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Hello, I am about to purchase a complete studio monitoring system consisting of a pair of KRK RP6 G2 or RP8 G2 studio monitors with the KRK 10S subwoofer. The question at hand is: should I go with the RP6 or RP8 pair? What are the advantages of each in this setup? Any comments on 6" vs. 8" monitors, in general? And their use with a subwoofer system, in general?

Some notes:

1) I am not interested in debating the use of the sub in the first place, as it is a crucial element in my particular opinion. I am also not interested in debating the brand at hand; this is a horse of another color.

2) The sub may likely be turned off for the majority of mixing, and thus it is important that the monitors themselves are suitable for full-range monitoring.

3) I am aware that intermodulation distortion is more prominent with larger monitors designed to cover a larger spectrum, however I am also aware that larger monitors are capable of greater volumes while maintaining accuracy and clarity. I am unaware of the exact consequences these relationships have when comparing RP6s vs RP8s.

4) I am not interested in the cost difference, as both are well within my budget, and I am in a position to get a similar deal on both. I am also not concerned with the size difference either. I am strictly concerned with performance.

Comments

Kev Fri, 09/18/2009 - 15:57

welcome

out of the blue question and probably needs more info like room size and spl levels you want to monitor at

but
gut feeling

smaller room with the sub ... 6 inch

larger room with larger sub and louder levels .... 8 inch

or without sub .... 8 inch
that is for the time you want to check without the use of the sub

Is the xover point for the tweeter different for the two ?
If the 6 inch has a higher xover point than the 8 ... then the 6 will have more voicel without the influences of xover point.

this is all just words

Get both in YOUR room and make a judgement based on sound you hear.

anonymous Fri, 09/18/2009 - 17:27

Kev wrote: welcome

out of the blue question and probably needs more info like room size and spl levels you want to monitor at

but
gut feeling

smaller room with the sub ... 6 inch

larger room with larger sub and louder levels .... 8 inch

or without sub .... 8 inch
that is for the time you want to check without the use of the sub

Is the xover point for the tweeter different for the two ?
If the 6 inch has a higher xover point than the 8 ... then the 6 will have more voicel without the influences of xover point.

this is all just words

Get both in YOUR room and make a judgement based on sound you hear.

Thanks. I understand that at the end of the day it will be a personal judgement call based on my ear, but I'm hoping to pry deeper into more of the objective technical differences that exist between the two, and how those differences will affect this particular setup and monitoring methodology.

The monitors will be 4-7 feet from the listener, in a large treated room, roughly 16' x 22'.

I'm not sure at what SPL level I will be monitoring at, but being unavoidably vague, I would say at a moderate/medium volume level, maybe sometimes high.

The crossover of the 6 is 2.6kHz, crossover of the 8 is 2.4kHz. Is this considered a major difference? What exact effects will this difference in the crossover have?

Kev Sat, 09/19/2009 - 14:15

2.4 to 2.6 is a marginal difference and possibly not one to base a judgment alone

a higher xover for the tweeter will give it more power handling and potentially more volume
BUT
the tweeters in this type of unit are probably attenuated with the mid driver being the less efficient and therefore limit the max volume.

A higher xover for the Mid/Bass gives it more of the voice/vocal in this one driver ... same goes for a lower xover point here.
Theory is that the voice will sound more natural with one driver handling that range of frequencies.

As for higher SPL
Cone excursion is what limits the max SPL and a higher xover point will reduce the excursion for a given volume.
It would probably take a half octave or octave for a significant difference.

Given these speakers have the same tweeter driver and you are using the same Sub unit
... it is the Mid/Bass driver that will be giving the package a different feel.

I think you just need to get these things in your room and give it a listening test.

Technically these things are probably near enough that there is nothing to chose
apart from physical size

if there is a size issue then the 6 inch may attract you.
With a 16 x 22 room I think you can look at the 8 inch or larger
and so have the OPTION to use them without the Sub.
I like that option.

just my ramblings at 7:15 on Sunday morning ... that time reference at the top seems to be a hour out ???
must be a daylight savings thing ?

planet10 Mon, 04/19/2010 - 12:19

you say its a treated room, with what?? a bunch of Auralex on the walls?

the room is going to dictate what you have for monitors. my room has been bass trapped to HELL because of the dual 15" Westlakes that were here prior to my arrival at owning my place. the B&W 808's worked OK in here but the dual 12" didnt cut it so were going with what the room was designed for dual 15" in each cab. so,.....you need a sub to reference other instruments that dont belong in the sub sound field, so,.......what dies your room consist of?? my dynaudio BM15's needed a sub in my control room, whereas my old control room the BM15's were plenty huge.
so, ......... what is your room like, did you ever have it tested, if not you may be wasting your money.....