Studio Monitors or Floor-Standers

<snip>I auditioned this amazing book-shelf speaker set today. Monitor Audio GX 50! It was paired with NAD C-326 and REL Acoustics T-zero subwoofer.

I've almost made up my mind on this combo. This is THE kind of sound I was looking for. Fast, agile, tight! The high frequency response is amazing, the sounds in psytrance sound perfect! The midbass is crisp and accurate.

The REL subwoofer blends absolutely well with the speakers. The bass is not at all boomy.

All in all, I'd very happy with this setup and would finalize the same tomorrow or day-after.<snip>

Just add it to your short list. Then listen to other speakers. Keep adding/eliminating from your shortlist. In the end you will have just one on your list and that is the one to buy. :D
 
Wow! I never realised that the list of "good" monitor speakers was so long. I thought KRK sounded very, very nice when I was buying my cheap M-Audios, but have since been yearning for Genelec.

Yes, I meant the cabinet. Sorry, sometimes my brain fails to deliver the write words at the right time :o

Contributions from the pro audio world are always very welcome --- although they won't be received well by all, due to a certain lack of, err ...something. ;)

In my opinion, Genelec is probably the best active loudspeaker on the planet. I have never ever dealt with anything else that even comes close to that level of engineering. Its amazing the lengths their R&D have gone through, to deal with evey bit of what it takes to do a perfect active loudspeaker. I can only tell you that once you get the Genelec's you have been yearning for, you will enjoy music like you have never done before. Hope you get them someday soon :)

These days the cabinet is not a major issue as most manufacturers have figured out enclosure science pretty well, and build very small front baffles barely larger than the drivers to minimize the baffle effect. But even if the baffle were a bit larger than they usually are, it would not cause any significant focus. The sides and rear of the cabinet have no effect on the focus. Good loudspeakers have a Baffle Step Compensation BSC filter that is purpose designed depending on the size of the front baffle

These days the enclosures / cabinets are being designed with rounded edges for minimum diffraction and made of materials with very high stiffness to minimize vibration. Another thing that is commonly being integrated into the enclosure / cabinet designs is waveguides to minimize diffraction and allow the tweeter and midrange to radiate sound with constant directivity for a flat on-axis and off-axis frequency response
 
Hey Kartik,

I auditioned this amazing book-shelf speaker set today. Monitor Audio GX 50! It was paired with NAD C-326 and REL Acoustics T-zero subwoofer.

I've almost made up my mind on this combo. This is THE kind of sound I was looking for. Fast, agile, tight! The high frequency response is amazing, the sounds in psytrance sound perfect! The midbass is crisp and accurate.

The REL subwoofer blends absolutely well with the speakers. The bass is not at all boomy.

All in all, I'd very happy with this setup and would finalize the same tomorrow or day-after.

I had one query though, is it possible to connect the NAD amplifier though Apple airport express and stream my music directly via wi-fi?

Yes the speakers are good.
A word of caution - The GX50 have a low sensitivity of 86 dB and recommended Amp power is 50 to 100 W. I feel that the NAD C 326 will be under powered and you may need to go for the next Amp in the series.
 
In my opinion, Genelec is probably the best active loudspeaker on the planet. I have never ever dealt with anything else that even comes close to that level of engineering. Its amazing the lengths their R&D have gone through, to deal with evey bit of what it takes to do a perfect active loudspeaker. I can only tell you that once you get the Genelec's you have been yearning for, you will enjoy music like you have never done before. Hope you get them someday soon :)

Thank you for that. I have higher priorities than speakers, even on the hifi shopping list because most of my listening is now done late-night with
headphones, but I have nagging feeling that Genelecs might be literally speakers-for-life. Even if repairs were required, Genelec should be there to be relied upon. So, such a substantial investment (even at the 8020/30 level) might actually amount to long-term economy.

shaman, sorry again for the diversion. I'll be continuing to watch you auditioning and buying reports :)
 
Yes the speakers are good.
A word of caution - The GX50 have a low sensitivity of 86 dB and recommended Amp power is 50 to 100 W. I feel that the NAD C 326 will be under powered and you may need to go for the next Amp in the series.

You mean the 356?
Any ideas of its retail price?

All things said and done, what it comes down to is what I can afford and what I can't.

I'd started of with a budget of 60-70 for towers+amp. Heard some good speakers, some even better.

If I go for the MA BX-50 + NAD 326 + REL T-zero + cables + stands + airport extreme it'd cost me close to 1.5 L.

I'm ready to stretch it till there but going for the NAD 356 might be a little over the top.

I've heard the GX 50 on an old CA amp. It sounded way better than it does on the NAD. For some music types, I think that the Marantz 6004 sounded better than the NAD 326, but I dont listen to that sort of music all that much.

I had considered adding the sub at a later stage.But the lows that I'm looking for can't possibly be produced by a bookshelf.

Btw, I also had a chance to audition the MA Platinum series bookshelf. Stellar thing it is!
 
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Here is a list of good studio loudspeaker monitors
Lots of monitors. :)

Since you are a studio guy wanted just few names if there are any classic standard passive studio monitors. Off topic Bi amped monitor speakers with dac+amp built in looks interesting. Couldn't get more convenient than this. No interconnects, speaker cables. Good DAC+Amp+speakers. Future home system ?

Sorry shaman for being off topic.
Regards
 
Lots of monitors. :)

Since you are a studio guy wanted just few names if there are any classic standard passive studio monitors. Off topic Bi amped monitor speakers with dac+amp built in looks interesting. Couldn't get more convenient than this. No interconnects, speaker cables. Good DAC+Amp+speakers. Future home system ?

Sorry shaman for being off topic.
Regards

Hahaha, most of the discussion in this thread has been off-topic, nevertheless informative.
 
Yes the speakers are good.
A word of caution - The GX50 have a low sensitivity of 86 dB and recommended Amp power is 50 to 100 W. I feel that the NAD C 326 will be under powered and you may need to go for the next Amp in the series.

I was running my MA GS10 with the Marantz PM7004 which churns about 70W per channel. But ended up adding a Musical Fidelity A5 power amp(I know that it is way beyond the recommended numbers) and things improved drastically
 
Shaman, since everyone else is apologising to you, I guess its high time I too did the same :) for being off topic

Since you are a studio guy wanted just few names if there are any classic standard passive studio monitors. Off topic Bi amped monitor speakers with dac+amp built in looks interesting. Couldn't get more convenient than this. No interconnects, speaker cables. Good DAC+Amp+speakers. Future home system ?

The only passive monitor I used extensively was the Yamaha NS10M, that too not out of choice, but just because many customers were in the habit of using it and wanted to see it in the studio. I was so glad when they were finally retired and replaced with Genelec's. I could never figure out how the NS10M's ever qualified to become a monitor, that too the most popular one at that time. Most smart studio engineers began to retire their old passive monitors already by the mid or late 80's, so I didnt get to see too many of them in the better studios I usually used to frequent. Sorry Hiten, I am not the right person to be advising you on passive monitors. But yeah, bi-amped active monitors are very popular these days and convinient with all the bells and whistles in their offerings. Surely they are the future, especially the good DSP ones
 
So I finally went ahead and bought the following:-

1. Monitor Audio Gold GX 50 bookshelves
2. REL Acoustics T-zero subwoofer
3. NAD 326 stereo amp

The next upgrade lined up is a good wireless DAC. Need your suggestions on the same!
 
So I finally went ahead and bought the following:-

1. Monitor Audio Gold GX 50 bookshelves
2. REL Acoustics T-zero subwoofer
3. NAD 326 stereo amp

The next upgrade lined up is a good wireless DAC. Need your suggestions on the same!

Congrats !!! Though not wireless, you can try CA magic DAC ...
 
Nice system. However to be honest those speakers deserve something better than a nad. I'd have skipped the sub and got an exposure or naim amp.
 
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Nice system. However to be honest those speakers deserve something better than a nad. I have skipped the sub and got an exposure or naim amp.

^^^^ :thumbsup:

IMHO, the Monitor Gold speakers are under utilised paired to the current amp & can't show their true capabilities. Hope Shaman can do justice to them by acquiring a better amp in the near future,

Best Wishes

:)
 
Justice will be done! And soon!

I had considered skipping the sub and going for a better amp before going for the NAD. However after auditioning the GX-50s on amps ranging from the NAD to Belles 150A reference, the lack of bass in electronic music was significant. I just couldn't avoid the sub. It was difficult for me too, you know compromising on the amp.

I have been planning on getting a good DAC, not anytime soon though. Say, 2-3 months down the lane.

Should I consider a DAC or a better amp? What should be my first upgrade?
 
Definitely DAC first as source is the 'Key' Component to make rest of the equipments shine, so getting the source as good as possible in your budget would be my recommendation.
Having said that, do you have a good collection of FLAC's???

EDIT: Re read your 1st post & if your music collection is still the same as you started out your journey, then forget about a DAC & look for a better amp 1st :p
 
The music collection is getting better with the new stereo, quality wise.
Crap quality music sounds even crappier on good speakers.

I've started purchasing CDs online, though there are barely any available in India.
 
Buy from India's official online dealer!
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