Studio monitors

M3TA1

New member
I'm looking to purchase my first pair of studio monitors. I'll be using them in a regular room, there is no acoustic treatment. My budget is $250 max for both speakers, I know it's not a lot but I'm tight on my budget. I understand I can't get something amazing for that price. I want something that will get the job done and work well. I will be plugging in the studio monitors into my audio interface. I'm considering these M-Audio speakers at the moment
M-AUDIO - Studiophile AV 40 - Monitor Speakers for Professional-Quality Media Creation
Any suggestions?
 
Do you have a music/store nearby that you could go and listen to a bunch of monitors at? The Guitar Center by me has a whole studio setup and you can switch between different monitors to see how they sound.

I have KRK Rokit 5's that I'm using in my basement (big room) without any treatment (can't afford it and can't put anything on the walls). They work well for me, but I have nothing to compare them to since they are my first pair of studio monitors.
 
Looking used can be where it's at. A few years ago I bought a pair of Event TR-8's for $250 used, they retailed at that time for $250/ea. It's always worth taking a look, though make sure you don't go with anything that looks sketchy.
 
Personally I would push the budget and get a pair of Equator D5 - the Sound On Sound review is HERE.

The review conclusion:-
It's been a long time since I've listened to a loudspeaker at this price that has impressed me this much. The precise, uncoloured reproduction is impressive enough, but it was the D5s' mid-range clarity and detail — especially in the area around the crossover point — that really grabbed me. The DSP process, which works, according to Equator's white paper, by taking out anomalous peaks in a given unit's frequency response and then filling any troughs therein (as well as taking care of time- and phase-alignment and other bits and pieces) has no detectable deleterious effects on the programme material and is, I have no doubt, the major reason that the D5s work so well.

Given its affordability and level of absolute performance, the Equator D5 is a quite remarkable loudspeaker that will doubtless find its way into a very large number of home and project studios. The 21st Century's very own NS10 might just have arrived.

These punch well above their weight and are very affordable in the USA. Well worth pushing the budget for.
 
The JBL LSR305's I suggested earlier are shown in a recent MF printed catalog at $224.99 for a pair which is a decent price. However their website doesn't reflect this sale price.
Interesting - just got the catalog and only as far as the electric guitars. :o Good bathroom reading! I've been watching those JBLs, even though I'd really like the 8", most reveiws indicate the 5" might actually be better in a small room (and I have traps on the wall behind the speakers, too.)


Edited to add (after looking over the catalog): think I'll head over to GC this weekend with the MF catalog in hand for a price match (and see if I can get one of the usual discounts at the same time!)
 
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