Studio monitor size help

M3TA1

New member
I'm looking at purchasing a new pair of studio monitors soon and am having some trouble. I currently own a pair of M-Audio BX5 which are low end budget monitors. I'm looking to upgrade to something more expensive and better now that I have the money for them. Nothing in particular that I didn't like about the BX5. It's just that I've had them for several years now, and they are the only monitors I have experience with.

My room does have acoustic panels on all 4 walls as well as corners (no bass traps yet, planning on it though). My room size is approximately 14 x 11 ft. The monitors will be relatively close to the wall, however there are acoustic panels behind. The monitors will be on stands. I will be using the monitors primarily for mixing and tracking metal (other genres sometimes also), as well as some occasionally casual music listening.

Anyways, now I am considering the Yamaha HS7/HS8 or the Focal Alpha 65/80. I'm not sure whether I should be going with a 6.5" speaker, or a 8" speaker.
 
When you say 'acoustic panels' what do you mean? An inadequately treated room needs to have its issued addressed, or you will not be getting the true worth of better monitors.
 
If you are going to upgrade monitors I would consider a SERIOUS upgrade?
The Focal Shape 65 monitors ARE serious bread but they get a top reccy in the latest SoS. The passive radiators are said to make the speakers less of a problem in small rooms or close to walls.

I lust after Barefoot monitors but know I could never afford them. The Shape 65s are just about in the range of my plastic and were it just 'I' I would live on beans, brown bread and oranges till they were paid for!

Dave.
 
When you say 'acoustic panels' what do you mean? An inadequately treated room needs to have its issued addressed, or you will not be getting the true worth of better monitors.

I have acoustic panels/foam on the walls. So it's partially treated.
I will be going more in depth and doing some better treatment, adding bass traps, once I get new monitors.
 
If you are going to upgrade monitors I would consider a SERIOUS upgrade?
The Focal Shape 65 monitors ARE serious bread but they get a top reccy in the latest SoS. The passive radiators are said to make the speakers less of a problem in small rooms or close to walls.

I lust after Barefoot monitors but know I could never afford them. The Shape 65s are just about in the range of my plastic and were it just 'I' I would live on beans, brown bread and oranges till they were paid for!

Dave.

I have a limited budget, and the 2 I mentioned seem like a great option for me.

I'm just having some trouble deciding if I should go with the Yamaha's or the Focal's and if I should go for the 6.5" or 8" version.
 
I have a limited budget, and the 2 I mentioned seem like a great option for me.

I'm just having some trouble deciding if I should go with the Yamaha's or the Focal's and if I should go for the 6.5" or 8" version.


How much is your limited budget? Don't forget the $899 price of the Focal Shape 65's are per monitor. That is $1798 for a pair... Many forget that price is usually listed for each. Not for the pair.

I would suggest the size of the woofer is less important when you get in to the $1000.00 plus range. Though monitors in this price range will surely show their benefit in a well/properly treated room. If you have just foam, (ugh...) I would say keep your BX5's and spend money first on building broadband and bass traps and see if you even need new monitors. Much cheaper and way more beneficial to you no matter what you are monitoring with.

Then make a decision as to what you need.

Really bad analogy: Buying a Ferrari motor for your daughters Barbie car... Yeah, it will look really cool but won't work in that place.

That being said, my ADAM A7X have a 7" driver that blows away the Event and KRK monitors with 8" drivers I have had. But that is more about clarity in the low end. Not so much amount of power in the low end. But I also use a subwoofer and my room is well treated and much larger. Plus the AX7's are 5 times the cost of my previous monitors.

This is why I say treat the room first, then make a decision. I didn't know what was worth purchasing until my room told me.
 
Last edited:
How much is your limited budget? Don't forget the $899 price of the Focal Shape 65's are per monitor. That is $1798 for a pair... Many forget that price is usually listed for each. Not for the pair.

I would suggest the size of the woofer is less important when you get in to the $1000.00 plus range. Though monitors in this price range will surely show their benefit in a well/properly treated room. If you have just foam, (ugh...) I would say keep your BX5's and spend money first on building broadband and bass traps and see if you even need new monitors. Much cheaper and way more beneficial to you no matter what you are monitoring with.

Then make a decision as to what you need.

Really bad analogy: Buying a Ferrari motor for your daughters Barbie car... Yeah, it will look really cool but won't work in that place.

That being said, my ADAM A7X have a 7" driver that blows away the Event and KRK monitors with 8" drivers I have had. But that is more about clarity in the low end. Not so much amount of power in the low end. But I also use a subwoofer and my room is well treated and much larger. Plus the AX7's are 5 times the cost of my previous monitors.

This is why I say treat the room first, then make a decision. I didn't know what was worth purchasing until my room told me.

I appreciate the reply. My room sounds alright right now and my mixes translate alright when I take them and listen on other speakers and places.

With that being said, I'm still interested in purchasing new monitors. I will definetly be looking into bass traps and better acoustic treatment in the future.

I'm just looking for something different, better, and more expensive compared to what I currently have.

The Yamaha HS7 and Focal Alpha 65 are both in my price range. Just trying to decide which one. And also trying to decide if I should only consider 6.5" monitors, or consider 8" monitors as well.

Advice on this would be really appreciated.
 
I'd personally go with the bigger monitors. But I'd also go with as much proper broadband trapping (as in, don't waste your money on foam because all it usually does it make things worse).

Find the balance in there somewhere. Wait longer if you need to because it's worth the wait.
 
Generally with audio equipment there is a fairly smooth curve of 'improvement/cost' and the law of diminishing returns kicks in quite early as a rule.

A mic pre amp costing 10 times another is not going to deliver 1/10th the noise (i.e. it will not be 20dB better than a cheaper but well designed unit) or 1/10th the distortion. (yes! I know I am on dangerous, 'hallowed' ground here!) .

The same argument does NOT seem to hold for monitors? Up to a certain cost point, let us say $500 each, they are 'ok' and some are better than others but when you get into an area where cost compromises do not have to be made there seems to be a jump in sound quality which does not obtain with other gear. It also seems to be the case that REALLY top line monitors sound very alike. There is only ONE perfection!

So, spending 3 or 4 times the cost of the M-Audios will not, it seems to me, make a huge difference to the monitoring quality. Spending 7 or 8 times would. The 'problem' with budget monitors seems to be in the bass reproduction to a great extent mainly due to 'overblown' port tuning necessitated by the smaller than optimum box. Bass is where most musical energy resides and where things are bigger and more costly to get really right.

As has been said, spend now on room LF control and then save!

Dave.
 
I can see you have "Shiny New Box Syndrome" and what has been suggested may not register clearly until you actually spend and install at which time my guess will be "oh, it's not that much difference".......

Treat your room. Make more airspace around your monitors (REALLY) which will mean a rethought out configuration which in itself makes more difference than anything else.......

Monitors are very much budget driven. Its ALWAYS the last thing on the upgrade list. And unfortunately is also the second most important part.

I don't care how much you spend on preamps, converters, computers, compressors, mics etc...if you can't HEAR whats being told to you through these devices, it makes no difference in the long run. Fortunately the human ear is a very versatile beasty in that it will accommodate for anomalies that you would have to put devices up to identify. So the ear compensates in ways that can't be measured and is usually only identified by moving your creative efforts to 'other' systems to reference.

Dave's post hit the nail. You will have to get spendy to get higher quality in your monitors and it won't make a bit of difference without control of the room.....which you say you'll do later.....uhhuh....Been there done that.....

Have you considered broken in monitors? You can find from reputable dealers, used systems that would be way above your pay grade at relatively the same numbers. And they are broken in.

You do realize it takes a hundred hours to break in a set of monitors? When I got a set of Genelecs a few years back, I put them on a continuous loop playback for three days and left the studio locked up. They did sound better after that.
 
I have acoustic panels/foam on the walls. So it's partially treated.
I will be going more in depth and doing some better treatment, adding bass traps, once I get new monitors.

Foam IS NOT acoustic treatment. It absorbs a certain frequency range, leaving the real problem stuff alone. Budget for rockwool bass traps when you upgrade your monitors, or better yet, do the treatment first, then save some more money and get new monitors.
 
I do appreciate all the advice on acoustic treatment.. With that being said, I'm not really having any troubles with my room in particular. . It's something that's on my list for later.

I've had my M-Audios for over 4 years now in the same room and place and they are all I have ever mixed on. I haven't owned another paid of monitors. I'm just looking for something better and different..

The Focal's and Yamaha's I mentioned have a better frequency response and seem to be widely used and have good ratings. I'm not sure whether I should go for the Yamaha HS7/HS8 or Focal Alpha 65/80. Based on what I've mentioned in my first post here, what would be better suited? 6.5" monitors or 8" monitors? And what would be better in my case, the Focal's or Yamaha's?
I'd really appreciate some advice on this.
 
Get the bigger ones. Headroom is good and sometimes loud is fun. ;)

I am considering it. I'm just concerned that the bass will be too overpowering for my room and that they won't be well suited.
Does the room size matter?
I know with the HS8 you can turn down the bass from the back.
 
Imma go with the room size does matter to some extent -- But not between 6's and 8's. And don't get me wrong here -- The amount of broadband trapping will certainly matter -- But if you want a more "full-range" setup (which should be your ultimate goal over all others), you're going to need that whether you use 6's or 8's anyway...
 
Speaker cone size only affects the ultimate power handling, sound level output and LF extension. Sensitivity is related to cone MASS and so is loosely related to area but that of course depends upon what you make your cone out of! Size does not affect the LF output ref midband/HF.

All is related to box volume (and not all those parameters are intuitive!). If you can handle the maths( I can't!) the papers of R.H.Small will tell you all.

Room treatment, LF, is very important but arguably AS important is calibrating whatever monitors you have. A basic $30 'C' weighted sound level meter is good enough. Does not matter too much WHAT spl you monitor at (but don't go V loud except for 'fun') so long as you KNOW the level and can stick to it.

Mr Massive has a Missive. (and a mission?)

Dave.
 
Monitors are very much budget driven. Its ALWAYS the last thing on the upgrade list. And unfortunately is also the second most important part.

I don't care how much you spend on preamps, converters, computers, compressors, mics etc...if you can't HEAR whats being told to you through these devices, it makes no difference in the long run.

Yep... I'd take this advice as gospel. The ability to hear what's been recorded, and hear it acurately, is fundamental and should have a large portion of the budget dedicated to it.

If you can afford $1,500+ for a pair of monitors, there are great ones out there, but first treat your room. There's no point in having expensive monitors if your room inhibits you're ability to hear what makes them expensive.

All the best!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yep... I'd take this advice as gospel. The ability to hear what's been recorded, and hear it acurately, is fundamental and should have a large portion of the budget dedicated to it.

If you can afford $1,500+ for a pair of monitors, there are great ones out there, but first treat your room. There's no point in having expensive monitors if your room inhibits you're ability to hear what makes them expensive.

All the best!

+2
 
Back
Top