best monitor speakers for under $130?

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #20 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 01:37 am »

You'd probably have to wait for a pair to show up on audiogon.

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #21 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 01:41 am »

Quote from: ooheadsoo

You'd probably have to wait for a pair to show up on audiogon.

If that could take longer than a week or two then I don't really want to wait that long. If that happened, I guess the BR-1's would win by default.

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #22 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 02:08 am »

I agree about the Sound Dynamics RTS-3. They are disgustingly good for the $. I bought a pair for my girlfriend for about $200 new and she is using them with Cal/Rega electronics to good effect Moreover, I've heard them sound good with a Sony Receiver hooked up to them- one of those weird speakers that sounds good with bad stuff, but continues to improve if you hook up better gear. A real find for the budget conscious.

Michael

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #23 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 02:23 am »

Well I'm definately sold on the Sound Dynamics, but if I can't buy a pair anywhere then it doesn't matter how good they are. Any other places that might have them besides audiogon?

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #24 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 04:10 am »

How are the Athena Technologies AS-B1's? Those might be nicer because if I don't like them I can always return them to best buy, as opposed to the DIY BR-1's that would probably be quite difficult to return after building.

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #25 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 05:49 am »

You may want to put up a wanted to buy (WTB) ad for the Sound Dynamics on audiogon. Perhaps someone is looking for a reason to sell.

Michael

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #26 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 06:10 am »

The reviews are very favorable for the Athenas. I haven't heard them though. Worth a shot if you're serious about wanting the option to return.

ehider · « **Reply #27 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 07:27 am »

Typically the Sound Dynamic speakers show up on Audiogon from time to time.

If you are planning on using these monitors for a computer though, they are waaaay overkill since they were not really meant for any sort of computer use or near field listening. I also suspect that they won't reveal their "midrange magic" from less than high end electronics. They are not sheilded either.

These speakers will most likely sound the best in high end set-ups, where you are sitting away from them and they are away from walls and other boundaries. This is where they can produce a a full soundstage with a wonderfull midrange that is typically found in very expenisve speakers.

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #28 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 07:54 am »

Quote from: ehider

Typically the Sound Dynamic speakers show up on Audiogon from time to time.

If you are planning on using these monitors for a computer though, they are waaaay overkill since they were not really meant for any sort of computer use or near field listening. I also suspect that they won't reveal their "midrange magic" from less than high end electronics. They are not sheilded either.

These speakers will most likely sound the best in high end set-ups, where you are sitting away from them and they are awa ...

Thank you for posting an answer that is relavent to my situation and steering me away from a potentially bad purchase. Non-shielded speakers would have really messed up my day, and hearing that they are not designed for near field listening also makes me glad I didn't get them.

On a side note, I'll be heading to best buy tomorrow to pick up the Athenas and give them a listen. If I am pleased with them after a week or two, I plan to return them and save about $40 by picking up a new pair on eBay. My friend is also bringing over his pair of modded bookshelves for a little comparasion, all in all it should be pretty interesting.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #29 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 08:25 am »

Few speakers are "designed" to be used in nearfield except nearfield studio monitors. Even then, I think most companies are pretty shady about this kind of stuff, and the ones that are truly good charge you an arm and a leg. And it really makes the speaker simpler to implement because it basically means (if i have this right in my head) that less baffle step compensation is required, making it an easier and possibly cheaper to design speaker, I think. I had some NHT pro monitor speakers that had different settings for nearfield and midfield which tweaked the top end treble level, but now that I think of it, that has nothing to do with baffle step compensation, so I'm not even sure if that's truly appropriate. Especially at this price, I don't think you have much choice here.

Auditioning is your best bet.

duff138 · « **Reply #30 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 10:25 am »

Quote from: MaxCast

Those BR1's are only 85 db efficient. I heard those speakers and liked them very much. Don't expect to blast it too loud as you'll clip the amp and burn up the tweeters. For $140 they are great.

$200 for RAD Micros???
http://www.rutledgeaudiodesign.com/speakers.htm

Under the special section, you can find the older models for $150.

MaxCast · « **Reply #31 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 11:15 am »

Also, Stereophile had a review of some Infinity Primus 150 speakers that were the second model in and retailed for $200/175 street. They are shielded.
http://www.stereophile.com/loudspeakerreviews/404infinity/

cbj · « **Reply #32 on:** 28 Sep 2004, 01:25 pm »

I'll toss in a few possibilities as well.

Commercial Speakers: I haven't had the chance to hear all of the following speakers but they get pretty favorable reviews at this price point. In addition to the Athena AS-B1 and the Infinity Primus 150, I would consider the discontinued Polk RT-25i (28i) and the KEF Coda 70. The polk RT25i got a favorable review from Stereophile here http://www.stereophile.com/showarchives.cgi?417. and Dennis Murphy likes the 28i and has a tweak for the crossover on his site http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=RTi28.html. You can find these on eBay or Audiogon for $100-150. The KEF got a pretty good review from TNT http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/kefcoda70_e.html and can be picked up off eBay for just under $200. I also believe there is a brief review of them here in the Critic's Cricle.

DIY: If you are a first time DIYer I would probably go with a kit. I have heard good things about North Creek and their new Echo is on sale for $149 http://www.northcreekmusic.com/Echo/EchoInfo.htm You would have to just build the cabinet. Of course if you don't have the tools then that would kill the budget. The other disadvantages of DIY are resale and the ability to audtion. You do tend to get better components than most commercial speakers at the same price point though.

I would look around eBay, Audiogon, AudioAdvisor, Onecall, and HarmanAudio to make your dollar go farther. You might run across a good deal on something that appeals to you.

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #33 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 06:49 am »

UPDATE: Picked up the Athenas from Best Buy, they sound really bad. Especially up close. Way too much treble, and even if I turn down the treble a lot it is still quite harsh, cold, and metallic. I can definately tell they were not made for near field listening. I also think I can only really stand silk dome tweeters because I got a headache from listening to these. I'm breaking them in for two days, and if they don't miraculously improve, I'm returning them.

Also, I don't really want to buy any other speakers unless I can hear them first or easily return them.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #34 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 06:55 am »

The metal = bright, fabric dome = soft thing isn't really true, people just tend to hear what they see. It can go either way by a large margin in my experience. No need rule out a speaker just because it's got a metal dome

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #35 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 07:31 pm »

Yeah, I suppose that it doesn't hold for all speakers. I didn't even know what the tweeters on these speakers were made of when I began to listen to them, all I knew was that they sounded like glass was cutting my ears. I looked up the material afterwards and made a connection from there, albiet not a valid connection I guess.

Does anyone know if any of the other speakers mentioned in this thread were designed or are good for NEAR FIELD LISTENING? It seems like most of the suggestions are for common bookshelf speakers.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #36 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 07:39 pm »

Probably because that's all you can get at this price range

Did I recommend nearfield studio monitors yet? Go to your local guitar center or whatever and check them out. Then go on to ebay and buy what you can afford

Dirty tactic, yes, but when you have no money, what can you do, eh? Don't forget to bring your own music.

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #37 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 07:50 pm »

Yeah, money can make things quite difficult at this price level. I actually asked early on in the thread about cheapish studio monitors, and was told to not bother. I think they deserve a good listen though, because they seem to be exactly what I need for the money I have.

After I return the Athenas, I'm gonna head off to Guitar Center either today or tomorrow, do a few listening tests, and hopefully bring home another pair of speakers. We shall see.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #38 on:** 1 Oct 2004, 08:22 pm »

I'll go on a limb and point your way to the event tr5. They're $300 from GC (I think) but you can get them cheaper used on ebay.

mbayaq1 · « **Reply #39 on:** 2 Oct 2004, 10:04 am »

Back from GC. Fell in love with the KRK Rokit 5's (RP-5). They cost $300. *cries*

Fake edit: Would getting a pair of half decent monitors and a Teac tripath be better for long term upgrades then getting a nice pair of powered monitors?