Hr624

[Johnboy Walton]

In case people don't know, the Mackie HR624's are shipping for demo right now (Guitar Center in Danvers, MA has a pair). Of course, they're side-by-side with a pair of HR824's I got chance to play around with them briefly today, with a litle comparison to the 824's. By the way, I was picking up my pair of 824's, so please factor that bias into my comments.

At first blush, they both sound REALLY similar. I had previously auditioned KRK V8's, LSR28P's, and the HR824's, and each sounded completely different. Listeneing to the 824's and 624's back-to-back took a LOT of work to hear the differences. First off, the 824's sound slightly softer in the mids. This could have just been the pairs of speakers, my ears, or psychology, but I think it was there. Also, the extreme low-mids (I'm guesing around 150-200Hz) sounded more pronounced on the smaller 624's.

The bass was a really tough call. First off, the room they were in (Guitar Center's typical "recording room") does not support extreme low-bass well. The 824's sound much deeper in my (small-ish) room. Also, they were both about 1 foot from a back wall, and they've got some questionable "treatment" (some diffusers, and some foam) in the room. That aside, the 824's seemed to go deeper. That said, I was pulling for the 824's in my head, so it could be completely imagined. Oh yeah, I was using Dream Theater's "Awake" as my test material, specifically "Space Dye Vest," which has some extreme infra-sonics going on. The really low hits seemed to have more "weight" on the 824's than the 624's, but man, it was a close battle.

As to the highs, well, what did anybody expect, right? It's the same tweeter, and a similar waveguide, so they sounded the same to my lame-brained ears. Imaging was as good as the 824's, with that characteristically solid phantom center.

In short (too late ), I'd say they're a good lower-priced choice if you really can't save the extra $300 for the 824s's. But to be honest, until someone whose ears I trust gives them a thorough workout, I'm sticking with the 824's. It was tough though. Coulda saved $300 right there...

Oh, and on a related note, I was playing around with Sound Forge XP (came with my Soundblaster - go ahead, snicker, I'll be waiting...). I was able to get 30Hz out of the 824's with significant volume. It wasn't earth-shaking, but it was there, pure and simple. So they may have a 37Hz rolloff, but they're still solid at 30Hz. 25Hz was a no-go, though. And lots of cone excursion, but hey, for not having a sub, they did a darm fine job.

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Johnboy:

The "Wagonmaster" is calling.

Green Hornet

[Johnboy Walton]

Nope, ditched that whole wagon gig. Now I work at a Ford dealership...