Just Monitors

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Howdy

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I am in the market for a pair of "studio monitors" for my small and humble home-studio. I have a "hodge-podge" of equipment that I have been putting together over the last couple years.

This whole mess started when my band (20 years in the running) broke up, leaving me with about 15 unfinished tracks... in "rough mix format on cassette". I decided to play around them and see if I couldn't come up with something decent.

Being a guitarist, I purchased a Boss BR8 recorder/mixer... which I was told was designed with the guitar player in mind. At any point, I then added a Hafler TA 1100 (100 watt) power amp for the studio monitors and purchased a pair of speakers to be used temporarily as studio monitors.

At this point, I am now ready to get a bit more serious about purchasing decent monitors. I am looking at the $200.00 each price range. I would appreciate some recommendations on Brands and models in that price range... I have already deduced that the Yamaha NS10 is out... the notion of hanging Kleenex over new, crispy clean monitors is unappealing to me. <g>

Thanks in advance!

Howdy
 
Lol, the kleenex trick. That won't really solve the problem BTW, it will just mask it.

Anyways, have a look at the Tannoy Reveals, Behringer Truths and M-Audio BX8's.

And right before everyone jumps in here with their Yorkville campaign, have a particularly close look at the YSM1p monitors. :)
 
Yo Nutt of 98:

You've already "jumped" in. For his price range, the Yorks will do a nice job.

Happy Halloween

Green Hornet :D :p :p :D
 
NuTT98 and Green Hornet......

Thanks for your input... not sure why, perhaps I read some other good reviews on the Yorkville YSM-1p monitors elsewhere on the BB, but I have them on my list as a potential.

I appreciate your input.... now, all I have to do is find where I can buy them... I do most of my shopping at Guitar Center and from their website, it appears they do not sell them.

Where are the Yorkville monitors manufactured?

BTW, someone else suggested Mackies... what do you think of those? Guitar Center does carry a couple of their models... which one, if any, would you suggest?

Thanks again for your replies,

Howdy
 
Yorkvilles are made right here in Toronto :). You can get them online in several different places.

The Mackies, which ones are you referring to? I assume the HR824s.

They have a more neutral response but to my ears they sounded somewhat 'slow', particularly noticable in the mid-bass region. "Fuzzy bass" I call it :). Besides that they were solid performers with a noticably greater bass extension over the YSMs. (Shallower rolloff). Considering the price, they seem to be over-rated.
 
If you already have a power amp for monitors, you don't need actives. You can probably get some pretty good passive monitors for 200 each. The Yorkville passives get a lot of raves around here.
 
Well, I did some checking on the Mackies offered at Guitar Center, and it appears all of them are active monitors.... if that is the case, then I will pass on Mackies.

Guitar Center also sells the Tannoy Reveals... can get them for about 320 bucks. I dunno.... says the bass has a "long throw".... I know that if I read thru a ton of the postings here I might find out exactly what that means, but perhaps someone can fill me in on the term "long-throw" right here.

Still... I am seriously considering those Yorkvilles... so far, most of what I have read on the BB is positive. I did, however, read a couple of posts that mentioned having a defect or two and having to send them back for replacement.... I assume that could happen with any monitor brand, though.

The other thing I have to consider is that fact that after many years on stage... my hearing isn't what it used to be, either. <G>

Thanks again for the help.

Howdy
 
"Long-Throw" is a term for a high excursion driver. Knowing the Reveals, this is really not the case with them, but that is just marketing jargon not meaningful information.

About defects with the Yorkvilles, there are a couple of problems I have experienced. The first issue is a rattling back panel with monotones/extended bass notes. This is not very severe, as the rattling does blend in with the bass given that it is created by it, but it does notably distort the low end with certain tracks.

This issue can be pretty much reduced to insignificance with a high pass filter at around 50-60Hz, included with quality subwoofers. If you will be doing serious monitoring, the YSMs may by themselves already provide very sufficient bass response but a subwoofer I would still recommend as it will provide that extension as well as eliminate this problem.

Second thing I noticed is after nearly a year of use one of the speakers started randomly producing high SPL white noise (full frequency range), my hypothesis is a power supply problem. This again is not much of an issue, it can be elminated by resetting the power switch to the speaker and most often it doesn't occur for the whole day but occasionally it can happen every few minutes. Most often it does go away by itself after a few mins. Something I could probably get replaced under warranty, but recently is seems to be doing it less frequently so I'm giving it a chance. Could be one of those mysterious problems that just disappear after a while.

Even with these small potential problems, I do still believe it is one of the best monitors out there, and I don't just mean in it's price range. If you had experience with them, that goes without saying.

The Yorkvilles aside, I do think you should go with a pair of active monitors. A passive speaker is just that, an ordinary speaker that has been labelled a studio monitor. Active monitors have superior characteristics that push them well above these passive loudspeakers in performance. For monitoring purposes over anything, accurate reproduction is even moreso important.
 
High excursion drivers... that clears that right up. :D

You need to do some research elsewhere Howdy. Do a search here on "Monitors", "nearfield", "active vs. passive", etc. and you'll find millions of discussions about this topic. Good luck!
 
hmmmmm..... High Excursion Drivers??.... does that mean they are suited for guys who drive jacked-up Ford Excursions? OHhhh... bad joke. Seriously, you guys have been a great help. I finally did notice the "search box" at the bottom of the page and have put it to use.... a very helpful tool. <g>

I really do wish I could give those Yorkville monitors a listen to.... but, after searching locally and on the internet, the closest dealer to me is about a 4 to 5 hour drive away..... San Jose, CA. I think that I will most likely go with those Reveals for now and the next time I go visit my daughter (who is in San Jose) I will check out those "Yorkies". (<---- look, I'm getting the jargon down now!) <g>

Hey, at only 320 bucks.... it will at least get me started. <g>

Maybe the next go around, I will take you up on your advice, NuTT98, and buy active monitors... learning can be expensive, eh?

Howdy
 
I think that I will most likely go with those Reveals for now
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Good choice, the only thing that kept me from considering them is the severely limited bass response. With those you really will want a subwoofer, and a pretty high crossover with that (~90Hz). Otherwise they seem to be superb top to bottom. (Do note I'm referring to the Actives. The passives I have not heard but it seems they get vacillating impressions.).

will check out those "Yorkies". (<---- look, I'm getting the jargon down now!)
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I started that :), sounds very sentimental.
 
NuTT98...

I have read on the BB that some folks take CD's with them to the store to check out various monitors for quality, etc. I will most likely do the same.

So, the bass is a bit lacking?.... yeah, I read about that. I am not looking for a booming bass.... my style is pretty much late 60's early 70's rock (yes, I am an old-fart). <g> With that in mind do you think the Reveals will offer enough bass?

BTW.... I can remember back when BB was the only way of communication on the "net". I started out on Prodigy BB... first computer was an IBM PS-1 386.... still have it... sentimental reasons. <g>

Howdy
 
will check out those "Yorkies". (<---- look, I'm getting the jargon down now!)

I started that , sounds very sentimental.
Click to expand...

At work we have been calling our powered NX-520p speakers yorkies for quite some time now, I think it got started from the mackie SRM-450s.

Example:
"I for friday night need 4 mackies with subs for FOH and 5 yorkies for monitors. Oh yea and don't give me any operas, this time all yorkies."
 
BB's huh? I know a dude that's totally into those, at least the ones that still remain around today. I was never really a BB dude, when they were at their peak I was a little boy playing with butterflies in the back yard :)

I am not looking for a booming bass.... my style is pretty much late 60's early 70's rock (yes, I am an old-fart).
Click to expand...
From the rock category, I only listen to 80's, so I guess you can say I listen to old fart music.

There is a difference between extended bass and boomy bass. The Reveals roll off very early. I don't think the Reveals will offer enough bass, anything below 60Hz is pretty much a no-go for them, and when you do get a subwoofer that will fill the bottom end, the high crossover will pose a problem.

You can go have a listen for yourself, but such a severe lack of low frequencies takes the presence away from the music. And I'm not just referring to bassy music such as trance, rap or whatever else. Instrumental music, such as piano, cello can hit notes down to 30, even 20 Hz so that part of the spectrum is very important regardless of what you play. I mean the Reveals are missing nearly two of the ten sonic octaves.

Now I don't want to scare you away, the reason I myself like them is because bass aside they are very good all around, especially praised for their midrange definition(again, referring to the actives), but truth is they are probably the most bass constrained monitors out there for their size.
 
NuTT98....

Ya know, I can't believe how slow I am sometimes.... must be the age thang. <g> I was all set to go get those Tannoy Reveals today and after reading your last post about the "roll-off" on the bottom end, I find myself reconsidering those Yorkies.

I say I am slow cuz I just realized we have been talking about the YSM-1p and those are POWERED monitors. Am I correct in my thinking that the YSM-1i is the passive version of the same monitor? If so, they are way less expensive than the passive Reveals... I can buy the YSM-1i for 230 bucks a pair.... the Reveals are 320 bucks a pair. Hmmmm.... why would the Yorkies be so much less expensive and still be better? I did read the spec's on the Reveals and the Yorkies and you are right... the Yorkies are rated at 40-20kHZ and the Reveals at 65-20kHZ.

Anyway, am I right about the YSM-1i being the passive version of the YSM-1p?

Still learning....

Howdy
 
The Reveals cost more because they must be transported across the ocean from that little island nobody cares about :)

That aside, price doesn't decide the quality of any speaker, performance does. I have heard systems that were priced at around that of an economy car which sound awful, and considering the price they almost want to make you throw up.

On the other hand I have heard small bookshelf speakers priced in the 'up to $400' range that offer stunning performance for what they are, with the YSM1ps being particularly outstanding.

And yes the 'I' is the passive YSM. You may also run into the YSM1, which is the older Yorkville passive monitor.
 
Also note that since you considered the Reveals for that particular price tag, you obviously are capable of spending ~400 dollars.

In that case I really would recommend that you get active monitors whichever they may be. You can sell your existing amplifier to budget these monitors.

A pair of active monitors has significant technical advantages over any amp+passives combo. Rather than buying passives now and hearing actives later only to realize "shit, what was I thinking", it may be a good idea to strongly consider actives in the first place.

After all, if you buy the right speakers, they will last you for some time to come. So it may turn out to be cheaper in the long run getting just the right pair and not having to worry about upgrades in the future. Just a suggestion :)
 
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