Active Studio Monitors for HIFI ?

Hi all, does anyone have any experience with so called "Studio Monitors" in their HiFi system ? I stumbled across the KRK ROKIT 5 G3 series and others in the same price / spec range. They all seem to be quite cheap considering there are two amps built in to each speaker... From what I understand, they are tuned for relatively close range auditioning which may limit their use in larger spaces... What do they sound like compared to a "HiFi" speaker of about the same size ?

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4 thoughts on “Active Studio Monitors for HIFI ?

  1. William Watkins (inventor of the dual drive woofer, used by Infinity in most of their high end speakers during the 80’s) has a new bookshelf size speaker that is DEFINITELY a “hi fi” speaker; set up and positioned correctly, it will amaze you. More info at http://www.watkinsstereo.com

    1. I bought a pair of Nubert NuPro A-300 active bookshelf nearfield monitors. Excellent sound and with my big active sub they can easily replace my Magnepan 3.6R set, play as loud without compression but with much less hardware. They have two 100W amps for the tweeters and woofers built in and a great DAC, inputs are USB, SPDIF and analogue from a preamplifier. I’ve always been a total analogue guy but my turntable sounds great through this set. Plus I have extensive tone controls which work through DSPs so don’t deteriorate the signal. Have a listen! They are only 525 € a piece but only directly available from the German factory. You can test them for a month and if not satisfied send them back with a full refund.

      1. Thank you so much for this. What caught my eye was the comparison against the 3.6R; one of my all-time favourite speakers. Can the system you describe really create a full height image? Regards – Howard

        1. My listening room is smallish for the 3.6Rs, 7 by 4 meters and I use them as near field monitors. As those the Nuberts can compete without problems. Only when I’m in the kitchen, farther away from the speakers the Maggies still put a real stereo image out whilst the small actives sound a bit diffuse. But from my listening spot at the apex of the perfect triangle both pairs create a good picture, the small Nubert provide even better focus. Actually one of my best friends (who upgraded my classic EAR LP master cutter tube amps which drive my Maggies, bi-amped with a pair of Marantz MA-700 THX monos for the bass panels, see http://www.theaudioclinic.nl/gear.html ) finds the stereo image of my Maggies too “tall” to be real. He sold his 3,6Rs and is now importing the Etalon brand. I found the Maggies’ original X-overs ridiculous (the bass coils are tiny and get saturated which impairs bass transients a lot) and had him build better custom ones. With those and bi-amping and the Mye stands the Maggies really sing.

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