Tannoy Reveal vs. KRK Rokit vs. Yorkville ysm-1

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patrickkeller2

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Hi all, I'm in the market for some $300 and under passive monitors. I will try the Event 20/20's, and I will try the Alesis monitor 1's - but I'm having trouble location a pair of tannoy reveals, krk rokits, and yorkville ysm-1's in town (Los Angeles - there just aren't that many places that will let you demo in piece here - everyone store here has gone bi-amped crazy as well).

I know this is hard to believe, but everyone local has stopped carrying the krk rokit, which is too bad, because they look pretty nice for $230 at discountmusic.com. I'd consider the yorkville's too, but most folks say they prefer the detail of the reveals to the supposed flatness and hifi lowend of the ysm-1's. If anybody has actually done any instore/instudio test with the rokits, reveals, or ysm-1's. I'd be more than happy to read about the differences you heard.

I will be mixing very percussive (dance/hip hop) music as well as more traditional all mid-treble "new music" (Glass, Reich) on a DAW - so keep that in mind for any reccomendations.

thanks to all that decide to help.

p.s. - if you haven't heard either of the 3 monitors listed in the title, think twice before telling me how much you love your alesis monitors ones or event 20/20's - I've read all the monitor reveiews in this section and am well aware of the proponents these two monitors have on this BBS. There are plenty of places for me to test out these two particular brands of monitors here in LA.
 
I have to say that I never heard the rokit but while I was working in a big studio 2 weeks agao I heard 2 engineers I trust (that were working with the rokit's on a different project) say that they sound like cartons and that they told the KRK importer "Why ruin your name by bringing in this crap".

I have heard the Reveals. It's a subjective thing but They sound pretty good for budget monitors.
They were a little thin on the lows but overall worth the price.
 
<double post>



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 07-20-2000).]
 
Actually, I'm gonna think 5 times, because I'm choosing between 5 diff. monitors here. It's just that I have access to the 20/20's and monitors ones, so I don't really need any opinions on those monitors alone - I just can't find anyplace to test the three in the title (tannoy, krk, yorkville) which is why I'm a asking if anybody has had any experience with those three.

I know you like the 20/20's Emeric, I read your post from waaaay back, and found if very helpful.

thanks to everyone who's responded so far.

-patrickk.
 
O.k.,

I've called around, and nobody in town carries the monitor one anymore - isn't that nuts?! - the guy at guitar center said they haven't carried them for over a year, he didn't even think that they made them anymore (this isn't true, but it's still shocking that this guy would think this, looks like things have gone more self-powered than I thought).

Anyway, I'm crossing the monitor one's off my list, cause I've heard mixed reviews, and based on that (with no option to demo) I will have to pass - the only people that have recommended them to me have been dj's, not engineers. I'm also crossing the rokits off my list, with only a 69khz low frequency rating, and the useful advice I got above, I don't think they are what I'm looking for (though I do love the way krk's look, and I like they way their v-series sounds).


So now it's yorkville's vs. tannoy's vs. event 20/20 unpowered. I'll be powering whatever I get with an NAD amp (50w rms, 125w peak, soft-clipping) designed for 2ohm loads. . . . sure it's no RA-100, but I think it will get the job done for now, I'm poor.

So, I can get the yorkville's for $215 shipping included, and the tannoys or reveals for $289 shipping included.

I'm hesitant about the reveals because they supposedly have thin lows. (but they look sharp!)

I'm hesitant about the event's, becaues even though people say you can use them with a quality 4ohm 50w. . . . I don't think that underpowering them would help the supposedly flabby bass of the passive 20/20's. (anybody own the passives out there? how's the LOW bass 20-80hz?. . . . mr. Emeric?)

I'm hesitant about the yorkville's, because they seem a little too much like regular consumer bookshelf speakers, and they aren't sheilded (I'd have them a good 10" from my monitor, which should be enough. . . I think). But for $215, I can live with it if they let me hear everything that's coming out of my DAW accurately.

So, I'm ready to be sold on one of these three, given the price, what would you seasoned experts reccommend? I'm pretty pissed that I can't really demo any of these monitors, but given the pricepoint, I realize that some-kind of compromise is inevitable - I just want to be able to do reliable mixes with a reasonably enjoyable, fatigue-free sound during the process.

thanks all, this list is great.
 
I never had much luck trying monitors out in stores, usually they are arranged in such away that it's difficult to really judge.

But, one thing you can tell at least is the quality or lack of in their construction.

I've only used two different sets of monitors - the yamaha NS10's and the Event 20/20's. I like the 20/20's better, the bass response is good, better than the NS10's. With small monitors, low frequency is always going to be sacrificed somewhat. Placement and room acoustics will of course play a big role.

10" from a computer screen would make me a bit leary of unshielded ones.

Sorry I can't be of much help here, there are other people on the board that use the monitor 1's and could give you better info.
 
Thanks Emeric!

I'm pretty sure that they 20/20's are worth $289 out the door. If the shielding really will be an issue for me, then I guess I really have no choices left (I know that I just use too much 40-60hz synth stuff to go with the reveals). I've heard of people who use monitor one's putting them 4" from the screen and having no distortion, so I figured I might be o.k. withoug shileding. I'd eventually like to buy a proper studio desk, that would elevate the speakers away from the monitor anyway.

I'm just worried about underpowering the 20/20's - would 50w from a 2ohm amp really be enough for low level listening? (I HATE loud music, I usually have to wear earplugs in the movie theater for pete's sake)

however, I was completely sold on the 20/20's (having never heard them) till I went back to the post-house where I worked for a few months to pick up a check, and noticed that they had 20/20bas's set up in one of the Avid suites. Usually, they only used Mackie HRwhatevers (those expesnive new ones everybody likes), those are the monitors that I recorded and mixed on while I was there (they did the job, but tended to dismantle pop music, put too much air around everything, Beck sounded like a John William's score, and John Williams sounded like a stereo-imaging test-disk). I asked my supervisor about the 20/20's, thinking he'd say he loved them (since he only edited video, and had to blast everything to hear it. . . I'm sure he's half deaf) - and to my surprise, he said he hated them, he said they sounded half as good as the mackies (apparently they accuired them in a studio buy-out). He said he didn't care for them at all. . . . a shock. This guy doesn't even know what a compressor is, and he thought the event's sounded junky. I don't know what to make of it. . . the event's are half the price of the mackies. . . but it's made me realize that what I'm going to buy is definitely going to be "budget" material (but so is everything else in my home set-up).
 
You should be aware that yamaha ns10s were not designed as monitors, but rather as an extreme case of hifi speakers, for correcting mix problems that are inaudible on proper monitors, ie. they color the sound horribly.
 
If you'd waited 2 more days to resurrect this thread, it would have been 4 years between posts!
 
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