I want to get a pair of active monitors to do a bit
of home recording and try my hand at producing. I’m not after
professional quality, just entry-level monitors, as my maximum budget is
around £180. Do you have any recommendations or advice?
Via SOS web site
SOS
Editor In Chief Paul White replies:
The answer depends on your room
size and, to be honest, your budget is a tight one, but there are a
few viable options. If your room is small, aim for a speaker with a
bass driver no larger than five or six inches, but no smaller than four.
Unless you already have a suitable amp, you’re better off going for
active speakers where the amplifiers are built in. As a very general
rule, larger home-studio rooms can take monitors with up to eight-inch
drivers, but these tend to be more expensive.
The current Behringer
B2030A Truth active speakers offer a good performance/value ratio
(though they are slightly over your budget, at around £200 per pair in
the UK), as do the Fostex PM04s and the lower-cost M-Audio models, such
as the Studiophile AV40s and Studiophile BX5A Deluxes (these can all be
found in the UK for well below your budget, at as little as £100 for a
pair of the Studiophile AV40s).
The
M-Audio AV40 Studiophiles offer decent value if you’re on a tight
budget, going for as little as £100 a pair in the UK. They’re also
convenient for a bedroom studio, as they are only six inches wide and
have a front-panel volume control.
These are all fairly small speakers, so don’t expect very deep bass.
However, they should all be loud enough for close-up monitoring. You
also need to be aware that the room acoustics and the way you mount your
speakers will affect the sound, so you might like to take a look at
some of our ‘Studio SOS’ articles at www.soundonsound.com
to help fill the gaps in your knowledge. Bear in mind also that
speakers with volume controls on the front may be more convenient if you
don’t have a monitor level controller.
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