i wish i could figure out how to fit bigger bookshelf speakers into my setup... right now i have about 5.5 inches under my displays which is about enough to fit a pair of edifier r1280t horizontally under there. but i wanna upgrade and everything that everyone recommends is like at least 7 inches tall when placed horizontally. i could raise my monitors but then i'd have to raise my chair to compensate, which means my feet leave the floor and my keyboard/mouse is too low to reach comfortably...

no i can't put the speakers flanking on the left/right of the displays, because there's Other Stuff There

this is what it currently looks like

multi-monitor really is nice but in some very specific cases it's more trouble than it's worth, primarily because it takes up so much space

anyway re: upgrading my speakers i have two options

1) raise my displays (maybe put them on arm mounts) until there is at least 7 inches of free space below them. which means raising my chair to compensate. i can raise my feet with a foot cusion, but to raise my keyboard/wrist-rests i need to find some kind of mat or pad that is at least half an inch thick?

2) limit myself to specifically seeking out smaller speakers that are still considered an upgrade from what i currently have.

idk which is harder to find, a desk pad/mat that's 0.5+ inches thick, or a good bookshelf speaker that's less than 5.5 inches thick

my understanding of my options

1: desk mats tend to be mostly mouse pads and are like 4mm thick at most. i'd need to buy like 3 of them at least, possibly 9, and stack them

2a: micca mb42x g2. people say it's really good for the price ($100/pair), but objective measurements show otherwise

2b: kanto yu passive 4. it's $180/pair and somehow even worse?

2c: psb alpha p3. $249/pair and technically an upgrade but maybe not the best value? you're paying for compact size, not quality

idk how small a niche is "wants speakers to fit on their desk under a display" but it is frustrating to not find many options, and the few options that i *did* find apparently suck. or they might be amazing, depending on who you ask. i really don't know what to think because i can't just buy all of them and then try them out.

i am seeing decent data and graphs on the neumi silk 4 which is also within my parameters for physical size. so that might be my new frontrunner instead of the psb alpha p3