I just read the Future Music monitor shoot-out review that Dracon mentioned. What an interesting comparison, especially if one considers the previous month's related review. (The last two issues looked at two price ranges of monitors.) When reading, I realized that the British prices are obvioulsy different than in the USA, so certain monitors are grouped together that would typically be in different price ranges here.
But yes, there were a lot of surprised panelists... the Event 5 was especially highly rated, as was the Samson 65, Yamaha 3 & 5, and the M-Audio 5. Lower rated (interesting to see) were two Roland models, the Tapco 5, two KRK models, the M-Audio 8--and even the small Mackie and Genelec models (not dissed, but not the strongest in the price range). It's all just a bunch of pro opinions, certainly to take with a grain of salt, but it's a really helpful round-up for anyone looking into some new monitors. Next month's issue, the third and last in the series, will look at the highest price range.
I think what most surprised me, overall, was how successful the two small Yamaha monitors were received--these are two monitors that don't receive much press in forums these days. Live and learn, I guess.
Best,
J.