Monitors and pricing...

[moskus]

This might be the dumbest question ever, but how different will my hifi-system to $1900 dollars sound compared to active monitors at around $1000?

My hifi is a Denon PMA-1055R amplifier, B&W 601 speakers and cables are PLY 2.0 (wich is great cables!). Remember I live in Norway and prices are high! But compare it in your terms...

[Gidge]

One of the most important things i learned here is that consumer hi-fi speakers are designed to make your music sound good/great...studio monitors are designed to make your music sound accurate/flat....this will help insure that your mixes will translate to other stereos,boomboxes,etc......it isnt impossible to mix on regular speakers but monitors make your life alot easier.....

thats about the extent of my knowledge, but i know it to be 100% true......

[sjoko2]

I would agree with Gidge on this question.
However......
Moskus' combi of a 1055R and B & W 601 speakers is very good indeed, and would compare favorably (in some cases very favorably) with your average nearfield monitors.
The "weak link" would be the Denon amp., which personally I'd swap for a decent Haffler or something simular.

[moskus]

Thanks for the input, guys!

[Bigus Dickus]

Denon makes some really nice amp sections in many of their receivers, but I'm not familiar with that particular model.

[moskus]

The PMA-1055R is quite new, and is an amplifier only...

[Bigus Dickus]

DOH! I guess I just couldn't read properly when you said amplifier the first time around.

Looks like a nice unit. I like the B&W 601's as well... nice sounding speakers for their size and price. A good friend of mine has a pair.

[moskus]

Yeah, the 601's are great! I've never heard a better speaker for the same price... Tha PMA-1055R sound great too, IMHO, but I'm not shure the setup is ideal for mixing. Personally I think my music sounds good (of course), but it doesen't sound excellent. But I think the main reason for that is because I'm not an expert mixer...

[barefoot]

Stick with your 601's. They will make excellent studio monitors, better than most nearfields you will find. Just make sure you have them placed at least 2m away. The Denon amp is fine as well. But I'm not very critical of amps. The speakers are far more important. The only thing a pro amp will gain you is reliability with prolonged usage. And I hope you didn't spend too much on those cables. The physics just doesn't justify expensive cables.

barefoot

[tubedude]

New Paradigm mini-monitors are killer too, and you can hear them in most any city at a local hifi store. At $350 a pair, they are a total steal. Nice and flat with an open top end and plenty of bass extension. Stereo image rocks house too.

[Stealthtech]

Just a note on this...when I used my home system to monitor, I would set the bass, mids and highs dead center for a flatter response so the stereo and speakers would'nt make it sound better then what it really was. However I did switch to monitors for that reason.

[Bigus Dickus]

heh, my home system doesn't even have any treble/bass type of adjustements. Rotel doesn't believe in it I guess.

[moskus]

Originally posted by tubedude
New Paradigm mini-monitors are killer too, and you can hear them in most any city at a local hifi store. At $350 a pair, they are a total steal. Nice and flat with an open top end and plenty of bass extension. Stereo image rocks house too.

Yeah, I've been around in different stores here in Trondheim, Norway. And you know? I hate this country! With a population 4.5 million, the marked for "hitech audio recording"-stuff is not that great. You have to know what you want, you can't drop in and listen to different monitors. You can always order them, but I want to hear them first...

Damn this country! Think I'm gonna stick with my hifi until I've listen to more monitors (wich isn't gonna happen for a while, it seems)...

[barefoot]

Oh, sorry I've changed my mind. The model I had in my mind's eye was the 805. The 601 isn't really a "true" B&W. It's in the lower end of their line, and only superficially resembles the higher end models.

I wouldn't necessarily trust the 601 as a good reference. You probably should invest in some studio monitors. If you want to stick with B&W and can afford the 805's, this would be an excellent option. Owning a pair of 805's you would then need to shop for pro monitors like Dynaudio, Quested and Meyers, if you wanted comparable or better quality.

barefoot

http://barefootsound.com

[moskus]

The model I had in my mind's eye was the 805.

Well, I've heard them... There's a world of difference between the 805s and 601s.

The 601 isn't really a "true" B&W.

That I didn't really get. It's a B&W allright, but not buildt on the Nautilus-model...


Mmmm... I want to hear the original Nautilus!

[Bigus Dickus]

The 601's still sound quite nice for their price and size... they compare favorably to competing speakers in that price and size range. You're not spending $2000/pr, so they're not going to sound quite like a $2000 speaker, but they sound much better than some larger speakers from other manufacturers.

Of course, they still sound like a speaker in a box, if you like the "speaker in a box" type of sound. Once you go planar, even really great speakers in a box still sound like, well... speakers in a box.

[barefoot]

Originally posted by moskus
That I didn't really get. It's a B&W allright, but not buildt on the Nautilus-model...

Not meant as a dis. But you know, sort of like some of the "designer" clothes you find in the department stores. The label says Gucci, but it's really not the same Gucci the rich folks buy - the products the company built its reputation on.

barefoot

[barefoot]

Originally posted by Bigus Dickus
Once you go planar, even really great speakers in a box still sound like, well... speakers in a box.

Well, that's a whole other debate. Planar speakers have their own wealth of problems and for many reasons are not appropriate for recording monitoring. The best dynamic speakers still easily tromp electrostatics and planar magnets with respect to linearity.

barefoot

http://barefootsound.com

[Bigus Dickus]

Perhaps, but I was really offering the comment in the context of the 601's, which aren't intended to be monitors.

[moskus]

Originally posted by barefoot
Not meant as a dis. But you know, sort of like some of the "designer" clothes you find in the department stores. The label says Gucci, but it's really not the same Gucci the rich folks buy - the products the company built its reputation on.

barefoot

No offence taken. It's allright.

But all speakers labeled B&W are made in B&W factory in Worthning, England. My speakers says "Made in UK". They are "real" B&W-speakers, just not the top shelf... Anywho, that's just a minor point. It's what they sound that counts.