Which monitors?

[ascl]

So I have been after some new monitors for a little while, and was looking at the Adam A7x's. However, they have no auto-standby, and are not shielded. The no shielding thing I can probably live with, but I am not very happy with the idea of no auto-standby -- realistically I am not going to switch them on and off.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Unfortunately it isn't easy to listen to a great range of monitors, so I'm really after some suggestions.

A little detail:
- My music room isn't very large, but I'd prefer something with bigger than 5" woofers
- The A7x's have both RCA and XLR input, which would be handy (but not having that isn't a deal breaker)
- one volume knob would be nice (but again, not a deal breaker, I can control volume other ways)
- The A7x's are about $1500 here, and that is my price limit (it is probably more than I should spend, but I'd rather buy something I am happy with for a long time)
- Ideally shielded. These need to sit near by PC, and I have removable drives etc Un-shielded is probably okay, but shielded preferable.


Thanks!

 

[Plant]

Check out KRK VXT6's. They are great, and have auto-standby function.

 

[AntonioPetrole]

So I have been after some new monitors for a little while, and was looking at the Adam A7x's. However, they have no auto-standby, and are not shielded. The no shielding thing I can probably live with, but I am not very happy with the idea of no auto-standby -- realistically I am not going to switch them on and off.

So, does anyone have any suggestions? Unfortunately it isn't easy to listen to a great range of monitors, so I'm really after some suggestions.

A little detail:
- My music room isn't very large, but I'd prefer something with bigger than 5" woofers
- The A7x's have both RCA and XLR input, which would be handy (but not having that isn't a deal breaker)
- one volume knob would be nice (but again, not a deal breaker, I can control volume other ways)
- The A7x's are about $1500 here, and that is my price limit (it is probably more than I should spend, but I'd rather buy something I am happy with for a long time)
- Ideally shielded. These need to sit near by PC, and I have removable drives etc Un-shielded is probably okay, but shielded preferable.


Thanks!

Is your room treated at all? If not I either recommend a good pair of headphones and $300 range monitors (use the headphones to reference low end etc.) or getting a decent pair of monitors and build some bass traps. What are the dimensions of your room? Alot of people assume they need 7" monitors when 5" monitors will do absolutely fine and are typically more beneficial, especially in small/untreated rooms.

 

[Baelzebeard]

Auto standby; who cares my monitors have been turned on for several years straight. There actually is a school of thought about the temperature shifts between on and off that can wear heat sensitive components. I don't know about all that, I'm just lazy.

As for size, I've never preferred the 5 inch version to an 8 inch design. But it all comes down to preference. You can get used to any speakers if you acclimate yourself to them. I wouldn't trust speakers for serious work without listening to several hundred hours of music I am familiar with. I have listened to some adam a7's briefly and they did sound nice to me.

 

[ascl]

Hmm, so leaving them on 24x7 isn't an issue? That.... is interesting. I wonder what their power draw is while idle (although, given the other crap that is on most of the time here...).

I have decent headphones, have some treatment, and my room is about 3.5m square, so it isn't massive. I want something for both monitoring, and playing amp simulators through, which is why I would prefer something with a slightly bigger woofer (but maybe I'm fooling myself. How can I even tell without demoing in my room which is not really possible here! -- smaller means less money which is good obviously!).


Thanks for the input so far. Others I am looking at:
-dynaudio bm5a, look good, but no volume control, only XLR inputs
-focal cms 65, no auto standby (but maybe that isn't a problem), shielded, and has rca + xlr

 

[Narrillnezzurh]

You'll be running these out of an interface, so why does having a volume control matter?

 

[Sam MJ]

Don't worry about playing through amp sims, Guitars have basically no Low end content in the first place. The A7x's should pretty much go down to 45-50Hz, that's going to be low enough for pretty much anything and will comfortably handle a bass guitar/kick drum.

 

[skalla]

I'm using a pair of genelec 8040's and I like them. I still have my old logitech speakers next to them though, so I can listen in those as well when needed (I know them). And mix everything below 40hz in my headphones. (which is generally just cut. and sometimes low-end bass.)

Ofcourse genelecs might not be what you're looking for. Try looking around and see if there are any music shops in your area where you can listen and compare different monitors.