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post #1 of 3
10/11/07 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 
I've been researching for some time now and have nearly come to the conclusion that everything is ultimately subjective, albeit, I'll still pose my question.

A salesperson with professional audio experience (an audio guy etc.) suggests that consumer speakers are designed for a more enjoyable listening experience over professional studio monitors... guess which speaker he was selling

A salesperson with professional audio experience (an audio guy etc.) suggests that professional studio speakers are different and can be used in a home listening environment. He also mentioned a friend of his is using some Genelecs in a HT set-up and it rivals anything he has heard.

Are not some of the hi-fi - audiophile headphones designed to give suberb clarity, with a uncolored flat response ? If this is the case would we not want the same thing for home stereo speakers ?


I am looking for some bookshelfs that can be used in a bedroom 16x10 or a living room 25x10. At this point I am most interested in powered speakers / active as I prefer their footprint.

Does anyone have both styles of speakers and can voice their opinions ? I am looking to audition some: BEHRINGER MS40 Digital Monitor Speakers, GENELEC 8020APM Active Studio Monitor (each) 4", KRK VXT-4 4" Active Studio Monitor , KRK RP6 Powered Studio Monitor (6"), M-AUDIO STUDIOPRO 3 , TANNOY REVEAL6D Active Studio Monitor W/spdif (6") ,


So am i crazy, can monitors fill a room at 10 feet away, and deliver the same volume of db as to a comparable consumer speaker ? I know each store is gonna downplay what they do not sell, or at least suggest that a speaker can be used for any purpose....

the bad thing is the pro studio shop's speaker room is half the size of my intended space.

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post #2 of 3
10/11/07 at 2:49pm
He's probably pointing out that many consumer grade speakers are designed to exaggerate portions of the frequency response to make it more pleasing to your typical consumer, who will want lots of bass and ear-bleedingly sharp highs. Some consumer grade amplifiers are designed the same way, and you end up with those presets like "Classical," "Rock," "Jazz," "Pop," etc.. Whereas people who get heavily into listening usually want something with a flatter response because they want to hear the recording the way it was recorded, and not altered by the system. Although, this is unavoidable to an extent.

Edit: Oh, and with the size rooms you're talking about, you can probably get away with 4" monitors, but I would use 6". But then, my parents have a set of iTrigue 3300's set up in the kitchen, which is about 25' x 12' or so, and it sounds very good. I set them up in my room, at my computer, to see how they sound, and it sounded like garbage, but putting them back in the large room sounds great. Go figure.
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post #3 of 3
10/11/07 at 3:16pm
Everything the salesperson said was true (from my perspective). However, most monitors in the size and price range you're testing are designed for nearfield listening, meaning that they'll sound their best when you're within 6 feet. They'll still sound good as you back up, but then the room will start to affect the sound, and unless it's treated, you may notice some coloration. Some studio monitors are designed as mid-fields, or have the ability to tailor the frequency response to the room size (ex. Mackie HR824mk2).

As Logistics said, it will pay to look for speakers with 6" woofers or larger, since the low frequency response of smaller woofers is questionable at best.

Definitely spend some time listening to the studio monitors. I've heard a lot of different monitors, and they have all sounded very different. Remember that they're called "reference monitors"; not all studio monitors are designed to have flat frequency response. Some are designed to emphasize or de-emphasize certain frequency ranges in order to make the music sound better, or to simulate a home stereo system.
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