Old 01-05-2018, 04:05 PM   #1
Cobain 406
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 9
Default monitors

Looking to buy a pair of studio monitors/speakers but only have a budget of around 100 pounds.
Anyone got any recommendations?
Cobain 406 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-05-2018, 04:18 PM   #2
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Save some money. £100 is far too low to get decent speakers and built in amplification or passives with a Hi-Fi amplifier buying second hand, nevermind anything new.
Double your money at absolute minimum (scraping the barrel) then look hard at the second hard market. Don't just rush in.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 02:25 AM   #3
slipstick
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: UK, near Europe
Posts: 878
Default

You might be better off with some reasonable headphones for that sort of money.

If you already have an amplifier then secondhand Hifi speakers can work reasonably well. But if you need active monitors all you can really do is keep an eye on EBay and hope for some to come along. But buying secondhand is always a risk and still for 100 quid you're only going to get low-end stuff, 4" woofers, 5" if you're really lucky.

Steve
slipstick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 03:16 AM   #4
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by slipstick View Post
You might be better off with some reasonable headphones for that sort of money.

If you already have an amplifier then secondhand Hifi speakers can work reasonably well. But if you need active monitors all you can really do is keep an eye on EBay and hope for some to come along. But buying secondhand is always a risk and still for 100 quid you're only going to get low-end stuff, 4" woofers, 5" if you're really lucky.

Steve
For what you can get for around £200 second hand is really the only choice. £100 will just buy crap, new or old. Sure you can buy powered speakers for that but they aren't worth having.
Second hand is actually a safer bet because at very least you aren't assured that it will be worthless tat. Nothing wrong with 5" woofers. Some extremely high quality mini monitors are made with 5" drivers at many times the price (trade off quality vs quantity and depth). To reiterate it will be tough at only £200 to get something half decent for a beginner/starter system.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-06-2018, 04:36 AM   #5
Cobain 406
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 9
Default

Thanks for all the help!
I have a pair of audio technica m50x headphones and use them the majority of the time when mixing I just need a half decent set of monitors for when mixing with other people of when showing mixes to others.
If I was to look on the second hand market what would be the best brand to look at?
Cobain 406 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2018, 05:02 PM   #6
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

I suggest you do some digging around regarding reviews on Budget Hi-Fi audio bargains and also entry level active studio monitors. There are options for stereo pairs new and second hand on eBay at circa £200.

You might get some budget entry Yamaha's, Behringer, Tannoy, Alesis, Presonus, M Audio, Genelec, JBL, maybe Focal if lucky- Careful these actives are often sold as single units, not always stereo pairs (read fine print).

Do some reading if you want quality.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-09-2018, 06:01 PM   #7
Cosmic
Human being with feelings
 
Cosmic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Online
Posts: 4,896
Default

If you can find a pair of second hand Berhinger Truths you'd be laughing.

Underated speakers
__________________
it aint worth a bop,if it dont got that pop
Cosmic is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-10-2018, 03:22 AM   #8
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosmic View Post
If you can find a pair of second hand Berhinger Truths you'd be laughing.

Underated speakers
I wouldn't say they are underrated, I'm sure they sell in very high numbers. At least the design is respected by other speaker designers as a speaker that performs well measurably and subjectively. Good VFM, a safe bet, provided they are in good working order.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2018, 04:33 AM   #9
Indirect
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 122
Default

Consider buying one speaker. By buying one you emphasise the informative aspect of the mixing. Old guys tell you mix in mono. In any way, monitor is for cheching how your work performs in environment at certain SPLs, how mix performs with natural reverb etc. That is if you absolutely need speakers for work, this way doesn't feel good or comfortable, it just works. If its your hobby, just save up and buy something grea
Indirect is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2018, 05:32 AM   #10
ivansc
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near Cambridge UK and Near Questembert, France
Posts: 22,754
Default

On the behringers: The 6" 20 series ones sounded better to me than the 8" 30 series ones.
__________________
Ici on parles Franglais
ivansc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-18-2018, 05:56 AM   #11
Softsynth
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8,696
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Indirect View Post
Consider buying one speaker. By buying one you emphasise the informative aspect of the mixing. Old guys tell you mix in mono. In any way, monitor is for cheching how your work performs in environment at certain SPLs, how mix performs with natural reverb etc. That is if you absolutely need speakers for work, this way doesn't feel good or comfortable, it just works. If its your hobby, just save up and buy something grea
That's a luxury additional option for when you already have high quality monitors. It most certainly should not be the only available option!
No one should exclusively mix in mono, that would be absurd.

The only people that might consider buying only one speaker would be those people that are 100% deaf in one ear. - even then two speakers will load a room better for more even bass output. Also two speakers requires less excursion from a drive unit producing less distortion for a given output level.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
On the behringers: The 6" 20 series ones sounded better to me than the 8" 30 series ones.
It could be that the smaller cheaper drive unit has a more accurate midrange. Typically 5.25 inch drive units are a safer bet, especially for domestically acceptable volumes in small rooms. There are exceptional quality 7-10" drive units but these have to be married to quality tweeters that can go low more cleanly than the majority of budget fodder.

It's a tall order expecting clean output in the crossover region from modest cost tweeters and large cones pushed high in their working range.

Last edited by Softsynth; 01-18-2018 at 01:25 PM.
Softsynth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2018, 01:44 AM   #12
Indirect
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 122
Default

I had to work work 3-5 months with headphones for stereo and mono monitor. I'd check on monitor once in a while (mix), also while writing stuff I'd use it almost all the time. It was like recording/tracking with one monitor - mixing with two. To check takes, rudimentary mix, 1 speaker IMO works
Indirect is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-21-2018, 05:10 AM   #13
J Reverb
Human being with feelings
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,071
Default

Pioneer Sp-bs22-lr Andrew Jones Bookshelf Speakers
Pick up a cambridge audio amp or similar for around 20 quid
I would say something like that would be a better bang for the buck.
J Reverb is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:16 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.