Which Studio Monitors ?

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Real newbie here - just looking for something fairly small, as my music room (and indeed house) is pretty small !

Any recommendations ?

Budget ? I dunno, £600 ?
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Comments

  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    At that sort of price, I'd be looking at Genelec 8020s.

    R.
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  • rossyamaharossyamaha Frets: 2439
    Yeah Genelec are incredible speakers. Never heard anything that gives such a wide sweet spot as well as stereo image. 

    Other alternatives you can look at are obviously the Yamaha HS's. If it's a small room the HS7's would be more than adequate but might be worth looking at the HS5's with a sub. If you're going to be up against a wall, well worth looking at the KRK VXT's. They are front ported so you won't get ay reflections off the wall. 

    I play guitar and take photos of stuff. I also like beans on toast.

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  • antifashantifash Frets: 603
    I got some Adams A3x - £300. Quality. Adams primarily.  
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  • sweepysweepy Frets: 4158
    Yamaha HS8’s get good reviews and leave you spare money for decent leads and Auralex Mo-Pads.
    how big is your room and how far will you be from them when sat at your desk
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  • FretwiredFretwired Frets: 24601
    Yamaha HS5's or HS7's depending on space or if it's really small IK Multimedia iLoud Monitors. I have a pair of the HS7's and the iLoud's and they are both great.

    Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
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  • antifashantifash Frets: 603
    Focusrite are also good 
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    I like my HS7's.

    It's not a competition.
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    HS7's here too...


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  • danishbacondanishbacon Frets: 2694
    Hs50m or hs80m are excellent options used .
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  • JasonJason Frets: 1103
    tFB Trader
    HS7's here too, thoroughly recommend them
    The Guitar Show, Cranmore Park, Birmingham | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Podcast
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9445
    sweepy said:
    Yamaha HS8’s get good reviews and leave you spare money for decent leads and Auralex Mo-Pads.
    how big is your room and how far will you be from them when sat at your desk
    My room is a typical bedroom size, but its the location of the speakers which is the problem.

    My iMac is housed between two wsrdrobes in a cut out. So, the speakers will effectevly be close to a ‘wall’, so need to be small.

    My seated positin would be about 1m from em...

    Any links to ‘decent’ leads ?

    Really appreciate all the advice folks ;)
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  • colourofsoundcolourofsound Frets: 393
    edited March 2018
    Another vote for Adams - there's a pair of A5X here which I would have if I didn't already have the A5s (and could be arsed doing the selling of mine to buy them!); I'd snap them up if I were you; but they're probably a bit big. If you can get a pair of A3X you'll be laughing.

    In a cut out like that I would certainly recommend smaller woofers, like the A3X, or the KRK VXT4 and front facing ports. For £600 it's pretty difficult to go wrong, you get into the decent mid-range level at that point.

    Finally, buy some treatment to line the wall behind your iMac if you can. The more dampening you can put in that cut out, the better.

    As for leads - any decent XLR mic lead will work, or decent 1/4" jack lead - depending on your interface and the available connections on your chosen monitor. I have an XLR to Jack cable for my monitors, and it sounds great.
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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    Wazmeister said:

    My iMac is housed between two wsrdrobes in a cut out. So, the speakers will effectevly be close to a ‘wall’, so need to be small.

    This could be a problem. You wil lalmost certainly have problems with bass.

    I'd strongly recommend rearranging things if you want to do any sort of critical mixing.

    This is not a bad guide: http://arqen.com/acoustics-101/room-setup-speaker-placement/

    R.


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  • Most of the good usual suspects have been mentioned above. I've always liked Adam, Genelec, Mackie all excellent. Depending on your exact space the wardrobes might create an extended bass sound so might want to err on the small more focused (less bottom end) speakers, probably front ported. As said above the addition of a sub can make it easier to dial in and control the bass when not in a perfect situation.

    Personally I've used the Adam A7X in the past as a portable (ish,) rig and they always seem to work well in most spaces (small to medium) and can be had for a decent price.

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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11789
    Last time I looked, Genelecs were quite expensive for the specs compared to Focal, I haven't done a comparison recently though
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  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    Last time I looked, Genelecs were quite expensive for the specs compared to Focal, I haven't done a comparison recently though
    BMWs tend to be quite expensive compared to Citroens, too.
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9445
    Again, I appreciate all the input folks...

    I'll be using them more for playback, rather than critical mixing.

    The plan is to implement the iMac and Akai MPC Live into one 'rig'...

    The Genelec 8010 are a lovely size, as space is critical, and the forward facing ported KRKs seem to make sense I guess...
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7731
    edited March 2018
    FWIW Genelecs have a rep for being fairly bright if that is to taste, Focals in the middle and Adams a bit smooth on the top end. 
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  • wave100wave100 Frets: 150
    Last time I looked, Genelecs were quite expensive for the specs compared to Focal, I haven't done a comparison recently though
    BMWs tend to be quite expensive compared to Citroens, too.
    I don't think this analogy holds up - Focals are not worse quality than Genelecs, just different. I have a pair of Focal Alpha 65s which I really like and would recommend to the OP, they might be too large for his room though. 
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