Update ! Accurate Powered Monitors for small home studio !

[jon]

Have a look at the reviews here:

Ten Powered Nearfields Reviewed

Sort of dated, but non-biased, and I respect the reviewer. Reading this will at least give you some ideas about what to look/listen for.

I hung out in the studio of one of our fellow Unicornation folks over the weekend and listened to some DP tracking through a pair of Behringer Truth Monitors. I must say I was very impressed. Not bad for 349 a pair.

[chrispick]

Event 20/20 v2 Passive with an alesis Rs-300 power amp

I think if you're putting together a small, inexpensive project studio, then you might want to skip passive monitors choices. There's a ceiling to the aural fidelity you can expect when your budget is $350-400 per monitor. Best not to introduce another complication like a dedicated speaker amp.

BTW: Have you test-driven any of your choices yet?

BTW2: I noticed you dropped the KRKs from your list. Why?

[dixiechicken]

I decided to keep the pair of german made Emes Kobalt I borrowed home last weekend.
They sound neutral, detailed open sound with a stable stereo image.
I discovered a couple of new instruments in some old Steely Dan recordings.

I saw a review of their bigger sibling "Emes Pink Tv"
( dont know why the coloristic name-scheme )

The review in Studio placed them on par with
Mackie 624 and Genelec 8020A.
Collegues/friends whos opinions I trust also spoke well of Emes monitors.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[PhireAlly]

Hi Matt,
The only monitor you've listed that I've heard is the Event 20/20 and I found them to be a little bottom heavy. I opted for the Mackie HR 824.
I rented a spectrum analyzer and pink noised my room .... and in my listening position (the top of a "measured" equilateral triangle) the freq curve of the 824's was almost totally flat.
Additionally, you should take into consideration the detail and openess of the sound of the monitor as well, as I have relegated my Alesis Monitor One MK2 to performing the role of a subwoofer (at which they function suprisingly well) .... they have been tweaked to compliment the Tannoy PBM 6.5 v2 that replaced them in the 6" nearfield role.
The Tannoys are much more detailed and really bring out the 3rd dimention and are closer to the Mackie's in that respect.

Bottom line is ... Listen First.

P.S Check out the Tapco S5 & S8, you may be pleasently suprised
Good Luck
PhireAlly

[jmoore]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I had a chance to demo a pair of Dynaudio BM5A's on Friday, and they certainly proved deserving of all the hype they've been getting. I currently own a pair of Genelec 1029A's, and while I think that they are very nice monitors, I'd give my left nut to be able to make the switch. The BM5A's were some of the smoothest and accurate monitors that I've ever heard. This may sound crazy, but I think that I'd take them over any pair of Genelec nearfield or midfields that I've ever heard. And, the bass response was tremendous, especially considering the size of the driver.

-jordan

[jaffi]

Gene's were never the best when it came to near-field. The make great fars, but there nears aren't very good. Dyn make good monitors for the price, my ears just don't like them that much. It is in the ear of the beholder.

[kelldammit]

i found the 824's a bit much for my tastes (where's the sub?), when i tried them. i ended up trading them in for 3 more 624's (i already had a pair i was going to use as rears), and have been really happy with them.
one of the coolest pairs of speakers i've ever used (at least for a good "b" pair) were these roland powered speakers they used to use for the vs-series demo kiosks. i think they were ma-12's. i talked a guy into selling me a pair (i forget how much, mebbe $150?), and the stuff i did with them came out GREAT. They were pretty heavy duty (and heavy in general), and had a few inputs on the back. each was a stand-alone monitor, with its own controls/power. they weren't the ones you can find all over the place now, the cheaper plastic ones with all the controls on one speaker of the pair. i gave them to someone when i got my first "real" monitors (event tria's)...

kell

[Resonant Alien]

I just recently bought a pair of Event Studio Precision 8 monitors. I love them - obviously it is all subjective, but I compared against the Mackie 824s and I thought the Event's were much cleaner on the low end and a little less harsh on the mids. Granted, the 824s may not have been set correctly as Giles points out, but....I really love the Events - a little big physically, but very nice.

[HLStudios]

I currently own a pair of Event 20/20 bas and personally i love them. great price great sound as long as u have ur room adequate

[gearboy]

I'm sure that I am not the only guy on here that is tracking remote and at home in an apartment. If I am, well... I'll own a house someday.

I own a pair of the Alesis M1 Active MK2 monitors. I checked out about 6 pairs of affordable monitors when I bought mine back in 2003. I liked the imaging and overall sound of them. I have friends who mix in an apartment in NYC who have the first version of them and their mixes always sound good. I think that for "bang for the buck" they make a great pair of nearfields that I don't mind taking out with me when I record remote.

That being said, I am not involved on a professional level like a lot of the folks on here. I loved the Event Precision 8s & the Genelec 1031s when I was around them. But these are not in the range of the person who originally posted.

Check out the Alesis, some of the more affordable Events, and the M-Audio, as well as others. See if there is a store that will allow you to try them out at home in your room. Try to get enough scratch together to bring two different sets home and then break out the reference CDs.

My next step is to pick up a pair of Yamaha NS10m nearfields and a poweramp for home. When I was at school I always enjoyed mixing on them and I feel that they translate to other systems better than anything else. Just my opinion. Obviously there are other better sounding options.

My Philosophy is that it is more important to know the monitors that you are mixing on than which monitors you are mixing on. Use reference CDs whenever possible.

Jeff

[lightningad]

i certainly recommend PMC monitors. We bought a couple of pairs of DB1SA (with built-in Flying Mole Digital Amps) after comparing them with some similarly price offerings.

The sound is amazingly clean and clear. They don't colour things and the bass goes way lower than you would expect for the size of the cabinet.

I like them so much that my new studio is also going to be PMC monitored, and i am not going to try anything else either - i don't need to.