Hercules Monitor 5 Discussion

[KikoKentaurus]

Hello, dear visitors of this forum! I want to apologize in advance for my poor English, this is what I'm working on now.

***

On the Russian imageboard, in a thread devoted to everything connected with music studios, you are a significant source. The measurements of the noble owner of this forum excite our minds, encouraging independent experiments (and even spawned a whole fan club of JBL 305P).

I want to ask you a modest question. I suspect that soon I will have to worry about buying my first set of studio equipment. I am a young man from Eastern Europe, and am engaged in musical creativity.

***

For almost a year now I have been forming a shopping cart, and ... There is one pair of studio monitors ... Here they are : https://www.thomann.de/gb/hercules_monitor5.htm

They are without real reviews, only promotional videos. What I ask is to suggest their quality, as well as comment on the unusual laid-out bass ports.
Their price is 230 euros for pair.

How will I use them? This is the mixing of my low baritone with hip-hop instruments, the mixing of my guitar sketches, creativity without obvious electronic power.

Please share your thoughts, dear visitors of the forum.

Yours sincerely,
Pavel.

P.S. What scares me about the aforementioned JBLs is the hiss. I have a very sharp ear, a real musical ear (not my merit, God awarded). And I'm afraid that this is a decisive factor.

P.S.S. I know that there are many other monitors, but I like their classic style, I'm afraid that this is also a decisive factor .......

 

[suttondesign]

Hello, dear visitors of this forum! I want to apologize in advance for my poor English, this is what I'm working on now.

This forum is welcoming, international, and never requires an apology for language barriers.

 

[RayDunzl]

From a YouTube review: 4:47

 

[KikoKentaurus]

Oh, nice! I didn't saw it As I see, kinda flat... And I will be able to hear bass...

 

[RayDunzl]

You mentioned JBL hiss...

It exists, but is low level.

I don't have "acute" hearing, but my measurement microphone does.

It detects the hiss very close to the speaker, but not at a distance.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-lsr-308-in-the-house.1066/#post-27832

 

[KikoKentaurus]

Thanks for information, want to correct myself, what I've meant, is that my ears are easy to disturb, so I'm really worrying about thing which might destroy all my satisfaction from the product. Also, one of the reviewers mentioned, if i'm correct, that these Hercies especially have no noise, comparing them to 305P. Nevertheless, I thank you for commenting
As I see from measurements, hiss is not SO strong )

 

[hyperplanar]

Hello!

Hmm, I would be worried about those front bass ports making chuffing noise... Doesn't look like a flow-optimized design. Did any reviewer talk about the ports?

 

[Crane]

the ports remind me of the Adam A5X which has been over a year since a listened to them as they are not with me currently. However, i dont recall any issues with bass for those speakers. These speakers seem a little wider and have higher watt amplifier, without knowing the internal connection/amplifier would be hard to say about hiss.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Howdy, welcome.
I had no problem at all hearing the hiss from my JBL 3 series 6"&8" sets. I could hear it across the room. Once the music starts the hiss is not really a problem but when quiet you may dislike it.
They have good sound for the price though, no doubt about that.

 

[andreasmaaan]

@KikoKentaurus it's hard to say much without measurements, but:

The wide baffles will extend the speaker's controlled radiation down to a lower frequency than conventional, narrow baffles do.

The small waveguide on the tweeter looks to be an appropriate size/contour to (hopefully) match the driver's directivity with that of the woofer.

I agree with @hyperplanar about the ports not looking very large or flow-optimised. This is less likely to be a problem in an active monitor, where the output aroound the tuning frequency is likely to be high-pass filtered, although it's not possible to know whether this is the case here. The boxes look quite large for a 5" woofer, which may tend to mitigate any issues with the ports' airflow too.

Looking at the measurement @RayDunzl grabbed from youtube, there seems to be a quite wideband dip between 2 and 4kHz, which is also likely to be where the crossover, implying that the dip is likely going to be not only present, but exaggerated, in the power response and early reflections.

In general, around 3kHz is the region of the audio band that gives recordings presence and that brings them closer to the listener. So it may be the case that these speakers have a more "laid-back" presentation. Very hard to know for sure though.

One question: is the price per monitor or per pair? There are two monitors in the pic, but the description seems to only relate to a single unit.

Especially if it's the price per single unit, there are lot of competing monitors that would be worth checking out.

 

[KikoKentaurus]

Price is per pair Wow, great analytics! I'll need some time to understand what you've just told

 

[modes]

I have a pair of lsr 305 mk1 and while they do hiss a touch once my pc (which is near silent) is turned on, the lsr's hiss is inaudible.
I wouldn't bother with the Hercules since the Jbl cost similar and are most likely more useful.

 

[q3cpma]

Don't know enough about Hercules to consider it a reliable brand. I'd rather look at Fluid Audio (FX50), Presonus (E5 XT), Behringer (NEKKST K5) or Adam's T serie for cheap stuff.
Might be a good idea to consider a 2.1 system with smaller mains from the get go, since you talk about "hip-hop instruments"; something like the very cheap Swissonic Sub10 or pricier Presonus Temblor T8.

 

[SimpleTheater]

Just found this YouTube review:

But before you look at his ranking, watch his Kali LP-6 review, specifically at the 13 min 30 sec mark.

In the Kali video he re-ranked the Hercules above BOTH the Kali LP-6 and the JBL 306P MKII.

 

[KikoKentaurus]

Already got my Kali LP-6 pair =)
Still did not tried them, though.

Need to do some work on moving my sofa and lockers...
Then I planned to try some listening positions and measure them with special microphone, to see which is flattest.
After that - DIY absorbers creation and installation.

 

[SimpleTheater]

I looked on every website to find the Hercules Monitor 5 dimensions. No where to be found. Then I downloaded the manual and it says 218 cm. So their documentation team doesn't inspire confidence. I'm in between the Kali's and a couple of others.