Studio Monitor Guide / Help Choosing a monitor

I'm in the market for some near-field active studio monitors to use at home and I have many questions. These will be my first and I'm not very technical so I've been trying to weigh the pros and cons of different monitors, but I don't actually know what the most important aspects are. I know speaker size (or frequency range?) is probably the first thing I should consider, but how much should signal to noise ratio, cone diaphragm material, box shape (squared or rounded) and magnetic shielding (unshielded possibly dangerous for placing near my computer?) weigh into my choice? Any other important things I should be looking at in the specs?

I will be using these monitors in a 400X330cm (~13x11 feet) room and it will not get any sound treatment (if it makes any difference there is also an opening on one of the walls perpendicular to the one where I sit; this leads into a walkway).

MONITOR PLACEMENT
Since my monitors will be sitting with their backs pretty close to the wall, I figure it's smarter for me to go front-ported. But I have also heard that it's a good idea to put panels behind the monitors (the only sound treatment I might do). What kind of material should I use for that? Will this really help if I get rear-ported monitors or should I only consider front-ported? Does a 2-way ported enclosure really help  the speakers to sound better despite the room acoustics?

MONITOR SIZE / FREQUENCY RANGE
As I said the room is 400X330cm (~13x11 feet). What size monitors should I get? For now I'm mixing mostly rock and metal, but I could see myself working on more electronic music in the future, which will probably require more bass so I'd like to be able to get as much low-end capability as I can, but obviously not too much for my room. How can it be that the Fostex PM series has the same frequency range on their 5", 6", and 8" monitors? And how can it be that my 3" computer speakers go all the way down to 50Hz, around the same as the 5" and 6" monitors 

I'm looking at? I think there is something basic which I'm not understanding between woofer size and frequency range.

I have made a list of the monitors I'm considering from what I've read. I know that I should go to the store with some CDs I know and test them myself, but I'm not sure what to listen for. Yes I know how the CDs sound, but I know how they sound on the speaker I've been using and I don't know how they should actually sound. Here is the list of monitors I'm considering:

SAMSON
Pros: magnetically shielded, HF adjust, front-ported
Cons: square shape

Samson Resolv A5 (~$250/pair)
http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/studio-monitors/resolv/resolva5/
5", 50Hz - 30kHz

Samson Resolv A6  (~$300/pair)
http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/studio-monitors/resolv/resolva6/
6.5", 40Hz - 30kHz

Samson Resolv A8  (~$300/pair)
http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/studio-monitors/resolv/resolva8/
8", 30Hz - 30kHz



M-AUDIO
Pros: magnetically shielded
Cons: rear-ported, square shape, no EQ knobs
I read that these speakers have a lot of internal control circuity to help protect the speakers from damage: "a subsonic filter keeps out the extreme low frequencies that might otherwise stress the speakers unnecessarily, while RF filtering keeps out frequencies above the audio range. The circuitry also avoids thumps during power up or down, and there's amplifier protection against overheating or over-current." Are these things found in most speakers or is M-Audio leading the pack with these safety measures?

M-Audio BX5 D2 (~$340/pair)
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBX5D2New.html
5", 53Hz - 22kHz

M-Audio BX8 D2 (~$410/pair)
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioBX5D2New.html
5", 53Hz - 22kHz



KRK (ROKIT)
Pros: round shape, front-ported, HF knob, magnetically shielded
Cons: none
It seems like these speakers have everything I need and maybe that's why they are so popular, but how do they actually sound compared to the others on this list? 

KRK RP5 G2 (~$430/pair)
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-5.html
5", 52Hz - 20kHz

KRK RP6 G2 (~$570/pair)
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-6.html
5", 48Hz - 20kHz

KRK RP8 G2 (~$710/pair)
http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-8.html
5", 48Hz - 20kHz



YAMAHA
Pros: EQ knobs, magnetically shielded
Cons: rear-port, squared
Do these really sound like the NS10s with better bass? They seem very professional with different EQ controls, but unfortunately are rear-ported.

Yamaha HS50M (~$445/pair)
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/speakers/hs_series/hs50m/?mode=model
5", 55Hz - 20kHz

Yamaha HS80M (~$700/pair)
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music-production/speakers/hs_series/hs80m/?mode=model
8", 42Hz - 20kHz



FOSTEX
Pros: magnetically-shielded, front-ported (2-way), EQ knobs (only on 8")
Cons: squared
I'm confused as to why all three have the same frequency range?

Fostex PM0.5n (~$516/pair)
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/PM0.5n.shtml#3
5", 50Hz - 20kHz

Fostex PM-1 MKII (~$700/pair)
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/PM-1_MkII.shtml#3
6", 50Hz - 20kHz

Fostex PM-2 MKII (~$700/pair)
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/PM-2_MkII.shtml#3
8", 50Hz - 20kHz



TANNOY
Pros: rounded, magnetically-shielded, front-ported, EQ knobs (only on 8")
Cons: not magnetically-shielded

Tannoy Reveal 501A (~$500/pair)
http://www.tannoy.com/StudioSummary.aspx#&&fKyRsgHGZPDAjn6o/L0mv5oIswd3Vvr+OGWWaXwC92PaOjbSrzV/RnQ+1MqVpDcsGTHjsa1X35ql32zFrKfuwL/1EDwMqw//btli/2D/fC1mAcDTmydmTYjlXzQUq0n3yuiPngqpB3jgHBIyoeSJ6A==
5", 64Hz - 30kHz

Tannoy Reveal 601A (~$780/pair)
http://www.tannoy.com/StudioSummary.aspx#&&CY8bpBtE3OiboSbyhRQOGtsw0+GLR3/e6QAMIgAsetO6sHS8qSA2Fy0+2lWnaH61VMtipyjNaz6aDB0zz8xopVmt7eQjimMxu6zw/k3Py/SfMvhJB7xGdPriUnwrUoydSfAxDMbh8FoBSnzq4ZV0+g==
6.5", 60Hz - 30kHz



ADAM
Pros: 5-year warranty, EQ knobs, coiled tweeter, front-ported (2-way)
Cons: squared, not magnetically-shielded
I've heard very good things about these speakers, for example the coiled tweeters which are supposed to prevent ear fatigue (does it really help?), and the long frequency range. For thismprice I would assume they sound very good, but it looks like it does have its shortcomings. Are they really worth the price compared to the others on the list? 

Adam A5X (~$924/pair)
http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products/a5x/description
5", 50Hz - 50kHz

I just read a review of the KRK Rokit Powered 10-3. Quite impressive. However, those are $500 a piece.

Magnetic shielding may not be that important. As long as you don't have CRT monitors or magnetic tapes that you shouldn't place on the speakers, you only have to worry about your credit cards.

Wilko

Sell the car, sell the house, sell the wife and kids.

Get some Barefoots.  Just heard a pair on Saturday.  Even the wife was impressed, tho not enough to sell herself.

But it doesn't sound like you or I have $7000 to spend on monitors.

If you have a pair of home stereo speakers w/ decent woofer (8-inches or more) I'd get the small Yamas for a flat perspective and use the home units to "check" the bass.

If you don't have an old kenwood laying around, get the biggest woofers you can for the money.  And some good headphones.  Between the two you can get a good idea of what your music sounds like.

@

If you want good monitors, then treating your room to some degree should be part of your budjet as well. You will not gain much by spending more on monitors if your room acoustics are whacked.

Building absorbers and corner traps are easy. Definitely worth it if you are willing to spend $$$ on good monitors.

Move your monitors away from the wall as far as you possibly can. Close to the wall is never a good thing.
Go for larger woofers as opposed to a sub.

Go to a good pro audio store and listen to all the monitors you're considering buying. Don't buy based on specs. You have to hear them and judge for yourself. Listen to what they reveal. Don't listen for what sounds good. Good monitors don't always sound great at first listen, but that's not what they're designed for. If a pair of monitors sounds great when you slap your favorite CD on, then maybe they're not what you really want for mixing purposes.

No mention of JBLs... ??? A budget thing?

Tap


I'm not as familiar with these, but there are quite a few here who believe that the Behringer Truth monitors (2031???) are an excellent bang for the buck which would leave some funds for tweeking your room as well. I think these are the ones Beagle uses. Perhaps he will comment further....

I didn't mention it before, but those are the ones I have (actually (I have the originals, not the "A" version which is what you'd buy now)

Bonzos Ghost


If you want good monitors, then treating your room to some degree should be part of your budjet as well. You will not gain much by spending more on monitors if your room acoustics are whacked.

Building absorbers and corner traps are easy. Definitely worth it if you are willing to spend $$$ on good monitors.

Move your monitors away from the wall as far as you possibly can. Close to the wall is never a good thing.
Go for larger woofers as opposed to a sub.

Go to a good pro audio store and listen to all the monitors you're considering buying. Don't buy based on specs. You have to hear them and judge for yourself. Listen to what they reveal. Don't listen for what sounds good. Good monitors don't always sound great at first listen, but that's not what they're designed for. If a pair of monitors sounds great when you slap your favorite CD on, then maybe they're not what you really want for mixing purposes.

^^^ This!

As a rough rule of thumb, you should be spending AT LEAST as much on treating your room as you do on your monitors.

Without treatment you are wasting 2/3 of what you actually spent on your monitors.

At the very least you should treat the mirror points, corners and rear wall.