily looking for a bookshelf.

In fact, ideally what I'd have is a set of full-range powered speakers. Having a creditable DAC on board might make me even happier. The set-up I imagine is my Sonos ZP80 sitting there running two floorstanders.

So, with this goal in mind, I have a few ideas:
Would love your input - what's the leanest (physically), meanest living room system I can serve up from the digital (preferably) or analog outs of a ZP80?

Thanks,
J
post #2 of 2
One of the benefits of using studio monitors is that they accept balanced connections. The problem in your case is that the Sonos ZP80 doesn't have balanced outputs. Of course, you could easily solve this by inserting a DAC that has XLR or TRS output.

I'm a fan of neutrality, and I think neutral or "flat" speakers can sound incredibly engaging. The idea is that it's the mixing and mastering engineers' jobs to make the mix sound good, not the consumer's. In my limited experience, the best speakers I've ever heard were a pair of Dynaudio BM15As. You might consider looking at Dynaudio's line-up.
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