well personally this is another pet peeve so take this with the proverbial grain... i just dont understand people spending $1k on a mic/pre/whatever and listening on trash speakers... thnx for letting me vent... given the "relativly"low budget i would give serious consideration to looking for a used pair of audiofool speakers... some of these guys change speakers yearly and now's the time... personal favs are kef and b+w's... unfortunately it maybe hard to audition them if they're already taken down...

Do you have an amplifier for the monitors?

If you don't have an amplifier, then you either need to get monitors AND and amplifier or you will have to get amplified speakers.

Under the amplified speaker category, there's not a ton of choices in that price range. There are a few different versions of the Alesis M1's that fit in that price range like the MKII's or the 520's.
KRK, Yamaha, Event and other companies make speakers that could fit the bill. Like Demented said, you would probably get a better deal looking in the used markets.

well...I would like to get rid of some wires, so I was thinking about amplified speakers... are they worst than not amplified ones?

I have some Event Electronics TR5's that sound pretty good,
they're in your price range. Best thing to do is listen to a bunch of different
monitors before you commit...

there's a fair amount of debate even on the high-end about powered speakers... they tend to be "somewhat" under powered compared to unpowered... or are the others over-powered???

i have powered ones here ..., fwiw...

the idea is that the amps and crossovers can be optimized for the drivers used... it also obviates the need for large inductors and caps in the passive crossover (cosidered to be the cause of "smear" in the passive designs... bottom line... wadda ya want?? what can you afford??? take some comercially produced discs that you know well and hit the streets...

Dementedchord wrote:

well personally this is another pet peeve so take this with the proverbial grain... i just dont understand people spending $1k on a mic/pre/whatever and listening on trash speakers...

I thought this was the "Budget Gear" section anyway. i.e you get advice on budget stuff.

I don't know if here I will find some store with that kind of stuff for a live test: the generally have those things in theyr packs, so it is a blind buy as if I would order them from the Net.

@demented: you say that even on the high end there are doubts about this topic, but rather than just exchanging opinions (that mostly lead nowhere), no one did a scientific test???

Scientific tests only tell a part of the story. For monitors to mix and track on, one needs to have something that is honest about the frequencies being generated by the source. Finding this at that particular price break is going to be a challenge.
The point made about passive (non amplified) as opposed to self powered being limited due to crossover construction is valid to a certain point, but certainly not a deal breaker. If you have a good stereo amplifier already , then passive monitors made be your price ticket to a better quality speaker.
As far as self-powered being 'underpowered' remember that most systems these days are designed with the efficiency of the components and the cabinets in mind. What may not seem like a lot of power in RMS wattage will probably be more than enough to deal with the task.

Another point ....Since you have no quality monitors at this point, the learning curve you'll experience with ANY set of speakers hasnt even started for you. So anything you get will be a subjective listen at best since you have no reference point. Simply....Me telling you that Genelecs or Adam or Dynaudio are the only speakers worthy of this kind of work would have no matter of truth for you.

Monitors are simply personal experience with preference based on that experience. Whats good for me isnt always the same for others.

On the inexpensive side. The best sound per dollar I have heard has been the the Samson Rubicon series. They have a ribbon tweeter and have the best translation of highs than any other budget monitors. Some will argue that having the lows tight makes for better mix translation, but for me it all starts with clarity and separation. If the highs are smeared all over its going to be impossible to tighten up the bass no matter what you do. Besides the lows on these are pretty good as long you arent trying to cover a huge space at high volume....and really, thats not what nearfield monitoring is all about anyway.

good luck.

Cresta wrote: hi all :)

I would like to buy a decent pair of stereo monitors for my home studio, the budget is set up to 350$: any advice? :)

thanks!!!

go for ESI near05 monitor... ;) ;)

mh.. to be honest almost all of my "works" are done with headphones (Samson RH600) for the exact reason that I don't have a good pair of speakers on the PC; but if you do suggest so, I can drag the JBL of the hifi here... (though I will be forced to rearrange the ministudio completely :shock:)

@cried: I did read lot of good opinions on that model of ESI... :)

thanks both :)

Cresta wrote: mh.. to be honest almost all of my "works" are done with headphones (Samson RH600) for the exact reason that I don't have a good pair of speakers on the PC; but if you do suggest so, I can drag the JBL of the hifi here... (though I will be forced to rearrange the ministudio completely :shock:)

@cried: I did read lot of good opinions on that model of ESI... :)

thanks both :)

also try to take a look at behringer truth series ... ;) ;)

I've got a pair Phonic 8A at home. Budget but fair!

Tapco S5's. Nothing in the price range you mentioned is going to be anywhere near perfect......but that doesn't mean you can't learn how to adjust to a monitor's quirks and make good recordings. I bought the S5's this past year in a pinch when one of my primary monitors was in the shop and I had an out of town client that I didn't want to reschedule. I compared them to KRK's, Alesis, several other brands in the same price range. These sounded more accurate to my ears than the others (but it's always a crap shoot listening in a music store environment anyway). They're active, just plug & play.

anyone every use those tascam vl-x5?

Look at the KRK RPK8 they might be a little over 300 probably in the 400 range but for under a thousand dollars those are the best band for the buck speakers. I don't use them personally I use Dynaudio BM15A's but I have a friend that uses them and loves them,

You might consider taking a sheet of One ply toliet paper and sticking it over each tweeter if you mixes are not coming out with enough high end.

I just bought a pair of yorkville ysm1p's. Their were better choices but they seemed like best bang for my buck at the time. They've also helped my mixing quite a bit. Whats the general consensus on these?