Are studio monitors a better buy than passive hifi speakers?

[Karmacoma]

So you think that i'm laying ? Do some testing then talking.

If I thought you were lying at any point, be sure I would have been very explicit about it, but that's not the point, let's stick to the subject.
There seems to be a misunderstanding on your side, please read carefully my message again, and answer my questions please.

 

[Krit]

Can you cite a source or provide measurements to support this?

Only real time listening through ears!!!! You can only hear what you can hear.

 

[john61ct]

studio monitors, both active and passive

THANK YOU

The OP is conflating "studio monitors used for home audio" with "active vs passive".

I choose passive, because I cannot depend on AC grid power.

Bass management / EQ / RC etc are efficiently driven by a small SW inverter, but IMO the amp power is better run off DC.

Anyone ever come across SQ active speakers with modern DSP features that are DC powered?

Serious question...

 

[sigbergaudio]

Because something like A100 have better cabinet build quality and it has a rubber feet. Let's say if you will be using IN-5, LP6, 305, 306 or even EVO 65 withought pads it will be a disaster on hard surfaces as studio monitors have no rubber feet and usually cabinet enclosure quality is lower. But even then A100 have pads included for free.

I don't have a lot of experience with cheap studio monitors, but they're typically used the way you use them, so it sounds a bit strange. Although I guess most use small stands anyway to get them at the right height, unless they actually use them in a studio on top of the mixing table. But again you could isolate them with furniture pads for 5 USD, and I also doubt that most hifi speakers at this price range are better built.

You seem to have gone through a small sample of active studio monitors and have not been happy. I am sorry to hear that. I don't think this is enough to conclude as a blanket statement that active hifi speakers in the same price range (of which there are actually not that many compared to the choice of studio monitors) are generally better.

That being said, it could of course be the case that hifi speakers are generally better suited to a hifi situation, that is after all what they are designed for. The studio monitors assume that you likely already have an interface with XLR (and 50 XLR cables in a box somewhere).

 

[Krit]

You seem to have gone through a small sample of active studio monitors and have not been happy.

From all studio monitors i had i actually was fine with JBL 305P MKII used them for at least a year if not more. If there was no hiss issue than who knows maybe i'm still was using them to this date. But after i heard the A100 for the first time there is no way back.

 

[Crook]

I really do like the idea of actives, but in my use case I'm just not sure it works. I'm running F206 in white, in a shared 40m2 room. I paid £1,500 new. I like a floorstander looks wise, the gloss finish is automotive quality. They sound great at 2m, but equally can rattle the window frames and entertain with edm at a party. What actives could I have got for the same money, that aren't fugly as hell and perform as well or better?

 

[a4eaudio]

Awesome

...You can only hear what you can hear.

Well, you can hear what you hear. And you can hear what you can measure. And with a good mic, you can measure even more than you can hear. I would think that if it were true that studio monitors in general sound crappy without rubber feet, this would be well known and measured. Otherwise, it's kind of like "you can hear what you hear" with those nice $1,000 speaker cables.

 

[Krit]

I would think that if it were true that studio monitors in general sound crappy without rubber feet, this would be well known and measured.

Well for some monitors even with soft pads under them they still have some issues with mechanical resonances which is hearable with bare ears imagine what will hapen if pads will be removed. I'm talking about IN-5 that enclosure can not handle 3way heavy driver design at higher volumes. It's like a car which bad shock absorbers just drive in pothole and it will hurt.

 

[pablolie]

Studio monitors with built-in optimized amps seem to cost less than buying passive speakers plus and amp. If serious music listeners are going for hearing it "like the engineer intended," what could be better than using studio monitors? And on the higher end of the scale you have speakers like Genelec SAM that can automatically calibrate the EQ for your room. Are products made for the pro market a better value than those made for home listening?

Guess the real question is about active speakers vs passive speakers, since the "studio monitor" vs "passive home speakers" is artificial. Not all active studio monitors are the same, as are not passive home speakers... so the topic falls flat for me right there.

There are great products in every category, and there are also miserably bad ones too. Too make it generic about the category is silly. It's like asking "Are all Donuts better than all Madeleines?".

My simple answer to the original question can thus only be a "no".

 

[theREALdotnet]

Only real time listening through ears!!!! You can only hear what you can hear.

That's a common misconception. We can also hear things that aren't there as well as not hear things that are there. The physical reality of sound waves hitting the ear drums is only part of what makes hearing. A lot of it is created in the mind.

 

[kharan]

I had used these in past ~ 7 years in the same smaller room for nearfield listening on stands. Distance around ~ 1-1.5m away using them with PC.

- Edifier S350DB 2.1 active system just plug and play 205€ (for that price it's not that bad) warm sounding with a lot of bass no hiss at all from 1m away.
- JBL 305P MKII (my first ever studio monitors) was a decent studio monitor pair only serius issue was the hiss noise from the tweeters, airy tweeter decent amount of detalization + decent amount of low end (mid woofer detalization is not perfect) 278€ for monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 445€ in total.
- JBL 306P MKII in terms of pure detalization it was a downgrade from a 305P MKII. 438€ for monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 615€ in total.
- Mackie MR524 different sound faster than JBL but was defective out of the box (distortion in certain songs) 280€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 475€ in total.
- Mackie MR624 overall slightly better than MR524 but has even worse (distortion in certain songs from one of the speakers) 356€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 533€ in total.
- Focal Alpha EVO 65 good quality no distrotion at all but terrible hiss may be even worse than JBL (not a fan of sound character tweeters are quite fatiguing on ears for longer listening but at the same time detalization from tweteers is good better than JBL/Mackie in terms of pure resolution. 678€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 855€ in total.
- Kali Audio IN-5 great midrange, tweeter not so much in terms of pure detalization the same goes for low end there is not a lot of it and at the same time bass detalization is not that great for the price they are asking for. Cabinet quality is poor it sounds boxy in not a good way if you crank it hard enough mechanical resonances may be noticeable (it's cheaply built even JBL 305P MKII to me looked better for build quality) 650€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 827€ in total.
- Kali Audio LP6 V2 straight away no resolution/detalization it sounds like a towel is droped on speakers/tweeters yes it's flat very flat! But also very boring no excitement whatsoever. To me it has weak detalization overall it's quite dull and low end is weak even at max aviable settings not much is going on. LP6 V2 is a significant downgrade from a IN-5 i definitely like 305P MKII more than LP6 V2. 418€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 595€ in total.
- Airpulse SM200 it sounds different than A100 not as full overall, but seems to have better instrument seperation, less low end than A100. Tweeter on SM200 is more fatiguing than on A100 not as polite. SM200 have more hiss than A100 good amount of air. Overall i like A100 more than SM200 it sounds more alive not as limited. 682€ for a monitor pair + 23€ for trs cables + 139€ for audio interface + 15€ for isolation pads = 859€ in total.
- Airpulse A100 very full sounding speaker at the same time not fatiguing for a longer listenings, very good detalization/resolution from tweeter good amount of air and depth low end has great detalization (fast saunding speaker complete opposite to JBL slow sounding speaker) A100 have a good build quality similar to SM200 or Focal Alpha EVO 65. No hiss at 1m distance. Now A100 is aviable on Amazon.de for only 398€ (i bought it for 508€) just plug and play.

From this list my favorite is A100 and it's not a studio monitor but a speaker which was built for home usage and at very low price.

In my opinion A100 compleatly destroys JBL 306P MKII and LP6 V2 it's not even close in terms of pure detalization/resolution and sound fullness and doing it at lower price. JBL 305P MKII is better than 306/LP6 but still it's way to expensive for what it really is as A100 sounds significantly better when we are listening to a good quality files. EVO 65, IN-5 and SM200 will be closer to A100 but still i choose A100 over them for way, way less money.

To be frank all those speakers belong to the same category to me, that of small to medium sized desktop or standmount speakers with on board amplification. Whether you call them hi-fi or monitor only depends on your customer base.

 

[kyuu]

I really do like the idea of actives, but in my use case I'm just not sure it works. I'm running F206 in white, in a shared 40m2 room. I paid £1,500 new. I like a floorstander looks wise, the gloss finish is automotive quality. They sound great at 2m, but equally can rattle the window frames and entertain with edm at a party. What actives could I have got for the same money, that aren't fugly as hell and perform as well or better?

For floorstanders the situation is definitely different; there simply isn't much of a market for active floorstanders (unfortunately). The only real option in that space I'm aware of is the KEF LS60. Those cost significantly more than 1500 euros, of course, though of course that doesn't include the amps. You could drive those F206 with a Wiiim Amp, though, so that's not huge on its own. And the LS60 are more SPL-limited than a passive floorstander with a half decent amp behind it. On the flip side, as long as you're within its SPL limitations you pretty much get full-range performance with the LS60, no subwoofer necessary.

You could always just get a decent size set of bookshelf actives and stands, of course, but still difficult to compete in terms of value and SPL capability to a passive+amp setup. Actives being a high value alternative to passives really only applies for near-field (and maybe mid-field) setups as far as I'm aware.

 

[dtaylo1066]

For the first time since purchasing my KEF LSX II LT from Costco for $499, I did some critical listening today, and had received some inexpensive stands I ordered on Amazon a longer KEF brand speaker to speaker connection their stout USB wire.

The speakers are only a foot or slightly less from the wall on both sides of my TV, about 9 feet apart. I was quite impressed by the sound via Wi-Fi and Tidal Connect. The internal amps provide 70W to each midbass and 30 watts to the UniQ tweeter. The DSP EQ, though not as extensiive as I would like, does the job, and the bass adjustment works. Good solid base for a 4.5" driver. My favorite reference listening tunes were presented with greate detail, depth and imaging. For $499 and all in one, this is a great bargain. No analog in, so one would have to buy a MiniDSP Pocket ADC to cover off on that via that Toslink input. Add a sub and you have a true full range hi-fi experience.

 

[Sal1950]

Because something like A100 have better cabinet build quality and it has a rubber feet. Let's say if you will be using IN-5, LP6, 305, 306 or even EVO 65 withought pads it will be a disaster on hard surfaces as studio monitors have no rubber feet and usually cabinet enclosure quality is lower.

A disaster? Can you supply measurements to back that up. Was the surface you had them set on buzzing and rattling to cause a "disaster in sound"?
Hate to tell you son, but a couple rubber feet ain't gonna turn a sows ear into a silk purse.
Did you read Archimago's article on speaker footers, if not do so, it's a good one.

Do loudspeaker footers make a difference? Inexpensive aluminum alloy "isolation" footers.

A blog for audiophiles about more objective topics. Measurements of audio gear. Reasonable, realistic, no snakeoil assessment of sound, and equipment.

archimago.blogspot.com

 

[Bruce Morgen]

FWIW, every monitor in my all-Kali front line sits on some sort of padding -- no rubber feet or spikes and no problems at any volume I can stand. The IN-8v2 L+R pair are on Gator tabletop stands that are padded with some sort of fabric (felt?) layered over neoprene AFAICT. The IN-5 center is on a well-braced shelf with two stacked dense foam wedges from PE between the shelf and the (horizontally oriented) monitor.

 

[hch]

Guess the real question is about active speakers vs passive speakers, since the "studio monitor" vs "passive home speakers" is artificial. Not all active studio monitors are the same, as are not passive home speakers... so the topic falls flat for me right there.

There are great products in every category, and there are also miserably bad ones too. Too make it generic about the category is silly. It's like asking "Are all Donuts better than all Madeleines?".

My simple answer to the original question can thus only be a "no".

The "studio monitor" vs "passive home speakers" question is not artificial when it comes to price. A top of the line studio monitor from the likes of Genelec, Neumann or JBL is significantly cheaper than your typical "high end" passive home hifi speaker.

 

[Krit]

A disaster? Can you supply measurements to back that up. Was the surface you had them set on buzzing and rattling to cause a "disaster in sound"?

Sorry but i was never so dumb to use a studio monitors without acoustics pads. It's a complete nonsense if there is no feet (by default) than use pads it's exactly as simple as that. Hard surfaces + hard surfaces under vibration will be no good it's simple physics. Why it's so hard for you to chew it ?

 

[Krit]

Hate to tell you son, but a couple rubber feet ain't gonna turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

If the enclosure is optimized for that it will be fine. Cheaper low quality stuff may have some issues. I'm tired of hearing this bias.

 

[hch]

Sorry but i was never so dumb to use a studio monitors without acoustics pads. It's a complete nonsense if there is no feet (by default) than use pads it's exactly as simple as that. Hard surfaces + hard surfaces under vibration will be no good it's simple physics. Why it's so hard for you to chew it ?

Why is it so hard for you to comprehend that many of us have put speakers on hard surfaces with no issues at all?

 

[Ultrasonic]

For floorstanders the situation is definitely different; there simply isn't much of a market for active floorstanders (unfortunately). The only real option in that space I'm aware of is the KEF LS60.

ATC and Canton both have active floorstanding speaker options.