I had a set of focal cms40s + tannoy sub. Loved the sound, but never translated right. (mostly due to using a sub in a tiny space). I also love the CMS50s, not a big fan of the CMS65s though.
I found a great deal on a second hand pair of Event Opals and they seem to translate great. Which goes against a lot of what people say about using big speakers in small spaces. I do have a fair amount of bass traps and absorbers though.
My advice would be to spend as much time/effort/money treating your studio space as you would looking for new speakers.
Funny you should post that. Iāve spent this summer restoring an old 1970 caravan, and have though about putting speakers in it.
Iām no authority on acoustics, but generally a sub in a small space is asking for problems. Personally I found that everything sounded great in my studio but when I played stuff on other systems it was quite bass shy.
You could always use the sub for when you are writing tracks and want to get into the vibe, but turn it off when mixing down or doing anything critical where frequency response needs to be accurate. Bass trapping does help a lot, if youāre handy and have access to some tools you can do it quite cheaply. Gearslutz forum is a good source of info for this stuff.
I would imagine your caravan would resonate a lot with heavy bass, I know mine did when I camped next to a dub sound system at a festival
Event TR8. These are a little bass heavy in my environment, but otherwise very good. I have come to know then well as Iāve been using them as my mains for a decade.
Equator Audio D5. These cannot handle much power, but they have crazy good mid-range. I got them as a second reference for the bass-heavy Eventās, and they are the best monitors Iāve heard for the price.
awesome!!
I wish I could afford themā¦now running with Adam A8x.
Nice low-end but for low-levelā¦if the volume goes up the woofer starts to suffer.
Anyone experienced this?
Must be cool to do jams in remote locations! If your battery allows.
As for the speakers I upgraded Events TR5 and after checking number of options including Adams A7X and Focal CMS had to go for Solo BE as the upgrade wouldnāt be worth it otherwise. They are pricey but I couldnāt be more happy with them. Low end is fantastic, stereo image super wide, lots of detail. I just enjoy listening to music on them on top of mixing, which translates very well too. If you have bigger room they would be ideal. No sub needed.
Mine is actually more for holidays (not that I ever have any) and a spare room at my partnerās house. Not sure if I could live in it long term, itās tiny, like 4 meters long and weighs 600kg.
i have them since 7 years and iām more than satisfied
495 is an exciting price. i paid 1950 for my pair back in 2007[/quote]
Now i have them for 3 montis, they are only getting better. Good sound is so.addictive
only 149 Euro per speaker! If I could afford them I would buy the Neumann KH120A but 649 Euro per speaker is quite a lot. My āstudioā is small, so I think the JBLĀ“s are good, or does somebody has experience here and can say they are super bad and colouring?
Iāve had mine for 6 months. I was saving to get some Genelecs but the reviews of the LSR305 and 308s on Gearslutz convinced me to buy a pair of 305s on Amazon to try out.
I sit quite close to my monitors in an average sized double bedroom.
Two minor negatives:
On the 305s at least, the accuracy trails off in mid-low frequencies and you canāt be sure what is going on at the lower end.
there is an almost imperceptible whitenoise when they are switched on regardless of any signal connected. I have a very quiet house, with no computer fans etc, and the speakers are set very low most of the time - if you have any background studio noise or listen at above average levels, you wonāt notice. (Iām not sure if this is common to all powered monitors but I donāt recall noticing it when demoing others).
On the plus side, they are stunningly crisp and detailed in mid-high and high frequencies. They borrow the unusual tweeter design from much more expensive JBLs and it is really incredibly good. I would say it is on par with the mid-priced Genelecs but slightly less harsh.
Wrt point 1 above, I just picked up the LSR310 sub to go with them which has a crossover around 80hz and now they sound stunning all the way down to 23/24hz. I have some home-made bass traps and drapes and I donāt think I could get a better sound in here without proper acoustic room treatment.
NB: Iām not producing professional mixes or mastering and I demoed a lot of monitors before making my subjective choice of the Genelecs. These JBL 305s are the next best thing, to my ears, for a fraction of the cost.
At the price they are going for, you should seriously consider buying from somewhere with a returns policy and trying them out for the cost of return postage.
i have 2 sets of monitor speakers, bought a second one since I my living room is separated from my music room.
in my living room, I have this fantastic Dynaudio BM12 A MK2
They sound amazing, not only for music production, also for listening jazz, classical music, electronic and pop music
in my studio I bought 2nd hand Adam A8X.
for listening music, like classical music, I donāt like them so much
for making music with my Elektron boxes, I love them
I use Tannoy Reveal 502ās. The high end can be a bit straining on them but with the high cut switch engaged they are sweet and clear. I like em. But what really matters with monitors is that you know them. You can mix on any old shit as long as you know what they hype and what they lack. I did my first proper album on a pair of m-audios that were utter crap.
