Upgrading monitors...

D

DL da ARSUN

New member
I currently have NS 10's and use them primarily for hip hop. But now I'm ready t upgrade. Any suggestions on what monitors to get $500 or less?
 
Have a look at the Behringer 2031A's if you want to go to powered monitors or just the non-powered version. They're Genelec knock-offs and they are pretty decent ones for the money from what I've heard. The 2031A's are 8" and they go for ~$330 USD the passives are about $270. (@ www.8thstreet.com )

I have a friend that personally reccomended them and another that's buying a pair this week. I'm going to go have a listen later on this week and I could report back if you like.
 
Just picked up a pair of passive Event 20/20's used with a new Hafler TA1600 amp for around $300 total. They sound fantastic, I had the Behringer Truth 2031A and the Events are so much more clear in the mids and less harse in the treble range.
 
I haven't heard the events but they seem so be or pretty good quality. My only reservation with the TR6 or PS6s' is that they are 6.5" drivers and not 8". Recently I realized the importance of 8" drivers and the bass response that you get with 8" drivers. Unless you have a subwoofer that you can use to supplement the 6.5" monitors I can't really reccomend going with the smaller monitors. You lose ALOT of mid-bass in small monitors and it makes it hard to hear correct ballance. If you are pressed for space then I'm sure that the Event TR6s' would be great (The PS6's appear to be limited to surround systems and hard to find by themselves) Otherwise, I seriously reccomend that an upgrade in monitors mean that you go bigger if you can afford the space. The Behringers may not be "Events" but they will have a fuller frequency response and I think than getting slightly cheaper speakers so that you can upgrade size is definitely worth it. I've mixed on just about everything and I can't stress enough that if you don't have a sub then you MUST go with 8" monitors.

Note: there are a pair of PS6s' on ebay right now at a reasonable price.
Note2: I still haven't heard the 2031A's and don't endorse them. I'm just endorsing 8" woofers over 6.5" ones.
 
reshp1 said:
Just picked up a pair of passive Event 20/20's used with a new Hafler TA1600 amp for around $300 total. They sound fantastic, I had the Behringer Truth 2031A and the Events are so much more clear in the mids and less harse in the treble range.
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hey, just a curious question. From what I've read, when Behringer made the "A" version of the 2031's they supposedly fixed the harshness of the tweeter. I read that in a mag a while ago and a friend who owns them also confirmed it. I'll hear them for myself later on this week but I'm curious if you're certain that yo had the "A's" and not the first version which was just "2031"

A pair of 20/20's would be awesome if his amp is up to the challenge.
 
ZPphreak said:
I've mixed on just about everything and I can't stress enough that if you don't have a sub then you MUST go with 8" monitors.
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Not true.
It depends largely on the design of the monitor.
In many cases you are right. Most 6.5" monitors are designed into a smaller cabinet size and their Fs is tuned higher than a similar 8" one. This is for portability, and to be able to get louder results from cheaper drivers.

There are also some 6.5" monitors which are tuned lower and put into a larger cabinet with larger ports. In many cases, dending on design, these monitors can go just as low and just as tight as most 8" monitors - in some cases even better. They also tend to have more midrange resolution. You won't be able to use them as mains for a 2000 sqf space, but they should be still be loud enough for nearfield monitoring. And you can avoid the usage of a sub, which tend to sound impressive but REALLY skews your perspective for translation of the bottom end unless you have a professional acoustician set it up for you.
Important not to generalize.

My 6.5" nearfields are flat to 38Hz and useable to 20Hz. Even most 8-inchers can't claim the same.
 
Indeed I may have generalized. I shoud have said that I just didn't know of any particular 6.5" monitors that fit his budget and had good mid-bass/bass response. I do believe that it would be helpful to know his room situation and space availability though in order for us to make good suggestions.

Bleyrad, do you know of any particular models that fit his needs? or do you just want to nit-pick at my general suggestions and take the discussion to a much more technical level than it really needs to go?

In closing, GENERALLY 8" monitors ARE better with the lower end of the audio spectrum. To find a comparable 6.5" monitor would be a task and it would probably end up costing more than it's worth in space.

Sorry if I stepped on toes. I didn't know I really had to clarify that much. I digress... :o
 
Sorry, I should have clarified a little. This isn't nitpicking at all, rather a practical fact.
A good 6.5" design with sufficient bass doesn't need to cost more. I stayed on theory only and didn't mention a specific brand because I feel a little weird becoming the champion of any particular brand.

Anyway, I have been throwing this around a lot lately, but they deserve it... Yorkville YSM1P's.
I don't recommend buying without hearing, so anyone in the market for sub-$1000 monitors should at least include them in the listening lineup. I will say that anyone I've known who was shopping in the price range didn't pass on by once they heard them.
 
bleyrad said:
Not true.
It depends largely on the design of the monitor.Important not to generalize.

My 6.5" nearfields are flat to 38Hz and useable to 20Hz. Even most 8-inchers can't claim the same.
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Thank you very much for having the guts to speak the truth. :D

These days the generalization that you have to go with a larger diameter driver to get better bass has so many exceptions to it as to be a generalization to be very wary of, especially when it's applied to products which the author has not heard. Of course chances are that you get longer bass out of a 12" than you will out of a 6", there are so many other factors involved in the monitor design besides the diameter of the cone (e.g. the diameter of the voice coil, the construction of the voice coil, the construction of the cone, the mating of the amplifier/speaker pair, the design of the crossover, the interior acoustic design of the cabinet, etc.) that a good modern 6" design will blow away many 8" or even 10" designs. Not always, of course, but often enough these days where the general rule of "bigger is better" just isn't as solid of a guideline as it used to be.

There is also a lot of rumble traveling around this forum that says that if you have anything smaller than 8" or even any kind of nearfield, that you have to have a subwoofer. This is also a shakey truism based upon misunderstanding or lack of information. Subwoofers are not designed or meant to make up for lack of low-end response in the mains. There is no correlation; the two devices handle two entirely different areas altogether. Subwoofers extend the efficiency of reproduction at the very low end regardless of the frequency response of the mains.

If you feel you want or need a sub because you are mixing for either x.1 surround sound or for clients and users who care more about how the music feels than how it sounds, then you need it regardless of the size or quality of the mains. Conversely, if you have smaller, less efficinet nearfields with questionable bass response, a subwoofer is not going to plug that hole. It is still only going to give you stuff at the very bottom, but the stuff between ~ 60 and 90Hz (give or take) is still going to suck.

Get quality mains first, then augment them wuth a sub if you need to for your purposes. But don't use subs to try and "fix" problems with inadequate mains, it will almost never work right.

G.
 
SouthSIDE Glen said:
Get quality mains first, then augment them wuth a sub if you need to for your purposes. But don't use subs to try and "fix" problems with inadequate mains, it will almost never work right.

G.
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coming from a bedroom studio field...
its interesting and confusing...

1) Nearfield, in historical terms, was to check the mix on avg.Joe home or car radio speakers... the "real" world apart form the $10,000 mains.

2) now it seems, Nearfields are supposed to be flat, accurate, powered, and 20-20K required...simulated "mains".

because everyone uses subs in their homes and cars, we want to hear 20to20K. this is the driver as i see it.

so if my nearfields become my Mains, what will be my nearfields? MP3 headphones for avg Joe mix?
:eek:

South/G, if i understand you right...
your saying if the "main" nearfields can hit the low freqs. ...
you don't need a sub?
the 20-20K goal is accomplished.

if you have 4" or 6" you probably could use a sub to hit the low freqs.

should the sub be at ear level with the sats? a big subwoofer stand, dead center..1meter away! :eek:
 
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