Mackie MR5 MK3 vs. KRK Rokit 6 Gen 3

[dj_moog]

Heyy All!

I'm in the market for a decent pair of studio monitors for home and gig use. My budget for the speakers are $200 a piece. I've got my eye on two so far that i like but im having a hard time pulling the trigger on it just yet. I was wondering if anyone has these monitors and if they could tell me if they recommend them or not.
The first pick is the KRK Rokit 6 Gen 3. I have listened to them before and they sound great in small venues and amazing in the studio.
The second pick is the Mackie MR5 MK3. I have never listened to them but have heard that they are great quality speakers for the money.

If i go with the KRK's i might look into getting the Rokit 8 but im not sure if i need all that for a tiny room.

My budget is $200 for each speaker, if you guys know of any better speakers for the money please let me know.

[tekki]

Hey Moog,

My favourites are the MR5s, handsdown. The MR5s are able to take a beating, and still play (more) freqs in a more comfortable way.

For me the KRK6 were too tainted in the low freqs, which gave a biased sound.

Out of the almost 40 pairs of active monitors I have tested in that price range, I found that the Mackie MR5s and the ADAM F5(?) were almost in a different league. Though there's still a good mention of the Yamaha HS50 and the Behringer Truths in this story as well.

[tekki]

By the way for Gig use, please use PA sets, don't blast your studio monitors on that. They will get wrecked!

[dj_moog]

Hey Tekki,
Thanks for the reply man. Yeah i really like the mackies due do their freq response, much wider than most. but i was a tad worried that i would get a semi distorted bass response with them like my buddies Rokit 6s. That is the only thing kinda turning me away from KRKs. I want a good clear bass response with my monitors when im mixing in the booth.

lol i wish i could shell out the money on the adams because ive heard they are just incredible but they are out of my price range. im just looking for something comparable to adams.

Do you think i should save the money and get 5" Cones or just ball out and get the 6"?

[tekki]

Bass response is something you really not need to worry about with the Mackies. Trust me on this one.

And the 5" or larger question, it just depends on how large your room is.

[dj_moog]

Thanks for the tip man, we have used my buddies monitors at a couple of small gigs and they just doesn't sound right in the room. Yeah i personally use my small PA with a custom 2x 12" Sub Rig in most of my gigs now. I'm just ready to start getting into good practices and learning how to use my booth speakers more.

And the reason i asked the cone size is because i was a little skeptical about getting 5" and them not being loud enough when I am at a packed venue.

I think i might end up just getting the MR5's and saving a little bit of money but still getting the bang for my buck

[V-Hoff]

Abducting the thread a little bit but still on the topic:

I have the behringer Truth b2031a, 8 ¾" woofer size. Really big and strong sound for my tiny room...
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/B2031A.aspx
They are so big that I need to lower the volume knob to the minimum -10db and also the master knob on traktor to -6db to listen in a reasonable volume.

There is any type of distortion or audio quality loss using my monitors at -10db (volume knob on the back) and the master knob on traktor at -6db?

If there is, it would help the quality if I had a small format mixer between my controller and my monitors to be my master in EQing and Gaining?
I was thinking about this one:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/1202.aspx

Anyway, I will need a mixer with lots of channels cause I want to plug my TV and my PS3 to my studio monitors but i wish to know if it's better to lower the db on the mixer or on the monitors...

[tekki]

Thanks for the tip man, we have used my buddies monitors at a couple of small gigs and they just doesn't sound right in the room. Yeah i personally use my small PA with a custom 2x 12" Sub Rig in most of my gigs now. I'm just ready to start getting into good practices and learning how to use my booth speakers more.

Booth speakers? Go easy on your ears and use headphones only bro'!