Studio monitors for a small room.

WaxedKankles

New member
So I have a pair of KRK Rokit 5s for my room and I’m looking at getting some new studio monitors. I’m working from my bedroom which is about 144 sqft. I’m looking at getting around the same size speaker the Yamaha HS 5s. Just wondering if I should go bigger or stick with the HS 5s considering my room size. Any recommendations for studio monitors or Headphones are welcome too. Thanks!
 
My first question would be to ask why you're switching monitors? You're going from a 5" to a 5" and though opinions will vary.......many would say that the KRK's and the Yamaha's are not appreciably different from each other just to do a swap. You might be better served to spend that money on another area of your recording equipment. That being said.....if that's what you want to do....do it. In my opinion.....the JBL LSR series 5" is better than both the KRK's and the Yamaha's. As for going bigger......there's a lot of people who would say that the size of your room might be better suited to 5" speakers. Smaller spaces are easily overwhelmed by low end response.......and that makes it even harder to judge low end accurately in your mixes.

More importantly........if you have not treated your room properly.......changing your monitors....no matter what direction you go in......is not going to advance your skills or results. Put your money into some treatment. Have you treated your space?
 
I’m going for the Yamaha HS 5s because I’ve heard the quality is really good since they’re modeled after the NS10s and are supposed to be really accurate. So I think they’ll be better than the Krks. I’ll look into the ones you suggested though. As far as treatment I’ve thought about it but I’m not planing on staying at my current apartment for more than the remainder of my lease which is about 6 months so I might wait until later to do that. Can you give me an idea of the price of treatment for my size room?
 
NS10s "really accurate"? Never heard them but never read that either! I get the impression that the 10s were used by big studios more as "grot boxes" for their rather middy, in-yer-face character then, as often happens in this mad audio world, they gained legendary status! They are also close box speakers which means what bass they do put out is not smeared by the reflex hangover that afflicts many "overtuned" small monitors.

The HS 5s are ported speakers so I cannot see the relationship to the Tens other than brand name?

If you really want "accurate" I think you need to move up a gear in price and look at Genelecs, Adam, PMC and Co?

And of course, do what you can to a 12 by 12 room!

Dave
 
I’ve heard Genelecs are good too. So I’ll look into those and the other brands you suggested. Definitely appreciate the feedback since that’s the whole reason for this post is to get a second opinion and go from there. I’ll do some more research on the speakers. Thanks!
 
Going from those Rokit KRK's to those Yamaha's is an absolute waste. Have you listened to KRK vxt6 monitors ? Adam A5x are another set I'd consider before Genelec. Adam A5x are a considerable step up from Yamaha 50hs and wont break your bank like Genelecs.
 
So I looked into the Adams and they’re a little more than I was planning on spending. I’m looking for something between the $300 I spent on the KRKs and the $1000 that the Adams are. Maybe around $600 or $700. I’m just not sure how much better quality I would get with a $600 or $700 or if I would be better off saving for the Adams. Also is a subwoofer worth getting if I go with the Adams.
 
So I looked into the Adams and they’re a little more than I was planning on spending. I’m looking for something between the $300 I spent on the KRKs and the $1000 that the Adams are. Maybe around $600 or $700. I’m just not sure how much better quality I would get with a $600 or $700 or if I would be better off saving for the Adams. Also is a subwoofer worth getting if I go with the Adams.

Well arguably this is the sort of money where the "breakpoint" comes between monitors that are getting toward true accuracy and the vast flood of "prosumer" stuff that is aimed at the growing home recording market?

The received wisdom is not to have a sub in a small room and in IF one was used you need it to be part of a whole, integrated monitor package. Better to spend sub monies on better monitors and the room. Very low frequencies can be checked on headphones.

Dave.
 
So I looked into the Adams and they’re a little more than I was planning on spending. I’m looking for something between the $300 I spent on the KRKs and the $1000 that the Adams are. Maybe around $600 or $700. I’m just not sure how much better quality I would get with a $600 or $700 or if I would be better off saving for the Adams. Also is a subwoofer worth getting if I go with the Adams.

I 've used Adam's and KRK vxt's (700.00) The Vxt's are not quite as good as the Adams, but they are quite a step up from the 300.00 per pair range. Also if you do your homework you can find a solid used pair of Adams on Ebay for 800.00 used they are made well.

There shouldn't be any difference in low freq from what your doing now. In fact both Vxt 6's and Adam 5's (5.5") will go down a little deeper than what you have now. As was stated check with headphones.
 
Without more detail we can’t really give you an accurate estimate for treating your room. And....since you’re not sure you’re going to do it anyway.......for now save your money and wait until you can get some of the much better monitors people here have suggested. As Dave and Peter have suggested.........Do your mixing with your monitors and then check the low end with a quality set of headphones. Lots of us do that.
 
Time flies! If your lease is up in 6 months, that will be here before you know it. You may move to another place with a larger room where larger monitors may be more effective. Why box yourself in now? I would just hang with what I have for 6 months, get to my new place and see what I need there. Meanwhile I would stash a little cash for different, bigger, better or whatever monitors OR find that in the new place the KRKs are fine and spend my savings on some treatment.
Just another opinion.
 
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