Free Monitors - Bargain or Waste of Time?

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Jazzrat
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2011/03/29 08:49:40 (permalink)

Free Monitors - Bargain or Waste of Time?

I'm reposting here as I got no bites in the Desktop Monitor forum .................
 
I'm ready to take the plunge and purchase my first set of monitors this year in an effort to improve my mixes.  I have a price range of around $700 - $1,000.  Out of the blue, a truly great friend of mine calls me and says he is willing to give me an almost new pair of Studiophile SP-5B monitors if I will pay for shipping.  I read some reviews and these are by no means great monitors but ............................  Let's say it cost $75 to have these shipped by UPS or FedEx from Denver to PA (they pack them up).  Is it worth it to get these in my studio and "learn" something about using more accurate monitors (I'm using an old pair of Peavy PA speakers at the moment) or am I wasting both my time and $75?  Any and all opinions are welcome.

Equipment: Intel E6550 Dual Core, 2.33GHz, 2GB CL4 memory, Window XP Home, Sonar X1, EZ Drummer, M-Audio Omni Studio, Mackie 1402-VLZ, Alpha Track, PCR-500
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    Beagle
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    Re:Free Monitors - Bargain or Waste of Time? 2011/03/29 09:12:57 (permalink)
    Those are very old monitors and they are very similar to the DX-4's I bought as my first studio near fields.  They were better than computer speakers.

    I'm sure they are worth shipping, although I think $75 for shipping is probably a little too high.  I'd certainly take him up on the offer, but UPS ground is probably only about $35.  that's more like what I would think these monitors would be worth, IMO.

    however, I'd probably not use them as my main near fields.  I'd probably use them as secondaries for checking mixes on different monitors or I'd use them for keyboard monitors or a mobile system or something like that.

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    tarsier
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    Re:Free Monitors - Bargain or Waste of Time? 2011/03/29 10:05:08 (permalink)
    I have a bunch of those monitors. We use them in our secondary recording rooms and our video editing rooms. If you can get them for shipping, I say snap them up! I think they're surprisingly good sounding for their size/original cost.  Add a subwoofer--properly set up and calibrated of course--and you've got a decent little setup.

    The only problem I've had with them is that over time a few of them have developed a hum. A capacitor had gone bad in those, but is simple to replace.
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    A1MixMan
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    Re:Free Monitors - Bargain or Waste of Time? 2011/03/29 10:46:37 (permalink)
    I would still get some nice new "flat" monitors. I love me Mackie HR824's. My mixes translate very well to almost any speaker system. Kinda pricy but I love mine.

    I would get the other monitors and use them as secondary to check mixes on. Maybe put them in another room or something.

    A1
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