Polk Audio Monitor 40?

They are tons better than computer speakers, but still far studio monitors.

Regardless of which speakers you chose the most important thing is to "Learn" how they sound with other commercially released material, so you can mimic the tonal balance of your reference material. (lots of listening.

One thing to keep in mind with these speakers is that they are passive, so there is no amplification that comes with them. You will need an amplifier to operate these guys as they are primarily designed to be hooked up to a surround receiver.
If you have the amplifier, then I think these will make a nice upgrade from computer style speakers.

BTW: adding a sub-woofer with these will do wonders as far as being able to mix in low frequencies as a lot of video material is likely to be played back in a system that has a sub-woofer attached (Home Surround system)
plus you'll get to hear a lot of rumble from mics that you may not hear on regular monitors so you can fix and create a much cleaner sound scape.

good luck .

GG
 
I've been a fan of Polk Audio for a long time, and used Polk for my home surround sound system.

That being said, these are not studio monitors. They have limited low frequency excursion, have extended (and from what I've read exagerated) high frequency response (a few reviews call the highs "harsh". Additionally, their efficiency rating is a bit low which means they require more power to reach a certain loudness. These are rated for power between 20w and 125w. Expect to be on the high end of that number to get them to perform. As bookshelf speakers, they are designed to be listened to from a distance far greater than nearfield, meaning that placing them on your desk (or preferably stands) listening to them nearfield will provide you with a very colored version of the original signal.

So, I guess it boils down to this. If you're using these to watch movies, or listen to music, then yea, they are not a bad speaker, especially considering the price. If you're asking if they would make an adequate studio monitor for post audio mixing and mastering, then no. It's not what they were made for. Kind of like using a wrench when you need a hammer, don't expect the same results.



story2rewrite said:
Just wondering if these are good monitors for sound. I'm new to this but I've heard polk is a good name in sound.

Heres's the link. It's a pre-black Friday deal at newegg for about a 100 bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...10-Index-_-HomeAudioSpeakers-_-82290202-L013C

Here's the code you need to enter to bring them down to 100....

EMCZZNN57
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Thanks for the quick response. Is the studiophile av30 the same deal? I was hoping to get a set of audio monitoring speakers for under 150. Is that possible. I'm a one man production for now. Meaning I have a lot on my plate for production cost. Anyone have a budget minded indie audio monitor for video?

Thanks in advance.
 
It is not impossible to do a good job on a cheap pair of speakers, its just harder. that being said...
the polks will be great improvement over a pair of computer speakers...
will they be accurate?... not so much. they are created for different purpose than what you are intending for them.
however, and this is a big investment on your part... if you take the time to "learn" these speakers then it IS possible for you to eventually do good work with them.
and this goes for ANY speaker that is not designed as a studio monitor (and most that claim to be studio monitors are no better than home speakers) but the trade off is on your part.
I too recommend the KRK's as a good starter studio monitor, if you can swing it, invest a little more into these and you will be much happier with end results, not to mention you dont have to worry about the variable and cost of an amplifier as they are self powered (amplifier built into each speaker)
 
And quite frankly, the KRK Rokit series are not all that great for their cost. They're very popular with the Guitar Center crowd, but not what I would call accurate in any sense of the word. They are used by the R&R crowd to mix R&R.

I use Event TR6s. They, too, lack some energy in the lowest octave, but over the rest of the spectrum, with the expection of a little brassiness at 4k, are very neutral and translate well to other environments. Paid $450/pr used.

I do understand you're constrained by budget. I really suggest saving your money a bit longer and buy something that will serve well for several years. For approx. $200/ea. the Yamaha HS50M are nice. The Studiophile AV30s will be very disapppointing in the low end.

It really depends on how serious you are about sound. Just about any speaker can be used. And also understand that speaker placement, the response of the room, and it's treatment, as well as how the monitor is coupled (or de-coupled) from the room will have nearly as great an impact on what you hear as the choice of monitor.

If you are simply looking for something to listen to the clips as you edit video, then a decent set of computer speakers with sub would work fine. If you talking about beginning to put together a post audio suite, then the cost of the monitors is just the beginning.



Sam Mallery said:
Not really. I wouldn't put much faith in those M-Audio AV30's. Pretty much anything under $300 for a pair is going to be consumer grade stuff.

A pair of KRK RoKit 5's is pretty much the only way to go on a tight budget:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/567755-REG/KRK_RP5G2_RoKit_5_G2_45W.html

They're $135 each, so a pair is $270.
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Wow. You guys are awesome. Thanks for all the detailed responses. I'll save this to my files and look for good deals. Thanks again. If I see a good deal for one of the higher end speakers I'll post to share.
 
My two cents...

First remember that these are all opinions and a lot of what people like and dislike has to do with what they are using the speakers for.

Computer speakers with a sub, in my experience have been way over hyped in the sub range and weak in the dialog range, so everything sounds very "thumpy" compared to flat monitors.

Your asking in the audio section so the sound folks are going to be aiming at very flat near field monitors. Ask this on some post only forums and you won't get many options under $1K a speaker. You can get some very decent speakers at a good price, but $300 a pair is probably a more reasonable price point. I like Yorkville YSM-1's (I don't think they are made anymore, the link is to the current powered version) a lot and they are in that range. Also EVENT makes some very decent speakers in the low price range.

BUT if your a video editor then I might look at some of the AUDIX speakers. I used to use the 5 1/4" (they are now on the TV) and once you take the grill off they sound pretty decent considering the size.

As a side note you should always remove the front grill, it will make a big difference in the sound. On pretty much all "profesional" speakers the grill is just to protect the cones when moving, and they pop off and on very easily. If the grills are not made to come off it's a good indicator that the speakers were designed for home stereo use.

Both of the above speakers are above your range but both are powered so if you bought the ones you linked to you would also need to buy a decent amp to go with them. Under powering speakers will make them sound dull and muddy, so one plus with powered speakers is that the amp is made to fit the speaker. My only experience with KRK speakers was that they sounded very muddy, then I found they were being powered by a 20 watt home stereo receiver so... I can't say they sound bad because they were way under powered.
 
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