Active Monitors (Home use)

[MontyW]

Hi,

Can anyone help me pull together a short list of active monitors (PMC, ACT, K&H??) that I can use in a domestic setting.

I have a dedicated room that is 16ft x 20ft and a budget of up to £6k or there abouts.

I intend to run direct from my Benchmark DAC1 in order to keep things simple.

Thanks,

Monty

[ed97643]

Mackie HR824s here.

[John Willett]

The new K+H O410 are within that budget, or the O300 if you want smaller.

The ATC Pro 20 are also superb (but expensive).

Listen to the PMC, I prefer the above to the PMC, but they are still good.

[MontyW]

Thanks guys for the recommendations.

A quick question - which of the two ACT SCM 50 or K&H 0410 would give the best bass in a domestic setting?

Cheers,

Monty

[J.S.Vega III]

What do you mean by "domestic setting"? That suggests to me that you're sharing the room with some kind of living space - but you say it's a dedicated room. Do you have acoustic treatment? £6K is a big budget... but I guess you know that.

[NoisyNarrowBand]

6k = lots of dough. for that amount of money you could get the o300d plus the Pro C 28 - Digital FIR Controller from k&h. the latter is a digital crossover/monitor controller that lets you fine tune the monitor to your room.

the o300 will be fine without but even better with it. more spl, better control of bass in less then perfect rooms. and you can always add a 0800 sub to make it phatter.

another option for under 6k would be the manger msm c1 studio monitor or geithain 922k. both german made, both are excellent speakers, that have unique ways to manage bass response in the room. both have crazy imaging and projecting lots of details without being fatiguing.

act, pcm are great too. in the end its your ears who have to decide. have em home, try em and keep the pair that make your feet tapping most.

;)

[John Willett]

Just to say that the K+H O300 and O410 are both available in a Silver finish if that suit's your room better than the standard "Anthracite" finish.

[MontyW]

Ah - domestic setting, just my way of saying it is a room in my house. Yes it is dedicated.

Originally Posted by J.S.Vega III

What do you mean by "domestic setting"? That suggests to me that you're sharing the room with some kind of living space - but you say it's a dedicated room. Do you have acoustic treatment? £6K is a big budget... but I guess you know that.

I have room treatments that include acoustic dampening between the floor boards and panels behind, at the sides of the room and bass traps in the corners.

I know £6k is a large budget (sale of my old hi-fi has left me this amount to play with) and I don't have to spend it all

Can someone explain in real basic terms how I would hook up a Benchmark DAC1 using the 0300D, Pro C28 and FIR controller?

Cheers for the advice,

Monty

[NoisyNarrowBand]

Originally Posted by MontyW

Can someone explain in real basic terms how I would hook up a Benchmark DAC1 using the 0300D, Pro C28 and FIR controller?

Cheers for the advice,

Monty

pro28 provides both analogue and digital inputs. so you could hook it up directly to your computer or digital-out of your cd-player. when using the benchmark simply connect the analogue out of the benchmark with the analogue in of the proc28.

not sure what will sound better, but I am pretty sure the k&h converters will be top notch.

that said: installation and setup of the pro28c best done by a professional company. comes with the price usually. they will measure your room and send the data to k&h. based on your data K&h will calculate a response-profile for the monitors and send it back to you. you load it on the pro28 and voila - phase-perfect room response. they usually will provide you with three alternative settings which can be recalled from the remote.

you can do the measurements yourself if you have a microphone but I'd recommend to have it done professionally.

here's the info from k&h:
http://www.klein-hummel.com/klein-hummel/globals.nsf/resources/workshop_vorgehensweise_raumeinmessung_6_e.pd f/$File/workshop_vorgehensweise_raumeinmessung_6_e.pd f

the 0300 will be plenty fine without too. pro28 is just the icing on the cake. btw - it also works with the 0400 or any other third party speaker.

how big is your room?

[AlexRoudos]

I have the O300s and the DAC-1 and i'm extremely satisfied with the results.

But if i had your 6k i'd most probably get the Barefoots MM27 as they get a constantly 100% positive feedback.

[MontyW]

Hi,

Originally Posted by NoisyNarrowBand

how big is your room?

My room is 16ft wide by 20ft long. I would like the speakers to be able to fire down the length of the room and I would be seated about 12ft away from the speakers.

At each end of the room, the ceiling slopes down to the walls, as my room is on the top floor of a loft conversion.

I'm more than happy to pay someone to set-up and measure the acoustics of my room. If there is anything thing I have learned whilst moving from hi-fi to pro gear (apart from the value $$$ of pro gear and the sound!!!) is that room treatments is essential in optimizing sound!

Once again thanks for the replies.

Monty

[NoisyNarrowBand]

Originally Posted by MontyW

Hi,



My room is 16ft wide by 20ft long. I would like the speakers to be able to fire down the length of the room and I would be seated about 12ft away from the speakers.

At each end of the room, the ceiling slopes down to the walls, as my room is on the top floor of a loft conversion.

I'm more than happy to pay someone to set-up and measure the acoustics of my room. If there is anything thing I have learned whilst moving from hi-fi to pro gear (apart from the value $$$ of pro gear and the sound!!!) is that room treatments is essential in optimizing sound!

Once again thanks for the replies.

Monty

30sqm is a nice size - how high is the ceiling? firing down he length of the room usually is not the best thing to do. but since you have treated the room and also might use room-correction you should be perfectly fine.

in a room with those dimensions o300's will be just right. the o400 probably would be overkill already. after much experimentation I have come back to favor smaller 2 way and 3 way designs. for 90% of domestic situations they will provide plenty of spl and bass while delivering tight imaging and not suffering from phase-issues associated with multi-way speakers.

barefoots is a good tip too. never heard them though. all the other products I mentioned I have worked with to some extend and they are all excellent. as always - listen yourself and then decide!!

pro-gear does offer better value and room-correction in less than perfect rooms should be a must. but audiophiles rather spend 2k on a cable then have somebody measure the in-room response of their speakers. magic-thinking...

what source do you use?

[MontyW]

Hi,

Originally Posted by NoisyNarrowBand

30sqm is a nice size - how high is the ceiling?

...what source do you use?

My ceiling in 8ft, but as I mentioned it slopes at both ends as my room is in the loft.

My source is a Mac running iTunes direct into a Benchmark USB DAC1 - nothing more or less.

I have nothing but priase for the Benchmark - it was my first venture into pro audio kit and I am stunned at how well it trashed my CD player that cost one hell of a lot more than the Benchmark!

Yes, I was one of those 'audiophiles' who spent 2k on an interconnect - but those days are long gone.

I have realized a lot of cash from selling all my kit and have spent a small percentage of that on room corrections that transformed the sound in my room. I am keent to get a pair of active speakers that I can set up, leave and just listen to

The Barefoots look amazing as do the k&h - I need to get of my butt and go and listen.

Monty