Budget Monitors

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I'm currently trying to decide on a pair of reference monitors for my home studio. I'm on a limited budget, and have narrowed my choices down to the following three:

M-AUDIO BX5
Samson Resolv 65A
Fostex PM05

As per usual, given my geographical location, I'm forced to buy online.

I have spent hours reading through old threads on this forum, and most people seem impressed with the BX5 monitors. However, the lack of bass everyone is complaining about, is worrying me.

There was very little information to be found on this board pertaining to the Fostex and Samson monitors. How do these compare to the BX5s? Is the bass more present in the Fostex monitors (even though these are 5" too).

Also, the rear of the BX5s have to be placed a little distance away from any walls, right? Is this the case with the samson and fostex monitors too?
 
I wouldn't choose any of those -- take a look at Yorkville YSM-1P instead.......
 
You are going to have bass issues with any monitor in that size. You might want to consider getting a subwoofer to go along with them. Any of those monitors would be improved by a sub.

A while back I bought a sub at Radio Shack that was on sale for $200. It's an active sub and believe it or not is really pretty good. I don't use it anymore in my studio, as I have bigger monitors now, but it was perfectly fine at the time. As long as the sub is active and has an adjustable crossoever point control and volume control you will be able to tailor it to your needs.

Of course, there are far better subs than the one I was using, but they needn't break the bank.

Of the three monitors you mention in your post, I personally would pick the BX5. But if you go up a bit in price you can do a lot better. Even the $500 street range and you have a lot better options.
 
Ysm1p

I agree with Blue Bear, I just got a pair and they blow anything on your list away and are cheaper than most of them. I'm in Canada and they're even less expensive in the U.S. Those or the Wharfedale 8.2a but you won't be unhappy with the Yorkville's.
 
Krk..

4" and 5" imposible to get low freq.. blue bear was right !!
get sub when u really got those one..
depend on ur need !!!??? btw krk V4 version2 and event TR5 much better then that.. good luck bro :)
 
I think the BX5s get a lot of praise because of their excellent high/mid response as well as their flexibile adaptability. But yeah, like with most small speakers, the limited low-freq response makes mixing the bass tricky.

I'll admit that I was never a big fan of subwoofers--the few I'd heard were too boomy, thumpy for my tastes. But
as I've written elsewhere at this forum, the BX5s, which are set up to integrate with a sub, work beautifully with the Wharfedale PowerCube 8 or 10 ($100-150)--if you're looking for a solid "low-budget" arrangement. The line ins and outs on both match perfectly, and the freq switches on both allow smooth integration. I'd match the sound against anything twice the price--clear, with deep bass minus that mushy/boomy quality that many small monitors produce when trying to put out those low freqs. Above all, there's no guesswork when mixing the lows.

Note that I've only used the Wharf 8" sub, so I can't comment on the 10" model. I was worried about low-end muddiness, and the 8" (100 watt, down to 40Hz) model keeps things tight in the 40-80Hz range. The 10" model (also 100 watts, down to 32Hz) might sound as good or better, but I didn't want to take the chance that things would get muddy in the lowest freqs. In my very small studio, mixing jazz-fusion styles of music, the 8" model is a perfect fit.

When the money comes one day, move up to the matching M-Audio SBX sub ($350) if you feel the need.

Best,

J.
 
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good cheap monitors

Yorkvilles YSM1= ART SLM1 at $239 pair passive+ $200 Amp(Musicians Friend).
or the ~$420 active pair YSM1P(Musiciains Buy).

Wharfedales are ~$300shipped 8.2active (black aramid cone)Deepwater Deal-or $195 pair 8.2 Passive(yellow-Kevlar cone)Amazon.com. + amp.

I haven't heard any bad press on any of these here, the "good-cheap-stuff"
stamp of approval??

I turmoiled over just the active or passive route for awhile....

your already 50% done, going the Active route. good luck!
 
keep in mind, you dont find much complains about a product when it's never known by the majority

Yorkvilles are not known in many places, not much people carry yorkies in the states when compare to M-audio, which with excellent sale and commercial art design team,
Wharfedales .... you can't even find anyone carry those in canada, and so, not much in US either
plus keep in mind most owers of these speakers have them as their first real studio monitors... i rememeber when i first hear my Altec Multimedia 2.1 system! wow, my first m1mk2 (which i still like alot, but back then i didn't think 824s was that much better when sitting beside each other)!


personally i dont like ysm1p too much as pleasure montiors, too pronounced upper mid kind of reminds me Ns10 but smoother, also with more narrow sounding ,yet tight sounding bass ...the treble is a bit too bright to my ears, image is pretty good that can let me see better than Truth and M1
i'm using them as huge contrast with my 824s
Wharfedales i dont know wht to say,yet, i'm actaully quite interested by this hype created by smarties, but i would like to hear from people who have owned and used mid-end monitors, it's not that i find comments from those who give their firsttime to Wharfedales unvalueable
 
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Trouble is, I'm situated in Norway. Hence I can not seem to find any dealers carrying Event, Yorkville or Wharfedale monitors. I might look into importing a pair, but it would be a lot more practical for me to order from a norwegian store.

I know there is not much bass response to be found in 5" monitors, but I'm on a budget. I might add a sub to the setup later on. Does anyone have any experience withe the Fostex monitors?
 
COOLCAT said:
Yorkvilles YSM1= ART SLM1 at $239 pair passive+ $200 Amp(Musicians Friend).
or the ~$420 active pair YSM1P(Musiciains Buy).

Wharfedales are ~$300shipped 8.2active (black aramid cone)Deepwater Deal-or $195 pair 8.2 Passive(yellow-Kevlar cone)Amazon.com. + amp.

I haven't heard any bad press on any of these here, the "good-cheap-stuff"
stamp of approval??

I turmoiled over just the active or passive route for awhile....

your already 50% done, going the Active route. good luck!
Click to expand...

Musiciansbuy don't ship to norway, but for around $300 I'd be very interested in the wharfedales. However, I'm a little hesitant to order from some guy at the messageboard that I have no experience with
 
http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_snapshot_product_reviews_23/

01/2005

WHARFEDALE DIAMOND PRO 8.2
Studio MOnitors

Wharfedale's Diamond Series consumer speakers have been around since 1981. A couple of years back, I tried a pair and found them perfectly acceptable as small studio monitors. Now, the new pro division of this 72-year-old British company ups the ante with the Diamond Pro Series, offered as passive or powered versions for studio near-field applications.

I checked out the 8.2 Pro, which combines a front-ported enclosure with 6.5-inch Kevlar woofer, 1-inch soft-dome neodymium tweeter and 100 watts (60W LF, 40W HF) of onboard bi-amping. The gray-finish cabinet is 14.3×8.4×12.7 inches (H×W×D) and the shaped front baffle should serve to reduce diffraction effects. The monitors ship with removable grilles that should be stored with the packing materials. Response is spec'd at 45 to 24k Hz; max SPL at 1 meter is 108 dB.

The rear panel has a bass roll-off switch, volume pot, AC switch and IEC cable connection, and a large amplifier heat sink to keep thermals in check. I don't like variable pots — I'd prefer a switched gain control for matching the gain between the two sides. You could always turn them up to “10” and back off the gain beforehand, but these slightly overamped monitors put out plenty of SPLs when set at “3” and driven by a -10dB signal. Turning them up higher than this serves no purpose other than waking the dead.

I liked the balanced Neutrik Combo TRS/XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs — you never know what you'll find at a studio these days. Another nice touch is the mag shielding — it's less of an issue as more users turn to flat-panel displays, but there are still a lot of CRTs out there.

The speakers sounded fine out of the box and didn't require bass tweaking — a good thing, as the Bass Filter control was too extreme for acoustic tailoring. I found these to be comfortable and nonfatiguing, providing a linear, consistent response that translated well. I perhaps wanted a bit more “air band” (15 kHz), but overall, the HF response is natural, the mids were right where they should be and the LF was a true picture of the bottom end. The stereo imaging was nice with a solid phantom center and uncolored off-axis sound. Best of all, they retail at $399/pair — a bargain!

— George Petersen



You can also read this from another forum about the wharfi´s:
http://recforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/m/43872/0#msg_43872

"The active 8.2's are a little better. Here's everything I know about them:

A Chinese company bought the rights to the Wharfedale name; the speakers are still designed in England, but made in China. The power amp was designed by a friend of mine in L.A., and he's one of the best amp designers around.

The passive 8,2 have a low midrange bump around 600 to 800Hz, which makes them a little "woofy" sounding, but still very usable. They go down pretty damn low and the imaging is amazing. Unlike many nearfields I've heard, I don't think I would have any problems doing a final mix on them, if they were all I had.

The active 8.2A's have some smoothing, lowering the upper 800Hz bump to where it's a little flatter than the passives.

They're a hell of a deal, and they work amazingly well for their intended purpose. Other than the low midrange bumps, I haven't heard any "Gotcha's" in this system. "
 
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