Budget studio monitors?

[xgsjx]

I’m wanting to get a pair of decent studio monitors & budget is @ £200. 

So far, I’m looking at the JBL 305p, Presonus E5 & E4.5bt (l like the idea of streaming to them for general listening) & M-Audio BX5. 

2 others that are well below budget but seem to get great reviews are JBL 104bt & Edifier R1280DB. Both very tempting & would leave me with money to spend on my mtb. But they’re both 4” drivers & smaller boxes. 

Anyone used any of these & have any opinions?

[Bobthedog]

Adam Audio T5V are about £70 above budget for the pair but are very good for the price range. I have some and am very happy with them. If  you are happy to spend the extra and genuinely want the near field studio monitor sound, I would recommend the added spend for these.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Bobthedog

[xgsjx]

I’ve got £300 to play with, but I really want Roli Equator 2 & just now I can have it for £80 ( as opposed to the normal upgrade price of £120). 
Otherwise, they’d have been on my list along with the Yamaha HS5 & JBL 306p

[mybass]

A home studio mate has Kali LP6 powered monitors, very good reviews, around £260-300 a pair in the UK....also another mate says Studiospares own take on the yamaha is pretty good too and they may be more your budget end of the market.

[skidder652003]

I was also going to say the Kali 6. They get fantastic reviews. FWIW, I couldn't afford them in the end so I went for some used M-Audio BX8's and to be honest they sound fantastic but Im getting great bass with the 8" speakers. So if you can, look seriously at the Kali's, they're a big jump up from what you were thinking about IMO.

If you're on a budget though, check out the studiospare SN5a, again they get great reviews and are well within budget.

https://proaudioblog.co.uk/studiospares-studio-monitor-speakers-listening-tests/

Edited January 10, 2021 by skidder652003

[lowdown]

2 hours ago, mybass said:

A home studio mate has Kali LP6 powered monitors, very good reviews, around £260-300 a pair in the UK....also another mate says Studiospares own take on the yamaha is pretty good too and they may be more your budget end of the market.

 I got a pair of Kali LP6's for my oldest (Christmas present). They do sound good and I was surprised at the frequency range - 39 Hz/25Hz.

They are defiantly worth doing some reviewing homework on and consideration. I got a pair from Amazon for £270.

 

 

 

 

[mybass]

Kali LP 6 are 6" drivers(and the Kali LP 8 are 8" drivers and obviously more expensive). I like the idea of Kali as the ports are front facing so better for small areas where monitors may have to be against or near walls. They also have a decent choice of preset EQ switches on the back to better suit the room....I should buy some!

[xgsjx]

I’m digging the Kali LP6. Comes in white & I can get a pair for £260. I’m gonna have to sell something though, as I only have £220. Or wait until next month. 

[NancyJohnson]

I've been using M-Audio BX5s for a few years.  They go loud enough for the small room I record in (barely 7'x10').  The only thing that narks me design-wise is that the volume controls are on the back and the controls aren't notched, so they can get knocked when powering up.

[skidder652003]

4 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

I've been using M-Audio BX5s for a few years.  They go loud enough for the small room I record in (barely 7'x10').  The only thing that narks me design-wise is that the volume controls are on the back and the controls aren't notched, so they can get knocked when powering up.

or leave 'em on like I do!

 

[xgsjx]

I managed to sell something (no, not the Mrs) & pulled the trigger on the Kali LP6 in white.

Found Music Matter doing a package deal that includes stands & speaker cables for £302.  Expectrd delivery is next tuesday.

[dave_bass5]

I got a pair of JBL 104’s last year. They seem great for the money, very flat (to me ears) but not very satisfying. A bit dull when listening to general music though. I am very used it headphones though so maybe its just me. Nice solid bass. Our Alexa walks all over them for general music, low end, top end etc, but these are studio monitors so that’s understandable. 

Also not very loud and the second inputs hum. Overall happy with them considering the price, they do the job that was intended, and the fact that i dont use them much anyway, but ill replace them when i feel i need to. Was also looking at the HS5’s. 

 

[xgsjx]

Well, I've now got a wait!  ☹️

I ordered the monitors from Music Matter as they were doing a bundle (2 monitors, cables & stands) all for £302 on 13th Jan.  Got an email to say they were ordered & that they were "On hold" with an estimated delivery date being 19th Jan (based on normal lead times).

Never got any further emails, but checking their website, I can see my order status.  It never changed yesterday or today (still says "On hold"), so I decided to email them to ask what the status was.  Got a short email back just saying "I have contacted the supplier regarding delivery of the Kali Audio LP6, and they are due in around the 1st of February. Apologies for the delay.". Nothing else.

I'm not in any big hurry, but it would have been nice to have been offered this info, rather than asking for it.

 

[Bassybert]

Might be a little bit over your budget, but I’ve recently bought a pair of KRK Rokit RP5 G4’s and they’ve been superb. I paid £285 from Gear4Music, they arrived next day the service was excellent. 

[xgsjx]

They're about the same price as the Kali LP6s.  But getting them with stands for £302 is a bargain.  NEarest I could find elsewhere was about £340.

 

[Jakester]

I got a set of older Tannoy 402s recently for less than £100 s/h, but there are some deals around new which put them at about £80ea, so may be worth a look. I'm pleased with them so far, albeit there is a hum when they're on (not noticeable when you're listening to music, but annoying enough that I turn them off when they're not being used). 

[xgsjx]

They arrived tonight. Set them up & they do sound fantastic. The Mrs didn’t expect them to be so big (that’s what she said). 

 

[dave_bass5]

Very nice. I’m a sucker for blue LED’s 😁

[skidder652003]

they look great

[mcnach]

whoa, those Kali L6 look fantastic, if they sound anywhere as nice... hmmm.

I bought a set of Presonus E4.5BT not long ago. My needs are basic and I didn't want to spend too much. They were about £170-180 for the pair and I liked having the bluetooth built-in, although I have a couple of nice bluetooth receivers I could use with any monitor.

My first impression was not fantastic. They're a bit shy on the low end, as I expected based on the specs, but it was still a bit of a shock. They had a lot more clarity than the cheap speakers I was using before, but I found them I bit tiring to listen to. They do the monitor job reasonably well, I can hear details I could not with my older 'pleasant' speakers, at least as well as you can expect for the price (whenever I hear monitors I like, their price tag is scary... I seem to have expensive taste  and I just cannot justify that investment), so that's ok, but for normal listening I found that I needed to apply some EQ to boost the low end and tame some of the mids... and then all is good. I use a little EQ app with presets etc, and I just turn it off when I want to pay attention to a mix, otherwise it stays on. 

 

[xgsjx]

Well after having used the Kali for a bit, I can say they sound superb.  Why they're as cheap as they are, I do not know.  But thank you to everyone who pointed them out.  I've not been disappointed.

At first I was a little disappointed in the lows, but then I moved back from them a touch & found it all.  It's just about sitting in the right spot.
Just now they're about 7' apart & I'm sat about 7' away from each of them.  I'm doing a spot of mixing (mostly adding a vocal track & getting it to sit nicely), but they're also great for just playing instruments through.

Bluetooth would have been a nice option so I could play the TV through them, but I got an optical to RCA box & that does exactly what I need it to.  TV sounds fantastic through them too.

[mybass]

19 hours ago, xgsjx said:

Well after having used the Kali for a bit, I can say they sound superb.  Why they're as cheap as they are, I do not know.  But thank you to everyone who pointed them out.  I've not been disappointed.

At first I was a little disappointed in the lows, but then I moved back from them a touch & found it all.  It's just about sitting in the right spot.
Just now they're about 7' apart & I'm sat about 7' away from each of them.  I'm doing a spot of mixing (mostly adding a vocal track & getting it to sit nicely), but they're also great for just playing instruments through.

Bluetooth would have been a nice option so I could play the TV through them, but I got an optical to RCA box & that does exactly what I need it to.  TV sounds fantastic through them too.

Yes. Always the right spot in a room for hearing the best. I’ve been in some big rooms and wondered what on earth the engineer was mixing up until I stood behind or next to them. Glad you got sorted.

[WinterMute]

On 28/03/2021 at 17:14, xgsjx said:

Well after having used the Kali for a bit, I can say they sound superb.  Why they're as cheap as they are, I do not know.  But thank you to everyone who pointed them out.  I've not been disappointed.

At first I was a little disappointed in the lows, but then I moved back from them a touch & found it all.  It's just about sitting in the right spot.
Just now they're about 7' apart & I'm sat about 7' away from each of them.  I'm doing a spot of mixing (mostly adding a vocal track & getting it to sit nicely), but they're also great for just playing instruments through.

Bluetooth would have been a nice option so I could play the TV through them, but I got an optical to RCA box & that does exactly what I need it to.  TV sounds fantastic through them too.

The magic triangle, equilateral and tweeters level with your ears...!

If you're in the right spot, you won't be able to see the sides or top of the cabinets at all, just the fronts. Then all you need to do is move the triangle around in the room to find the best acoustics...

Then buy some treatment, or maybe build a new room...

Perhaps move house...

Edited March 30, 2021 by WinterMute

[Musicman666]

I was kicking around the idea of something like a pjb double four to do my garage studio practice/recording sessions because my ancient near field book shelf monitors on my recording setup were not handling the low b  ....but suddenly it dawned on me that I should just invest in better active monitors!!

so could these kali 6 monitors do what the double four does? ...I have a sansamp that could warm it up but what I am looking for is a low volume punchy bouncy bass setup that would essentially be my recording sound as well??

Edited May 19, 2021 by Musicman666

[xgsjx]

I've not used mine in anger, but I've played bassw & subby synth bass through them at a decent volume (well I do use them for recording & mixing).  They give a very clear sound & fairly uncoloured.