https://www.amazon.com/Pair-Rockvil...qid=1494113802&sr=8-2&keywords=rockville+apm6
I wrote a review of these:
So I was looking for some desktop speakers instead of having to be exclusively tied to headphones in the bedroom. I was considering some either monitors or regular speakers. After digging around online, I found these offered by Rockville (who I guess does car audio). They claimed great price, manufacturer direct buy, great component and quality control with a 90 day return warranty. Figured for the price, I couldn't really go wrong. $156 altogether with the pads. They have other options (including stands) for more expensive but I'll hold off on stands for now.
I had a choice between the 5" or the 6" models --- the 6" model was only $30 more. I asked my friend who's huge into speakers and he said I may as well go big or go home for $30. I COULD have got the 8" model but I felt that may have been overkill for my purposes. Plus I kind of wanted to keep these on the desktop.
Initial impressions: cymbals and guitars on these are amazing. They have a real presence and weight to them. Cymbals sound jaw dropping. They sound thiiiiick. The decay is amazing. Obviously, it depends on how well it was recorded, but if you're listening to the Eagles, it sounds incredibly realistic, like they're right inside your speaker 2 foot away. Guitars have a shimmering quality to them. Really solid and weighty. They're really nice sounding.
Vocals are very good - they sound really nice and natural. However, depending on the mix, vocals can be pushed a bit back for my liking. I actually EQ'd my music a bit to bring the vocals up in MusicBee. It's not that they're buried, but they're not as out front as I feel they should be. They're more in line with the instruments. Ex: Rush. But then you listen to something else like Drake/Ariana Grande and the vocals are fine. It's weird and it's very mix dependent and I honestly wish I could have a little more consistency. (probably should have gone for regular hi-fi speakers in that case?) These are not artificially tuned forward. These will display the music mix itself before the vocals (if the engineer seemed to have mixed it that way). It's actually slightly annoying, as I like my vocals forward sounding.
Bass is deep and tight. LOTS of it. I actually turned the bass down to the -4db setting (not a huge bass head) and it still sounds plentiful for my purposes.
I'm a little unclear on how I feel on the drums on these. I'm not sure if the drums I'm listening to just were recorded like ass [Moby Dick by Zeppelin], or if it's the speakers themselves. I've heard certain drums on certain songs sound really good on other equipment, but maybe that equipment was accentuating the drums. I don't know --- on some things, the drums sound amazing. On some they sound like cardboard. It seems to vary wildly by recording. I wish it was a bit more consistent. I'm still playing with it and breaking in the speakers, so that may change. I'm probably going to be experimenting with my other set in the living room [Wharfedale/Monitor Audio] to see if there's a difference. My guess is these speakers present exactly what's on the recording as it is, and don't massage it. (technically they're not supposed to, but coming from regular hi-fi speakers, slightly annoying)
Modern pop sounds really good on these. Clean, clear, detailed, punchy. Older recordings are a mixed bag. Electronic sounds glorious (Mitch Murder).
These have a very "hi-fi"-ish sound to me. These sound pretty rich with body. You may or may not like that in your studio monitors. I do.
Detail: TONS of detail. You can hear (and I'm not exaggerating) every single thing in the mixes. The clarity is stunning. You can hear front to back, straight through. The transparency is ear/eye watering. I was hearing some questionable mastering/recording choices on these that I wasn't even really hearing on headphones. (could have just been me paying attention though this time) These were keeping up and even out performing the detail level on my Senn 600s in some spots. They're champs.
Build quality: solid. Like really solid. They look really sharp too.I'm used to hearing Wharfedale, Monitor Audio, JBL, Mackie, Tannoy, Audio Engine, Bowers and Wilkins, Martin Logan, Klipsch, etc. These are really good for the price you're paying. Like, really really really good. My friend came over tonight and spent about 2 hours listening to different music, and he was speechless.
For anyone interested in the specs and information on how they build these and their hype page, you can visit it here:
https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/apm6b/
