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Best studio monitors for price/quality?

sIR dORT

Senior Member
Hey ya'll,

I'm looking for a pair of studio speakers right now, and I'm on a low budget (pretty dang low). I don't need premium speakers - they simply need to be giving me a clean signal, good enough to base my mixes on (along with some headphones).

Thanks,
David
 
Was going to suggest JBL's as well. I've used LSR 2328p's for...honestly, way longer than I should. But I know them so well at this point, and for the price they're very clean and flat. I believe the LSR308's are the upgrade, but you can find 2328p's for dirt cheap, and I haven't noticed a meaningful difference between the two.
 
When I read the thread title, I thought well, JBLs for sure, but no reason to post because someone else has surely posted already. So anyway... glad to be correct and just another vote for JBLs. I think whatever your budget is, JBL tends to win that price range. The 305, 306 are great for the price, and we have a couple pairs of 308 that I think are fantastic.
 
When I read the thread title, I thought well, JBLs for sure, but no reason to post because someone else has surely posted already. So anyway... glad to be correct and just another vote for JBLs. I think whatever your budget is, JBL tends to win that price range. The 305, 306 are great for the price, and we have a couple pairs of 308 that I think are fantastic.

I've used the 305s for an offsite art installation, they are great value, I would use them again
 
Beware :

The Tannoy Reveal series have been encensed by reviewers for sounding great for their low price, but after having bought a pair, I wouldn't recommend them !

Well, perhaps the 802 are good, but in the 402 that I own (and I'd guess the 502 too, from what I read between reviewers' lines), Tannoy has artificially boosted the bass so much that is creates real problems like
- loud port noises (at a frequency corresponding to a low D, if I remember well)
- early clipping / saturation
- muddy basses that all sound the same

On the good side, the medium and high frequencies are pleasantly mellow. And the speakers are advertised as very sturdy, so they're the ones I take for location work.

On the worse side, they have a quality control issue: Of the three I bought, I had to return one because of coil misalignment, and another one has some defects in the finish.

I'm not gonna replace them (yet), but I wouldn't buy them again.
 
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You could also look at the Kali Audio, 6s or 8s depending on the size needed, quite cheap and getting a lot praise online.
 
Yamaha HS80m (with accoutic treatment). I don't know the newer version, but I think it is discontinue.
 
Yamaha HS80m (with accoutic treatment). I don't know the newer version, but I think it is discontinue.
Yamaha now has HS5, HS7, and HS8. In my home studio, I have the HS5s with the HS8S subwoofer, and it works very well. My only complaint is that my HS5s can't sit too close to the iMac or there is interference.
 
Looks like they now have a newer model JBL 308P MkII. Are you guys talking about this one or older? Does anyone have experience with this MkII version? As I'm considering purchasing one of these based on the glorious reviews I wonder if the new ones will sound very different than the older model.
 
Would the JBLs fair well in a room with poor acoustics?

Fare.

My answer is generic: if possible, I'd suggest doing something to improve the acoustics. Can you describe your room and the issues?

There are simple things you can do to improve the situation - but bear in mind that you can also do more harm than good by listening to 99% of the advice you'll get on the Internet. :)
 
Fare.

My answer is generic: if possible, I'd suggest doing something to improve the acoustics. Can you describe your room and the issues?

There are simple things you can do to improve the situation - but bear in mind that you can also do more harm than good by listening to 99% of the advice you'll get on the Internet. :)
It's a small bedroom with a window and a pretty low ceiling. Maybe it will *fare* ok, but I'm new to having monitors as I've only used headphones before, so I wouldn't know.

Agreed :)
 
It's a small bedroom with a window and a pretty low ceiling. Maybe it will *fare* ok, but I'm new to having monitors as I've only used headphones before, so I wouldn't know.:)

Well, what doesn't sound right? Too much reverb, muddy... ?

(I'm a magazine editor by trade, so you'll have to excuse me. :) )
 
Actually I have no clue how it will sound, I was just going out on a limb thinking that a small room like that would have poor acoustics. Like I said, I'm a newbie, and I'm kinda proud of it :dancedance:

That would make sense ;)
 
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