Inexpensive monitors for beginner?

[atomic punk]

(This is a duplicate post, but I messed up the Subject line on the last one)...

Hi all, I'm in the market for a pair of relatively inexpensive (under $250 pair, new/used/ebay, whatever) active monitors for a future home studio. I want reliability more than hi-end "great" sound quality, something to amplify my drum machine, keyboards, vocals, 4 track, and/or computer during mixdown. The volume has to at least match my Crate practice amp for guitar (I think that one is about 80w, it's got 2 8" speakers)

Thanks, sorry about the crudeness of the post, but I don't know much about home recording yet!

.. Anyone heard those "M-Audio Studiophile" monitors? There are a couple of pairs on ebay that look decent, but I don't know how loud 70w is...

 

[tdukex]

I hear those are decent. Also the Hafler M5s are supposed to be decent, as are the JBL Proto J and the Yorkville passives.

 

[tdukex]

The Proto Js are Tannoy, not JBL.

 

[Sicily]

I just got

a pair of JBL LSR 25p's and I love them so far...Only had them for a couple of weeks though.

They're on sale at Musician's Friend for $250 a piece and to be honest with you, from what I've read and researched, you're not going to find a monitor of that quality at a better price...

Look into those for sure.

 

[battleminnow]

I hear that the Studiophile's have tons of volume, but are a little weak in the mid-bass area. Not terrible, just a little weak. Here are the conclusions I
have come to in the sub-$350 range:

Tannoy Proto-J (with Samson Servo 170 or bigger) $350
M Audio Studiophiles (self powered) $299
Yorkville YSM's (With Samson Servo) $330
Hafler M5's (with Samson servo) $350

Based soley on reviews of mags and of respected posts on this site:

The Proto's and the YSM's are your best bet. 200 for the Proto's, 180 for the YSM's. Hafler's are compared to the NS10's by Yamaha, often considered the most accurate monitor available. The Studiophiles are in their first year of production, but sound great with the exception of the mid-bass lack.

BTW, Samson Servo 170 is about $150, while a giant step up would be the Hafler T1100 for about $200. Hope this helps. YMMV.

Pete