[CrystalT]

I'm looking for some good passive near-field monitors. preferably mid-centric on the bright side. looking to spend around $100-$200 per speaker. any advice?

 

[RonaldDumsfeld]

You can still get small hi-fi bookshelf  style passive speakers quite easily but hardly anyone makes genuine passive monitors any more.
 
JBL Control 1 and Control 5 are still around and within your budget. After that it's all down to budget manufacturers like Berhinger, Alesis and the occasional pair of passive KRKs in the back of a warehouse somewhere.
 
JBL Control 5 is your best bet I reckon.

 

[CrystalT]

i'm going through an extremely beefy vintage receiver, so active monitors are out of the question. ;v
 
thanks for the recommendations

 

[Steve Eddy]

If you're going to listen near field, I'd recommend looking at speakers that either use a good single full range driver or a coaxial arrangement. Something like the older Tannoy System 600 would be an example of the latter. Never could understand why speakers with offset tweeters are so commonly used for near field use. You really want a proper point source for that.

se

 

[cel4145]

Wave Crest Audio HLV-1:http://www.wavecrestaudio.com/products/hvl-1-two-way-loudspeaker-pair

Designed be Dave F of Ascend Acoustics with attention on producing good mids.