New active studio monitors

notonlybutalso

So i am looking to upgrade guys

I need some very accurate, colourless monitors to analyse mixes on. Budget is around £600, smaller the footprint the better frankly and of course with the widest frequency range possible!

Does anyone have any suggestions that might fit the spec? or even better, first hand experience with anything they would recommend for the job?

ecc83

The Equator D5s are getting a lot of good rep. They especially shine for a superb mid range quality it seems.

Dave.

notonlybutalso

Cheers Dave, funnily enough those are just what i was looking at! Although the unreasonable fool in me wants the D8's :P

guitarfishbay

What do you have now, and have you treated the room at all?

I like the Adam A7x and IIRC they are around that price used.  The only thing to note with them is the high end sounds quite different to a typical speaker so worth checking them out first.  It isn't harsh sounding high end, it just responds differently to a typical tweeter and feels almost like extra high end detail on top of what you'd normally expect to hear.  Worth experiencing in person if possible as you may have strong feelings for or against them.

notonlybutalso

i currently use a small pair of genelecs as that is all the room i have, but i am moving and upgrading my desk so i can afford to branch out, the room won't be treated but i will balance it once i get installed. I do love Adam A7's, that ribbon tweeter really opens up the top end, but they are monstrous in size and too expensive new (which is what i am going for). Thanks for the input though  

spark240

Lots of peeps on here use the Yamaha HS7...me included 

Fretwired

spark240 said:

Lots of peeps on here use the Yamaha HS7...me included 

I have a pair .. I tried some more expensive monitors but just found them to sound the best. The HS8s are great if you have the space - many pros use them.

Heartfeltdawn

If I had £600-ish spare then Eve Audio and their SC205 monitors would be my port of call. 

Danny1969

You can't get a wide frequency response from a small monitor unfortunately, to hear properly what's going on below 60hz requires a bigger speaker ....  And room treatment. I would spend £250 on the monitors and use the rest of the money to treat the room. 

Fretwired

Danny1969 said:

You can't get a wide frequency response from a small monitor unfortunately, to hear properly what's going on below 60hz requires a bigger speaker ....  And room treatment. I would spend £250 on the monitors and use the rest of the money to treat the room. 

^^

This. The reason I bought the Yamaha's.

notonlybutalso

I can flatten my room easily enough once I get the new speakers, obviously I know I need a sizeable driver to get the low end extention I want, but I would like to keep the size of the actual unit as small as I can

John_P

Danny1969 said:

You can't get a wide frequency response from a small monitor unfortunately, to hear properly what's going on below 60hz requires a bigger speaker ....  And room treatment. I would spend £250 on the monitors and use the rest of the money to treat the room. 

+1    adding eq to the monitors doesn't come close to adding some room treatment imo - I wasted years trying to get mixes that sounded ok and adding some bass traps and absorbers at the reflection points made a huge difference.   You can do it fairly cheaply if you have basic diy skills and I'd suggest that you'll appreciate the difference of better monitors way more.

wave100

If you like the Adam sound, the F5s are well within budget and the smaller cone might be better in an untreated room.

Clarky

spark240 said:

Lots of peeps on here use the Yamaha HS7...me included 

I've got a pair and they knock the crap out of my KRK V6's [which are quite a bit more expensive]

I reckon you'll have to spend a lot of money to get noticeably better than the HS7's

they're so good for the money it almost don't make sense..

Fretwired

Clarky said:

spark240 said:

Lots of peeps on here use the Yamaha HS7...me included 

I've got a pair and they knock the crap out of my KRK V6's [which are quite a bit more expensive]

I reckon you'll have to spend a lot of money to get noticeably better than the HS7's

they're so good for the money it almost don't make sense..

I have to agree.

ToneControl

if you want bass and small speakers, you will need a sub

btw I have a used pair of (passive) Dynaudio BM15s, for £800 if you have an amplifier to drive them

Nerine

Sort the room first. Thank me later.