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Hi,

I'm looking at buying a set of monitors in the $500 price range. I have a medium sized room with wooden floors, some Auralex foam wedgies on each wall, and bass traps in the corners.

I've looked at these ones so far:

KRK RP-8 Rokit Powered 8 Reference Studio Monitors

Event Tuned Reference 8 TR8 Active Monitors

Which ones would you recommend? Are there others I should consider in this price range?

Thanks.

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Comments

RemyRAD Wed, 11/29/2006 - 11:38

To me, the KRK's had a similar texture to my favorite JBL's whereas the Events, just sounded lackluster and ill-defined. No punch. No balls. I don't have any balls either but I want my speakers to have them. I thought they sounded particularly squeezed with a peculiar high-end (ouch). Blah.

I was told by the sales Guy that Event loudspeakers were created by a couple of guys that used to work for JBL? I thought if they had worked for JBL, they would sound more like JBL's would sound but found that they sounded more like Radio Shaft Taiwanese speakers to me. I was highly unimpressed. Maybe that's the reason why they don't work for JBL anymore? Maybe they were fired??? I would fire them for making speakers sound like that!

Diehard JBL/KRK fan
Ms. Remy Ann David

anonymous Wed, 11/29/2006 - 12:12

I can confirm what Remy has said about the Events. More specifically, they have an annoying tendency to perform unwanted compression to the low end, meaning you'll never really know how much bass is in your mix. Their hyped high end means your ears will fatigue very quickly when working at normal volume levels. Having owned them for 3 years, I would recommend against them.

mark_van_j Sun, 12/03/2006 - 01:50

I would have to disagree with Remy on this one. (sorry)

I would have to say, without a doubt, the Yamaha HS 50's. I A/B'd them with KRK's and they (KRK's) sounded very muddy and non defined. The Yamaha's were clearly defined and had great depth. The only perk against them would be they are slightly on the bright side (ESPECIALLY compared to the KRK's) so there might be some ear fatigue going on after prolonged usage at high volumes.

They have a tight bass, but don't extend very low. You might need to add a subwoofer for the <60Hz area. (don't get fooled by specs. Although it says 55hz, note that it's at a -10dB dip)

But I live by the logic, that better to have strong mid and highs, than an if-y full spectrum mix.

Sidhu Sat, 12/09/2006 - 14:03

lontas wrote: I can confirm what Remy has said about the Events. More specifically, they have an annoying tendency to perform unwanted compression to the low end, meaning you'll never really know how much bass is in your mix. Their hyped high end means your ears will fatigue very quickly when working at normal volume levels. Having owned them for 3 years, I would recommend against them.

Scary... But the past fortnight has had me thinking bout starting to save for a new pair of monitors too.. I currently work on the TR6's.. and have been finding them incresingly difficult to work with....

Sidhu

anonymous Mon, 12/18/2006 - 21:32

Control room speakers are not meant to have balls, they are meant to provide sonic accuracy and detail. !

Anyways, take several of your favorite CDs and listen to a lot of speakers with them. Decide which ones sound best to YOU and your tastes. I wanted speakers that had enough low end, not overhyped mid range, and soft highs. I found the TR8s to be very neutral across the entire requency spectrum, and I felt like mixes I made on them would translate well to other playback systems, which they are doing for me.

Also, you have to realize that how your room is acoustically treated or untreated will greatly effect your mixing as well. Good luck. But I would be careful not to base a decision on someone who is a "Die hard KRK fanatic." What else do you think they would tell you ? Decide for yourself by listening !!!!

Cucco Fri, 12/22/2006 - 05:31

I have to agree with Remy on this one.

However, if you get a chance, try the ASP 6s and ASP 8s. They will change the way you think about Events!

The KRKs are better, but I'm not a fan of the "Rock-it"s or whatever they're called. The V series is better by far (and as Remy mentions, reminiscent of JBLs of bygone eras. Of course, Remy, you know that KRK is the pro division of Cerwin Vega! A modern contemporary of the 70s and 80s school of JBL thought - paper cones, large, solid enclosures, simple crossovers and MONDO power!)

My favorite monitor for anywhere NEAR $500 is the NHT Pro M-00 (or Moo!)

It doesn't have substantial low frequency, but it's not designed to. (If'em you want those balls....buy a sub later) However, the sound that they put out is absolutely glorious - regardless of size or price!

J.

anonymous Wed, 01/17/2007 - 19:01

I bought the HS50Ms a month ago and I liked every part of them besides the bass response, which I believe is something like 55hz-20Khz. My previous monitors were KRK RP5s which sounded pretty good. After using them for a couple days I decided to check out the HS80Ms and they sound 1000 times better. So I shipped the 50s back to Musicians friend and should be getting the 80s late next week.

anonymous Wed, 01/17/2007 - 21:18

by the way how much are the HS80Ms, you see right now i have the NS-10's from yamaha which by far are the best monitors ive ever worked with, beautiful midrange and good high's and well low's are ok. Recently one of the tweaters(SP?) blew and got it repaired and obviously doesnt work the same so ill probably end up buying the HS80M since the NS-10 are discontinued.