lookin' for good desktop monitors. - Page 2

Sth from ADAM?

Heard the Focals today at West End Production just off Oxford street, lovely girl called Shana got them set up in the downstairs room for me. Wow! Drooling at the thought of owning these. I got to compare the 40's, 50's and also the Twins just to see the improvement (completely out of my budget). The 40's were beautiful, but once you've heard the 50's, you don't want to go back, they fill out a lot more down the bottom. The Twins on the other hand did everything the 50's did better, but they're like twice the size, twice the cost at least haha. Can't wait to own them. My fears about bass extension were unfounded, they went plenty deep for music. <3

my favorite monitors are yamaha HS50M's but they go for 200 a peice. not pair. same with KRK RP6G2-NA monitors but i find the KRK's are far less natural sounding compared to the yamahas. the KRK's might provide more bass but they don't sound as true as the yamaha's in my opinion.

the KRK's are great for playback but recording or just wanting natural sound the yamaha's are a much better choice. they are also very light and small compared to the KRK's but pack one hell of a punch for their size.

Should be Shona not Shana, looking at the business card. Would recommend the place to anyone in/around London looking to check out monitors. They had Focal, Genelec, Adam e.t.c.

 

The Focals start off at £525 for the CMS 40, the CMS 50 are £750 per pair... I didn't ask what the Twins were going for, but suffice to say a pair of CMS 50's still cost a fair bit less than one Twin!

I've got the A3X and they are fantastic. I haven't compared them to other monitors but comparing them to my LCD-2's, they are pretty accurate in their representation with only very slight hump in the the lower mids (this could be due to my room acoustics). Ofcourse they don't go below 60Hz so you would need to pair them with a sub if you want really deep bass but for the money I think they are very well balanced.

 

Just my 2 cents.

I hope I don't get slaughtered by you guys for this, but I need some decent speakers under 200 (pair not single) and I was looking at the Audioengine A2s. Are these really any good? After reading the review on Stereophile I almost creamed myself, but how much of that is actually true?

Edited by Vikingatheart - 4/20/11 at 3:16pm

Yes they are that good. I just got a set of them yesterday in the mail and they trumped my old Altec Lansing speakers in every way. Now I am not a speaker guy, but these may just make me take a liking to speakers.

 

They are very neutral with tight and punchy bass that is not overbearing at all. The highs are very clear and extended and extremely grain free and don't have any sibilance at all. The mids are also noteworthy as they are very resolving and have enough body to them to really carry guitars and vocals sound oh so nice. These speakers also project a really nice soundstage in front of you. They are very airy sounding and in no way sound compressed of constrained.

 

I would jump on the A2's if I were you. You won't be disappointed at all. One thing to note is that they will not have boomy bass at all but have just the right amount in their to carry rock music and man these speakers sound good with rock!
 

Perfect! I will definitely be buying these shortly. I am selling some old stuff to fund 'em, but after what you said I think it will be well worth it! Thanks for the response. 
 

 

No problem man. These guys blew me away. Never had speakers that sound this good.

 

Also here's my review of them > http://www.head-fi.org/products/audioengine-a2b-powered-multimedia-speaker-system-black-finish
 

Edited by Zombie_X - 4/20/11 at 7:45pm

Just wondering, what do you have them on? A shelf, desk or stands? Books? 

 

I'm using some thick foam for damping. If you just put them on the table without anything under them you get mad bass that can over power (table resonance). I can send you some foam if you want. It really tightens up the bass and kills a lot of the vibrations from the speakers.

 

Here's a pic:

 
 

You would send me some foam? Sweetness! 

 

The only thing with foam, is that if you have heavy speakers the cabinet will vibrate and the speaker will move about on the foam, which is detrimental to SQ. Primacoustic Recoil Stabilisers have the same foam layer Auralex Mopads have, but have a steel plate on top of that (to add mass which will anchor the speaker on the foam better) and a rubber layer. They're ridiculously expensive though, for what they are, although when you're talking about studio gear, perhaps not.

 

My speaker stand parts are in the mail/got to go to the home store, but I've gone for

a) some concrete bricks to raise the speakers up to ear level and act as a further method of isolation

b) fabric wrap, because I don't want to paint anything and need to keep the bricks packed together tightly

c) Auralex Mopads (yes it's just dense foam but I want the option to adjust angles if need be)

d) steel plate (I got 2x10mm thick plates from eBay for not much at all

e) the speakers I want come with a rubber mat

 

In total, two of these cost about half the price of a single Recoil Stabiliser. I'lll take pics when they're done.

Awesome! I'm definitely interested in seeing what that all looks like.
 

 

Slightly amateur, probably. I haven't picked a fabric yet, but it'll need to be quite thick/rugged. It'll probably be something dark and plain. It might be a while before I get the Focals, but seeing the stands waiting for them will be like a physical reminder of it only being a matter of time.