Any advice for buying studio monitors?

[theshaggyfreak]

Not having heard them myself, I'm somewhat surprised to hear the Yamaha HS80s getting so much praise. I was under the impression they were designed as a spiritual successor to the NS-10s. Was my assumption false? People raving about their frequency response and how good they sound would seem to indicate that I am mistaken.

They look like the NS-10s but it's definitely a different speaker monitor. It took me a little while to get used to my HS80s but that's typical getting any new monitors. I definitely notice my mixes are better since I made the switch.

[nOkbient]

I know this isn't really an active topic anymore, but since we're talking about subwoofers, does anyone know of a good one? I currently use an RCA sub, but it just sounds... Off. I need a good quality, powerful sub.

As for speakers, I use M-Audio BX5 D2s. They're a bupit small, but holy crap are they great! They have good lows, the highs are a bit harsh when turned up, and the mids are sliiiightly less pronounced. All in all though, fantastic reference monitors.

[SnappleMan]

As far as subs go I've used the KRK 10s, I really like it (trying to find one at a good price right now, actually).

[Iostream]

I suppose it depends on your budget for the sub. One bit of importance is how well it will blend with what you have already. I am not real familiar with the M-Audio monitors. In the budget category, I have a friend with the Audioengine S8 which sounds fairly good, though he has it paired with audioengine monitors. Bluesky subs also sound fairly good, again, I have only heard them paired with Bluesky monitors though.

Generally I would avoid any home theater focused subs unless you are willing to spend a lot. Most of them are geared towards impact, and not musical at all. Exceptions to this come from REL, B&W, Velodyne (at their high end), and JL Audio, but you pay dearly for them.

[XPRTNovice]

As far as subs go I've used the KRK 10s, I really like it (trying to find one at a good price right now, actually).

In all, I bought a pair of KRK Rokit 6 and a KRK 10s for $275 total. I think that's a frigging steal. I'm waiting for a friend of mine with a pink noise calibration machine to help me set it up though, because my studio kind of sucks for acoustics.

[Sixto]

wow. my krk10s was way more than $275. really good deal you got there

[José the Bronx Rican]

Jesse brought back a ton of memories of my reading up extensively on this stuff, when I was serious about a quality home studio, but my bank account wasn't, and my 63-square-foot rectangular studio room is likely far too tiny regardless. Things haven't changed, unfortunately, except for my tinnitus increasing, and so most of us DIY'ers on a budget still must test our music on a wide variety of listening environments before committing. I test my bass on my floor-standing, hip-high, 20-year-strong Kenwood home theater speakers, with 10-inch woofs.