[bwv1004]

Hello all,

I know that many people say that listening to music on studio monitors
is not the best idea, same as mixing music on hi-fi speakers. But I
need not-so-big active 2.0 loudspeakers to listen to music (mainly
classical). I think that my choice is basically limited to studio
monitors and products from Creative, Logitech and such. I don't want
to use the speakers for ueber-plastic-bass gaming, I want them to be
accurate and truthful, I want to hear layers, I want to be able to
discern background instruments. So, studio monitors seem to be my only
choice.

My experience with this kind of loudspeakers is quite limited, the
only model I listened to for a time long enough to have an opinion
were passive Tannoy Reveal 6 - and I liked what I heard. This makes me
think that despite the prevalent opinion which I mentioned in the
beginning, studio monitors may be the right choice for me.

So I am looking for an advice on which monitors might be most suitable
for my purpose. I think that the most important thing is that they
should not overexpose any part of the frequency spectrum (from what I
heard, some do), and a decent low frequency response (within the
limits of the small-box design) is desirable. Another feature which I
need is that bass-reflex port(s) should be on the front panel - the
speaker wil stand by the wall. My budget is up to ~$400.

After some reading I tentatively selected Alesis M1Active Mkl2, Event
TR6 and KRK Rokit RP6 or RP6G2. (Alesis and Event monitors have the
advantage of having two round BR ports, possibly pluggable for bass
control). I'd appreciate your opinion on these, and I'd be grateful
for any other suggestions. I need to narrow my choices to a few
monitors before I try to find a place to give them a try.

Thanks in advance

Pawel

[William Sommerwerck]

I don't understand what, if any, distinction you make between listening to
music, and monitoring.

My feeling is that "studio monitors" are not, in general, suitable for
serious, critical listening. Classical recording engineers do not, in
general, use such speakers for monitoring.

I'd recommend electrostatic speakers, such as QUAD or Martin-Logan. If
Apogees were still made, I'd recommend them, too. I do not recommend
Magneplanars.

[bwv1004]

On May 26, 6:51*pm, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
I don't understand what, if any, distinction you make between listening to
music, and monitoring.

I've seen the distinction being made by recording engineers (or people
who told they were recording engineers on the internet). Supposedly,
they use two hearing modes: "hearing while listening for pleasure" and
"hearing while critically listening to music being recorded or mixed",
and hi-fi speakers are better for the former, whereas studio monitors
are suited for the latter (at this was supposed to be true for any
genre of music). I heard it so many times that I decided to mention
it, just to avoid being reminded of it.


I'd recommend electrostatic speakers, such as QUAD or Martin-Logan.

I will definitely consider these in the future. But right know I am
looking for something I can put on my desk, that will cost up to ~$400
per pair, and that (within these constraints) will do relatively
little harm to classical music.

[Scott Dorsey]

bwv1004 wrote:

I know that many people say that listening to music on studio monitors
is not the best idea, same as mixing music on hi-fi speakers. But I
need not-so-big active 2.0 loudspeakers to listen to music (mainly
classical). I think that my choice is basically limited to studio
monitors and products from Creative, Logitech and such. I don't want
to use the speakers for ueber-plastic-bass gaming, I want them to be
accurate and truthful, I want to hear layers, I want to be able to
discern background instruments. So, studio monitors seem to be my only
choice.

Why? There are plenty of excellent home bookshelf-sized speakers that
are intended for just what you are doing. Look for used pairs of the
Mission bookshelves, the baby B&W speakers, and the NHT Super One.

After some reading I tentatively selected Alesis M1Active Mkl2, Event
TR6 and KRK Rokit RP6 or RP6G2. (Alesis and Event monitors have the
advantage of having two round BR ports, possibly pluggable for bass
control). I'd appreciate your opinion on these, and I'd be grateful
for any other suggestions. I need to narrow my choices to a few
monitors before I try to find a place to give them a try.

None of these are what I would consider reasonable sound quality. If
you absolutely HAVE to buy something sold as a monitor, and you have
to stay in that budget range, you might consider the small Tannoys.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Ethan Winer]

Pawel,

I know that many people say that listening to music on studio monitors is
not the best idea

Not at all. I have Mackie 624s (plus a killer SVS subwoofer) in my living
room home theater and they're great. ALL loudspeakers should strive for
accuracy:

* Flat frequency response
* Low distortion
* Low ringing
* Uniform off-axis response

Whatever speaker comes closest to this ideal is good both for mixing
and listening for pleasure.

--Ethan

[Earl Kiosterud]

"Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com wrote in message
...
Pawel,

I know that many people say that listening to music on studio monitors is
not the best idea

Not at all. I have Mackie 624s (plus a killer SVS subwoofer) in my living
room home theater and they're great. ALL loudspeakers should strive for
accuracy:

* Flat frequency response
* Low distortion
* Low ringing
* Uniform off-axis response

Whatever speaker comes closest to this ideal is good both for mixing
and listening for pleasure.

--Ethan


Second that motion. I can't remember the university that did a study of speakers, but it
was a major one. This was very many years ago. The conclusion was that only two things
mattered -- frequency response and polar response. I think amplitude distortion was an
eliminator, not a differentiating factor. The rest of the claims should just raise an
eyebrow (my comment); -- someone is trying to sell you something.
--
Earl

[hank alrich]

Earl Kiosterud wrote:

"Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com wrote in message
...
Pawel,

I know that many people say that listening to music on studio monitors is
not the best idea

Not at all. I have Mackie 624s (plus a killer SVS subwoofer) in my living
room home theater and they're great. ALL loudspeakers should strive for
accuracy:

* Flat frequency response
* Low distortion
* Low ringing
* Uniform off-axis response

Whatever speaker comes closest to this ideal is good both for mixing
and listening for pleasure.

--Ethan


Second that motion. I can't remember the university that did a study of
speakers, but it was a major one. This was very many years ago. The
conclusion was that only two things mattered -- frequency response and
polar response. I think amplitude distortion was an eliminator, not a
differentiating factor. The rest of the claims should just raise an
eyebrow (my comment); -- someone is trying to sell you something.

The fact that it was "many years ago" might suggest that since then we
have indentified additional important parameters and learned how to
measure them.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[bwv1004]

On May 27, 10:46*am, "Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com
wrote:
Not at all. I have Mackie 624s (plus a killer SVS subwoofer) in my living
room home theater and they're great. ALL loudspeakers should strive for
accuracy:

That's what I used to think, too. As I said, I mentioned the "two
kinds of speakers" rule just to avoid being reminded how true is it
supposed to be. Looks like members of this list have different opinion
and remind me how false the rule is :-).


On May 27, 10:41 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Why? There are plenty of excellent home bookshelf-sized speakers that
are intended for just what you are doing. Look for used pairs of the
Mission bookshelves, the baby B&W speakers, and the NHT Super One.

I am very much inclined to get active speakers. Also, I do not feel
comfortable buying used stuff.

After some reading I tentatively selected Alesis M1Active Mkl2, Event
TR6 and KRK Rokit RP6 or RP6G2.

None of these are what I would consider reasonable sound quality. If
you absolutely HAVE to buy something sold as a monitor, and you have
to stay in that budget range, you might consider the small Tannoys.

Do you mean passive (passive Reveal, Mercury, Revolution?) or active
(Reveal 5A/6D)? Active Tannoys seem to be far beyond my budget, if I
were to spend ~$1000, I'd probably give a try to Tannoys or ADAM A7.
Maybe I should reconsider my budget...

[Danny[_3_]]

The Best Monitors I have heard (or had)for the money are the Event
2020bas. The company also makes a decent sets of smaller speakers. I
had a pair of the 2020's for years, and mixed a great many records on
them, then sold them to a TV studio where they are still in use. Very
good transient response and on axis they are superb. The low end is a
bit light, but they are only spec'ed to ~50Hz. Off axis the low end
suffers. (Or perhaps off axis the high end just predominates) But you
might find them to be just what you need at an affordable price.

I replaced the 2020's with a pair of DynAudio 15a's, which sound
better than everything in their price class (US$2500/pr) and are
actually better/more accurate than speakers costing twice as much
(Genelecs)

At home I have a pair of Alessis Monitor Ones. They are passive and
sound pretty good for casual listening. They were from a very early
incarnation of my facility, so long ago, I fairly blush to remember.

Danny

[Scott Dorsey]

bwv1004 wrote:
None of these are what I would consider reasonable sound quality. If
you absolutely HAVE to buy something sold as a monitor, and you have
to stay in that budget range, you might consider the small Tannoys.

Do you mean passive (passive Reveal, Mercury, Revolution?) or active
(Reveal 5A/6D)? Active Tannoys seem to be far beyond my budget, if I
were to spend ~$1000, I'd probably give a try to Tannoys or ADAM A7.
Maybe I should reconsider my budget...

Passives or actives, both are fine. Often you can find the older passive
dual-concentric Tannoy monitors selling for very reasonable prices.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Scott Dorsey]

Danny wrote:
The Best Monitors I have heard (or had)for the money are the Event
2020bas. The company also makes a decent sets of smaller speakers. I
had a pair of the 2020's for years, and mixed a great many records on
them, then sold them to a TV studio where they are still in use. Very
good transient response and on axis they are superb. The low end is a
bit light, but they are only spec'ed to ~50Hz. Off axis the low end
suffers. (Or perhaps off axis the high end just predominates) But you
might find them to be just what you need at an affordable price.

See, I did an A/B between the 20/20bas and the NHT Super Ones, and I liked
the Super Ones a lot better. But that's just me, and that's part of why
you need to audition anything you buy.

I replaced the 2020's with a pair of DynAudio 15a's, which sound
better than everything in their price class (US$2500/pr) and are
actually better/more accurate than speakers costing twice as much
(Genelecs)

I might agree, although I will say that the newer Genelecs are a lot
cleaner than the 103x series were. But that the S30 beats almost any
other monkey box in that size range.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."