Looking for good "active" monitors

craig223 · « **on:** 11 Jan 2007, 02:24 pm »

I want to put together a system for our living room with a SB3 and a pair of active monitors. They need to fit on a bookshelf. This should create a very small but great sounding setup that has access to a lot of music and internet radio. Does anyone know of a good powered monitor? Have looked at professional studio monitors, but most seem to be near-field. Will these work? Suggestions?

konut · « **Reply #1 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 02:28 pm »

Budget?

craig223 · « **Reply #2 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 03:12 pm »

Budget - $1,500 per pair. New of used is fine.

Levi · « **Reply #3 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 04:09 pm »

Have you tried auditioning Genelec or MAudio studio monitors? They have some pretty nice sounding speakers.

fly_fish_nz · « **Reply #4 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 04:31 pm »

How far is your average listening spot to where you will place the monitors?

I used a Red Wine Audio modded SB3 (analog mods) with the System One from Blue Sky with great success in a moderately large room. This particular system includes fairly small but hefty monitors and a sub, but according to Blue Sky the sub can be placed nearly anywhere in the room because humans are directionally challenged with frequencies below the cross over point, taking spatial clues from the higher frequencies. I was surprised, but it worked.

I was amazed by the quality of the sound from such an inexpensive system (SB3 direct to the System One), less in total than the cables in my other systems, incredibly dynamic, neutral, and full. I actually had the Blue Sky's up for sale this summer, but removed them from audiogon after a listening session...even though I can't use them how I originally intended, at my girlfriend's flat, and go back and forth about having three systems, they are so much fun to listen too. Good luck!

dwk · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 04:59 pm »

You aren't going to find much in the way of 'hi fi' powered speakers out there, so you're probably constrained to looking at the pro world. This isn't a bad thing, though, as there is some very good stuff out there.

I'd suggest the Mackie HR824's - they're something of a benchmark in powered monitors, and should come in comfortably under your $1500 budget.

The Genelec recommendation is good as well, but I'm not sure they have anything in your price range - most of my familiarity is their bigger and pricier stuff.

You may want to think about volume control, though. I'm not sure whether remotes are common in this market or not, and having to walk over to the speaker to change volume might be a pain.

batmanslc2 · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 05:29 pm »

I second the Mackie 824, owned them for a while and they are very accurate, you could also consider the smaller 624 depending on what you want to do for Bass notes, very soild 'industrial type' build quality.

ctviggen · « **Reply #7 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 05:51 pm »

Quote

You may want to think about volume control, though. I'm not sure whether remotes are common in this market or not, and having to walk over to the speaker to change volume might be a pain.

He's using the SB3, which has its own volume control. This is what I do, too. I set my preamp/amp combo at a certain volume (about 1/2 way), and then control everything with my SB2's remote.

dwk · « **Reply #8 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 06:07 pm »

Quote from: ctviggen on 11 Jan 2007, 05:51 pm

He's using the SB3, which has its own volume control. This is what I do, too. I set my preamp/amp combo at a certain volume (about 1/2 way), and then control everything with my SB2's remote.

D'oh - I even read that he was using the SB3. Never mind.

craig223 · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 06:08 pm »

Thanks for the info! This should be a great second system.

konut · « **Reply #10 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 06:42 pm »

Have a look here. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/category/c405/ They have decent discounts. I can personally recommend Adam, Dynaudio, Event, and Genelec. I went with the Genelec 8020s as I needed as small as footprint as possible. They are decidedly nearfield though. I didn't care for the sound of the Mackies, but many do. JBL has gone down in quality as of late. Sweetwater has a 30 day return policy. If you decide to order from them, call Trip Irish at 1-800 222-4700 ext. 1347. Describe what you need. He was very helpful to me. You might want to check at a Guitar center or other big box music store in your area as they might have many of these models to audition.

ooheadsoo · « **Reply #11 on:** 11 Jan 2007, 11:56 pm »

Actually, JBL seems to be hitting it off big with their newish LSR6328 actives. I saw them listed as the monitors of choice in a $100k dream studio and they've been getting the nod from some places like gearslutz and magazine reviews. However, they're rear ported while the mackies use passive radiators, which would be better for the bookshelf placement. And they seem to cost a lot more.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #12 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 12:48 am »

The most problematic part of your requirements is the intended bookshelf placement. Not many speakers are capable of working at their best against, or that near to, a wall. If you really do intend to literally bookshelf mount, then you might be happy with the Dynaudio BM5A at $999 which not only has 3 settings for LF adjust, but built in adjustable high pass filter (or not) for use with subwoofer. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BM5A/

A better sounding speaker still, but without the high pass filter and with 5 dB of adjustment for the LF to attempt to adjust for wall proximity is the Dynaudio BM6A at $1600. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BM6A/

And finally, possibly the best of the bunch except probably not quite capable of the ultimate levels of the Dynaudios would be the Tannoy Precision 6D at $1500/pr. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/P6DAMon/#anchor

I have not heard this exact model but did hear the predecessor (the System 600) and it was one of the most fabulous sounds I have ever heard from a near field monitor - dead even frequency response right down to around 60 Hz - revealing mids, superb bass (though a little limited as a 6.5" driver must be). I could happily live with that sound for a long time. I would imagine this Precision 6D model could be better.

I have heard the Dynaudios, the Genelecs, the Mackies, the KRKs. I find the Dynaudios generally revealing and truthful in the mids, OK in the bass capable of near realistic dynamics - their strength and decent in the highs. Imaging is typical - only the Tannoy is distinctly superior than all the rest due, I presume, to the concentric HF driver. Note that what looks like a regular tweeter in the 6D is actually a super tweeter operating from 8 - 51 kHz. Also note that there is a digital input as well as analog with the Tannoy.

Finally, I feel the Mackies and Genelecs tend to a "hi fi" sound - that is, with a slight emphasis on the top and bottom or a slight scoop to the mids. The KRKs tend to be flatter through the mids but all three have bass of no particular merit - not informative, not quick, not flat, nothing really special - just the usual. The Tannoy System 600s, on the other hand had particularly great bass (I like good bass, and it's rare), so I wouldn't be surprised if the new Tannoy was also good in this respect.

P.S. most pro nearfield monitors have some sort of adjustment to allow for placement near a wall. The Tannoys do, as well.

TomS · « **Reply #13 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 03:03 am »

You could save a ton of money getting these for $350

http://www.audioengineusa.com/

I bought a pair for my daughter's ipod system in a college dorm. Before she took them to school we put them on our fireplace mantle in a 24x16x10' open great room and they sounded terrific. I could easily live with them, finding them very satisfying. The need a little bit of space behind as they have a rear port, but we just angled them a little bit and they worked fine.

I think they have a 30-day guarantee so it's kind of hard to go wrong before spending big bucks on pro monitors.

Tom

navi · « **Reply #14 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 04:25 am »

I use KRK V4 - once mod'ed these are pretty good- If the 4inch bass driver is too small for you go the V6-
I've added in mine- Xindak Silver fuses, Copper/Cotton wire, Blackgate caps, Stillpoints ERS on all caps.

I find the KRK V4 have a little bit less detail up top compared to Adam ribbon tweeters but has a full bodied mid-range- But for sheer musical enjoyment- Go Genelec 8030

Great thing about some actives is that you can plug the CD player straight into them and not worry about preamps- adjust the volume with the gain on the back of the speakers.

Ivan.

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 04:27 am »

Quote from: TomS on 12 Jan 2007, 03:03 am

You could save a ton of money getting these for $350

http://www.audioengineusa.com/

I contacted Brady at audioengine last July and asked for a comparison between the KRK V4II which was on my short list and these. The answer reassured me. He said that they were very much aware of the KRK and indeed used a pairs of KRK V4s and V6s in listening tests against their speakers. Their conclusion is that the audioengine is in the same class as the KRKs and the Mackie sonically and very close in output, that is the KRKs go a little louder. They also cost more at $500/pr.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/KRK-V4II-V-Series-2-Powered-Nearfield-Monitor?sku=602316

So I would say this is a good suggestion to save money over KRK and Mackie, but will likely not provide the special little dose of magic that the Tannoy may well provide. A trip to a well stocked musicians store would be worthwhile.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 05:08 am »

There are many different monitors to choose from....try to listen to a few.
Here's a list of their reviews from Sound On Sound....

JLM · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 11:54 am »

Here's a very promising active standmounted speaker (transmission line loading with Bryston amps by the Professional Monitoring Company):

http://www.pmcloudspeaker.com/pdfs/aml1.pdf

http://www.audio-ideas.com/reviews/loudspeakers/pmc-aml1.html

http://www.vintageking.com/New-Brands/PMC-Loudspeakers/PMC-Loudspeakers-AML-1-pair

For home use at a more modest budget, stick with active studio monitors, not professional (concert) monitors. This could make for a very sweet little system.

Inscrutable · « **Reply #18 on:** 12 Jan 2007, 10:57 pm »

Is it really a necessity that they be active/self-powered? You could open up a lot more options if you were willling to get a power amp and a pair of passive speakers (probably not a eureka to you, but just testing).

JLM · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Jan 2007, 12:00 am »

The advantages of active design are well documented and IMO cannot be ignored. A good pair of properly selected (for the given application) actives will always beat any similarly priced passives plus amps that have the same frequency range. (Note that single driver speakers by default are active, but that really is a whole different discussion.)

Years ago I auditioned Paradigm Studio 20s ($800 per pair, rather typical small 2-way standmounts) against the Paradigm Active 20s ($1600 per pair, somewhat larger 2-way standmounts). Paradigm built both concurrently, they were very comparable in design, and both represented their top product lines, so it made for an excellent opportunity to compare approaches.

But there was no comparision!! The Actives absolutely blew the Studios away. Bass was tremendous (no sub needed, period). Dynamics were amazing. Frequency response was ruler flat. Coherency/imaging/smoothness at the crossover were all greatly improved. In this 14 ft x 24 ft room the Active 20s all but matched the $2000 Paradigm Studio 100s (full sized passive floorstanders) in terms of bass and dynamic performance, but out classed them again in coherency/imaging/crossover smoothness.

The challenges of going active are:

1.) The audiophile must give up part of the hobby involving the endless hunt for gear.

2.) The design of an "audiophile grade" line level cross-over (according to a couple of vendors at AC) is much tougher. (I recently started a related thread at AKSA and NuForce, check them out.)