EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 40, Issue 09 This issue's topics: Studio Monitors (4 messages) Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon . You may subscribe to EMUSIC-L by sending mail to listserv@american.edu with the line "SUB EMUSIC-L your name" as the text. The EMUSIC-L archive is a service of SunSite (sunsite.unc.edu) at the University of North Carolina. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Fri, 29 May 1992 17:08:44 CDT From: Jonathon Simon Subject: Studio Monitors This is a cross posting of a note I sent earlier to rec.music.synth. ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- A friend of mine is putting together a home studio. After subscribing to EQ, EM, HiFi, Keyboard ...(and a few other magazines) for the last few years he can spout buzzwords, specs, and products like a pro, but he realizes that doesn't make up for experience. In addition, its often hard to tell what products are hyped up by the editors for advertizing motives, and what big studios own because they've bought, opposed to what they received for promotional purposes. So, he'd greatly appreciate hearing peoples experiences with various monitors. I too have an interest in the responses since I will also be looking at new monitors in 6 mos. or so. For my friend, money is not much of an object. He'll spend $1500 for a pair of speakers, if that's what it takes, but both of us suspect the returns diminish significantly at around $1200 bucks or so (street price). He plans on doing production work in a 10x16 room. He's considering near-fields, mid-fields, or a combination of the two. He'll be driving the monitors with a Crown DC300a-II (185 watt into 8 ohms). amplifier. Finally, I should mention that he'd like to test drive a number of monitors, but there isn't a store for miles that can provide that kind of opportunity (he's in Birmingham, Al., but has been considering traveling to Atlanta for this purpose). He rattled off a long list of monitors he'd like to narrow down: JBL-4408's Bagend's-??? TOA-280S YAMAHA-NS-10M 4410 4425 Control 10 Control 12 He also mentioned a Peavey that got a great write-up recently. I don't recall the model of the Peavey or the Bagends. Also, from people he's already spoken to, he gets the impression that Tannoy's are way over rated. Comments on any of these? What has worked out well in your studios? Anything else he should consider (UREI, Hi-Fi speakers, etc.)? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 30 May 1992 21:38:55 EDT From: metlay Subject: Re: Studio Monitors > This is a cross posting of a note I sent earlier to rec.music.synth. > ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- > A friend of mine is putting together a home studio. [..text abridged] > He rattled off a long list of monitors he'd like to narrow down: JBLs are a standard; Bag Ends are good for snob appeal (they sound okay but not multi thousand bux okay); TOA is a good price/performance make that I would consider if I were expanding on a tight budget. The Yamahas must be avoided at all costs if they're his only speakers-- they are loved by the industry precisely because they are NOT true, flat monitors-- they have a distinctive, well-known coloration to them. As a second pair they might be nice, tho Auratones are better for boombox referencing and very cheap. > he gets the impression that Tannoy's are way over rated. Not to ME they ain't, bucko. Best bang for the buck by at least two standard deviations; the PBM6.5's and PBM8's sound like gangbusters and are amazingly affordable, and if he has more to spend the NFM8's are killer. I've never heard the costlier goldlines, tho. I use a pair of PBM6.5s in my studio, and aside from missing some bass I have no complaints. -- Mike Metlay metlay@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu Atomic City, P.O. Box 81175, Pittsburgh, PA 15217-0675 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 May 1992 09:58:59 MDT From: Adam Schabtach Subject: Re: Studio Monitors > he gets the impression that Tannoy's are way over rated. I'll second Mike's opinion on this. Tannoys are great speakers, and probably cannot be beat for their price. I've got the PBM-8s because I had a small budget, but I've never regretted buying them (after listening to them for three years). A friend has a pair of the DMT-10s which have become one of my favorite speakers. They have better imaging than anything I have heard, with the exception of the high-end Avalons (which cost 10x or so as much). If you're friend doesn't listen to some Tannoys before he buys monitors, he's making a mistake, IMHO. --Adam schabtac@stout.atd.ucar.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 31 May 1992 23:24:25 EDT From: The Radio Gnome Subject: Re: Studio Monitors Hi, I use a pair of B&W DM570s and am very pleased with them. Among hi-fi speakers there are many in the $1500 range that have good enough near field patterns to allow use as a monitor. KEF makes several 'Uni-Q' types that have the tweeter mounted in the woofers center (a 'true' coaxial design). One was just recently reviewed in Stereophile. Many studios in Britain use the B&W Matrix types, but they are out of your friends price range. Hope this helps. Andy Wing ------------------------------ End of the EMUSIC-L Digest ******************************