Alesis M1 Actives- should I bail?

[StillAwake]

I ordered a pair of M1 Actives from Full Compass and their rep told me today they're on back order until JULY 9! Now I hear Alesis is going belly up. Should I still buy them or pull the plug and go with Tannoys? Damn this pisses me off. Everything I read on the M1s was good.

[ruebarb]

Just remember, you can't always depend on the reliability of a company.

I nearly dumped my shorts when I heard Yamaha was going to stop making the NS10's because they couldn't get the right kind of wood anymore...the most successful line of near field monitors (to my understanding) and they're just going to go away.

RB

[mnicoletti]

Hi, Still Awake,

I am from Alesis. We are not going belly up, though we did file for Chapter 11 Protection and Reorganization. We are still here, and the demand for M1 Actives is high. And what you heard is correct: they sound great. We will be shipping them. I cannot force you to wait for them, but I hope you do!

thanks,

Mike

[StillAwake]

Thanks for the encouragement, Mike. To tell you the truth, I've read lots of reviews on monitors in that price range - Tannoys, Event, etc. and none are as good as the reviews on the Alesis. I need to get the best bang for the buck (who doesn't) so I told my Full Compass rep I'm going to wait. It sucks though, because not although my project is not ready for mixdown and I'm still tracking, I think they would still be useful now to repair tracking errors ahead of time.

By the way, any thoughts on using the passive M1s (less money) versus the actives? I don't have a professional amplifier- would my Sony consumer amp "color" the mix too much, or could I power the passives through my Mackie 1202 or even the sound care outputs (Echo Gina)? Or am I better off just waiting for the Actives?

[mnicoletti]

Hi, Still Awake,

You may want to check out Alesis' new line of power amps paired with the Monitor 1 MkII. It certainly is a good option. The amps are the RA-150, RA-300, RA-500 (75 a side into 4 ohms, 150 a side into 4 ohms, 250 a side into 4 ohms, respectively). Lots of power, clean, and inexpensive.

thanks for the reply,

Mike

[darrin_h2000]

do the math 179.00 for the ra100 160.00 for m1 passives.

550.00 for m1 actives.

dont think just do it.

[Jager]

$550 for alesis m-1's? i dont think so,even musicians friend has them listed in their catalog for $499. STILLAWAKE,do you have to get them from full compass? other stores also carry the m-1's.
i bought these monitors about a year ago,and love em. they sound great for home recording!
Jager

[Yadi]

Wow Sonus...I hear you man.........but,

What would you do if you were in my shoes:

Just home recording, graduating from 15 years on a Tascam 264. If you talk to the wife, I've spent way too much on the a) room, b) used QS8.1 and c) computer....all of which are just average in quality. My excuse: the kids love it

I need monitors..no doubt. I was in my local guitar store yesterday and, behold, they are selling all of their floor inventory, including a pair of M1 actives for $299. I know these things were barely used, actually weren't even hooked up for the last six months.

$299 fits the bill, and looking at all of my equipment, is par for the course I'm playing on.

In theory, isn't possible to "learn" to mix with these monitors? I used to mix on a home stereo, compensating for how I knew it would sound in a car (my car specifically).

[darrin_h2000]

Ed. Are you sure you are talking about alesis Monitor 1 monitors.

I have a pair and there are no horns just dome tweeters, and woofers.

By the way I got mine for 140bucks for the pair. at an alesis blowout sale.

And with a test using a pink noise generator the pair I have are flat in the mid-bass region, but mine are passive and a differnt amp is pushing them.

[mnicoletti]

Right, Darrin, Monitor Ones have no horn...

And if anyone wants to talk about "learning" to mix on certain monitors, talk to people who learn to mix with the (lack of) low end on NS10s!

That said, I do have a pair of NS10M Studios, and I had the Monitor Ones. I now have the Monitor One MkIIs, and I honestly have to say my mixes do translate better using the MkIIs than the original model (different drivers, different crossover point).
I feel the same is true for the M1Actives. The MkIIs (the ones on backorder) do sound better than the originals. And you would expect that; a MkII SHOULD be better than the speaker it replaces.

Mike

[darrin_h2000]

I really wantd ns10s but like they fell off the face of the earth.

[StillAwake]

I wound up buying the Monitor One MKIIs at Mars. They sound unbelievably good- $230. Brought tears to my eyes for God's sake. The Actives would have been nice. but I have a nice clean amp and the One's saved me over $250.

[darrin_h2000]

Yeah I also allready have one of the best amps for reference. and i found it at a garage sale for twenty bucks. Its the same amp alan parsons produced all of the early pink floyd records with. the phase linear model 400 series two. the amp that put bob carver on the map.

[StillAwake]

the same amp Alan Parsons produced early Pink Floyd records with? My God, what were you doing at Alan Parson's garage sale?!

[mnicoletti]

Very cool, Still Awake! I am very happy you like them.

Happy mixing!

Mike

[cdsmith]

Hang in there StillAwake, I just received my pair of M1 MKII actives this week which I ordered though my local music store. And yes it was worth the wait!!!

[darrin_h2000]

Were those M1 actives, post-mortem alesis, or are they really back? If so what about the HD24?

[cdsmith]

I was told that they were the first of the back orders received from Alesis. Not sure about the HD24.

[mnicoletti]

Hi,

Yes we are back and shipping. It is coming back slowly but surely...there are more shipements coming in that we will turn around and get to the dealers as soon as we can without compromising the QC procedures.

We're pushing for end of July for HD24...software is done and solid.

thanks!

Mike

[TGA]

It is official now. Alesis is under new ownership and is under the final
phase of their reorganization. It was announced that Jack O'Donnell,
President of Numark Industries LLC, received court approval on May 24, 2001
to acquire all assets of Alesis Studio Electronics and its affiliates for an
undisclosed amount. The company will now accelerate plans for the launch of
its much- anticipated new product line, including the new HD24 Hard Disk
Recorder. In fact, they say they plan to have several products shipping
again by late July.

[mnicoletti]

It's solid...I use it every night and weekend, standalone, Master, Slave...no problems.

Mike

[darrin_h2000]

thats good for the generation that alesis built but whats going to happen to the quality when newmark starts cutting corners on parts and labor.

the reality of these things is that they only use the name to get the share of the market. and put out an inferior product.

[mnicoletti]

That's up to me and others to NOT allow, if it actually is attempted.

Mike

[darrin_h2000]

so when I open it up after it breaks down and find the squirell on the wheel has died, you will send me a new one.

I have a good reason not to trust newmark. but alesis has allways been good to me(knock on wood).

[mnicoletti]

Hmmmm...

What version of squirrel is it? Please download SQRLL2.0 from our website. Version 1.0 of the squirrel had some bugs (actually I think they were ticks, but at least there were 240 per quarter note).

The previous model used Gerbil 1.0, but we found that Squirrel was most robust, and for some reason getting UL approval was easier.

Mike