Monitor suggestions for classical?

[jnorman]

i am in need of some new moderately priced near field monitors. a few of the units i am looking at such as the blue sky EXOs, include satellite speakers and a sub combo, while most are in the 5"-6" speaker size with no sub. 8" maybe too large for good near field work, hmmm?

seems like a sub on the floor might mess with imaging - what are your thoughts on s sub-based system vs a system with no sub for this kind of work?

i am also looking at the KRK rkt 5 G2, the yamaha hs-50m's, and others in that price range.

what are your best suggestions for smallish, affordable monitors for classical? thanks.

[rumleymusic]

The HS-50m's are probably the most honest of all the monitors on your list, but they really need the corresponding sub. I would stay away from KRK, very colored, regardless of their claims.

[John Willett]

If you want passives, the Harbeth Monitor 20 is excellent.

My own location monitors for classical are the K+H O110, but I think these may be over your budget.

[MaTr1x2051]

I'd stay away from KRK as well.

Just remember that there are quite a few great monitor choices out there, but it really comes down to what you're comfortable listening to. See if you can try a few models out. They will all sound slightly different, but usually not 'better' or 'worse'. They can all get the job done. But which ones are YOU most comfortable listening to?

[boojum]

Originally Posted by jnorman

i am in need of some new moderately priced near field monitors. a few of the units i am looking at such as the blue sky EXOs, include satellite speakers and a sub combo, while most are in the 5"-6" speaker size with no sub. 8" maybe too large for good near field work, hmmm?

seems like a sub on the floor might mess with imaging - what are your thoughts on s sub-based system vs a system with no sub for this kind of work?

i am also looking at the KRK rkt 5 G2, the yamaha hs-50m's, and others in that price range.

what are your best suggestions for smallish, affordable monitors for classical? thanks.

There seems some confusion here. Are you looking for monitors to be used "in the field" or "nearfield"monitors for use at home?

[klaukholm]

Originally Posted by jnorman

seems like a sub on the floor might mess with imaging - what are your thoughts on s sub-based system vs a system with no sub for this kind of work?

i am also looking at the KRK rkt 5 G2, the yamaha hs-50m's, and others in that price range.

What are your best suggestions for smallish, affordable monitors for classical? thanks.

We use a single nautilus sub for our lipinski surround setup and we have incredible imaging.

One of my favourite DG engineers uses adam A7s on location and gets great results. I don't see them working for me though.

[jnorman]

clarification - i am looking for monitors to use in the studio. i have a pair of little roland MA12c's that i use on location.

thanks for the comments so far. i will be keeping my eyes open for the yamaha's.

[Corran]

Pair of KRK V4's w/ 10S sub sounds great here. I bought them for location work but ended up using them at home too. They aren't colored as far as I'm concerned, but they are very detailed. Sure they aren't Klein & Hummel but I'm assuming you are on a budget considering your post. I think the V-series are a big step-up from the Rokit series though. Musiciansfriend might still have some on clearance.

[hbphotoav]

Originally Posted by jnorman

clarification - i am looking for monitors to use in the studio. i have a pair of little roland MA12c's that i use on location.

thanks for the comments so far. i will be keeping my eyes open for the yamaha's.

I just picked up a pair of powered Tannoy 800A (with the 10" Tannoy powered sub) for my video edit station... paid $800 for the three pieces through a local Craigslist transaction. They're not as "smooth" as the hhb Circle 5s they replaced, but they are more accurate, especially in the bottom octave, with the sub properly dialed in. They're small enough to travel on gigs where the M-Audio Bx5-As are not sufficient, and are all I need in the suite. That is, until I find the pair of B&W Matrix 801 Series 3s after which I so desperately lust.

Listen to as many sets in your price range as you can, with music you know intimately, in situations as close to your room as possible. You'll pretty rapidly narrow down the choices.

[phil.]

Maybe also take a look at the Focal CMS 50/65 series. I found them to be very natural sounding and well balanced, especially for accoustic music work.

Best,

Phil.

[ohmoka]

Originally Posted by jnorman

i am in need of some new moderately priced near field monitors. a few of the units i am looking at such as the blue sky EXOs, include satellite speakers and a sub combo, while most are in the 5"-6" speaker size with no sub. 8" maybe too large for good near field work, hmmm?

seems like a sub on the floor might mess with imaging - what are your thoughts on s sub-based system vs a system with no sub for this kind of work?

i am also looking at the KRK rkt 5 G2, the yamaha hs-50m's, and others in that price range.

what are your best suggestions for smallish, affordable monitors for classical? thanks.

B&W are great. Even the small and cheap models are very good too. I haven't heard them with sub though.

[cloudswimmer]

I've been using passive Tannoy PBM 6.5's with a Haefler Pro 2400 amp along with a Velodyne CT-120 sub going on almost 15 years now.Music is classical/film score, and smooth jazz.I use all the East West stuff along with Vienna and Ivory for piano.Last year I bought some KRK VXT 6's and stuck em where the Tannoys usually are.After a day of tweaking I sent em back.I'm just so use to my Tannoy's scooped Mid, and the VXT's were just honking too much no matter how I flipped the switches.Absolutely no joy tracking with em ---> for me <---

I've recently setup a second little minimalist composing station next to my kitchen with a little Arturia Analog Factory keyboard, and am using a consumer Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speaker setup that actually sounds pretty good.However I am also looking at maybe the HS50's and sub, or maybe some Rockit 5 G2's and sub to replace em, so I'm interested to hear what others may be using in this size/price range for this type of music.

CS

[Legacy]

I also generally like Tannoy PBM 6.5s or 8s which are available cheap used.

Don't overlook some used ProAc Studio 100s. I think they're REALLY nice especially for the $. Maybe a little sweet sounding but in a way that makes them easy to work on while still being honest.

-Silas

[BrianHanke]

I bought a pair of KRK Rokit 5 G2s a few months ago and couldn't be more pleased. The glowing review in Sound On Sound is what convinced me to give them a try. They sound wonderful, the price is right, and I very much appreciate that the bass ports are on the front.

The only thing I don't like is that each speaker has a power switch on the back. It's a bit of a pain to reach behind to switch them on and off.

[cloudswimmer]

Originally Posted by BrianHanke

I bought a pair of KRK Rokit 5 G2s a few months ago and couldn't be more pleased. The glowing review in Sound On Sound is what convinced me to give them a try. They sound wonderful, the price is right, and I very much appreciate that the bass ports are on the front.

The only thing I don't like is that each speaker has a power switch on the back. It's a bit of a pain to reach behind to switch them on and off.

Brian, do you run those RP5 G2's with a sub?I'm looking at at possibly the rocket G2's with the KRK 10" sub, but am wondering if the KRK sub might not be a little too big for the RP5 G2's?

[BrianHanke]

Originally Posted by cloudswimmer

Brian, do you run those RP5 G2's with a sub?I'm looking at at possibly the rocket G2's with the KRK 10" sub, but am wondering if the KRK sub might not be a little too big for the RP5 G2's?

I don't use a sub so I can't offer an opinion... I find the Rokit 5s have plenty of bass on their own though.

[Jungle-Jim]

The human ear is very insensitive to directionality at subwoofer frequencies (which is why this is done so often for near field monitors, audiophile speaker systems, and movie theater sound systems). Check out any undergraduate Physiological Psychology textbook for more information on the psychoacoustics of this.

While I've not used the blue sky EXO's, I have been using their big brother - the blue sky ProDesk system - for about a year and a half for primarily Classical and Jazz work. I've simply been blown away by their imaging, transparency, frequency balance, and responsiveness. My audiophile friends can not believe that I paid less for the whole system that they spent on a single speaker, with far more realistic results than their uber-high-end "snob-o-phile" systems get.

The people at blue sky know how to design a good crossover, something which I can't emphasize enough for proper speaker phase coherence. So, if you go with a three-way monitor solution, I suggest you buy all of the components from the same manufacturer.

I think a properly set up subwoofer is indispensable for classical music in two respects. First, you want to make sure that your bass fundamentals are properly phase aligned with the higher frequencies to provide that nice chest slapping attack that is the hallmark of the best classical recordings. Second, it will reveal any obnoxious sub-sonics that can detract from a recording if played on really good stereo equipment. I have a couple of "highly regarded" classical guitar CDs that were obviously mixed by guys with lousy monitors. Not only can you hear the rumble of the big trucks whizzing around outside of the recording hall, but you can almost make out the truck models. There was absolutely no reason not to roll off these low frequencies on a solo nylon string guitar album. I have to believe that the only reason these truck rumbles made in onto the album was because the sound engineer just didn't hear them. Don't make the same mistake in your work.

Regards - Jim

[Teddy Ray]

Mr. Norman,

I am getting these when my ship comes in.

link audio components, manufacturer of hifi loudspeakers and distributor of Daleson tube amplifiers

the K100s

they are superb and wont break the bank..designed for classical work.

[Thomas W. Bethe]

Originally Posted by Jungle-Jim

The human ear is very insensitive to directionality at subwoofer frequencies (which is why this is done so often for near field monitors, audiophile speaker systems, and movie theater sound systems). Check out any undergraduate Physiological Psychology textbook for more information on the psychoacoustics of this.

While I've not used the blue sky EXO's, I have been using their big brother - the blue sky ProDesk system - for about a year and a half for primarily Classical and Jazz work. I've simply been blown away by their imaging, transparency, frequency balance, and responsiveness. My audiophile friends can not believe that I paid less for the whole system that they spent on a single speaker, with far more realistic results than their uber-high-end "snob-o-phile" systems get.

The people at blue sky know how to design a good crossover, something which I can't emphasize enough for proper speaker phase coherence. So, if you go with a three-way monitor solution, I suggest you buy all of the components from the same manufacturer.

Regards - Jim

I listened to the Blue Sky EXO 2.1 system at GC and the high frequencies were so over hyped and shrill I could not stand to listen to them for more than a couple of minutes. Since this is the only pair I have ever listened to I am not sure if these had a problem or if this is the way they normally sound. I cannot imagine using these for monitors.

I have heard from other people that the Blue Sky speakers, especially the more expensive ones, sound really good so I am confused.

[jnorman]

teddy - those look lucious, but i'm thinking it better be a fairly big ship that is coming in for you because they do NOT look like they are anywhere near the $300/pr price range...

i have not had a chance to hear any of the blue sky models, but i will make a point of it now, after reading such diverse POVs about them...

yes, i am aware that low freqs are non-directional to a large extent, but that, in practice, the freqs have to be quite low, like <80hz or so, before your ear no longer associates some directivity to the sound. i know with my surround system in the LR, it is quite easy to hear the sub (which is off center) affecting the LR imaging.

i think it requires a very low freq high pass filter (read large and very expensive crossover) to make a sub only deliver LF sounds that are in the non-directional range. most less-expensive systems do not include such an expensive crossover, and therefore still exhibit enough directioanlity to potentially mess with imaging.

[cloudswimmer]

Originally Posted by Thomas W. Bethe

I listened to the Blue Sky EXO 2.1 system at GC and the high frequencies were so over hyped and shrill I could not stand to listen to them for more than a couple of minutes. Since this is the only pair I have ever listened to I am not sure if these had a problem or if this is the way they normally sound. I cannot imagine using these for monitors.

I have heard from other people that the Blue Sky speakers, especially the more expensive ones, sound really good so I am confused.

Its hard to judge anything at my local GC (Fountain Valley) as their room is small, oblong, with hard surfaces on floor, ceiling and walls, no room treatment either.However I did listen to some Blueskys at Sam Ash, don't remember the model, but they were about 1K and about the size of my Tannoy's, and I had a similar impression as yours with the Exo 2.1.BUT it was not my reference material and I'm not sure how they were running the eq.I've heard good things about the Blue Sky Media Desk but can't locate any local to give a listen.

[Gaston69]

In my listening room/ home studio I have a pair of Tannoy system 8 mk II driven by a Luxman 383 which sounds unforgiven compared to my other pair Genelec 8040 which I have now with me in Qatar. However when I visit Onno and his son in law who build his own speakers based on a wide band speaker design driven by a 50 year old Leak valve amp then all of a sudden I realize that my monitors are not getting even close to Onno's setup when it comes to depth in the stereo panorama for example.

Anyway try before you buy.

Another tip, try to do some investigation in Lowther speakers and build your own, there are companies that supply DIY kits especially for the Lowther. Bear in mind they don't come cheap however it might be exactly what you are looking for, reproducing classical music.

http://www.lowtherloudspeakers.com/

Cheers.

[Remoteness]

Klein & Hummel.

[Audiop]

I don't see the logic in seeking out for a certain speaker for classical or any other style.

Rather you would think about who you record for, IOW what speakers the material will be used on (not easy) and dynamics/SPL of the material to be recorded.


/Peter

[ruidostudios]

Hi, I own a pair of KRK Rokit5's (old model) and they are really "hi-fi" to my ears (I mean they have a smiley curve with very soft mids), so I even prefer to monitor on my home B&W 602's with Rotel amp.
With small string orchestras or bad auditorium acoustics the Rokits mask an excess of hi-mids which can be very disturbing on any other equipment. I use big and old Tannoys system 12 with a Hafler amp until I can afford Adam S3's or K&H O300 (I hope this will be soon).
I think Adam A7's will be more defined in the mids than Rokits, but I have never compared them side by side.
I may be a bit naive, but in fact I can see no reason to use different monitors for classical (the 90% of my jobs) and rock/pop music, as no "general public" I know has two different setups at home to listen to each style.
Well, perhaps the Hip-Hop/Reggaeton community turn off their 1000w subs to listen to Monteverdi...
Cheers.

[mathieujm]

Originally Posted by ruidostudios

Well, perhaps the Hip-Hop/Reggaeton community turn off their 1000w subs to listen to Monteverdi...
Cheers.

Isn't there a lot of basso continuo in Monteverdi ?

JMM

[Norm@gear]

Klein + Hummel O300

[Remoteness]

I'll second that!

O300 sound fabulous.

[matyas]

Originally Posted by mathieujm

Isn't there a lot of basso continuo in Monteverdi ?

JMM

Yeah, 1000 watt subs make theorbos sound phat!