3 sets of monitors for $2000? Midfield, Nearfield and boombox style?

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HowardLee

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Howdy Gents! First post cause I need some help.

I'd like to upgrade my Mackie 824, Tannoy 6.5 and cheapo boombox to the next level. With $2000 to spend where you go monitorwise for a pair of midfield, nearfield and boom-box type monitors?

I'v been thinking in terms of Wharfedale 8.2A or P with amp for nearfield, BM-15P for Midfield and Minimus 7 with amp for boombox style.

Wharfedale 8.2A or P with amp: $300
BM-15P: $1000
Used Amp: $600
Minimus 7: $100, use my home stereo amp

Can I better this setup?
 
It doesn't seem like much of an upgrade, to be honest.

I'd stick with the Tannoys and spend the entire $2,000 on replacing the Mackies, if you really want to make a change.

As far as the boombox, just buy one that has inputs if your current one doesn't have them. If it has inputs, then I don't see a need to replace it either.

Welcome!
 
That could be a great idea. Where to go after Mackie 824 is the really bid question?
 
Well, I think the Dynaudio route is a greeat place to go after Mackie. But then again, I am pretty heavily biased towards Dynaudio (own em and love em) so you should be aware of that in the event that you consider my advice. I just recently (can't remember where:( ) saw a Hafler P7000 for sale for like $450.
 
HowardLee, a lot depends on the size of your mixing room and how acoustically accurate it is. You mention wanting mid-fields, so I assume your room must be fairly big and also be acoustically treated and properly designed.

If your room is in fact smallish, then you may be better off going with another set of nearfields. Putting mid-field monitors into a space that is too small for them is worse than using smaller monitors in the same space.

I'm a fan of Dynaudio monitors also, so you might want to take a look at a combinations of the BM6A or BM5A with their BM9S sub. Or their midfield monitor, the BM15A. But unless your room is really large and you sit fairly far away from your monitoring, you might thinka bout going with the smaller monitor along with a sub.

Is there a particular reason why you want to replace your Mackies? I use the HR824's as my main monitors, and KRK V4 Series II as my second set. I also have a boombox, just a cheapo Sony. While I don't think the Mackies are perfect, they do a pretty good job. So I'm just curious as to what specifically is bothering you about them.
 
I'm not sure what would be considered a big room. I'm at 16 x 21 with 12' ceiling. It is a treated room and done fairly well. I am not looking for tons of volume, just basically a full range system that will translate on other systems very true. I find the 824s rather bass heavy and need to compensate for that while mixing. I'd like more bottom with a truer picture of what's really there.
 
Comment on room: Dang, wish I had a room that big for my studio.

You could probably get away with a mid-field like the BM15A in a room that size. But I don't know that it is necessary.

I've done a little research on the BM5A monitors, and it seems there are two different versions of them, the old and the new. The newer 5A's are smaller than the older, so for Dynaudio's you probably wouldn't want to go below the 6A. Still, the BM15A's are probably the offering from Dynaudio to consider.

A few others to take alisten to:

Event Precision 8. These are probably more of a cross grade from the Mackies, but I have friends that use these and love them.

Genelec 8040. Maybe a little small for your room without a sub. I'm not a huge fan of Genelec's either, they sound too sweet to me.

JBL LSR series. Probably the LSR6328P is the one for your room. I auditioned these a while ago and they were pretty good. They didn't make the impression on me that the Dynaudio's did though.

$2,000 is actually kind of a wierd price range for monitors, at least as far as upgrading from where you are now. The Mackies really are a good value at the price. So to get much better monitors you have to jump to a totally different price category. If you could go to the $1,500-2,000 *per speaker* category you'd have a lot more choices and would notice an obvious difference over the HR824's.

Once you get into that price range you are looking at the Genelec 8050's, the top Tannoy model, Adam's, and a host of nice monitors.

I think one of the few monitors you can upgrade to in your price range, that will really feel like an upgrade, is the BM15A. That said, you should listen to any and all monitors you possibly can before purchasing. Even if it means driving long distances. I've done that!

But I still do think you will be much better off putting all the upgrade money toward a pair of monitors to replace the Mackies, rather than spreading it out among three sets of monitors. Also, have you factored in the money you would get from selling the Mackies?
 
I decided that all of the money will be going into the main monitors. I don't like being in this weird place, maybe I can come up with a bit more money. Where to start looking will be a hard decision. LSR, BMs,Adam will too much for the size I'd like. Let me plow it over. I'll keep an open mind so keep those suggestions coming please.
 
Do you live in a metropolitan area where you can demo these various monitors at a music store? Even if they are not all in the same store you can still get a good impression of them if you visit the stores on the same day.

Bring a CD or your own original tracks that you know *very* well and listen to it on various monitors. That will tell you a lot right there.

A message board like this is good for brainstorming and maybe getting some ideas or options that might not occur to you otherwise. But ultimately you've got to get out and find these monitors to listen to them. Or just take a chance and order them sight unseen (or unheard).

If it was me and I had your approximate budget and room size I'd probably go with the Dynaudio BM15A's. For my room size I'd probably go with the BM6A's. But I've heard dynaudio's and liked them, so it's less of a stab in the dark for me.

That said, I find it hard to change from my HR824's because I feel they are so good for scoring and post production work. They are better for that than album work, as far as translation. These translate really well to the dubbing stage in my opinion, and lots and lots of post production houses have them so when you deliver your cues they sound exactly as you expected them to. I find mixing CD projects much harder on HR824's, as far as translation. I also think they tend to eat reverb for some reason, but that's just part of learning the monitors.

If you are doing music/CD type projects I think monitors like the Dynaudio's or Genelec's might be more appropriate. Although you do see a lot of film score guys with Genelec's.
 
SA,

Not close enough to a met area for comfort. I don't mind mail order and paying for the shipping. I at least save sales tax and get much better price that way. If they don't work out I can still send them back.

I appreciate all of your time and efforts here along with your advise. I think I'll go with the BM15 and a good amp in the 1k bracket.

Happy Holidays!
 
My favorite music store is in Kenosha, Wisconsin. When I lived in Chicago I used to drive up there across state lines to try out the gear in the showroom, at best a 90+ minute drive on the interstate and usually longer. I'd talk to my salesman, try out the gear, spend a few hours in gear heaven, and then make the drive home.

Once I got home I'd give them a call and order what I wanted. That way I was able to try out the gear in person and still get the savings of no taxes because they had to ship across state lines. On very large or heavy items I'd just pay the taxes and take it home in my car because shipping would be higher than the taxes.

It was normally a full days excursion what with all the driving and time spent testing gear. But then again, I'm a bit of a maniac about gear and am willing to take that kind of time and trouble to make sure I know what I'm buying. I have to know it will be right for me and my music.

However, I think I'd probably cap the driving at 3 hours each way. A four hour drive would be too much, or I'd make it a two day trip in that case and stay overnight. When I was on tour in Ireland recently I made a point of hitting a couple music dealers there! Didn't buy anything, but I do love to check out gear!

If you are going the passive speaker route, make sure your amp is big, powerful, and well matched to the speakers. There's no point in spending the money on the BM15's if the amp is underpowered and poorly matched. This is why I prefer powered monitors now, the amp and speakers are designed by the manufacturer to work well together. If you buy an amp separately it will actually cost you more if you get the right amp for the monitors than if you buy the powered version.

What a lot of people do is get the monitors they want, and then try to save a few bucks on the power amp. Wrong approach in my opinion, both amp and monitors have to be well matched and the amp has to have *loads* of extra power. I'd suggest you contact Dynaudio if you haven't already and see what they recommend as far as an amp and the power rating.

Good luck!
 
Look for a used Bryston Amp. They sound pretty darned nice, and they come with a 20 year transferable warranty as long as you have the original shipping box. You should be able to find one in the $1k range:)
 
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