Budget monitors

  • Thread starter Thread starter lino
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lino

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Hi all,

does anybody have experience with "budget" monitors such as:
Edirol MA10A or MA10D.

I am just starting with home recording and don't want to spend a lot of money yet, and these seam like a good deal.
But I'm doubting whether to go for speakers like the Edirols (around 150 to 200 Euro per pair for the analog and digital version), or spend a little more and get me Tannoy Reveals (230 passive), spirit absolute zero or alesis M1 with or without amp.

Could I use the passive Tannoy's with any Hifi amp or would I need a new dedicated amp?
And would it be possible to connect the passive monitors to a general PC speaker amp, such as the Altec Lansing 745 4.1 set or is that a very naive thought? Because then I can also the subwoofer to add more lows to it.

Thanks, tips are appreciated.

Lino
 
I don't think you even should look at those edirol monitors.
If you have a high quality hifi amp you could probably use it to power some passive reveals. I have the active version and is very impressed so far (got them last week).

If you don't have a decent amp you're probably better off with some active monitors. Some people on this board are very found of the studiophile sp-5b. ESI nEar 05 is EXACTLY the same monitor and you could get it from www.netzmarkt.de/thomann for 260 Euros. I don't think these ESI nEars are as good as the active reveals, behringer truths or events, but they sure beat those Edirols.
 
Check out Ebay. I recently picked up a pair of Tannoy Proto-J's for $100 to use as a second reference. They only have a 6.5" woofer, but you wouldn't know it by listening to them. The Event 20/20's are decent for budget monitors as well. Stay away from The Alesis Monitors 1's!! But then again, monitors are all about taste. Just some recommendations....but more importantly, I recommend you find a music store and listen to about 10 pairs with some CD's you're familiar with. Later.
 
Thanks!

I already guessed the Edirols can't be much for that price.
I overlooked those ESI's, they seem okay,except for a not-so-good review in SOS. I just found the Samson Resolv 65a at a store near my home, anyone familiar with those? They're only 300 Euro. I'll first listen to a couple anyway before I buy anything.
 
There are some happy studiophile owners on this board, but I think these monitors (studiophile and Esi) is quite a step below other monitors like Tannoy Reveals, Behringer Truth, and the bigger studiophiles. When I listened to them I found them to be rather two dimensional and lacked some serious bottom end. Maybe you're better of saving your money.
 
passives, Yorkville YSM1's or Tannoy ProtoJ's (around $200 pair)

actives, Event TR5N ($299 pair)
 
I would highly recommend the Event TR5s. Just got my first pair a couple of weeks back and they rock my world. They're extremely accurate.
 
Unfortunately, event monitors are way overpriced in europe. The event TR5s costs 515 euro. The passive yorkvilles are more like $400 over here. To bad we don't live inte the US lino!

Monitors that are cheaper in Europe are tannoys, adams, dynaudio and genelecs. Events and yorkvilles are about twice the US price! I havent seen the proto-j:s anywhere in europe, but if you're going for passive monitors, tannoy reveals (@230 euro) would probably be your best bet.
 
The thing is, I'm not sure about the amp when I would buy passives.....
Because if I have to buy a new, dedicated amp (200 Euro?), I'll probably end up at the same price as actives, but in that case I prefer actives, because they're supposed to sound better (bi-amp), plus a separate amp takes up more space.

What to do?????

If anyone can tell me I can use a 2nd hand regular (but good) Hifi amp of perhaps 100 bucks, then that would mean I'll be spending 100 + 230 (passive Tannoys) which is OK.
But if I spoil the quality of the Tannoy's that way, it's a waste of money.
I didn't hear anyone about connecting passives to a PC surround set (Altec Lansing 4 speakers + subwoofer). No-one has experience with this kind of solution, or is it a really bad idea????
 
I think you'd be better of with actives. If you decide to get the ESIs you may be happy for a while, but I suspect you're going get tired of them pretty fast. But there are, as I said, others around here that likes them. If I were you I'd save up for a pair of active reveals or truths or maybe the bigger studiophiles (all within 500-600 euro).
 
I currently monitor through a NAD hifi amp with Eltax Monitor 3's, which are technicly HiFi Speakers, but to be honest, they are more accurate than a lot of cheap Monitors, ie, Alesis monitor ones or Spirit absoloute 2's.

Any good to you?

Hope its helped.


Neil
 
Um...I don't believe the ESI nEar 05 is the same as the Studiophile BX5. Similar in appearance, but that's about it.

They have different crossover points, cabinet designs (makes a bigger difference than you'd think), input sensitivity/impedance, etc. I also don't think the ESI's have the adjustment switches...but, even if they do, the other factors make the two completely different speakers.
 
Thanks Neil, Swede and others.
I'll do some monitor hunting this weekend, listen to a couple and hear what they say at the shop.
Still I didn't budget the price of a good active set (575) which is more then double the price of a medium set (250 for the ESI's) or a passive set. So allthough I agree with saving for a good set, I am not sure if it's worth spending double the money.

I'll add my conclusions to this thread.
 
Good luck! I'm very interested in hearing your impressions afterwards.
 
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