Sight unseen monitor choice

Hey all,
 
After deciding to go between a 2nd mixer or new interface (I have decided on a Roland OctaCapture....though the place I will be purchasing it from is out of stock until 11/12)...
 
I have also decided to purchase my first set of actual so-called "Studio Monitors"....I've been using (don't throw anything at me) a pair of regular speakers for years....and though they sound good on those, my recordings sound pretty "bleh" or worse on most everything else.
 
Unfortunately, I live in an area that doesn't cater to music stores, so I have to buy them online without testing them first...
 
My room is small...my stuff is of wide variety...everything from acoustic to metal. (No classical music)
 
I'm looking at more inexpensive, active monitors.  I have ruled out Behringer because I don't trust the company...
 
KRK I have read are kind of hyped...
 
Long story short, I've got it kind of narrowed down to Yamaha HS50M's or Possibly Mackie's.
 
Those of you gearheads and pro's who have any experience with these, or something I missed would be greatly appreciated...
 
If possible I'd like to order them today or tomorrow (I'm on vacation and would like to have them in time to play with for a couple days)
 
I notice the HS50's and 80's have a deal right now at some places where they throw in stands and pads for them...with the 50's that's a pretty good deal for $400 total...But only if the speakers are good.
 
Thanks!

i would never buy anything i hadn't heard and tested in person.

but

if you must...

buy from somewhere that has a liberal return policy.

I had to laugh at Bat's (very good) advice....I'm very fussy when it comes to speakers (hi-fi) and luckily had a friend who owned a hi-end stereo shop in my town, and also used to build speakers that people would come from all over the country to purchase.

He would send me home with speakers constantly, both in trying to sell, as well as getting my opinion on his "home brew's"...so I'm very nervous buying like this...

Sadly, I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere and the couple of music stores that exist don't even sell studio monitors...

So trust me Bat (and Beagle)...if there were another way...  ;)

Thanks for the head's up on the Equators, Eddie..I'll take a closer look..

And I appreciate the suggestions, Beagle.

I'm wondering if the 8's might be a little too much for the room I'm in....or if that would tend to overinflate the low end....

Ozz



And I appreciate the suggestions, Beagle.

I'm wondering if the 8's might be a little too much for the room I'm in....or if that would tend to overinflate the low end....

Not in my opinion.  I have 8" woofers in my little room and I bought them specifically because they have 8" woofers.  I think it's necessary to get the biggest woofers you can to push as much air as possible from the near fields.  without a subwoofer especially, you run the risk of not having enough low end coming from the source (the near fields) if you use smaller woofers.
 
what will happen, however, is that you will THINK that you're getting too much low end if you don't treat your room!  when you do have enough low end being pumped at the source but your room is untreated, you're going to get standing waves and a lot of low end build up in the room causing it to SOUND low end heavy to you.  so the trick is to get a good powerful source to pump out the low end properly, but then treat the room to trap it before it causes booming low end in your listening environment.

8" woofers are, IMO, the minimum size if you're planning on doing your own mastering. Yes, acoustics become more important when your speakers are capable of reproducing those problematic low frequencies. But I'd rather have that problem than not hearing the low bass at all.

The Mackies are good for small rooms because they're unported. Furthermore, they've long been a standard for small and home studios, assuring a good resale value if you decide you don't like them or want to trade up. The Yamahas, OTOH, are rear-ported, making them potentially problematic if space restrictions dictate situating them close to the front wall. So between those two, I'd go with the Mackies.

bitflipper


8" woofers are, IMO, the minimum size if you're planning on doing your own mastering. Yes, acoustics become more important when your speakers are capable of reproducing those problematic low frequencies. But I'd rather have that problem than not hearing the low bass at all.

The Mackies are good for small rooms because they're unported. Furthermore, they've long been a standard for small and home studios, assuring a good resale value if you decide you don't like them or want to trade up. The Yamahas, OTOH, are rear-ported, making them potentially problematic if space restrictions dictate situating them close to the front wall. So between those two, I'd go with the Mackies.

which actually is why I like my Behringers.  they're front ported with 8" woofers and they don't cost what Adams do.

You're absolutely correct about Mackie's quality control compared to 20 years ago. Back then they made everything in the good ol' US of A. Right up the road from me, in fact. I used to have a mixer that had been hand-built by Greg Mackie himself. 

But no more. Now it's part of a conglomerate that also owns Ampeg, among other familiar brands. That's why you want to buy them from a local retailer if that's an option, or if not, at least from an online retailer with a good return policy (like Sweetwater).

Beagle: ...and they don't cost what Adams do.

Yeh, well but, but. But my ADAMs came with instructions in German, way cooler than Chinese on rice paper!

bitflipper

Beagle: ...and they don't cost what Adams do.

Yeh, well but, but. But my ADAMs came with instructions in German, way cooler than Chinese on rice paper!

true dat!

The equators are a great bang for the buck. I've used them for quite some time now. But I also use my 25 year old Yamaha NS10's and JBL 2325's        I've heard good things about the Yamaha's you're looking at. Between the two, I'd go with Yamaha.

As it turns out, based on some photos I've seen of the Mackies, it appears they are not a sealed box design...they have a port  in the rear of the speaker.

I'm referring to the Mackie MR series...

Ok..good to know...I was wondering if maybe Bit was referring to either a different series or a previous version...

Has anyone used or had any sort of experience with the Tannoy Reveal series?

I am definitely not referring to the MR series, but rather the venerable HR824, which I'm pretty sure is not ported. Somebody correct me if my memory is mistaken. There is a vent for the amplifier's heatsink that could be mistaken for a port.

That's what I figured....unfortunately those are WAY out of my price range...

What puzzles me w/ the MR is that they have a switch to actually BOOST the low end (and the high end as well). The opposite, or at least the option to cut some, would have made more sense, imho.

Mackie HR series have tuned passive radiators instead of ports. One inevitable issue with listening to any monitor in any environment other than your installed environment is that your listening will be skewed in any circumstance. It makes as much sense to rely on trusted reviews than to assume you can make a sound judgment based on listening tests at guitar center etc. If you can purchase them and return if you're not satisfied - then at least you're giving them a fair listen.