What is everybody using, who uses relatively inexpensive monitors? I'd really like to keep the totally cost under 400, but if there is going to be something better at a little bit higher level, I'd go for it.
Thanks
~Matt~

What is everybody using, who uses relatively inexpensive monitors? I'd really like to keep the totally cost under 400, but if there is going to be something better at a little bit higher level, I'd go for it.
Thanks
~Matt~

I'm shopping myself at the moment so this is from a prospective user rather than a user, but a lesser known economical speaker that has garnered a lot of favourable comments from people who have tried them and one that I'm giving serious consideration is the Yorkville Sounds YSM-1p powered monitor. Sold in pairs at < $400 US per pair. www.yorkville.com Worth a listen if you can find a pair

....

Stopped by Long & McQuade on the way home this afternoon and A/B compared Genlec 1029A ($1150 ea), Mackie 824 ($992 ea), KRK RP8 ($350 ea), and the Yorkville YSM1p ($250 ea) (Canadian $). Compared using the title track from Sarah Brightman's Harem Tour CD and the title track from Kraftwerk "Tour de France." Surprisingly the Yorks compared very favourable to the Mackies, the Mackie's having stronger base but they were equal in terms of clarity. For high frequency clarity and definition my ears actually give the edge to the Yorks. Midrange was equally good on both as was definition and imaging. The KRK weren't even in the running, sounding very course and rough. The Genlecs were definitely the best of the lot of course but what else would you expect with the price difference. Surprisingly, I found on the balance the Yorks were a close second to the Genlec, neck and neck with the Mackie, and on some passages the York and Genlec sounded nealy identical with both superior to the Mackie. Frankly I was surprised, expecting to find the Mackies clearly better but that wasn't the case at all. And there was a vocal group there at the same time also auditioning monitors for their studio and it appears they were coming to the same conclusions I did. And then to give a high end comparison and to set the bar, so to speak, a listen to a pair of Dyn-Audio's at $2500 ea showed just where you have to go the see a truly quantum leap up in quality. York also has a sub that is purpose built to work with the YSM1p's that sounds very clean in the <100Hz range and I think the combination is really worth serious consideration. Frankly, I'm really liking the idea of being able to put together a full 5.1 surround array of matched speakers for less than the price of a single stereo pair of the first speakers up the line that were clearly better.

Your ear-mileage may vary.

I'm using the M-Audio BX-5A monitors. B&H has them for $269 a pair. These are my first real monitors and believe me they make a big difference. I went from Soundblaster Audigy (gasp) and cheap PC speakers to the M-Audio Firewire 410 and the BX-5A and holy cow what a difference. These monitors are working out great for me right now.

I'm using the M-Audio BX-5A monitors. B&H has them for $269 a pair. These are my first real monitors and believe me they make a big difference. I went from Soundblaster Audigy (gasp) and cheap PC speakers to the M-Audio Firewire 410 and the BX-5A and holy cow what a difference. These monitors are working out great for me right now.

Kinda feels like someone took Windex to your ears, doesn't it? :-)

On the low cost side, the M-Audio speaks are hard to beat.

you can find some decent bookshelf style speaker/monitors on ebay for really cheap that have some good qualities. usually 75-20khz, 80watts rms or higher, etc. i've been seeing some nice MTX monitors on ebay for about 50$ a pair, but the shipping will hurt (around 40$). power that with a home reciever, input/output that in your computer and you can have a decent 5.1 system in your room for around 200-300$ i would say.

You might want to listen to the MTX prior to suggesting them...they're basically glorified car stereo speaks, and sound horrible. Of course, for even $90.00 a pair (including shipping) I'd expect them to.
The best low-cost I've heard yet, are the small speaks that M-Audio makes for a package called the LX4, but I don't know what the separates are labeled as. They're acceptable for small rooms or for very quiet near field monitoring, but only just.

Went back to the store today with my ears rested and re-auditioned the speakers I mentioned yesterday with fresh music - "Dunbar's Theme" from Dances With Wolves, Diana Krall "The Girl In The Other Room", and the soundtrack from "Moulin Rouge." Yesterday's trials were when tired after very long workday but today I was better rested and it made a definite difference in what I could discern.

Made a mistake in yesterdays post regardling a couple of model numbers. The Genelecs auditioned were the 1030APM model, not "1029" as stated (Old Timer's Disease - the mind plays strange tricks on ye, me hearties). The KRK's auditioned were both the RP8 and the V8 models.

Have to say neither of the KRKs couldn't hold a candle to the rest and to my ear even the more expensive V8 sounded harsh and abrasive in the upper range with the mids and base strong but very poorly defined.

The Yorkville YSM1p still sounded good, almost as good as the Mackie 824 but today I heard a high emphasis and hissy sibilance that mared an otherwise good sound.

The Mackies were strong and more even but I found the low mids and bass were muddy and I had difficulty separating the various elements.

The Genelecs were well balanced and clean, good separation and excellent imaging with crisp and clean highs, very well defined without sounding hyped.

Spent a bit more time listening to Dynaudio BM6A's and found them absolutely incredible. Unbelievable imaging and clarity - I could have sworn there was a centre speaker and sub active but no, it was just the two stereo monitors. And almost as good as the Genelecs and the BM6 but at half the price was the Dynaudio BM5A.

Of both Dynaudios and the Genelecs my impression could be summed up with the words "clean" and "transparent" leaving me feeling I was hearing what was going on with the music and not what was going on with the speakers. The individual sounds and instruments going into the mix were discernable and didn't get lost in the overall melange, just what you need for studio monitors. Transients were crisp, cymbal hits and piano attacks were sharp, brushes on a ride cymbal and snare were musical rather than ill-defined swishy somethings.

Alas, the ones I rate the best are well over the budget for the speakers the thread starter was asking about. In fact, the only ones that fall in the under $500 US category are the KRK RP8 and the York YSM1p. In Canadian $$, L&M's price on the Genelecs are $2350 the pair while the Dynaudio BM6A is $2425. I'd rate the Dynaudio BM5A's very close to the Genelecs though, at $1295 the pair. Mackie 824's are $2000 the pair and I didn't find them as clean as the $1300 Dynaudio. The KRK's at about $700 and $1300 the pair for the two models respectively just aren't in the running to my ears. And the Yorks at $500 CDN a pair still sound quite usable for general monitoring use.

My ratings, for what it's worth...

Dynaudio BM6 - A+
Genelec 1030 - A
Dynaudio BM5 - B+
Mackie 824 - B
Yorkville YSM1p - C+
KRK RP8 and V8 - F

Know this is perhaps off topic a bit but still thought I'd share my experiences. Comments welcome

Steve, your review is much appreeciated by this reader.

As a side note, I was at Guitar Center late yesterday looking at the 4-5" class monitors, and the "audio pro" guy was pushing the KRK's really hard, saying they were much better than the M-Audio BX5a's I couldn't tell much because it is sooo loud in there, but the little KRK's sounded terrible to me too.

I don't know if KRK still does this, but years ago when I worked in a pro-audio retail store, KRK (among a few other companies) paid spiffs to sales people that sold their products. It was always nice to have those little spiff mails come in for 40.00-100.00 on a 500.00-1000.00 sale.

The bigger KRK's are great, but now that they've started building small, and arguably a substantial lesser quality monitor, it makes me wonder if they're pursuing excellence or pursuing only the $$.

I'm a big fan of the Gennies, but also have 824 and 626's in our rooms. Our A room has a 5.1 626 system, with Hothouse and AMR for our soffit mounts. B room has 824's and Gennie 1029's, and C room has 624's and Gennie 1029's. Then we have a few M-Audio systems that we travel with, plus a few others around from previous room configs. Overall, I really like the Mackie, but the DynAudio's that I've heard are also quite good. However, I also felt that they were almost too transparent (if that's possible) as dialog seemed less "there" than it should be. I haven't heard these in a treated room, but musically they sounded very nice.

I just noticed that Guitar Center's on-line store is selling pairs of M-Audio BX8's for $299.99 with free shipping. That seems to be an outstanding value.

I'm talking from an audio engineers perspective (not much experience with video yet).... I love my Yamaha MSP 5's in my home studio. they are small but sturdy (loud when you need them to be), biamped and sound great. I think MSP is around $250 each, but Ebay prices for new ones are around $400 a pair.
We've got new Genelec's for the 5.1 surround studio and Yamaha MSP 10's for the tracking studio.
That's my $.02.

I just noticed that Guitar Center's on-line store is selling pairs of M-Audio BX8's for $299.99 with free shipping. That seems to be an outstanding value.


Yeah, it seems to be a really good value. The customer
review ratings at GC are all mostly 9's and 10's.
The averages are better than what the newer
BX8a's are getting. Imagine building a reasonably
priced 5.1 system around the GC BX8's.

Matt,
If I were looking for a 2-monitor system right now
for under $400 I'd go with the BX8 from GC.

Interesting that nobody mentioned the Behringers. I bought, as my first real audio monitors, the Behringer 2031As. They might be a bit higher than your thinking and honestly, I forget what I paid. I think I got them at Markertek.

Some folks have complaints about the older versions and troubles with the amp sections as I recall.

From reputation and experience, whatever Douglas says, I would listen to. I spent most of my 20+ years in broadcasting watching video quality (declining) and most of the audio listening was done on old tired EVs and Yamahas. Hey, that's television in the big leagues. It isn't right but that's a fact at the stations.

Genlecs, from my days at the post houses are tight. I love the sound. My Behringers, from my limited audio experience, are a huge leap over the Altec 3 piece system I had years back. Almost anything will be better than computer speakers. Compare the Behringers, if you can find a place to listen to them.

Sample pricing:
http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHB2031A
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/src=SearchDex/search/detail/base_pid/600601
http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?baseItem=B2031A&cat=AUDIOEQUIP&subcat=SPEAKERS&prodClass=AREFMON&mfg=behringer&search=0&off=

Turns out they are in your price range. Let's see what Douglas says about these first. Douglas?

Sean McHenry

Interesting that nobody mentioned the Behringers. I bought, as my first real audio monitors, the Behringer 2031As. They might be a bit higher than your thinking and honestly, I forget what I paid. I think I got them at Markertek.

Turns out they are in your price range. Let's see what Douglas says about these first. Douglas?

Sean McHenry

What I say about em'? First and foremost, I won't own anything Behringer, like most folks who have been in the biz a while. Not only are they constantly being sued for directly copying other products right down to color/design, but they do it with the cheapest possible components they can. So, while they might sound good, my attitude towards Behringer is like walking through the mall with your girlfriend. No matter how gorgeous and inviting some young thing might be, you can't look because if you do, you know you're gonna get slapped. This has come up with other forum members as well, and the *general* feeling among a lot of professionals, is that Behringer not only crosses ethical boundaries, but they also don't build high quality gear. In the few times I've used Behringer gear, that has been my personal experience.

Great that you like them, great that they're working for you, but wouldn't ever be on my list of choices. There's a certain irony in any product from Behringer named "Truth."

Thanks guys, I was originally considering the BX8s and the KRK's. I had never heard anything about the Yorkville. And in regards to Behringer, I have a mixer by them and I'm really longing for another mixer built by someone else. After about a year and a half of use some of the stereo channels cut out, and there is a lot of leaking from channel to channel, especially with loud sources. I'm not considering them because of the expirience. I think I'll go with the BX8s because of their price and power. I'll take a trip down to Guitar Center soon. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I don't remember anyone mentioning all this about the Behringers back when I was asking about them on these forums a while ago. I might have gone a different direction. Still, politics aside, they are pretty highly rated by users.

What about the Samson Mackie look alikes? Forgot the model number off hand.

I'm not saying Behringer is perfect, what company is 100% perfect but, I have been using a 10 ch mixer, their B1 mic and the 2031A monitors.

I think there are a lot of Mackie imitators out there. Alesis has their inexpensive mixers built, it look like, on the same chassis as Behringer. I'll look at other brands more seriously next time as a result of Douglas's comments. I don't want to contribute to bad ethics. (insert joke about republicans/democrats here)

Sean

For a small room (9.5' by 13') where I'll be back about 4' from the wall where the monitors are mounted, would the bx5s be better than the bx8s, or is bigger better? I was told that with the smaller monitors, given how close to them I'll be, that the bass and treble would balance better.

I must say i dont agree with you Douglas. I have been working on quite a few types of studio-monitors by now (i am a musician), and the behringers give a lot of bang-for-the-buck, and allthough not comparing to the bigger monitors like the Adams, they still play decent compared to the price.

My recommendation would be on the Tannoy Reveal Active. I have been working with these monitors for quite a while, and they give you a nice, uncoloured sound, and play at a decent volume as well.

Mark

I must say i dont agree with you Douglas. I have been working on quite a few types of studio-monitors by now (i am a musician),
...
Mark

Hmmm, I heard somewhere that Douglas is also a musician and I think he's done a bit of TV and movie work as well. <grin>

I too am looking for a pair of powered monitor speakers in this price range (GBP 250 - 300), and so this thread is very interesting.

I need the speakers for two different purposes:
1) For video editing on a PC: most of the audio on my productions is location sound - voices, passing trains, etc. I only occasionally use music or voice-overs. The computer and video equipment live in my "den", a small room lined with bookshelves, with almost no smooth hard surfaces except the ceiling.

2) 8-track music recording: I have a Yamaha MD8 8-track mini-disc recorder which I am currently using to record a folk band: vocals; accoustic instruments like guitar, concertina, etc; electric instruments - bass guitar, keyboard. Recording has been taking place in various spare bedrooms, and one of these rooms will probably be used for mixing too.

How much difference do the two applications make to the choice of monitors? Would any of the models praised so far (Tanoy, M-Audio, Yamaha) be unsuitable for either task? Or is the size and shape of the room more significant?

Other models that I have seen listed in the same price range are:
Tapco S8 & S5 (related to Mackie somehow?)
Fostex PM-1
Event TR-5
Alesis Monitor 1
Samson Rubicon & Resolve
Does anyone have any observations on any of these?

Many thanks

I don't have any direct experience with those monitors but my opinion, for what it's worth, is that you should look first and foremost for accuracy. While you might also listen for the enjoyment of the music, you're buying monitors for business, not pleasure. You don't want something that sounds good unless the source material itself sounds good. If the source recording is flawed, you want monitors that will let you hear those flaws so you can work to fix them. And on the opposite side of the coin, you don't want monitors that introduce their own colouration and flaws either, as much as possible. Good recordings should sound good and bad recordings should sound bad.

I listened to the BX8's and I thought they sounded horrible. could they get loud? yes. IMO, I haven't found a pair of self powered monitors for under $500 that sounded good. a good amp alone would run over $500. A good pair of monitors is a good pair of monitors regardless of what you are using them for.

Are the KRK's really that bad? Because I was out of town I couldn't get my hands on the BX8's at the $300 price. I'm really considering the KRK RP8's...All the reviews I read everywhere else are good. Please let me know more in detail about what you didn't like about them...

Are the KRK's really that bad? Because I was out of town I couldn't get my hands on the BX8's at the $300 price. I'm really considering the KRK RP8's...All the reviews I read everywhere else are good. Please let me know more in detail about what you didn't like about them...

I A/B tested both the KRK RP8 and the KRK V8 a fw weeks ago against Yorkville Sound YSM1P, Mackie 824, Genlec 1030a, DynAudio BM5, DynAudio BM6 and IMHO they sounded terrible. Very muddy and poorly defined bass and midrange and very coarse and rough sounding highs to my ears. YMMV

I A/B tested both the KRK RP8 and the KRK V8 a fw weeks ago against Yorkville Sound YSM1P, Mackie 824, Genlec 1030a, DynAudio BM5, DynAudio BM6 and IMHO they sounded terrible. Very muddy and poorly defined bass and midrange and very coarse and rough sounding highs to my ears. YMMV

I don't know if I'd stretch to "terrible" but the KRK in my opinion are not as good as any in the list above, and moreover, the way they sound really suggests they're not "designed" but rather paper and wood put together to look good and satisfy consumers rather than media creators. but someone must like them enough to buy them, as they're selling...

I don't know if I'd stretch to "terrible" but the KRK in my opinion are not as good as any in the list above, and moreover, the way they sound really suggests they're not "designed" but rather paper and wood put together to look good and satisfy consumers rather than media creators. but someone must like them enough to buy them, as they're selling...

"Terrible" may be overstating it and if one were listening to them without directly comparing to others they would probably sound reasonably decent and be acceptable for a home theatre or music system. But to my ears at least both the RP8 and the higher priced V8 were clearly outclassed by all the others in the list, including the lower cost Yorkvilles, in a direct shootout switching speakers mid-cut using selections from several CD's - "John Dunbar's Theme" from "Dances with Wolves," Diana Krall "The Girl in the Other Room," Kraftwerk "Tour de France," Sarah Brightman's "Harem" and "Nessun Dorma,"and your very own "Tenaya." Especially when coming off the Genlecs or the Dynaudios to either of the KRKs the impression could only be described as dramaticly worse and in order to give them a fair chance I had to fight the urge to immediately hit the button and dismiss the KRKs out of hand! The RP8's at $700 CDN/pair were noticably inferior IMHO to the Yorkvilles at $500 CDN/pair while the V8's at $1400 CDN/pair weren't any better than the Yorkies. Mackie 824s beat all three, but not by as big a margin over the Yorks as one might expect, and the Genlec and Dynaudios clearly won over the Mackie. The Genlecs and Dynaudios I rate as distinctively different sounding from each other but equally on top of the heap.

We're getting a bit beyond the $500 budget of the original poster.

BTW - so far I've had no luck getting any of the local dealers to let me listen the various alternatives. I've only heard the BlueSky Media Desk and some Wharfdale Diamonds so far. The Blue Sky is interesting, but the Wharfdales were very "boomy"....

In defense of Douglas, he didn't say they sounded bad, I don't think. He is making a justifiable decision not to use Behringer due to their business model/ethics. I understand and applaud that. I just wish I had known back when I was looking around.

Sold the Tannoys for a while on my previous job. Most folks with smaller systems went with the Tapco units. Inexpensive Mackies by another name.

Sean

Sean is exactly right. For me, the sound is important, obviously. But ethics are more important. No company in the history of MI (that I've ever heard of in 26 years of attending NAMM) has ever been sued as many times as Behringer.
I can't abide a company with their horrible tech support and lack of creative thought. I used to be a lot less caring about this until some schmuck ripped off VASST for thousands of dollars when he copied our product in some ways and then redirected a few websites related to our name, my name, and products to his own competing website. Now I realize more than ever, how important ethics are. It's also one of the reasons I left a very popular website as a moderator of more than a dozen forums; ethics are important. I'm very happy that the DVInfo.net doesn't allow unethical behavior of any sort here.

As far as the sub 500.00 price point, there are a lot of monitors out there that will work. One thing not mentioned is that in this price bracket you'll have to make compromises, unfortunately. I'd be looking at used for more bang, but that's just me.

Mark Olsen...I'm a musician too. Maybe different music than you, but I'd dare say I've got some projects under my belt. http://www.spottedeagle.com/credits.htm if you're interested. :-)

For what it's worth: I have Alesis Monitor One MK2 monitors in my studio (medium room) with a Denon amplifier. Gives really great results, clear crisp sound, quite flat and suited to a wide range of sounds and music, very good for monitoring sound.

I am real happy with them especially when you consider they are only 79 euros each (www.feedback.nl).

Kind regards,
Erwin

Ok, I did some more browsing and I realized that no one really mentioned Event. BH has their TR8's for about $450 (they have to email you the price) and I'd be willing to go over by a hair, since I've been recomended to get 8 inch. I think I'll probably end up getting those unless anybody has any big complaints about them....I listened to some Events with 8 inch (even though they were the next model up and a pair costs about $900) and they sounded great. Man there are a lot of options when it comes to low priced monitoring. If I were to get the Yorkvilles, Where would I get them, I havn't seen them listed with anybody anywhere? Not that I have anything against them, they seem to be great from what you all have said, but I think I'd rather go with a larger company that is more recognizeable, like Event. Thanks again everybody!

... If I were to get the Yorkvilles, Where would I get them, I havn't seen them listed with anybody anywhere? Not that I have anything against them, they seem to be great from what you all have said, but I think I'd rather go with a larger company that is more recognizeable, like Event.

Their website is http://www.yorkville.com and they have a dealer directory online. Only have limited experience with them so I can't say much more that in my listening in store they sounded very good, better than their pricepoint would suggest they might and holding their own against speakers costing way more. The same company makes the Traynor brand of stage and performance speakers and gear, FWIW.

I've been talking to a few more people and reading some reviews (Sound On Sound magzine's web-site (http://www.soundonsound.com/) is another great resource), and the same names keep coming up: Alesis Monitor 1 Active, Tannoy Reveal, Tapco and Event TR5 (perhaps TR6?). The problem is, no-one locally has anything that I can go and listen to. Looks like I'll have to spend a day on a trip to either Birmingham or London... (not my idea of fun!)

If I were to get the Yorkvilles, Where would I get them, I havn't seen them listed with anybody anywhere?

Gotta get the Yorks! I am so lucky someone tipped me off to them about 3 years ago when I started setting up my post suite. The YSM1Ps are fantastic for getting clear unbiased audio while editing. You can check the dealer locator on their site. Believe me it's worth it. And when you are ready to take it to the next level and get Yorkvilles sub, its a whole new experience.

-dave

In the end, I've gone for a "bargin". The original Tannoy Reveal Active speakers have just been replaced by an expanded range (Reveal 5A, 6A and 8A), and Sound Control (http://www.soundcontrol.co.uk/mod_1/pages/index.php) in the UK have bought up most (all?) of the old stock and are knocking them out at £199 a pair, saving about 30%(?) over the old price. They've just arrived, but without any leads, so now I've got to get some phono-to-XLR leads made up. I hope I've done the right thing...