Floorstanders with DRC vs studio monitors?

[jbel]

Hi,

I’ve just joined this forum and I’m very glad I found this forum where people are more concerned with objective measurable reality!

I’m seeking for an advice and it’s really hard to put it shortly, but I’ll try.

TL;DR:
Should I get active studio monitors instead of typical home hifi floorstanders + amp + dac to get better quality for the same amount of money?

Longer version:

In general my vision is to achieve best sound quality (as transparent system as I can get) for my home listening setup while not spending too much.

Currently my system is stereo setup of Monitor Audio Rx-6 + NAD 368. I wanted to improve sound quality. First I started exploring available options for setting up good room correction + transparent DAC. So I narrowed to options which have Dirac Live and roughly cost around 1600EU (MiniDSP SHD, or DRC-22DA + some transparent DAC).

But then I thought maybe I’m concentrating on the wrong issue after all and there are more effective ways to achieve this goal?

Maybe I’d achieve better results by simply choosing some high quality active crossover midfield studio monitors (my listening distance is something along 2.6m - 3m) with room correction built-in from the start (something from Genelec or Adam Audio or Jbl). From what I understand these things with active crossovers are exactly optimised for being as transparent as possible, and could theoretically be more efficient and precise in room correction by having everything integrated. Probably I wouldn’t need to have amp and even external DAC (some monitors have digital inputs).

So the question is - am I on the right path or are there some gotch’as where studio monitors are not better suited for home listening?

 

[BDWoody]

Hi,

I’ve just joined this forum and I’m very glad I found this forum where people are more concerned with objective measurable reality!

I’m seeking for an advice and it’s really hard to put it shortly, but I’ll try.

TL;DR:
Should I get active studio monitors instead of typical home hifi floorstanders + amp + dac to get better quality for the same amount of money?

Longer version:

In general my vision is to achieve best sound quality (as transparent system as I can get) for my home listening setup while not spending too much.

Currently my system is stereo setup of Monitor Audio Rx-6 + NAD 368. I wanted to improve sound quality. First I started exploring available options for setting up good room correction + transparent DAC. So I narrowed to options which have Dirac Live and roughly cost around 1600EU (MiniDSP SHD, or DRC-22DA + some transparent DAC).

But then I thought maybe I’m concentrating on the wrong issue after all and there are more effective ways to achieve this goal?

Maybe I’d achieve better results by simply choosing some high quality active crossover midfield studio monitors (my listening distance is something along 2.6m - 3m) with room correction built-in from the start (something from Genelec or Adam Audio or Jbl). From what I understand these things with active crossovers are exactly optimised for being as transparent as possible, and could theoretically be more efficient and precise in room correction by having everything integrated. Probably I wouldn’t need to have amp and even external DAC (some monitors have digital inputs).

So the question is - am I on the right path or are there some gotch’as where studio monitors are not better suited for home listening?

You will get a lot of answers, as there is no 'right' answer...

For me, with no WAF to deal with, I went with JBL 708P's for many of the reasons you mentioned. Digital and analog in, various correction aspects built in if you want to mess with that, etc...and I am very happy with my decision.

That doesn't mean a pair of Salon 2's might not find their way into a listening room at some point.

 

[Joachim Herbert]

How about studio monitors with drc? Adam S3V here with rew equalized roon setup.

 

[Snarfie]

I use an combination of close monitoring with IMF Compact II monitors and a full range setup with Vandersteen model1 speakers. Both driven by a Topping D10 DAC and a NAD C370 amp which has more than enough juice to power any speaker an can compensate for room correction gain loss. Before i owned ( 5 a 6 years) KRK VXT8 an Adams A7X monitors fed by an Allen&Heath Xone 4D 20 channel Digital console for mixing purpose. The active sets did not reveal the sound produced by the combination of NAD C370 an the IMF monitors in many aspect (compared to the IMF voices on the Adam's an KRK's sound if they had a cold sounding true their nose) only that the active systems could play much louder/impressive.

Regarding imaging/staging the active systems (who are not designed for that purpose) are no match for the Vandersteens who are designed for that purpose. Their imaging/staging is quite extraordinary.
On both systems room correction is used using Mathaudio Room EQ. Interesting thing is as well the IMF's (at least here in Holland) can be bought used for under 100,- euro's the Vandersteens Model 1B can be bought cheap in the US. Mathaudio is completely free to use with foobar2000 as add inn an you don't need any hardware than a laptop. If you can life with the look an feel of both speakers you will be in for a treat. One disadvantage of the Vandersteen speakers is that it took quite a lot of time to place them correctly. If not they sounding
average/bad.