Active monitors under 1000€ a pair

[PingWine]

As a kid I used to see everyone and their dog have a pair of HS5's in their studios so naturally I wanted them too.

Now that I have had them for a good while, I'm disappointed by how lackluster they really are. For years I was going mental because HS5's had so much treble and I didn't know whether it was my ears or whether all monitors are as painful to listen to. Only a few days ago when I saw Amir's measurements was I relieved and satisfied.

But anyways I feel like it's finally time for an upgrade so that's why I'm here

What I'm searching for in a speaker upgrade is:
- Something easy on the ears (but still flat and faithful)
- Something that can be listened from 60-90cm away (so unfortunately 5" is off the list already if the design isn't coaxial)
- Something that has a waveguide
- Something that plays up to 90db without distortion (Most probably I'll never even go that far for longer than 3 seconds)
- Something that is reliable and will last me at least 10 years

I'll mostly be using them for music and movies and perhaps in the future for making music myself.

My listening room is 20m^3 with no acoustic treatment other than my bed

My current contenders are the Genelec 8020D's and Neumann KH 80's. One option would be to buy the Genelec 8010A's and the 7040A subwoofer. (It would go a little over budget but shh)

I'm open to all suggestions!

Edit: I went with the Neumann KH80's

 

[_Bass]

I think you are going in the right direction with Genelec and Neuman. Let me just say that you do not have to buy their overly expensive subwoofers. You can buy very decent subwoofer(s) for half the price. And the money that you save put it into something else..

 

[PingWine]

I think you are going in the right direction with Genelec and Neuman. Let me just say that you do not have to buy their overly expensive subwoofers. You can buy very decent subwoofer(s) for half the price. And the money that you save put it into something else..

Unfortenately I live in EU so my subwoofer choices are really limited. And secondly I'll not buy any cheap subwoofer ever again. Most are cheap for a reason.

 

[q3cpma]

Unfortenately I live in EU so my subwoofer choices are really limited. And secondly I'll not buy any cheap subwoofer ever again. Most are cheap for a reason.

There's something in between. You have SVS or BK for nice sealed subs, but you'd have to use an external active crossover. Personally, I think Genelec is interesting even compared to those as the special port design allows for a very compact and efficient (sensitive) subwoofer.

 

[civi]

There's something in between. You have SVS or BK for nice sealed subs, but you'd have to use an external active crossover. Personally, I think Genelec is interesting even compared to those as the special port design allows for a very compact and efficient (sensitive) subwoofer.

Kef LSX have sub out with self high pass and sub-out low pass. Would you consider it sufficient for pairing with svs sb-12 nsd ?

 

[BDWoody]

I'll give my standard suggestion of JBL 705p's on B-stock sale... $500 each.

 

[Count Arthur]

For no other reason than I like the look: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/pioneer-rm-05

 

[Delysid]

You might consider Dynaudio BM5 MKIII as well. I know these YT comparison's are mostly worthless, but since you have HS series model, it might give you some insight.

 

[detlev24]

[...] (so unfortunately 5" is off the list already if the design isn't coaxial) [...]

Why exactly would that be? This pretty much contradicts to your aim for "Something that plays up to 90db without distortion".

[...] Personally, I think Genelec is interesting even compared to those as the special port design allows for a very compact and efficient (sensitive) subwoofer.

Absolutely, they are greatly designed products. But a frequency response of only 30 Hz (-6 dB) for the 7040A is not what I, personally, would expect from a subwoofer. Especially in this case, which is not equipped like their "SAM" series and thus does not come with additional benefits. The 7040A is more 'just' an additional 6.5" woofer.

I'll give my standard suggestion of JBL 705p's on B-stock sale... $500 each.

Unfortunately, not in Europe; which is the market of interest for this request.

You might consider Dynaudio BM5 MKIII as well. [...]

The request is for "Something that has a waveguide"; which I would agree, does limit the options unnecessarily.

 

[PingWine]

Why exactly would that be? This pretty much contradicts to your aim for "Something that plays up to 90db without distortion".


Absolutely, they are greatly designed products. But a frequency response of only 30 Hz (-6 dB) for the 7040A is not what I, personally, would expect from a subwoofer. Especially in this case, which is not equipped like their "SAM" series and thus does not come with additional benefits. The 7040A is more 'just' an additional 6.5" woofer.


Unfortunately, not in Europe; which is the market of interest for this request.


The request is for "Something that has a waveguide"; which I would agree, does limit the options unnecessarily.

The desibel amount isn't that important though. I just threw in some number i think will be the max peak my monitors would ever hit. The reason I limit my choices under 5" is that my listening position varies from 50-90cm from the monitors and it's not advisable to be that close to 5"s

Genelec 5" is the 8030C and every 5" is about the same if not coaxial. I want always to be in that "recommended" range

 

[detlev24]

Ah, now I understand. However, I think you should consider this a little more in combination with regards to available max. SPL and design choices, since it definitely does not tell which size of woofer is suitable for which listening distance. // I am using JBL 708P [8" woofer] for a very similar listening range and cannot find any issue - not even by measurements.

For instance, the 8260A has a 10" woofer which is crossed-over at 490 Hz, to the coaxial MF/HF driver [see operating manual]. Yet, the recommended listening distance starts at as closely as ~0.5 meter; according to Genelec.

 

[Delysid]

The request is for "Something that has a waveguide"; which I would agree, does limit the options unnecessarily.

According to Dynaudio it has one, skip to 9:50.

 

[detlev24]

I know, they consider this a waveguide:


[Source: Dynaudio]

Technically, they are absolutely right!

But most people would think of something "more pronounced". If this is considered to be adequate by definition, @PingWine, then I would happily like to suggest a closer look at the 'APS Klasik 2020'.

 

[Mountain Goat]

I've been nothing but pleased with my Adam A5Xs. Love the AMT tweeters, and they sound great on the desktop. Quiet too. My only quibble is that the AB amp on the tweeter gets hot, but it's got a 5-year warranty, so who cares.

 

[soundwave]

I would also put Dynaudio on my list.

 

[aac]

I'll give my standard suggestion of JBL 705p's on B-stock sale... $500 each.

Certainly not for a desktop use from his distance - hiss will be noticeable.

 

[detlev24]

[...] hiss will be noticeable.

Yes, but [my] laptop cooling fans are much noisier [e.g., Microsoft Surface Book]. I do have no issues with 'JBL 708P' at such close listening distances.

Anyway, the 705P is out of question for EU readers in the requested price range; as it is ~90% more expensive round here [B-stock].

 

[3125b]

I went with the Neumann KH80's

Thats certainly a good decision quality wise, if you like them.
With Neumann, Genelec and so on I wouldn't hesitate to buy used, they'd still last a good long time.
I've seen very good and fairly new pairs of KH 120 A go for less than 800€ on the used market - though probably not in Finland.
Adam A5X could fit your profile as well, they have quite soft highs, but I wouldn't call them particularly "flat and faithful".

 

[PingWine]

Thats certainly a good decision quality wise, if you like them.

Funny you say that. My KH 80's have defective leds so I had to turn them. My inner OCD couldn't handle 2 leds with different white balances. I know full well that I could've returned them but frankly I don't care that much to go through all that hassle

 

[3125b]

Sorry to hear that. I`ve only read good things about them, as where cheaper monitors can be plagued with problems (death goo on KRK, tweeter hiss on JBL, [probably no quality control by Focal, as I have experienced myself] and so on).
It's weird that they would have differently colored LEDs, the LEDs do show different colors to indicate the status, but if one was off, it should not slip through quality contol like that, they are made in Ireland after all.