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What kind of speakers should I buy?

tallbobsmoketallbobsmoke 715 Posts
edited December 2006 in Strut Central
I bought a pair of Linear Phase Studio monitors out of the back of a van close to 12 years ago and one of them finally died on me. It's time to get new speakers and I have no idea what to get. I used my old speakers for everything. They are set up in my living room along with my decks/mixer/tape deck/amp. I used those speakers for mixing actual music, plain ol' listening, and for rocking house parties. I need something versatile, loud, and with good sound and I have no idea where to start.Suggestions?

  Comments

  • mr.brettmr.brett 678 Posts
    Price range?

    I have a pair of mackie srm-450's that I love. I got them on sale though. I actually had one go out on me, but mackie sent me a new one immediately and shipped the old one back, at their cost. It was the best customer service transaction i've ever had.
  • tallbobsmoketallbobsmoke 715 Posts
    Price range: 500, but I could be convinced to pay more.
  • cascas 1,484 Posts
    it's time for the percolator. i get the reference. nice one. "cheers" as they say overseas wih the krumpets and all that shit.
  • TabneticTabnetic 206 Posts
    I bought a pair of Linear Phase Studio monitors out of the back of a van close to 12 years ago and one of them finally died on me. It's time to get new speakers and I have no idea what to get. I used my old speakers for everything. They are set up in my living room along with my decks/mixer/tape deck/amp. I used those speakers for mixing actual music, plain ol' listening, and for rocking house parties. I need something versatile, loud, and with good sound and I have no idea where to start.

    Suggestions?

    it's hard to find monitors that will do all of those things at once, but you might want to look into Tannoys, they will kick. otherwise you can get a set of house speakers, like kicker, infinity, b&w, etc. if you really want the room to rock.
  • tallbobsmoketallbobsmoke 715 Posts
    Thanks for the ideas guys.

    Is it odd to have something like the those Mackie srm-450s in your living room?

    Are studio monitors good for recreational listening?
  • TabneticTabnetic 206 Posts
    typically studio monitors have a "flat" frequency response which means that they don't enhance or embellish sound like consumer speakers. those mackie's will probably sound fine for recreational listening, but probably not as polished as b&w or something consumer based.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Mackie SRMs aren't studio monitors. They're portable PA speakers that claim they have "studio monitor" sound. If you want some real studio monitors that are enjoyable to listen to, get a pair of KRKs.
  • tallbobsmoketallbobsmoke 715 Posts
    If you want some real studio monitors that are enjoyable to listen to
    That sums up what I'm looking for pretty well.

    Somebody has a pair of KRK V6II's for 600 on craigslist right now and I'm leaning towards that. There are also some Mackie 624s I'm going to check out.

    Is there a reason to buy home speakers instead of monitors? I suppose my main use for the speakers would be recreational listening, second would be home recording.

    Thanks again for your help... I'm kind of going crazy not having any speakers to listen to music with right now.
  • bozakbozak 334 Posts
    just listen to a whole lot of stuff thats out there. I for one dont like the sound of KRK's..you may or may not. but always listen before you buy because there are some huge differences in the sound coming out of different companies speakers. For the longest time I did all my listening through a pair of pinnacles which worked really well. I found an outstanding deal on the smaller version of the mackie studio monitors and enjoy them quite a bit. look around, you may find someone in need of cash and willing to part with something that would otherwise be out of your budget.
  • E_DailyE_Daily 812 Posts
    I'm enjoying the ADAM A7's for now.
    They are not too big though - but soundwise they are still alot better than mackie/genelec etc...

    If you want to go highend for mixing adam/dynaudio would be the direction I'd go.
    However, I would never use my studio monitors for real house parties if even for poker evenings.

    For plain listening they are great to me and still under 1 Grand (which most monitors start at per unit).

    You sound more like youd need something that could be used for mixing but still has a hifi sound (party , listening...).

    So, if you want to go down that route I'd look for some Hifi's you really really like the sound of (take your favorite albums with you on CD to test them, and make sure the room youre testing in isnt an acoustic mess).

    Oh, and dont forget to play with the placement and the tweeter/room settings once you get them set up at home. They can sound great in the store, and once you set them up at home you go WTF... look around you naked room corners and big mirroring surfaces angled towards your speaker and its reflecting points may result in steep dips at certain frequencies ( very common with lowend-lowmid)

    try a guitar store if you cant get happy with the HIFI camp.

    Around 1k monitors that are good (imo)

    dynaudio bm5a, adam a7, adam p11a (perhaps with sub). Also check the RP series from KRK. I dont like em alot but i hear alot of ppl enjoying them, perhaps they are something for you.
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