New near-fields to replace my ageing Event 20/20's

Hi
 
What the current thoughts on near-field monitors in the £500 bracket
 
My Event 20/20 passives are starting show their age I suspect. 
 
Consequently I thought it was about time I moved up to actives
 
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, the units will be mounted on sand filled stands about a foot from the rear wall, which is acoustically treated.  The rest of the room has some acoustic treatment.

Id recommend yamaha HSM80's hands down in that price range-
You might be able to get the Makcie HR824 speakers for that as well if ya do some bargaining and some good shopping-

I like my mackies, and my friend has the yamahas, and they are both great monitors-


I gotta say, Id opt for the Adam A7's as well-

I love my Adam ANF10's

Id recommend yamaha HSM80's hands down in that price range- You might be able to get the Makcie HR824 speakers for that as well if ya do some bargaining and some good shopping- I like my mackies, and my friend has the yamahas, and they are both great monitors- I gotta say, Id opt for the Adam A7's as well-

Mackies over Yamahas, for sure. HSM80's are rear-ported, meaning you MUST get them out away from the wall, which can be a problem for most people's small rooms.

My only issue with Mackies is their wide dispersion and hi-fi-like sound -- they're like the friend who won't tell you when you have bad breath, when you'd prefer total honesty. But they are a good value for the price. I don't know about the UK, but in the states used Mackies are not too hard to find.

Although a happy ADAM user myself, I wouldn't recommend the A7s. They're a little more expensive than Wookie's stated budget, and IMO they should only be used in conjunction with a subwoofer. The lowest-priced ADAM product I'd consider today is the P22A, which is way beyond Wookie's limit.

Wookie, if I were living in the UK I'd be looking at British-made products, not out of patriotism but to maximize the bang for the buck, er, quid. Tannoys are probably less expensive there than they are here, and I suspect they are ubiquitous enough that you could find some second-hand. Their subwoofers are well-regarded, too.

Whatever route you take, explore the second-hand market first. Studio speakers don't wear out. In fact, some get better with age. Studio speakers have usually spent their entire lives in one spot. It's not like buying band gear that's been man-handled in and out of vans for years. And because recordists often upgrade speakers, there are always plenty of entry-level and mid-level product available.

hav had Tapco S8's for a few years now-they don't color the sound much-that i can tell
real workhorses

bitflipper

-- they're like the friend who won't tell you when you have bad breath, when you'd prefer total honesty. But they are a good value for the price.

Dave...I'm really sorry to have to tell you this but...

 
Seriously tho wookiee,
my recommendations on home studio monitors is probably a little different from what most people will tell you.  Most home studio users have not used more than 1 or maybe 2 sets of near fields and that means they really don't have a good grasp of comparison between the different brands, sizes, types, etc., and so they tend to recommend what they HAVE used most of the time (occassionally you'll find someone who wasn't happy with their first purchase, but that's the minority).  so with risk of being flamed here, probably 95% of the recommendations you will get are based solely on 1 or MAYBE 2 reference points - which is not a very good set for analysis.
 
having said that (and I agree I fall into this category as well) I really like my Behringer 2031A's.  they are my 2nd set of monitors and I was not impressed at all with my first set (M-audio DX-4's).  they seem fairly well flat but with large enough woofers to push enough air for the bottom end without having to use a sub (but admittedly they don't go down lower than 50Hz).  For the amount of money I think these are really good "bang for the buck...quid...denari...whatever."
 

Whatever route you take, explore the second-hand market first. Studio speakers don't wear out. In fact, some get better with age.

 
Which makes me wonder...  Why does he think he needs a new set of monitors?

I'd avoid the tannoys and the 624's and 824's are a bit out of range (unless you wanna save up for a while and you might as well go for the 824's)

the tannoy reveals, the people who I know who have the 6's and 8' reveals don't like them , both said they were both too bass heavy.. of the 6 I thought "ok" but was suprised they said of that of the 8's. and well their mixing is VERY good, so I trust their views

a friend has a pair of yamaha's and he seems to like em MSP5's. Another will always have a soft spot for genelec's even though they are small speakers.


http://www.dv247.com/stud...pment/active-monitors/

there are speakers called "koolsound pearl"  that have very near spec to krk mk 1's.. and a lot cheaper, although without hearing them tricky..  you wont' find pro audio shops selling them.. DJ places do.

Which reminds me of another point, Wookiee. I sometimes wish I'd hung on to my prior sets of monitors, just to have alternate references to switch between. You might want to consider keeping your Events around for that purpose.

 
Bit, I have no intention of dumping the Events unless it proves that the suspect tweeter is suspect
 
Craig, In the end I will let my ears and not my wallet dictate a choice
 
As previously stated I think one of the Tweeters is on its way out
 
At this time I may well be shelving the whole idea and saving some pennies

Hey bit, after a few months on the mackies, I learned them and can efinitely hear when something is wrong now man. They take getting used to like any speaker, but they do tell you the story if ya know them.

That being said, Im tempted to get some Adams as a second monitor and also some little aurotones or something liek that-


bitflipper

Id recommend yamaha HSM80's hands down in that price range- You might be able to get the Makcie HR824 speakers for that as well if ya do some bargaining and some good shopping- I like my mackies, and my friend has the yamahas, and they are both great monitors- I gotta say, Id opt for the Adam A7's as well-

Mackies over Yamahas, for sure. HSM80's are rear-ported, meaning you MUST get them out away from the wall, which can be a problem for most people's small rooms.

My only issue with Mackies is their wide dispersion and hi-fi-like sound -- they're like the friend who won't tell you when you have bad breath, when you'd prefer total honesty. But they are a good value for the price. I don't know about the UK, but in the states used Mackies are not too hard to find.

Although a happy ADAM user myself, I wouldn't recommend the A7s. They're a little more expensive than Wookie's stated budget, and IMO they should only be used in conjunction with a subwoofer. The lowest-priced ADAM product I'd consider today is the P22A, which is way beyond Wookie's limit.

Wookie, if I were living in the UK I'd be looking at British-made products, not out of patriotism but to maximize the bang for the buck, er, quid. Tannoys are probably less expensive there than they are here, and I suspect they are ubiquitous enough that you could find some second-hand. Their subwoofers are well-regarded, too.

Whatever route you take, explore the second-hand market first. Studio speakers don't wear out. In fact, some get better with age. Studio speakers have usually spent their entire lives in one spot. It's not like buying band gear that's been man-handled in and out of vans for years. And because recordists often upgrade speakers, there are always plenty of entry-level and mid-level product available.

I have two sets of monitors I use: a pair of Mackie HR824s and a set of Dynaudio BM5As.  I have a treated room and have my monitors positioned for the best experience. 

I notice that I use the Mackie's nearly 90% of the time as they provide me with the best mixing/mastering detail and wind up using the Dynaudio's more as a reference to see how the low end responds.  For some reason I hear more of the low-end response from the Dynaudio's, so I use them to ensure I don't have too much low frequency that I might not hear as well on the Mackie's.

The HR624s have a smaller woofer in them so keep that in mind when trying out monitors.  If possible see if the store owner would let you take home the monitors to try in your own environment.  What might sound good in the store, could sound like crap in your studio.

Best of luck,
Tom