Office Speakers/Range of Listening/Focused Listening Area?

[schalliol]

I'm an audiophile and have a decent system at home, but I would like fairly good quality audio at the office too. I don't exactly have a cube, but I do have other people around that I don't want to disturb either. I do have a headphone amp and a pair of Sennheiser HD-580s I bought a decade ago, but in the event I don't want these on my head (or perhaps a couple of people around me are out of the office, what should I use)?

Now, my real question is, are there some speakers designed for computer use (or really inexpensive home audio speakers) that will have a tighter area where the music can be heard so others aren't as bothered as they would with other products? Now, I know that I've been to Fry's electronics and they have some speakers that you really only can hear if you're standing under them, and while I don't think speakers like this are available with decent quality/price for office use, I wondered whether there was something that would be better.

As an example, I was thinking that perhaps a decent 2.0 system might not travel as much as a 2.1 system that is feeding the room with audio through its sub. Right now I have a Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 set with the cable upgrade at home, and it actually seems to have a relatively narrow listening area, so I was considering their GMX A-2.1 or Ultra 2.0 package.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks very much!

[Dusty Chalk]

You should stick with headphones. Unless you get a primo system, or unless your headphone amp really sucks (your headphones are fine), you will be disappointed in the sound quality.

[schalliol]

Thanks for the thoughts. It probably would be impossible to improve on the quality of the HD580s with Headroom headphone amp with the USB interface and obtain the objective of not annoying my co-workers. I do currently have a pair of Altec Lansing speakers that were abandoned by someone, which actually aren't that bad. I could use those if I were needing to get up a lot.

[topspeed]

Monsoon used to make panel speakers for your computer. I'd imagine panel based systems would be your best bet as they are very directional and can be used nearfield. Von Schweikert was selling a small rig as well, but not anymore. You might be able find them on ebay or audiogon. Geoffcin, a mod here, bought a pair and thought they were pretty cool, IIRC.

Of course, sound is sound and whether directional or not, it's going to go where it wants. If you don't have separate office, my suggestion is to be considerate of your fellow workers and stick with the headphones.

Here's the Monsoon:


Here's the Von Schweikert FPS: