My Monitor/Speaker quest is over...Genelec, Mackie, JBL, Event, KRK?...nope, NHT!

[the vault]

I'm posting because I'm so happy with my recent purchase. As they say, everyone has a different opinion on which speaker/monitor is best, but to me, at my price point, I've finally found aural bliss.

I started my home studio monitor quest well over 15 years ago with KRK's. These were a bit of a joke when it came to reality. Almost like home speaker monitors.
Actually my Paradigm Studio monitors on my home system were flatter than those KRK's.
Then it was onto Mackie HR824's a friend sold me used. My low end never translated properly. I struggled thinking it was me, it wasn't.
The same goes for the Event SP8's another friend lent me to evaluate. I loved the sound, loud. Nice punch and low end, it just wasn't realistic. I was flying blind on mixes as to what was really present on the low end.
Then I bought JBL LSR4326P's....nice, but they sounded almost too nice, like a nice hi-fi gloss was added that was tough to hear the realities of what was going on in my mixes. Also the room correction for me was unuseable.
I then went with Genelec's, but the same problem seemed to be happening. The high end was unrealistic. Everything sounded great, too great in fact. My mixes didn't sound as stunning when played them back on other systems though, and this was the problem...TRANSLATION!!!
Also the Genelecs had a mid range compression thing going on, along with a bit of hyped bass...no good.
9 months ago a friend told me he swore by his little NHT M00's and a sub he had been using. I told him I needed a bit more oomph and he told me he was eyeing a pair of the larger M20's with an S20 sub, and he'd call if he bought them.
Well, he did and he was estatic. He'd been through a similar quest with monitors and ended up at NHT after getting a tip from producer Joe Barresi, but he also wanted more beef.
I went over to his studio and was amazed at the sound in his room. These monitors sounded really, really good, even better than before. He'd spent over 2 weeks slowly dialing in the sub and monitor levels till they were just right, and I gotta say, it was stunning.
A STRONG 35hz-40hz coming out of the low end, and the mids and highs were punchy, though not overwhelming. I asked how his mixes were translating and he said it was the first time he heard no anomalies between what he was mixing and what the mastering guy was hearing.
Now I had a BIG problem.
These speakers are DISCONTINUED!!
NHT got out of the high end pro audio line. No idea why, but I assume they sold a lot more of their consumer home audio line so they nixed it.
The M20's supposedly were re-released (initially called the A20's) over 5 years ago. Instead of one amp per monitor, the new line came with the same amp as before, but now had a separate amp for each speaker, opening up the headroom considerably. Plus a few other tweaks to the crossover, etc., from what I've read.
So I waited and searched.
Finally after 2 months I saw a full set, M20's with 2 amps and the S20 subwoofer, for $1250 total. I had to have them.
The speakers and amps retailed for over $2200 when the were released, and the sub was an extra $600, so to say I was happy to get the whole set for $1250 is an understatement. This set was used at a post production house out in los angeles and looked brand new.
Well, I gotta say I LOVE them.
I also took a while to dial in the sub for my room, but it was worth the wait.
I now have a system I love and my mixes translate flawlessly.
And this from a speaker company I'd never even heard of.
So, if you can find a pair, I HIGHLY recommend them.
To each his own, but to me, these are keepers.

I recommend finding a pair and A/B'ing with your current setup. You might be as blown away as I was.

[VenVile]

Thanks man.

I've seen the brand around for living room shelf speakers and never knew they had a line for engineers. I found the m00s on amazon, and will consider giving them a try after I stock up on a few other pieces of gear. Hopefully they'll be around still. Thanks again!