Best monitors for ~$200?
I need to stop dicking around with casual listening headphones and a $20 2.1 system and buy some studio monitors. I’m on a tight budget, idk less than $200? 150$ preferably?
Also, is it a bad idea to buy such speakers used? My guess is the owner would be selling them because their blown or something. Is it important to buy them new?
Thanks! 
I’ve been looking at the MAudio Bx5a’s. I heard them in guitar center the other day and they sounded good, and got pretty loud.
This. I use the M-Audio AV40s and AV30s in my dorm and they’ve never failed me.
i also own a set of bx5a’s
they’re better then alot of monitors twice their cost, their construction matched my specs so i got them and am more then surprised out of all the monitors ive owned they’ve been my favorite,
they usually reside on top of some jbl/crown pa’s to help me get a better judge of my sound through pa’s as well
I would say save your money a bit more and just buy some halfway decent headphones for now. Find a nice pair of used Mackie hr624 and you will be set.
You’re not going to get “really good” monitors for anywhere near that price. Go take a listen to the $500/pair offerings from the likes of Yamaha, KRK, Mackie, M-Audio, Adam, and even Behringer…see if they’re worth saving up for. If not, I haven’t heard anything in the $200 range that differentiates one speaker from another beyond “is it broken?”.
Blind, I’d probably pick M-Audio, but I’m not sure why.
You can also get a pair of KRK RP5s for around $300. I know that’s twice your budget, but I paid like $450 for mine several years ago, and they’ve yet to fail me. I don’t think I’d buy cheaper than that if it were at all an option…they’re just too good to pass up if you’re not looking for dead-flat. But they are not dead flat.
They’re not great studio monitors. But they’re fine for DJing. I bought them because I liked their sound. Real studio monitors sound very un-flattering and are likely to sound like “crap” when you A/B them with speakers that don’t work as well as monitors.
If you want them for studio use…save up more. $300 monitors for a studio are almost not worth having except that they save you from hours of mixing in headphones. In all honesty, I’d just get better headphones (MDR-7506 would be my first choice) and maybe something like the Focusrite VRM box, depending on what audio interface you use. And then just save up for better.
The reason that your audio interface matters is that the thing has 2 inputs…USB and Digital Audio. Using them through USB means that you have to use it as your output sound card. Using the digital input means you’re using their converters…which probably don’t suck, but they’re not going to be as good as your normal ones if you actually spent money on your audio interface. If you’re not running Apogee or Avid, I wouldn’t worry about it.
If you are using it for a studio, my suggestion would be the Yamaha HS50M for $400/pair. They’re not particularly good as monitors as they’re not that flat. They’re powered re-issues of some old Yamaha passive bookcase speakers from the 80s that a lot of pro studios have in addition to their real monitor setup (we have them sitting next to Genelecs at the studio I’m studying in). They work pretty well as an example of what “everyone else” hears and are kind of middle-of-the road in terms of quality and sonic enhancement. They’re not flat like Genelcs, they’re not tuned like Bose…they don’t sound as good as things like B&W or ESS, and they’re not nearly as bad as Koss and other “crap”. Just middle of the road “decent example of a lot of systems” speakers.
Just my thoughts, but like someone else said, maybe just buy a better pair of headphones for now. There are plenty to choose from within your budget.
The reason I say this is because by saving up a little more, $325 or abouts, you can buy an active PA speaker. And while I know monitors and PAs are not at all the same, at least you are one step closer with your overall sound issue if you ever plan on playing out to a crowd. Granted you would need more than one top though.
But learning to play through headphones is great, in fact, I prefer it because I can hear more or the small details than I can through monitors.
Rokit 5’ G2 series. You can get one for 150$. A pair for 300$. IMO KRK’s monitors mainly cater to quality sound producing. If you want crist and clear sound go for KRK’s. They’re not even recommended for bumping party music. But boy I’ve been researching on these bad boys when I tried finding good monitors. and these things take the cake. Tested them at a audio center yesterday. and good god I heard everything till the minute sound levels. 150$ for that? yes please.
either at least 3x that amont per piece, or a pair of decent headphones.
Enh. You can get away with a $500-600 pair and be okay…they just won’t be great at being studio monitors. You’ll have to learn how they relate to “everything else,” and what coloring/benefits they have so you can compensate for it.
Until you develop your ear enough, you want detailed. And several give that to you. Real studio monitors sound like “crap,” because they’re completely unforgiving.
My $10 SkullCandy earbuds driven by my iPhone give a more pleasing sound than the $4500 Genelec system driven by PT HD that I have access to. But “pleasing” isn’t what they do…they’re supposed to be unforgiving under the assumption that getting a mix to sound good on them will make them sound flat-out amazing on anything else.
Whatever your monitors do well, your mix will do badly…and vice versa. If your monitors emphasize tight bass, your mix will probably sound loose on everything else. If they roll off highs, your mix will sound bright and tinny elsewhere.
Until you can start to hear those things…spending a lot of money on high-end studio monitors might just serve to frustrate you because they’ll make you think “I can’t do anything right,” instead of “I have a little ways to go.”
idk, some people are suggesting 600$ systems, but if you read what teh guy asked for…
I need to stop dicking around with casual listening headphones and a $20 2.1 system and buy some studio monitors. I’m on a tight budget, idk less than $200? 150$ preferably?
if ure poor, get the av40. they work fine for monitoring and will be a 1000% upgrade from what you got
save up for a KRK if you expect cash soon, since the av40 are a little… weird
they represent whats going on in a mix fine, but a little too fine, since i keep thinking the mix stinks, and when i play it through on my PA (4 behringer b215d’s) it sounds amazing
and if i make an amazing mix on av40, it lacks sparkle and brilliance.
im really picky about sound tho, so could be just me…
Could be a venue issue too 
, but the av40 will supply you with warm rounded sound
If you are looking for something better then what you already have then I suggest you find an old used receiver or stereo and some used speakers at a thrift store. Craigslist is also a good place to try. They will not be close to monitors but at least you can play loud and hear things a bit better. Headphones will give you a truer representation but I can understand wanting to listen to speakers. If you have some tools you could even build some very simple full range speakers but the drivers alone about $80 plus you would need to build or find boxes to put them in. Not that hard if you are creative. This would not be as good as a monitor but it would be a lot better then what you already are using.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=264-844
These drivers in some enclosures would sound great, you just wouldn’t have much bass. You could possibly reuse the sub from your 2.1 setup if you modified it a bit.
You have a lot of options, be creative. Just understand that if you want true studio monitors, they cost money plain and simple.