Good cheap studio monitors?

LeakingLava

Hey guys. I was looking for a soundbar and I am very thankful to richersounds for helping me out regarding deciding. Unfortunately I just don't think that there is a soundbar out there for me. I just cannot find one that suits my need.

I have looked around the internet for speaker solutions and I am now looking for studio monitors. Does anyone know good decent ones for around €100 and where to get them?

I've looked at adverts and found one but it has a lot of interested people already bidding and it looks like it's gonna be gone soon. Others I've found were just too much out of budget.

SachaJ

LeakingLava wrote: »

Hey guys. I was looking for a soundbar and I am very thankful to richersounds for helping me out regarding deciding. Unfortunately I just don't think that there is a soundbar out there for me. I just cannot find one that suits my need.

I have looked around the internet for speaker solutions and I am now looking for studio monitors. Does anyone know good decent ones for around €100 and where to get them?

I've looked at adverts and found one but it has a lot of interested people already bidding and it looks like it's gonna be gone soon. Others I've found were just too much out of budget.

Unfortunately "good studio monitors" don't really exist for €100 or do you mean bookshelf speakers? Do you have an amplifier already in place or do you need to buy that too? Is the €100 for a pair of speakers or each?

If you're after bookshelf speakers I think Richersounds are the best to talk too as you have already (I see John thanked the post above). If they have nothing that suits your budget you're then looking second hand on adverts or eBay.

LeakingLava

SachaJ wrote: »

Unfortunately "good studio monitors" don't really exist for €100 or do you mean bookshelf speakers? Do you have an amplifier already in place or do you need to buy that too? Is the €100 for a pair of speakers or each?

If you're after bookshelf speakers I think Richersounds are the best to talk too as you have already (I see John thanked the post above). If they have nothing that suits your budget you're then looking second hand on adverts or eBay.

I've only been researching about this for an hour or two so please do forgive me for some mistakes. I have some knowledge regarding live sound and equipment but not really much in studio equipment/home systems. You're right, I am actually not sure whether I want bookshelf speakers or studio monitors. To be honest, I thought they were the same thing when I saw some of each for sale on adverts.

I was looking at some active ones. That's what I thought would suit my need. Am I right in saying that they pretty much work the same as in live sound? Passive speakers/monitors need amplifiers and actives don't?

SachaJ

LeakingLava wrote: »

I've only been researching about this for an hour or two so please do forgive me for some mistakes. I have some knowledge regarding live sound and equipment but not really much in studio equipment/home systems. You're right, I am actually not sure whether I want bookshelf speakers or studio monitors. To be honest, I thought they were the same thing when I saw some of each for sale on adverts.

I was looking at some active ones. That's what I thought would suit my need. Am I right in saying that they pretty much work the same as in live sound? Passive speakers/monitors need amplifiers and actives don't?

Correct that active speakers don't need an amplifier but they do need a pre-out. In other words you couldn't plug a HDMI cable into them and have them decode the audio. The stereo outputs of a TV might do the job but I can't say as I've never tried it.

I suppose first things first. What are you trying to achieve? Where is the audio coming from that you want to use the speakers for?

LeakingLava

SachaJ wrote: »

Correct that active speakers don't need an amplifier but they do need a pre-out. In other words you couldn't plug a HDMI cable into them and have them decode the audio. The stereo outputs of a TV might do the job but I can't say as I've never tried it.

I suppose first things first. What are you trying to achieve? Where is the audio coming from that you want to use the speakers for?

I have a set of 5.1 speakers connected to my PC. Basically, I would like to change my front speakers to full-range speakers. I plan on doing this by plugging the new speakers into the 'front' output of the soundcard. I have checked the settings on my computer and I do have the option of having full-range speaker front speakers to tick so I'm guessing that's for sending the whole range of frequencies to the front speakers.

I don't mind using some jack adaptors if needed, as I understand that some monitors don't have 3.5mm slots. I plan on wall mounting them high and looking down.

EDIT: I do not mind any other suggestions. This idea was only made for me by some googling so it might not be a very solid idea. But please do bear in mind that budget is not very big. I can adjust as I am willing to save for it, but would like a ballpark now so I know what my target is. Would like the cheapest DECENT setup. Thank you

Sorry about the poor quality picture. I am currently not at home and I posted this here before so it was the best thing I could use to at least show you what the 'plan' is.

SachaJ

Nice setup there. The question I'd have is does your soundcard differentiate the "front" speakers as left and right? What I'm saying here is does the soundcard have a output for "front right" and "front left"? If it does you might be able to get some active speakers but I don't know a great deal about them to be honest.

If you don't go active you'll need to start looking at some sort of amplifier. As you're running 5.1 anyway it would make sense to look at 5.1 and above amps/receivers. I personally use an Arcam AVR350 to power a pair of Monitor Audio RX2 speakers from my Macbook Air. If immersive audio is starting to creep into the gaming world it might be worth looking at amps that support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. From what I'm aware Denon and Marantz are bringing out relatively cheap amps with this functionality. That said the amps themselves might be €300 or €400 and then there's the cost of the speakers. I'm currently building a 7.1.4 Atmos setup (11.1 speakers) and there is a fair cost involved.

LeakingLava

SachaJ wrote: »

Nice setup there. The question I'd have is does your soundcard differentiate the "front" speakers as left and right? What I'm saying here is does the soundcard have a output for "front right" and "front left"? If it does you might be able to get some active speakers but I don't know a great deal about them to be honest.

If you don't go active you'll need to start looking at some sort of amplifier. As you're running 5.1 anyway it would make sense to look at 5.1 and above amps/receivers. I personally use an Arcam AVR350 to power a pair of Monitor Audio RX2 speakers from my Macbook Air. If immersive audio is starting to creep into the gaming world it might be worth looking at amps that support Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. From what I'm aware Denon and Marantz are bringing out relatively cheap amps with this functionality. That said the amps themselves might be €300 or €400 and then there's the cost of the speakers. I'm currently building a 7.1.4 Atmos setup (11.1 speakers) and there is a fair cost involved.

Well to be honest I was just thinking of splitters. 3.5mm splitters(left/right output) to 3.5mm wire to adapters.

I know the best solution is probably to change the whole setup. But unfortunately, in my current room, I am not even able to arrange my speakers properly so I don't think it's worth it to get GREAT speakers when I can't have them where they should be. I am currently just using my rear speakers as side left and side right, on the same table that I am using for my whole computer.

I intend to keep using the 'rear' left and right, and the subwoofer(I disconnected the centre as there was a lot of noise from it, but I do have the option of turning off the centre speaker so I have vocals/voices on front left and right.

Luck100

I run a pair of studio monitors with my PC. They're great for stereo but a bit tricky to get set up right.

Studio gear is often run with balanced cables, with XLR or large jack connectors and it's hard to find cables that will connect them up to a typical PC minijack output. I got a fellow off adverts to make me a set of cables and then it turned out I got too much noise and hum from my PC soundcard. So then I got an external DAC, and still got interference from a ground loop. Last step was to add an isolator to break the ground loop. All in all it was a lot more fuss than I bargained for. But they do sound superb and no sub required.

LeakingLava

Luck100 wrote: »

I run a pair of studio monitors with my PC. They're great for stereo but a bit tricky to get set up right.

Studio gear is often run with balanced cables, with XLR or large jack connectors and it's hard to find cables that will connect them up to a typical PC minijack output. I got a fellow off adverts to make me a set of cables and then it turned out I got too much noise and hum from my PC soundcard. So then I got an external DAC, and still got interference from a ground loop. Last step was to add an isolator to break the ground loop. All in all it was a lot more fuss than I bargained for. But they do sound superb and no sub required.

Thank you very much. So I guess my sound upgrade will have to wait quite a long time while I save up for all the bits I have to buy. If you were to do it again, would you? Is it worth it?

Luck100

It's certainly a massive upgrade in sound quality (compared to say the usual logitech computer speakers). It's just that you have to put up with a bit of inconvenience and hassle when you go with pro audio gear. I wasn't even sure at first where to find the right cables or how to describe them. I got the extra parts I needed used so I probably didn't spend more than 50 euros on them. In the end I'm quite happy with it.

The other option is to go with bookshelf powered speakers (something like audioengine). They are self-powered like studio monitors, but made and marketed for consumers as opposed to audio professionals. Easy to hook up and easy to use. The only minus is the selection of competing products is much smaller than the pro audio universe and you'll pay a bit more for any given level of quality.

Not sure how any of these will work in a surround setup.

Kintarō Hattori

OP- why not look for an interim budget solution? At the moment I run a Yamaha VS-10 amp (minus its awful speakers) hooked up to a set of Wharfedale 10.1 bookshelf speakers which I use for music, games and movies.

https://www.google.ie/search?q=Yamaha+VS-10&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIvcPE0vmgxwIVyD8UCh1Msgcx#imgrc=_

The amp has digital and analogue inputs as well as a sub out and I picked it up for less than €100 a few years ago. I forget what I paid for the Diamond 10.1's but similar don't have to break the bank. Have a look at the entry range from Q-Acoustic, they are constant winners with What Hi-Fi and have budget friendly price points.
It should be possible to pick up some sort of digital amp cheaply enough that it becomes almost 'disposable' a few years down the line. You can keep any decent speakers you use with it and just add more when you buy a surround amp.

LeakingLava

Thank you so much for the reply guys. I am not in front of my pc right now so I can't really look at that suggestion but I definitely will later.


Hmm. Regarding the setting up of the studio monitors and the extra wiring and stuff. I have some knowledge regarding audio. I would say I have enough knowledge to do it up. I think it might even be something I would enjoy :P. The only worry regarding that setup for me is the cost of it all. But again, if I don't find a cheaper solution before I save up enough for the monitors, I would most likely go for it.


So yeah, thank you guys so much again I will be back later and post regarding that suggestion. Sorry I can't even name you guys or quote you as I can't figure out how to do it properly on mobile. Thanks a lot!

Luck100

Sure, best of luck with it. For pro audio / studio monitors check out StudioSpares or Thomann's
https://www.studiospares.com/Headphones-and-Speakers/Studio-Monitors.htm
http://www.thomann.de/gb/active_nearfield_monitors.html

I bought my speakers and stands from StudioSpares, although the prices were a bit better before the euro tanked.

LeakingLava

Luck100 wrote:

I bought my speakers and stands from StudioSpares, although the prices were a bit better before the euro tanked.

If I will be going this route, I will have to find tiltable wall mounts or I will have to fabricate. But yeah, hopefully I can find some of them and not too costly. Thank you once again

LeakingLava

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

OP- why not look for an interim budget solution? At the moment I run a Yamaha VS-10 amp (minus its awful speakers) hooked up to a set of Wharfedale 10.1 bookshelf speakers which I use for music, games and movies.

https://www.google.ie/search?q=Yamaha+VS-10&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIvcPE0vmgxwIVyD8UCh1Msgcx#imgrc=_

The amp has digital and analogue inputs as well as a sub out and I picked it up for less than €100 a few years ago. I forget what I paid for the Diamond 10.1's but similar don't have to break the bank. Have a look at the entry range from Q-Acoustic, they are constant winners with What Hi-Fi and have budget friendly price points.
It should be possible to pick up some sort of digital amp cheaply enough that it becomes almost 'disposable' a few years down the line. You can keep any decent speakers you use with it and just add more when you buy a surround amp.

I am finally at a computer now and I'm just trying to understand what equipment exactly is needed for this setup. As I read it now, it seems like I would need:

-an amplifier
-speakers
-wires

Please do correct me if I'm wrong in assuming that those items are all I need.

From that, I have a question. How do the amplifiers differentiate surround speaker signals to front/centre signals? Or does an amplifier just outputs the same left signal for front left and rear left, and right signal for front right and rear right? Or is there a separate input for surround signals as there are separate outputs coming from my computer(3 different outputs - front left/right, centre/sub, rear left/right)? This is a little bit important as I really don't want just replication of front to the rear.

I am asking about the surround as I think that if I was to go towards this solution, I would want to replace my whole sound system. I don't think I would want to wire up for the front speakers + amp while thinking down the line I would have to change over my amp to a better one then change my current surround speakers as well. I just don't think it's very efficient so again, if I was going to go with this route, I would like to replace everything.

EDIT: I was just looking around for amplifiers. It seems like I could go with this setup, too. I could just get a high end stereo amplifier and some high end bookshelf speakers and it's pretty much the same as the studio monitors in terms of setting up/mounting. Then I can just keep using my current surround speakers/sub(amplifier built-in). Also, now that I think of it, it's actually one less plug for just the amplifier compared to two studio monitors .

Now I just have to compare the two systems in terms of sound quality vs price and I think that would be the deciding factor.

EDIT2: I think I will be looking at around 50Watt setups either way as that looks like it's the perfect budget to save for. Around 300 or so.

SachaJ

Remember a stereo amp will only do two channels (front left/right). Where as a multichannel amp will do at least 5.1 if you ever want more speakers.

Also make sure whatever amp you get has multichannel inputs (if you want to cover yourself for 5.1) as not all of them do

SachaJ

LeakingLava wrote: »

Or is there a separate input for surround signals as there are separate outputs coming from my computer(3 different outputs - front left/right, centre/sub, rear left/right)? This is a little bit important as I really don't want just replication of front to the rear.

I think you'll need stereo 3.5mm jack to two RCA cables something like this for your outputs (but I can't be 100% as I don't know your soundcard etc)

LeakingLava

SachaJ wrote: »

Remember a stereo amp will only do two channels (front left/right). Where as a multichannel amp will do at least 5.1 if you ever want more speakers.

Also make sure whatever amp you get has multichannel inputs (if you want to cover yourself for 5.1) as not all of them do

SachaJ wrote: »

I think you'll need stereo 3.5mm jack to two RCA cables something like this for your outputs (but I can't be 100% as I don't know your soundcard etc)

Oh yeah. I completely forgot that I put up that question. I put it up when I was still considering to change my whole setup. I edited it afterwards when I thought that the best solution was to just get a good stereo amp and forgot that I was asking that question regarding multichannel inputs

Thank you very much