Monitors

[gaz7224]

Hi All,

I'm after some monitors for under £200.

I'm after some ultra flat/accurate ones.  On the net, I've found some Behringer TRUTH B2031P's.  The reviews have been good, so I'm going to listen to them on Monday.

I'm thinking by buying passives, I'll get more for my money.  Is that true or not necessarily?

Any recommendations welcome.

Gaz

[RawDepth]

I have a pair of the B2031A (A=active, P=pasive) and I like them. They sound good.

I don't think you will do any better by going with passive monitors. You will still need to buy a power amp to run them and you end up spending the same if not more money than the powered version. There is little (if any) difference in the design except that you cannot contour the crossover settings on the passive version. You can with the active version. That is a nice feature when tuning the room.

If you can afford the active ones you will probably like them. They go very loud before distorting and sound clean at moderate volumes. They put out good low end due to the 8-3/4 woofer. They seem to be slightly hyped in the lower mid but I don't mind that. (That is, I've learned to work around it.) The mids and highs are not too harsh unless you monitor very loudly. Not bad for a low budget monitor.

[Catnhat]

Stick with the active.  The fewer things in the signal chain, the fewer things to go haywire.
I was ready to lay the cash out for some Truths a few months ago, when at the last minute a set of Tascam VL-A8's with matching sub landed in my lap.  A deal too good to pass up.

Still thinking about grabbing a set of Truth's for the TV room though.

[gaz7224]

Thanks...

I'm probably going with actives now.  Seems the easiest option.

I wanted a separate amp because it would allow me to plug my mini disk etc into it, instead of having to use up mixer channels, and it would make it easier to have 2 sets of monitors - AV amps have 2 speaker zones, so it's easy to switch between 2 sets.  I'm sure there are ways around it though.

Going to Digital Village tomorrow to listen to a few monitors. 

Gaz

[Catnhat]

If you went with passive monitors, you'd want a reference amp, not an AV amp, so you'd still end up burning channels on the mixer. 
Depending on your setup, you can still use multiple monitor systems to A/B/C, etc. with something as easy as a speaker selection box, or a Mackie Big Knob or something similar.  But it does kind of depend on the whole setup.

[gaz7224]

Hi,

I went to hear the Behringers, but the shop didn't have any in stock, and I couldn't get in the shop because there were two huge steps.  I enquired about some Mackie MR8's monitors, and a MOTU Midi Express 128 USB interface, but they didn't have either of these in stock either!  I left empty handed

I came across the MR8's online.  All the reviews are very good, so I figure they'd be a safe option - even if I order them online - because from what I've read it sounds like they're what I'm after - flat but with decent bass.  A bit expensive - £500 - but I figure they will do me for years.  I've also come across the M-Audio EX66's, but bit too expensive.

Have any of you heard the Mackie MR8's?

Thanks,
Gaz