studio monitor break-in?

ilikesound

just wondering if studio monitors need to be broken in. i know home speakers do, does this apply to monitors as well?

thanks,
-andy

zingo

If you believe home speakers need to be broken in, then the same would apply to monitors. Both are speakers, both have relatively the same components, both would need breaking in for the same reason.

Face

I agree with Jake.

Just curious, what kind of monitors?

ilikesound

I finally saved enough for the Mackie MR8's. They have this open-ness to them that i really enjoyed listening to. If there are others in this price range (around 400 total, i got a screaming deal from a friend who works at GC) let me know, i'll gladly take a listen. but i doubt there are better for the price that i got on 'em. Thanks for the advice guys!:D

zingo

Why did you decide to go with monitors? Do you have a home recording studio? That would be awesome.

Gaara

Monitors eh, thats refreshing. I have heard some of the pro monitors sound great for the money, especially with near field listening.

ilikesound

well, they are actually FOR monitoring. i have a little studio here, plus i work in one in the area.

mightymouse

How would these nearfield monitors perform for ordinary home use?

Face

Plenty of people use Tannoy monitors as regular home speaks. I believe one or two people on this board do.

I have a pair of 6.5 Tannoy studio monitor drivers and crossovers that I need to build cabinets for.

ilikesound

i don't think they'd fare very well in a home theater environment.
my main concerns are these:
1. they aren't "musical". they're flat, and for audio-critical monitoring and mixing
2. they are specifically for use between 3-6 feet, making them very good for close-in listening, but uncomfortable at longer distances
3. they have a certain sweet spot that is usually very hard to aquire if you aren't in the specified range of monitoring.
4. frequency response isn't "tailorable", in essence, they'd be almost TOO accurate for use with a theater system, and wouldn't really be sounding too good if you auto calibrate them. they'd either be really tinny, or too bass heavy.
5. pretty expensive.
6. there's also the coloration issue associated with most amps, i dunno if this is a point or not with the high-end stuff, since i've never heard high-end stuff aside from a krell, only ONE time, so didn't really notice.
at least from what i've heard, they can be ok, but the placement is KEY to the monitor's sound, and unless you have a very very small room, or like to sit way close to your huge TV they'd be pointless. unless you absolutely need to have an extremely flat response, i'd look no further than a pair of RTI12's and a good pre.
the thing about building cabinets around a monitor driver is that it can't be done correctly (not easily, anyway). what seperates a great monitor from a regular one is all in the build, bracing, amp, etc. all these have to be perfect in order to maintain the desired frequency response that the driver can handle. another big thing about monitors is port noise. most are plauged by it at high volumes, but the mackie's don't seem to waver at all at 100w rms. that's what i call build quality.
but that's just my take, anyone else can chime in and correct me if i'm missing something.

Yashu

Yes, they do. They are speakers just like consumer models but with a flatter response on a specific range. If they are nearfield, then the same thing applies, just they are meant to be set close to you.

They do resolve just about everything and give you the most accurate experience... get the right ones and you can hear exactly what the original studio engineer heard... however, they can reveal things you don't want to hear, or problems with your other equipment.

I wouldn't say they aren't musical... as music is made with them, they are just accurate, no nonsense. If you want to hear what the studio intended then get a studio setup, but it is a sound you may or may not like.

I listen 90% of the time on studio monitors, but I had to place a tubed output buffer after my DAC and rebuild a 1983 NAD 2155 to warm up the sound a bit. They are absolutely wonderful if you want to sit close to them... but in the farfield they sound tiny, or just not right. There are farfield studio monitors, but they are even more costly and issues come up with room acoustics as the speakers are meant to be installed by pros.

Anyway... for HT, probably not a good idea... but for private 2 channel listening, they are great with the right equipment. Remember also, there are passive and active monitors, with active being the ones that are mostly found today. The advantage to this is you only need a preamp.

SKsolutions

There are a few characteristic that differ. A major design difference:

Studio monitors are designed to be linear/accurate/flat from a couple of feet away, and are not designed to be heard with room reflections, loading etc.

A good pair of stereo speakers are designed to be heard in conjunction with the room they are in.

meirco11

yes. evry speaker need to break in time. no less then 100 hrs of working.:)