Kara-Moon Forum

Well.....it wasn't too long,before I boycotted my M-Audio BX8a's from my studio & placed them in my living room,as they were being very naughty.
Sure,they have an impressive sound & are great to listen to in general...but entirely too overbearing within a certain low frequency range,which resulted in unpredictability in my mixes....as sometimes proving to cause disastrous results.
Upon pair after pair of new monitors over the years,I have learned that monitors cannot be evaluated in a day or two,regardless of many prerecorded CD's one listens to,along with doing a studio recording or two(as it requires several,actually).

That being said,my habit of writing premature reviews before I really had the chance to thoroughly examine a monitors performance properly,needed to cease.
This is why I refrained from posting my review of my new KRK's straight away,until I allowed enough time to properly break them in,by studying how they behave in various instances & applications.....so this time around,two weeks seemed an ample amount of time to properly test them.

Since my KRK's are connected to my hardware set up,it was necessary to not only examine the KRK's with my DAW recordings that I had exported to my hardware recorder & back again,but to also produce a song beginning with my hardware keyboards and then export all that to my PC DAW....which was the most critical test of all.

As it turned out,my KRK's passed my various tests with flying colors and I was not only very impressed-but also relieved,as I have finally found a pair of budget monitors that stood the test of time & faithfully delivered what was promised from the manufacturer!  :-

With regard to my other pairs of high end monitors that are hooked up to my computers,I have always received the best results with monitor sizes from 5" to 6"-as given their advanced engineering & components,provided an ample amount of bass with exceptional mid-range clarity.
That being said,I was a bit concerned with a $400 pair of budget monitors,but KRK's next generation design of their Rokit series caught my attention,as their new front face cabinet design emulated their more advanced VXT line.

In retrospect,my old pair of KRK Rokit 8"s were not only the wrong size monitor for my compact work area,but the old Rokit series were overly bright in the high end.
The new Rokit G2 series is a notable sonic improvement and of course-these limited edition Ferrari Grey monitors in particular,are absolutely irresistable!! :o  :D
Additionally,these monitors have more than enough gain for your near-field needs & the amplifiers are surprisingly quiet!


Conclusion; these KRK's offer the most accurate mixing that I've experienced to date in this price range and with an aesthetic quality I marvel over everyday,when I wake up in the morning.........monitors that inspire me to write music...it doesn't get any better than this!!



-Thom

Interesting observation about the 5" or 6" monitor size for accurate near-field listening...

Good review, Mr. Sneddon 8)

Thanks for the review Thom

k

Thanks for your interest in my review guys. 8)


-Thom

Your experience of cone size for nearfields matches exactly what I've read about them. Also, I understand that with computer aided modeling in recent years they've been able to optimise the shape of the cones too. I wonder if that has anything to do with the older ones sounding over bright.

I don't have an advanced technical knowledge of the engineering behind monitors,but from what I understand of them,cone material does aid in in the sonic character of a speaker....so with regard to tweeters,some companies years ago,used titanium in their dome tweeters which gave a very brash sound to them.
However though-in professional grade monitors,this same material has a softer,more balanced sound,due to upgrades in the design,components & materials.
This is why silk dome tweeters are so commonly used,as the silk material provides a softer sound at a lower cost.To my knowledge,cone shape mainly determines how the sound is dispersed....although some people claim that ribbon tweeters by their very design,are overly bright,but I never found that to be the case(to my ears).
I think that a speaker's excessive brightness,largely has to do with how a monitor's amplifier & crossover network is calibrated and aside from that,it's a matter of what can be achieved within any given budget....but that's merely speculation on my behalf.


-Thom