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Don't expect them to grab you in a music store or when plopped on top of an office desk. You need to get them into your listening room and experiment with positioning, room treatment, proper speaker stands and any "room" settings on the speakers themselves. These factors will affect sound quality as much or more than which of the above speakers (if any) you choose. Try to buy from a store that offers returns and keep them mint until you know they are the ones you like. I use HS8s myself. By the way, they took months to optimize in my listening room but I'm really glad I persisted.
Hi I'm chasing recommendations for nearfield monitors or an equivalent passive system for < $1k. I'm really looking for monitors that aren't overly coloured with reasonable clarity. So far I've looked at Yamaha HS8's, JBL LSR308's and Adam F7's - nothing has truly grabbed me. I know I'm not going to get ridiculous quality for my budget but this is a pretty big purchase for me (student life...) so I'm really trying to explore other avenues and recommendations. Be it other big name monitor brands, passive speakers and amp, or a DIY monitor kit. Any suggestions or recommendations? Cheers
Maybe look at Ascend CBM 170SE's. They have outstanding clarity and an exceptionally flat frequency response, particularly for their price.
Those are very problematic-sounding speakers, despite the axial response. The reason is they were designed with no thought whatsoever to their polar response. Which looks like a giant mushroom cloud.And, alas, that's exactly how they sound: because there's such an imbalance of upper midrange/lower treble energy thrust into the room that region is severely colored in room, unless the room is castrated with thick "treatments" on the sidewalls.To the OP, I'd recommend seeing if you can find a dealer to sell you a pair of KEF R100's for that price. Or, perhaps even better albeit not as attractive, get a pair of KEF Q100's and a pair of small inexpensive subs, such as the ~$100 Pioneer units.
Best bang for the buck is DIY. Meniscus now has a whole range of kits that come with assembled crossovers. They will build cabinets for you as well. Anything designed by Jeff Bagby will sound amazing like the Mandolins, Kairos/Adelphos, Tributes, etc. For example His Continuums are available through Salk Sound for $1200 but you can get the kit at Meniscus for $400 (minus cabinets). That is one of his personal favorites - but all the kits whether by him or others are well regarded designs that you'd have to spend much much more to compete via retail.http://meniscusaudio.com/kits-c-133.html
