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Monitors under £700

If you can stretch your budget just a little further - Dynaudio BM5 Mkiii’s. I picked up a pair this year after using yamaha Hs5’s for years, and man they are truly excellent monitors. Low fatigue on the ears, tight low end, huge sweet spot, nice flat response. I particularly like the mid and highs - I found the high end on yamahas to be too harsh, which lead to darker mixes. Mixing on the dynaudios, I find my mixes come out more balanced than before. Some argue that Dynaudios sound “too” good but I personally don’t agree with that logic. I think it is possible for a monitor to be both accurate and pleasing to listen to.

I will say though that if youre not putting them in a room with an optimal listening environment, then perhaps I would get something a little cheaper and spend some money treating your room instead.
 
Stretch it a bit further if you can and get a pair of Presonus Sceptre S6s.
 
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Vin said:
Stretch it a bit furher if you can and get a pair of Presonus Sceptre S6s.
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Is there a "S6s" model? I'm just finding the S6 and S8, but perhaps that's what you mean. They look interesting and reviews claim they are very flat for their size and price.
 
kurtvanzo said:
Is there a "S6s" model? I'm just finding the S6 and S8, but perhaps that's what you mean. They look interesting and reviews claim they are very flat for their size and price.
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There are S6 and S8 indeed, that 's' was for plural (sixes) :grin:
 
I personally use Dynaudio BM6A and would also recommend the BM5 Mk111's but it is absolutely a very personal choice and the only way to choose monitors is to listen to them. Any good pro audio store (like DV247 in the UK) will have a good selection around your price range and will give you the time to put your own music on and switch around between the offerings to help you decide what sounds best to you.
 
Sid Francis said:
Ask 10 people about good monitors and they will name you 10 different models of 10 different brands. That just will never work.
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So true. My contribution to this cacophony is to look into the Focal Alpha series. I got the Alpha 50s for right around that price and really like them. The bass, to me at least, is quite robust for 5" woofers, and the placement of various frequencies in space is crystal clear. For small rooms and nearfield distances, IMHO they're great.
 
Sid Francis said:
Ask 10 people about good monitors and they will name you 10 different models of 10 different brands. That just will never work.
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that must be a Forum Thing. Whenever I'm talking with collegues personally it feels like 9 out of 10 say 'go for geithain'. But that surely os a different Price point
 
spyder said:
... the only way to choose monitors is to listen to them. Any good pro audio store (like DV247 in the UK) will have a good selection around your price range and will give you the time to put your own music on and switch around between the offerings to help you decide what sounds best to you.
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This ^^^. I don't have high-end monitors but when selecting mine this is just what I did and it sealed the decision for me (I had three options) in a matter of minutes. If I was spending 700 squid on monitors at a minimum, I'd want to listen to them before choosing.
 
This isn't my advice, although I think it is sound; In Mike Senior's book Mixing Secrets, he specifically highlights avoiding monitors that are ported (have a hole that allows woofer energy out). This is very common on monitors today and his arguement is that it produces very inaccurate bass response.

I read this after buying a pair of Yamaha HS5s. He also suggests stuffing it with socks if you do have ported monitors. Something to think about.
 
SyMTiK said:
If you can stretch your budget just a little further - Dynaudio BM5 Mkiii’s. I picked up a pair this year after using yamaha Hs5’s for years, and man they are truly excellent monitors. Low fatigue on the ears, tight low end, huge sweet spot, nice flat response. I particularly like the mid and highs - I found the high end on yamahas to be too harsh, which lead to darker mixes. Mixing on the dynaudios, I find my mixes come out more balanced than before. Some argue that Dynaudios sound “too” good but I personally don’t agree with that logic. I think it is possible for a monitor to be both accurate and pleasing to listen to.

I will say though that if youre not putting them in a room with an optimal listening environment, then perhaps I would get something a little cheaper and spend some money treating your room instead.
Click to expand...


Vin said:
Stretch it a bit further if you can and get a pair of Presonus Sceptre S6s.
Click to expand...

Stretch even further than that, and you will eventually stretch all the way to https://augspurger.com/

haha
 
I'm comparing AUD pricing so might be a bit out - here are a couple not mentioned yet:

Adam have the A5x around that price - I like my A7's and would buy Adams again
Neumann have the KH120AG - might be a bit expensive but with Black Friday coming up and Xmas you might get some
Genelec have some small ones (8020D)

If you can do a comparative listen then I favour listen for detail and imaging over "sound"
 
I've still seen M-audio dsm1 for sale from time to time, and I'd highly recommend them.

In 2009 M-audio made an effort to get into the more mid-priced studio monitor market, rather than staying in the budget area, and released dsm1, dsm2 and dsm3. People were happy with them and they got good reviews (https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/m-audio-studiophile-dsm1), but they didn't survive long on the market. It seemed that having the brand "m-audio" on display in your studio was just too much of a shame for the "pro" community, and they were too expensive for most home studio owners, dsm1 starting at around $1300/pair in Sweden.

I got them 6 years ago, $450 for the pair, and couldn't be happier.
 
re erikradbo's suggestion - if you do want to go cheaper I used some JBL LSR305P mk2 monitors for an installation project recently and was amazed how good they were. Not as good as the Adams that I use in my studio but incredible for the price
 
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gregh said:
I'm comparing AUD pricing so might be a bit out - here are a couple not mentioned yet:

Adam have the A5x around that price - I like my A7's and would buy Adams again
Neumann have the KH120AG - might be a bit expensive but with Black Friday coming up and Xmas you might get some
Genelec have some small ones (8020D)

If you can do a comparative listen then I favour listen for detail and imaging over "sound"
Click to expand...

Agree with all this, very very happy with my Adams - but go listen
 
I got a pair of JBL LSR308’s with a JBL sub, well within that budget. I was floored by the quality at that price point. D class amps are surprisingly good and the transient response is unbelievable for the money.
 
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