Amps & speakers - your vote

[tigerflystudio]

So guys, 3 fun Q's about studio reference amps and passive speakers:

1) What you got & how much it co$t ya?
2) What amp and speakers are you looking to get next (or are you happy with your set-up)?
3) What do you consider the 'best' reference amp & passive speakers for studio monitoring?

 

[dementedchord]

it's going to be difficult to pull this off as it's always of "for the money"... my nearfields are powered tannoys so cant help ya there although i think i could mix on my small jbl's i use for live keyboards... mp410's run by a qsc 1804 amp... the 410's use the same drivers as in one of their studio boxes...

next for me will likely be a custom built set triamped... basicly the old 4430 jbls with a sub... if not i would like to look at the adams...

there's loads of "best" just check out what the big boys are useing... a quick peek at mix mag... or try the online shops like sonic circus...

 

[Dr. Varney]

So guys, 3 fun Q's about studio reference amps and passive speakers:

Cool!

1) What you got & how much it co$t ya?

A Skytronic karioke amp I picked up in cash converters for £20 quid when I wanted something to play music from my MP3 player in my back yard workshop. Kool Sound (by Intimidation) speakers which cost me £15 the pair.
Absolutely the cheapest audio gear I've ever bought. Never dreamed I'd ever try to build a studio set up when I bought them.

2) What amp and speakers are you looking to get next (or are you happy with your set-up)?

I'm not happy at all. Nice detail for monitoring but when played on my lounge hi-fi, the bass is all out of whack.

Ideally, for my home set up, I want to get one of my old NAD 3020s repaired, which I'll use with my Gale 30/30 floor standers.

3) What do you consider the 'best' reference amp & passive speakers for studio monitoring?

I have no idea, which is why I'm checking this thread often. I hope to learn something...

I've heard studio monitors are not the same as hi-fi speakers. I'm beginning to understand why...

Dr. V

 

[Yonce N Mild]

Event 20/20s. Paid $50 for the pair because one of them had a busted tweeter. Bought a replacement for about $40.
My power amp is a Behringer A500. I know people bad-mouth Behringer but this thing is awesome. Biggest improvement in my monitoring chain besides my room treatment.

I love it. Sounds awesome plenty of volume I have never even considered upgrading. Probably the only part of my studio that I am completely satisfied with.

 

[Dr. Varney]

Why do people bad mouth Behringer? I have a Behringer mixer and it's brilliant.

Dr. V

 

[tigerflystudio]

The Behringer A500 amp sounds like a really good bit of kit. Probably has too much power for my project studio, but I guess there's nothing wrong with turning it down! A very good tip I picked up recently (probably from Southside G, or Massive) was to mix at fairly low volumes. I've tried this recently and, as it turns out, the mixes, when 'cranked up', are very balanced and impressive.

So, I guess there's no need for whopping reference studio amps. But it'll be interesting to see what this thread throws up.

 

[dementedchord]

Why do people bad mouth Behringer? I have a Behringer mixer and it's brilliant.

Dr. V

because uli never saw a circuit he liked... that he didn't steal....

the stories are many... law suits... he's personaly moved to asia from germany to avoid prosecution...

one of the best stories is his copy of the mackie 8 bus boards... he gave one to his people... said "reverse engineer" it... the boards in his copies were soooooo0 good they even said mackie on them.... the stupid SOBs didn't have the sense to remove it when they photo screend the boards... he lost in court of course... but last i heard mackie still hasn't collected...

 

[dintymoore]

My main monitors are Yamaha NS10M's, but I also have a pair of Acoustic Researh AR-7's, some KLH's, Auratones and Infinity's. The Yamaha's were bought brand new in 1984. I knew the rep and I think I paid cost which was $185 or so, and even at the time it was a great deal. The other speakers were dirt cheap or free, except for the AR's which were $200 'cause they are mint 70's speakers that are best described as "stoned".

I use a homemade kit tube amp I'm sure most people would think was a joke, cost about $175 or so, and I'm more than happy with it, I don't want anything else. It's only 8W per side but I usually run it at 1/3rd of the way.

Here's the amp http://diyaudioprojects.com/Tubes/K-12M/K-12M.htm

To me that amp is probably the best bargain of all the stuff in my studio.

I have a homemade sub I with a dual coil 12" sub ($70) in a heavy birch ply cabinet powered by a Harman Kardon 430 receiver (what a nice amp!) I paid $20 or so for. I feed it through an automotive crossover that was about $40.

 

[dementedchord]

props to dinty for the diy link... everybody oughta bookmark that place... looks like it can be a good source for those that want to learn more about how this shit works...

 

[Dr. Varney]

because uli never saw a circuit he liked... that he didn't steal....

the stories are many... law suits... he's personaly moved to asia from germany to avoid prosecution...

one of the best stories is his copy of the mackie 8 bus boards... he gave one to his people... said "reverse engineer" it... the boards in his copies were soooooo0 good they even said mackie on them.... the stupid SOBs didn't have the sense to remove it when they photo screend the boards... he lost in court of course... but last i heard mackie still hasn't collected...

Good on him. Or not, as the case may be.

Thanks for the anecdote, mate. I like to know the story behind the gear.

Regards

Dr. V

 

[Bristol Posse]

So guys, 3 fun Q's about studio reference amps and passive speakers:

1) What you got & how much it co$t ya?
2) What amp and speakers are you looking to get next (or are you happy with your set-up)?
3) What do you consider the 'best' reference amp & passive speakers for studio monitoring?

I'm using a pair of KRK Systems VXT 6s that work pretty nicely for me. I paid around $650 for the pair.
As to which are the best available. No idea. These VXTs are the best I've used so far but this is only my second set of monitors and the previous ones were a set of Cheapie M-audio ones.

Also the Monitors no matter how good wouldn't be worth anything without room treatment. Might as well mix on the computer screen speakers without a good room.

 

[Massive Master]

Good on him. Or not, as the case may be.

Thanks for the anecdote, mate. I like to know the story behind the gear.

Regards

Dr. V

Let's not forget that they tend to use the cheapest components available and much of their "original" circuitry is garbage. It's not like their 'copies' are going to be as good as the original design (just as a $200 Chinese Les Paul copy isn't the same as the real deal).

I'll admit - If you need a bunch of compressors for a live rig really cheap (and you don't mind a third of them melting away on you over a year), go for it. But some of their stuff is absolutely horrible. I had to mess with this rig a few months ago -- Four Berry 8-channel to ADAT preamps (don't remember the model). It was a nightmare. You couldn't calibrate these things at all. I was swapping cables forever just trying to find *two* of them that were within a dB or two.

For the most part, I stopped bashing Berry years ago (mostly because people would shout out that I was "an elitist"). But now, with fresh experience with their horrible crap, I don't feel guilty at all.

 

[Dr. Varney]

Bose, I've heard, is also an example. Big name, heap-big wool over the eyes. I'm not stating it as 'fact' but I've heard a lot of bad things about them.

Dr. V

 

[dementedchord]

Good on him. Or not, as the case may be.


Dr. V

you approve of this??? betcha think that hooker realy loves you...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Bose, I've heard, is also an example. Big name, heap-big wool over the eyes. I'm not stating it as 'fact' but I've heard a lot of bad things about them.

Bose's bad rap is mostly quite unfair, IMHO. Most of the bad-mouthing comes from the audio engineering community (like this one, for example) because, in general, the types of loudspeaker designs they use that emphasize things like expanded stereo imaging are not what's proper in studio monitoring; and from the audiophile community because of Bose's tendency to look for flat-ish frequency response and - especially - their non-botique style of marketing directly to the general public.

At the same time, though. they have consistently been leaders and groundbreakers in many technologies like getting large response specs out of small speaker packages, psychoacoustics, spatial imaging, and external noise cancellation. The earbuds in your mePod may not be as good as they are without technologies first worked out by Bose thirty years ago.

The Bose 800 is a virtually ubiquitous bread-and-butter staple PA and live sound reinforcement speaker in use all over the world. And if there were a home loudspeaker hall of fame, no doubt both the Bose 901 and the original Bose cube would be early nominees for the hall of fame as legendary speakers that bookend the spectrum of consumer loudspeaker design.

Bose products are not for everybody, no; and generally speaking, not proper for the recording studio (though for the econo-home recordist, I'd on any day take some Bose minis or cubes over the many PC speakers or el-cheapo "studio monitors" commonly used here). They do follow the beat of their own drummer, which makes them often hard to like as a company because the public tends not to like what it does not understand. But IMHO there is no way they deserve the bad rep they get in places like this because they are a leading edge technology company that *does* put out many high-quality products, that does develop a lot of technologies that wind up being copied or "re-discovered" by other companies and markets years later, and has developed many highly popular legendary model lines over the years.

G.

 

[Massive Master]

Bose, I've heard, is also an example. Big name, heap-big wool over the eyes. I'm not stating it as 'fact' but I've heard a lot of bad things about them.

Dr. V

Aside from what SSG was mentioning (and I don't think we're in disagreement on a lot of this anyway), I always find Bose like a pair of decent headphones. Anything sounds decent on them. You can take a fairly crappy sounding recording and play them on Bose loudspeakers and it'll sound pretty good (just like with headphones).

They *are* a good speaker for someone who just 'wants a good sounding stereo' and they *do* make PA technology that's much of the same.

At the same time, I can't work on them (as hard as I've tried in the past) because of that tendency to "homogenize" (for lack of a better term) what comes out of them.

 

[kcearl]

cant mix worth a damn with my Bose headphones....they do compliment the finished product though


I have a Behri mixer..its excellent for what it does, doesnt add any noise as far as my inexperienced ears can tell

My monitors are behri as well..they're not so good, Ill upgrade when I can be arsed...they have served me well while I learn the ropes...

I have a cyrus II amp awaiting some high end monitors when I settle someplace

 

[darrin_h2000]

Event 20/20s. Paid $50 for the pair because one of them had a busted tweeter. Bought a replacement for about $40. with.

Good work...now you have a decent pair and it didnt break you.

I got my Yamaha NS10s at a pawn shop for $60...and my reference amp is a PhaseLinear 400a...$20 ...garage sale deal from years ago...its the same chain that Alan Parsons has.

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Aside from what SSG was mentioning (and I don't think we're in disagreement on a lot of this anyway), I always find Bose like a pair of decent headphones. Anything sounds decent on them.

You're right, we are (as usual) mostly in agreement. But you have made a kind of statement that I have been rendered unable to make about any brand, because - for me, anyway - it completely depends not upon brand, but on which model you're talking about. I've heard a lot of crappy-sounding Bose models, and quite a few really sweet-sounding ones, and more of them that fall somewhere in-between than those first two categories put together.

But then again, I could say the same thing about just any brand of loudspeaker I can think of that makes more than one or two models. Back in The Dark Time (when I used to sell audio gear and Thomas Dolby was all the rage) I used to sell six different models of Bose loudspeaker, no two of which sounded anything close to each other. And the same was true for the vast majority of brands I ever had any experience with.

Ever since then any ability I may have had in the past to make blanket statements about sound quality of loudspeakers by brand has been completely lost.

G.

 

[Dr. Varney]

Thank you Glen. That's a very fair appraisal. Being stuck around the audioOCD community, I've heard mainly bad.

I did, however, once get shown a site where some guy had dismantled a pair of expensive Bose home hi-fi speakers, to show decidedly (or so it seemed) economy construction and low grade components. Similar, I suppose to what you're saying about Behringer.

The contract for the noise cancelling headphones for the US Navy Air Force, it was believed, was given to Bose because of the 'All American' branding. Some say it was not as effective as it could have been yet someone on deck/ground crew said their pilots seemed quite happy with the system.

You see Bose everywhere in the UK, too. In restaraunts, bars, even record shops.

You also hear about these travelling 'sales booths' where they (apparently) stick a customer inside an acoustically treated booth to make their speakers sound great. People have also said they cannot be sure that what the punter is shown is what they will ultimately recieve.

Like I say, I have no direct experience to say one way or the other, though your post brings a little refreshing perspective. Credit where it's due I suppose. Thanks.

Dr. V

you approve of this??? betcha think that hooker realy loves you...

Heh... Not sure... Probably not. I don't know anyone by the name of 'Hooker'.

Thing is, it's brought me something affordable that works. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this mixer I'm using.

Then again, self denial plays it's part perhaps. I'm a little OCD on quality... I can be rather childish when it comes to brand names.

Dr. V