bishopdante wrote:Would definitely recommend looking on ebay/craigslist/gumtree for KEF reference. Those are inexpensive and genuinely no-nonsense holographic quality sound, flat frequency response etc.eg: Kef Reference 104ABhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KEF-MODEL-104 ... Swi0RXzLrrhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kef-104-refer ... Sw8w1X4V6jInteresting. Is that some sort of flat piston driver at the bottom there? I have a pair of Phase Tech PC60's that have piston drivers. They sound pretty good, but have almost nothing below about 100hz, so a sub is a must have with them. They are very clear and have a not so harsh tweeter that handles the above 2.5k stuff without making me want to rip my face off. I've been looking at KEF, and the stuff looks pretty great for the price. Keeping my eyes open for a pair local.

japmn wrote:bishopdante wrote:Would definitely recommend looking on ebay/craigslist/gumtree for KEF reference. Those are inexpensive and genuinely no-nonsense holographic quality sound, flat frequency response etc.eg: Kef Reference 104ABhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KEF-MODEL-104 ... Swi0RXzLrrhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kef-104-refer ... Sw8w1X4V6jInteresting. Is that some sort of flat piston driver at the bottom there? I have a pair of Phase Tech PC60's that have piston drivers. They sound pretty good, but have almost nothing below about 100hz, so a sub is a must have with them. They are very clear and have a not so harsh tweeter that handles the above 2.5k stuff without making me want to rip my face off. I've been looking at KEF, and the stuff looks pretty great for the price. Keeping my eyes open for a pair local.I think it's some kind of passive 'radiator', not really a driver as such.

Not a fan of Genelecs either, they just sound a bit hyped.At home I use a set of Yamaha HS-50's. For non ideal rooms I think avoiding swamping the room with bass is a pragmatic approach, and the drivers are fairly accurate. Once the mix is sounding "too bright" it's usually just bright enough.

I have Focal CMS50s and like them- they translate well and aren't fatiguing, and they are well-built and tough and pack up nicely into a little carrying case for mobile gigs.The CMS line may be just out of your price range, but Focal recently introduced a budget line called Alpha. Haven't tried them but I'd say they're probably worth considering.

for the money can't say enough good things about JBL LR305s

TylerSavage wrote:for the money can't say enough good things about JBL LR305sThese were just recommended to me. My needs are minimal at this point.

Mason wrote:I was researching the Alpha 65s just yesterday. Tape Op is cool with them, as are a few studio friends of mine.Next year, ideally, I'd like to pick up a set of good monitors for my home setup ”I've decided that unlike almost everything else, I don't want to fully cheap out on monitors. Something around 1000 CAD a pair, which is what these Alphas would run me. If there are any other models worth considering within that kind of medium-budget, HS8-or-better range, I'd be happy to learn of them.You can't buy them new, but the B&W Matrix 805s I have are right in your price range typically. I've never used better.

I'm sure I'd be happy with those, though I'd automatically been thinking of active monitors. If I'm buying a power amp as well, that shrinks the monitor budget a bit.Kind of tangential: I'm hoping I'm not wandering into a weird place, budget-wise. I'm familiar with cheap monitors and somewhat familiar with higher-end monitors, but not much in between. I was talking with a friend a while back about that awful $500-1000 valley when it comes to purchasing (new) guitars, where they're neither high-end enough to be really satisfying nor cheap enough to be Cheap. And since I normally see people buying monitors below or above the range I'm talking about, I'm wondering if there's a similar valley there.I.e. I'm wondering if I'm in a place where it makes more sense to either pick up $1000-each Adams et al. (which I don't think I can justify) or save a few hundred and probably be perfectly OK with Equator D5s.

I was researching the Alpha 65s just yesterday. Tape Op is cool with them, as are a few studio friends of mine.Next year, ideally, I'd like to pick up a set of good monitors for my home setup ”I've decided that unlike almost everything else, I don't want to fully cheap out on monitors. Something around 1000 CAD a pair, which is what these Alphas would run me. If there are any other models worth considering within that kind of medium-budget, HS8-or-better range, I'd be happy to learn of them.

TylerSavage wrote:for the money can't say enough good things about JBL LR305sSo my trusty Alesis M1 Active MK 1s went up in smoke. (Literary-- smoke started pouring out of the ports.) So I'm in the market for new monitors. A couple of people have already recommended the JBL 305 (and 308) as well as Yamaha HS5, 7, and 8, and the Tannoy RevealsOther recommendations for actives in the $300 range?