Budget monitors

[robin m]

...I know this gets asked in here every 20 minutes, but has anyone got any recommendations for low-cost monitor speakers? At the moment I'm just using crap car boot sale hi-fi speakers - they're decent enough for mixing & pretty loud but shite for production.

Also - how much effect is the amp going to have on the sound if I get some half-decent speakers? I'm on a very tight budget but if my (again old and car boot sale-y) amp is going to make getting new speakers pointless I'm going to have to do something about that too.

Cheers helpful BOA people

[jesus]

how much is the budget? your probably gonna need about £200-£400 for ok speakers, closer to a grand for decent ones - if your serious about producing that is.

If you get yourself active monitors then they already have amps built in em, which means you can still use your amp you have at the moment for your dj speakers. IT's gonna be cheaper this way and without the hastle of matching speakers and amps..

[fatcollective]

for budget monitors...i'd go for Fortex PM1's or Alesis M1's...can probabaly pick these up for about £170 - £220 a pair.

[theledge]

Alesis M1 Actives get my vote too

Just over £200/pair. no amp required either

[loopdon]

i would have a look at tapco s8 monitors. got very nice reviews and i am very happy with them.

[BloodStar]

Alesis M1 Actives get my vote too

Just over £200/pair. no amp required either

these are the passive ones.

[dirty_bass]

I`d look on ebay for some fostex pm-1`s
the Tannoy speakers performed very well in recent music publications.
Also you can get Absolute 2`s on ebay occasionally for around 150.

If you are using passives I`d thoroughly recommend The Alesis RA series of amps.

The sound on these babies is simply stunning.
Better than the amps found on some active monitors in my opinion, and also very nice to look at.

[robin m]

Ta everyone, very helpful - the active Alesis ones sound like they're just what I'm looking for really... my kind of price, no need for a new amp and positive reviews from you lot - job done!

I'll check out the tapco s8 as well - looks like it might be slightly out of reach price-wise for me at the moment though... :whoops:

[robin m]

I`d look on ebay for some fostex pm-1`s
the Tannoy speakers performed very well in recent music publications.
Also you can get Absolute 2`s on ebay occasionally for around 150.

If you are using passives I`d thoroughly recommend The Alesis RA series of amps.

The sound on these babies is simply stunning.
Better than the amps found on some active monitors in my opinion, and also very nice to look at.

Thanks for advice, much appreciated... I'm going to shop around and see what I like - you've given me some good starting points.

I think I'm going to have to go for active speakers though as like I said my current amp is basically a piece of crap, and my budget is too limited to buy a decent one as well as the speakers... just like everyone else I've got a long long list of things I wanna spend my limited cash on (new turntables, fix my mixer, laptop, second PC monitor, umpteen bits of hardware, trip to peru etc etc etc).

[dan the acid man]

fostex pm-1's all the way, got some at work and they're really good for the money, much better than alesis imo.

[Jay Pace]

I got alesis mk2 actives because they sounded nice and bassy.

They hurt your ears, the bass obscures your mix and I ended up hating them.

Nice speakers, good dj monitors perhaps but not the best for production IMO, sure there are better bets out there that are more accurate and less fatiguing on your poor ole lugs.

[loopdon]

being 'bassy' isn't exactly what you want in a monitor, eh?

more like an accurate representation of what is going on, with curve as flat as possible.

but i know you know that, jay. just meant to point that out again.

[theledge]

these are the passive ones.

Didn't notice that

[Jay Pace]

being 'bassy' isn't exactly what you want in a monitor, eh?

more like an accurate representation of what is going on, with curve as flat as possible.

but i know you know that, jay. just meant to point that out again.

Exactly.

Its an easy (and costly) mistake to make - buying monitors that sound "good" to your ear.

Best but monitors that are flat and accurate.
I got mackie 824s now and they are the absolute shizzle.

[robin m]

Best but monitors that are flat and accurate.
I got mackie 824s now and they are the absolute shizzle.

They look sweet... bit out of my budget for now though

Dan - I've just had a nose of those fostex ones, they look promising... probably looking at about £250 the pair as well which is definitely do-able. Cheers for the tip :rockin:

[jk_scowling]

Yeh those alesis ones are ok for the money, bit too bassy though. My mates keep breaking as well, but you know that robin.

All I can say is spend whatever you can't afford ;)

[dan the acid man]

don't buy the alesis ones please!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stjohn]

don't buy the alesis ones please!!!!!!!!!!!!

byt them theyre great :briggin:

mine are sweet

[Jay Pace]

don't buy the alesis ones please!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seconded.

Don't do it kids

Seriously...

[Barely Human]

I dont mind the alesis actually. I have a pair of the Actives tho, they dont have the double front port dont have the boom problem that the actives have. The fostex are pretty cool tho, id also check out the Krk range as ive heard good things about them.