Buying new monitors

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BONES
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15457 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle

Post Tue May 30, 2023 6:29 pm

That's a bit over his budget. I got my 8010s second-hand and they are still the most expensive monitors I've ever had.
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PieBerger
KVRAF
1930 posts since 23 May, 2012 from London

Post Wed May 31, 2023 12:38 am

IMHO you really need to get yourself down to a store, at the very least or ideally buy a couple of options to try at home in your studio space. I'm on my fourth pair of monitors in 15 or so years and it was only on the last run that I actually bothered to try some out before buying.

I spent a solid half a day in my local shop playing a variety of reference material out of maybe 10 different options in my approximate price range and then I negotiated to try out two of the best options, according to my ears/budget for 1 week in my room at home. I ended up going a little outside of my budget, Focal Solo6, for reference, but they were the absolute best option for me and I don't have ears/eyes for anything else (unless I win the lottery and can afford to build/buy a large studio space :D).
Always Read the Manual!

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thecontrolcentre
KVRAF
34567 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny

Post Wed May 31, 2023 9:22 am

BONES wrote: Tue May 30, 2023 6:29 pm That's a bit over his budget. I got my 8010s second-hand and they are still the most expensive monitors I've ever had.
OP's budget is 2K ... that Genelec system is £499 each for the 8030C and £749 for the 7040A (inc.VAT) if you shop around. Price will vary depending where you live I suppose.

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HOTF
KVRist
214 posts since 16 Jun, 2022

Post Wed May 31, 2023 11:48 am

Hey I have the AA A4V. They sound phenomenal ... obviously can not be trusted for everything below around 80hz...

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BONES
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15457 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle

Post Wed May 31, 2023 3:49 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 9:22 amOP's budget is 2K ... that Genelec system is £499 each for the 8030C and £749 for the 7040A (inc.VAT) if you shop around. Price will vary depending where you live I suppose.
That's UK pounds, I assume he was talking US dollars. Over here it's Au$50 shy of four grand for that set-up, which would be well over $2k in USD. And if you are going to go with a subwoofer, I don't know why you'd go any bigger than 8010s for your desktop speakers, which might just scrape in under US$2k.
NOVAkILL : Asus Zenbook Duo, Core i7, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM/OB-E, Concept, Thorn, DUNE, Spire, ANA-2, Vacuum Pro, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro.

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thecontrolcentre
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34567 posts since 27 Jul, 2005 from the wilds of wanny

Post Wed May 31, 2023 4:32 pm

BONES wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 3:49 pm That's UK pounds, I assume he was talking US dollars.
if so, you can take the 20% tax (£350) off the price.
BONES wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 3:49 pm I don't know why you'd go any bigger than 8010s for your desktop speakers
Why wouldn't you (other than the price difference)? I'm seriously interested.

I bought my Genelec 1029A \ 1091A system way back in 1998 for around £1500, so the current prices seem pretty reasonable to me. You can pay more than 2K for a pair of iLoud Precisions these days.
ATS wrote: Wed May 24, 2023 8:33 pm So far I found this which looks pretty good. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... -subwoofer
That does look like a pretty good deal :)

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15457 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle

Post Wed May 31, 2023 8:32 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 4:32 pm
BONES wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 3:49 pm That's UK pounds, I assume he was talking US dollars.
if so, you can take the 20% tax (£350) off the price.
Then you can add Federal and State taxes.
BONES wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 3:49 pmWhy wouldn't you (other than the price difference)? I'm seriously interested.
Because you mostly want larger speakers to get more bottom end, which the sub will be supplying. Think how tiny the satellite speakers are with a lot of 2.1 and 5.1 systems.
I bought my Genelec 1029A \ 1091A system way back in 1998 for around £1500, so the current prices seem pretty reasonable to me.
I got my 8010s used for around US$450, plus I had to spend another US$100 or so on the pods to stand them on, which didn't come with them.
You can pay more than 2K for a pair of iLoud Precisions these days.
Yeah but those are the much larger dual 5" jobbies, the normal 3.5" MTMs are only a grand or so.
NOVAkILL : Asus Zenbook Duo, Core i7, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM/OB-E, Concept, Thorn, DUNE, Spire, ANA-2, Vacuum Pro, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro.

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BONES
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15457 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle

Post Wed May 31, 2023 10:43 pm

This thread has inspired me to buy a subwoofer to go with my 8010s. I'd been using my previous monitors to hear more bottom end but a subwoofer seems like a better solution and the local shop has them for 25% off at the moment, so I only paid Au$330 for it - Presonus Eris Sub8. I have no idea what it sounds like but I have two pairs of Eris monitors, one of which I really like, so I figure it won't be any worse than them.
NOVAkILL : Asus Zenbook Duo, Core i7, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM/OB-E, Concept, Thorn, DUNE, Spire, ANA-2, Vacuum Pro, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro.

edinabdedj
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8 posts since 18 Jun, 2023

Post Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:14 pm

I have Yamaha HS8, they are so good!

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ATS
KVRAF
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7564 posts since 21 Dec, 2002 from MD USA

Post Wed Jun 21, 2023 7:55 pm

edinabdedj wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:14 pm I have Yamaha HS8, they are so good!
yeah I only hear good things about those. I think I am going to make a trip to the store and check them out in person.
my music: http://www.alexcooperusa.com
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PieBerger
KVRAF
1930 posts since 23 May, 2012 from London

Post Wed Jun 21, 2023 11:33 pm

ATS wrote: Wed Jun 21, 2023 7:55 pm
edinabdedj wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:14 pm I have Yamaha HS8, they are so good!
yeah I only hear good things about those. I think I am going to make a trip to the store and check them out in person.
I cannot recommend enough that you do this, you won't regret it :D
Always Read the Manual!

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BONES
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15457 posts since 14 Jun, 2001 from Somewhere else, on principle

Post Thu Jun 22, 2023 10:45 pm

My sub was a bust - way too big for the boat. I didn't even bother plugging it in, I just returned it. In stead I bought a Logitech 2.1 computer system, which is better than nothing and was a third of the price.
NOVAkILL : Asus Zenbook Duo, Core i7, 16GB RAM, Win11 | EVO 16 | Studio One | bx_oberhausen, GR-8, JP6K, Union, Hexeract, Olga, TRK-01, SEM/OB-E, Concept, Thorn, DUNE, Spire, ANA-2, Vacuum Pro, VG Iron 2 | Uno Pro.

The Peu
KVRist
82 posts since 16 Aug, 2004 from New York, NY

Post Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:15 am

I have the Adam Audio T5V. Awesome little speaker.
https://www.adam-audio.com/en/t-series/t5v/

For a tight desk space, and my desk is against a wall, I got clamp-ons monitor stands. Very happy with the whole setup.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084H ... UTF8&psc=1

lobsterdisk
KVRer
7 posts since 13 Jul, 2023

Post Thu Jul 13, 2023 4:11 am

I only have experience with systems that are way under 2k but one tip I can offer is that there are some really great used hardware deals out there for monitors. Buying from ebay or reverb folks with perfect feedback saved me close to 50% compared to new for what are essentially new JBL 305p mkii.

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mystran
KVRAF
7658 posts since 12 Feb, 2006 from Helsinki, Finland

Post Fri Jul 21, 2023 1:37 pm

thecontrolcentre wrote: Wed May 31, 2023 9:22 am
BONES wrote: Tue May 30, 2023 6:29 pm That's a bit over his budget. I got my 8010s second-hand and they are still the most expensive monitors I've ever had.
OP's budget is 2K ... that Genelec system is £499 each for the 8030C and £749 for the 7040A (inc.VAT) if you shop around. Price will vary depending where you live I suppose.
...and whatever you pay for them, they are worth every penny.

ps. I don't have a sub 'cos that'd make no sense for me at home, but 8030 is really nice and quite usable even on it's own.
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