Studio Monitors
Home > Home Recording Forum > Gear Gab > Studio Monitors
Posted on Aug 29, 2008 07:19 pm
blinkrocker3
Member Since: Aug 19, 2008
I'll be building a small home studio soon and one thing I don't know too much about is monitors. What's the difference between active and passive, what's the best size, what's the best for the price, stuff like that.
[ Back to Top ]
Aug 29, 2008 09:04 pm Active have built-in amplification. Passive requires a separate amplifier.
Personally, I prefer passive by a rather gigantic margin - But that's me.
Size? Depends on the what the space will allow.
"Best for the price" -- WHAT price?**
In any case, your monitoring chain (that includes your DA, controller, interconnects, amplification, monitors themselves and room treatment) will be by far, the most absolutely important purchase you will make. No doubt, paramount, vital, without question. Nothing else will come even close.
You can skimp on a lot of things and get by -- But no matter what, you can not tweak what you can not hear. You will only ever be as good as your monitoring allows you to be. Your monitors will only ever be as good as the room they're in allows them to be.
** Anywhere between $1000 and $50,000 you're going to find solid performers - and some crap. Under around $1000, you're mostly going to find crap. There are a few exceptions -- Dynaudio BM5a's, ADAM A7's (both active), B&W M805's or DM602S3's (passive).
But seriously - Buy cheap, buy (at least) twice. You can struggle with poor monitoring for years and get nowhere, or you can invest in a decent pair and be ahead of the curve in no time.
Aug 30, 2008 05:26 pm If i was getting passive monitors, what kind of amplifier should i get?
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Aug 30, 2008 07:04 pm You want an amp that is clean and is rated for the power of the monitor's. An under powered amp will simply not give the monitor's enough juice to reproduce the signal with the quality it should.
And I usually recommend staying away from the low budget amps. They are not the quietest either physically or through the monitor's.
Aug 30, 2008 11:51 pm A few favorites -- Reasonably "budget friendly" but most definitely "reference quality" --
Almost anything that says "Bryston" on it.
Rotel high-current models.
Hafler TransNOVA series amps.
Used Brystons are pretty easy to find but they can still be a little pricey (however, with a 20 year warranty, they're worth a few extra bucks.
Rotel are nice, not too expensive (even new, they're a bargain). But the high-current line are the only ones to even look at.
Hafler TransNOVA were a staple for a long time - Discontinued for some unknown reason...
I'd generally recommend 1.5-2x the rated power of the speakers -- Although with the Bryston & Rotel models, you can feel pretty safe at or even slightly under the rated power also. That's for lower-powered speakers for the most part... If you wind up with a set of Dunlavy's that can handle 600 watts, running them off a 250 is perfectly fine (assuming you're never going to crank it up that much anyway). But no doubt - You don't want your amp to be taxed too heavily... Very bad for the drivers.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Aug 31, 2008 01:42 am Oooo, Hafler TransNOVA. I ran one for several years and loved it. Moved some gear around and it developed an issue. Rather then repair it I traded it off. Wishing now I had not done that.
I will second the Rotel line as well. I've installed several for other clients and they love them.
