At the studio we have the nice THX approved 5.1 stuff, but at home I've been using various small footprint active monitors. I was getting along pretty well with JBL-LSR25P's - despite their lack of ANYTHING below 50 or 55 Hz. Then the amp went out in one right in the middle of a weekend dash to a deadline. Since the local music store didn't have a replacement I bought a pair of the BX-5's. I hung with them for a month or so, but they weren't getting it done.

My biggest problem was simply lack of low end information. So I thought, what the heck - at $279.00 I'll try a pair of the M-Audio LX-4's. They're expandable to 5.1, and with the amp for all six speakers in the sub it's convenient to run just one power cable, then speaker wire to the satellites.

All I can say is - WOW! Once I got the level on the sub tweaked I was pretty blown away with how balanced the frequency response is and what a nice soundstage they create. Now - with their minimal power you can't fill a very large space with them. But my room at home is small and they deliver all the volume I need. And my mixes from home hold up very well.

In fact, I like them so well we replaced a pair of Event 20/20's with the LX-4's in another small composing room at the studio, and the composer who works in there says he likes them better.

Like I said - at $279.00 it's not a major gamble. if you don't like 'em, put 'em in a bedroom or something. (In fact the BX-5's replaced the tinny speaker in MY bedroom TV. I plugged them right from the output of the digital cable box. For that use - no complaints. A MAJOR improvement.)

If you DO go with the BX-5's - M-Audio makes a matching sub for around $300.00. I wouldn't even THINK about using them without it.

Fred Story

I checked myself on the M-Audio subwoofer. It's the Studiophile SBX, and the lowest price I found was $399.99. It has stereo bass management built in, 120 watts, and goes down to 30Hz. It's supposed to make a good companion to the BX-5's and BX-8's.

Fred Story

My friend uses the Mackie HR824's mentioned above, anad they're amazing. The sound is really accurate -- there's no "coloring" like many other monitors. Sweetwater.com has a decent price on them too. If I were to upgrade my speakers right now, those are the ones I would go for in a heartbeat.

@bluedane said:

So, here's a list of my final (probably) selection of monitors. They're all in the ~$300 USD range, cause, well, i spent all my money on VSL. [:)] Any suggestions? I've read all the reviews I can find, including on this site, but if anyone has any "yeah those are unreal!" remarks, i'd love to hear them. They all seem pretty good - and I still need to do some critical listening. But I would love to hear people's comments.

Thanks!
-Denny-

I'm using a pair of Roland DS-50s. Check them out here: http://rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=9&subcatid=0&prodid=DS%2D50A">http://rolandus.com/products/details.asp?catid=9&subcatid=0&prodid=DS%2D50A. They're self-powered with digital ins. Sound great too. They run about $250 a piece.

~Chris

So, i think the Behringer are on the final list. And i think I'm, adding the Alesis ProLinear 720 (non-dsp) to the list. They get great reviews...
off to the listening shop.

-d-

Have you looked at the alesis m1 active monitors. There pretty darn cheap and from what others have told me there better than the berhinger.

Is there a dedicated subwoofer available for them ...?

/Dietz (... looking for a cheap 5.1-system for home use)

I don't know about the sub, but the ones I'm curious about is these:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040517161315069169071243709424/g=home/search/detail/base_id/45932

I blew a tweeter in one of my NS-10s, so I recently visited the hell that is monitor shopping.

I hated the new alesis ProLinear DSP monitors. They sounded totally dull and lifeless when I listened to them. The KRK stuff sounded pretty nice to me. The Event 20/20s, sounded like they wanted to be NS-10s but have more bass response...which just made them muddy to me.

I was leaning heavily torwards Mackies because I've wanted a pair for a while, but then I found a killer deal on Ebay for a Blue Sky System One 2.1 set up.

IT SMOKES!!!! I Love it. in fact I really cant believe I've been mixing on NS-10s for 8 or so years now.... I dont know if I could go back (but I still want to fix it and use a switch box for comparing....just so its there)

(edit,..wow middle of the night, posting will have you screwing up names of things)

As King knows, I also use (and really like!) the BS System One. The reason I mentioned the Dynaudios is that bluedane seems to be in a lower price range.

By the way, Blue, you say you spent all your money on VSL and are therefore looking for cheap monitors. For the short term, no problem; for the longer range, you might consider upgrading as soon as you can, because it's just a little bit important to be able to hear what your mixes sound like!

I haven't heard the three models you were considering, so I'm not saying they're bad. But my instinct is that at $300 a pair, those powered monitors aren't going to be stellar.

Hm, two more happy Blue Sky users... I've heard many positive comments lately. I seriously need to get a demo of them soon. I'm also shopping for monitors...

The only pair I would consider out of the 3 mentioned by Denny are in fact the Behringer's. They are not that bad. I found them a bit sterile but quite ok last time I tested them. May very well be another classic rip-off. [:)]

/Mattias

@bluedane said:

So, here's a list of my final (probably) selection of monitors. They're all in the ~$300 USD range, cause, well, i spent all my money on VSL. [:)] Any suggestions?

I don't know what everyone else is smoking, but I would never trust a mix to Behringer knock-off speakers. Almost all of their stuff is a poor imitation of something else.

I have the M-Audio BX5 and LX4 5.1 system, and find that in a moderately treated, well-designed room they give me mixes that tranport to nearly any situation.

I tried the events alongside about 12 other monitors in a listening room, and they didn't impress me. The BX5s just seemed to have less rise and fall through the spectrum. Your mileage may vary.

Hey HoustonH,

That's interesting - your experience seems to be opposite to everyone else's. Can you say more about what you thought was right about the m-audios and wrong about the behringers? I'm (obviously, i guess) doing orchestral stuff in a small home studio - does that match what you based your opinions on. I was just about ready to go buy the behringers but i'm interested in your input.

thanks!
-denny-

@bluedane said:

Hey HoustonH,

That's interesting - your experience seems to be opposite to everyone else's. Can you say more about what you thought was right about the m-audios and wrong about the behringers? I'm (obviously, i guess) doing orchestral stuff in a small home studio - does that match what you based your opinions on. I was just about ready to go buy the behringers but i'm interested in your input.

thanks!
-denny-

Houston's right. In the Pro Audio industry, Behringers are considered very low on the professional totem pole. Almost dipping to consumer level. Lack of quality, high noise, etc. Anyone who knows their pro audio equipment will tell you to stay away from Behringer as a company. I can't speak for those monitors specifically, having never listened to them.

~Chris

@bluedane said:

Hey HoustonH,

That's interesting - your experience seems to be opposite to everyone else's. Can you say more about what you thought was right about the m-audios and wrong about the behringers? I'm (obviously, i guess) doing orchestral stuff in a small home studio - does that match what you based your opinions on. I was just about ready to go buy the behringers but i'm interested in your input.

thanks!
-denny-

Houston's right. In the Pro Audio industry, Behringers are considered very low on the professional totem pole. Almost dipping to consumer level. Lack of quality, high noise, etc. Anyone who knows their pro audio equipment will tell you to stay away from Behringer as a company. I can't speak for those monitors specifically, having never listened to them.

~Chris

Well, I know I am a bit late on this thread and perhaps Bluedane you have already purchased but I thought I would give my impressions as a Behringer Truths owner.

Obviously these are not Genelec's or Mackie's but at the $299 you CANNOT go wrong with these. First off, they are superbly built. I've owned other Behringer products and admittily they can sometimes have that "discounted" feel...but the Truths are top notch construction. And they look killer...

Now to the sound...I couldn't be happier. I relize they might be lacking the clarity of higher priced monitors...but that is why the others cost so much more. I couldn't afford a pair of Mackies but I needed something better than a set of headphones to mix on. The sound is quite exceptional and I do not think you will be unhappy. As you have seen most of the posts against the Behringers were from people who don't own them or have not listened to them.

I made my friend with a nice Tannoy setup, with subwoofer, jeolous over the sound of my setup the other day.

At $299 you won't be sorry.

Hope I was in time to help with your decision.

yeah, i think the truths are where i'm going. however, i'm also going on an extended road trip and then to england, so i think that monitors just got pushed off in exchange for a music-capable laptop. I'm selling my desktop and trying to move everything to a laptop setup (which will hopefully be made much easier with gs3 being rewire.) So, I think that that's where i'll be headed, but it may have just been pushed out 12 months or so.

thanks again - i really appreciate the advice (and the understanding that despite what i would wish, sometimes the money for a $1500 monitor setup just ain't there.)

=)
-denny-