Active Studio Monitors
Conradicles
Posts: 6,092
in Speakers
With the trend towards computer audio desktop rigs, let's throw out some good suggestions for powered monitors that make great near field music. Focal and Yamaha come to mind for me based on experience.
Comments
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Emotiva
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Anything by focal or Yamaha? Or specific models?Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es
Game Room 5.1.4: Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra
Bedroom 2.1 Harmon Kardon HK3490; Bluesounds Node N130; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer -
Jbl, Adam, kirk, genelec, there is a lot of powered monitorsKlipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Looking for experienced user reviews.
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I've personally used the Presonus R80 and can't recommend them enough. The R65 would also be good if you don't need/want the bass response that an 8" woofer can give you.
Highs are absolutely perfect on these, extremely reactive and effortless. Can listen for several hours and they never get fatiguing. Definitely worth your consideration. -
AudioEngine, KRK Rokit, JBL, come to mind instantly....
"....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963) -
I've personally used the Presonus R80 and can't recommend them enough. The R65 would also be good if you don't need/want the bass response that an 8" woofer can give you.
Highs are absolutely perfect on these, extremely reactive and effortless. Can listen for several hours and they never get fatiguing. Definitely worth your consideration.
The Presonus R80 do look very nice. Thank you for you input Clipdat. -
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The Adam a7x was outstanding in its price range. Best bang for the buck goes to the jbl Larry 305 or 308.
For. More money. The genelec 1032b and 805b are more another outstanding monitors. I am using kef ls50w in near field with good results but it’s not a true studio monitor like the genelec or Adam. It depends on what you are going to be using them for. Listening, producing, or?... and price range. Just for listening, on a budget, the jbl 305 or 308 play way above their on sale price range.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
My use will be listening in the office. They will be placed very close the the back wall, so my initial thought was front port as apposed to rear. Budget is $400 to $1000.
Man those JBL 308 seem like a great deal. I need to find a local place to audition a variety of brands. -
Nearfield listening.
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If you have a guitar center or sam ash, they usually have them. The 308 play well above their price. The Adam are a bit more analytic but sound darn good also.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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I think they have the red 305 one sale for 100 each unless the sale is over.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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My elderly neighbor brought over a box of electrical cords and such last year and in it was a BOSE tabletop ipod charger/amp.
She asked me if I wanted it, so I said sure !
I'm not a big BOSE fan, but this little rig, with an 1/8" stereo plug, makes a computer sound pretty darn good !
I have it set on a shelf, dead center over my laptop screen and liked it so much that it replaced my Dayton 15 wpc classT amp & a pair of walnut Minimus 7's (with upgraded xovers). -
So what pair did you decide on?Conradicles wrote: »With the trend towards computer audio desktop rigs, let's throw out some good suggestions for powered monitors that make great near field music. Focal and Yamaha come to mind for me based on experience.
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None yet. Still shopping.
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Got any finalists that you're considering? I'll help you decide
Conradicles wrote: »None yet. Still shopping.
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Got any finalists that you're considering? I'll help you decideConradicles wrote: »None yet. Still shopping.
Finally decided on the Focal Alpha 65. Will post some impressions in a few weeks!
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Nice choice.
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Conradicles wrote: »Got any finalists that you're considering? I'll help you decideConradicles wrote: »None yet. Still shopping.
Finally decided on the Focal Alpha 65. Will post some impressions in a few weeks!
Nice choice, I'd like to hear them.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin
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Also got these to rest the speakers on:
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Great choice. You're sparing no expense
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Git you some, Eric!
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If you're looking for a true monitor the Focal are an excellent choice, they also make for a great listening experience if you only listen to well recorded music. Just keep in mind they're intended for studio use, so they don't pull any punches on poor recordings. They're a great speaker, but I have way too much poorly recorded music in my library for these to be a contender for me.
I have those IsoAcoustics Aperta stands under the LS50W and they're awesome. -
Thanks AsSiMiLaTeD!
I may have too many poor recordings too, so time shall tell if these work for me.
Something about near field is magical.
I wish we had a list of excellent near field bookies. -
@Conradicles were you able to audition these before purchasing? What made you go with these over some of the other options that were suggested?
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No audition. I went with these based on my love for the previous Focal speakers I owned and the reviews were pretty good.
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AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »they don't pull any punches on poor recordings.
You Sir are correct. These are breaking in now so more to come in the future...
The IsoAcoustics Aperta stands are LEGIT. -
These speakers excel at instrument placement. Stereo image is also rock solid.
The bass is rediculous for a 6.5" driver. -
Cool! Looks like soothing to check out.
I have a question on the IsoAcoustics Aperta. I thought the idea was to couple the speaker to the speaker stand and then spike the stands to the floor. Do you have them on a shelf instead of a speaker stand? if so then I understand why we would want to de-couple it. if not, I am trying to understand the reason why to have them?Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
