Monitor advice @ $500> Equator D5? Adam F5? good ol NS-10

$uperpuma · Post by **$uperpuma** » Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:03 pm

OK. For my home setup, which is in a nook the width of a hallway, I am looking for a set of monitors. my budget is actually about $400 but I could sell a thing or two and go slightly higher. I haven't heard the F5 or D5. NS-10ms are passive, so I would have to buy an amp as well....

Any advice as to which might be best for my tight environment?

thanks in advance.

-Nathan

Snarl 12/8 · Post by **Snarl 12/8** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:36 am

Have you considered a kickass set of headphones? Maybe one of those devices that simulates speaker phase issues in the headphones? In a "nook" you might have problems with any speakers.

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:18 am

Yamaha MSP5s.

agershon · Post by **agershon** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:24 pm

I know this often comes down to "I'm going to recommend what I own," but I really do like my Equator D5s.

Your money is probably best spend attempting to acoustically treat your nook.

$uperpuma · Post by **$uperpuma** » Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:48 pm

I have a few decent pairs of headphones being so used to mixing on monitors (albeit crappy ones) I don't have an innate sense of the adjustments I need to automatically make to make a headphone mix translate.
I have a 7'x9' area. Desk is in the corner. one corner has windows treated with heavy curtains. I have enough acoustic foam to treat the area, but I need to make some frames first, as it is also attached to our bedroom and I am not the only occupant. Once treated,it should be a fairly listenable area.
I feel like the size of the area is a consideration because of
A. the necessary proximity the speakers will have to the back wall
B. how close I will have to be to the drivers in the listening position.

Would the single point of reference of the D5 make a difference in this situation over the ns-10 or F5 in vertical orientation?

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:02 am

Nick Sevilla wrote:Yamaha MSP5s.

I have had these in my home setup for quite some time. I really like them.
If I was buying some today I'd be interested in the F5's (since we have the P33a's at the studio)

But the Yamaha MSP5s are more compact than the F5's and that works for me at my home space.

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:03 am

$uperpuma wrote:I have a few decent pairs of headphones being so used to mixing on monitors (albeit crappy ones) I don't have an innate sense of the adjustments I need to automatically make to make a headphone mix translate.
I have a 7'x9' area. Desk is in the corner. one corner has windows treated with heavy curtains. I have enough acoustic foam to treat the area, but I need to make some frames first, as it is also attached to our bedroom and I am not the only occupant. Once treated,it should be a fairly listenable area.
I feel like the size of the area is a consideration because of
A. the necessary proximity the speakers will have to the back wall
B. how close I will have to be to the drivers in the listening position.

Would the single point of reference of the D5 make a difference in this situation over the ns-10 or F5 in vertical orientation?

Anything you can possibly do to get out of the corner will help you.
Remember, foam is for pillows.

roscoenyc · Post by **roscoenyc** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:08 am

$uperpuma wrote:I have a few decent pairs of headphones being so used to mixing on monitors (albeit crappy ones) I don't have an innate sense of the adjustments I need to automatically make to make a headphone mix translate.
I have a 7'x9' area. Desk is in the corner. one corner has windows treated with heavy curtains. I have enough acoustic foam to treat the area, but I need to make some frames first, as it is also attached to our bedroom and I am not the only occupant. Once treated,it should be a fairly listenable area.
I feel like the size of the area is a consideration because of
A. the necessary proximity the speakers will have to the back wall
B. how close I will have to be to the drivers in the listening position.

Would the single point of reference of the D5 make a difference in this situation over the ns-10 or F5 in vertical orientation?

Anything you can possibly do to get out of the corner will help you.
Remember, foam is for pillows.

digitaldrummer · Post by **digitaldrummer** » Mon Jul 22, 2013 7:33 am

roscoenyc wrote:
Remember, foam is for pillows.

and Latte's (or so I've heard....)

I'm happy with my Equator D5's. They sound different in the low end compared to my Dynaudio BM6a mk2's, but not sure if you can beat them for the money. then you might even have something left over for some decent bass traps, which I think you will need in that space...

Mike

$uperpuma · Post by **$uperpuma** » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:47 pm

yeah, I am researching what the best way to treat the area would be. The very best would be to take the session to the Studio and just mix there, but for projects that don't have a budget, etc... I am hoping I can put together a decent demo/tracking studio here...

IDQ · Post by **IDQ** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 11:27 am

As someone already mentioned, I know we probably all tend to recommend what we own (or would like to own), but I have the Equator D5's and I think they're some of the best money I've ever spent (although I think the price has gone up since I bought them).

FYI, I am a total amateur/hobbyist. My regular monitors are older Mackie HR824's (I know, that evokes a groan from some folks, but I still like them). I got the D5's when I was going to spend a year with a much smaller space. I am now unsure of which to use in my primary location.

The D5s are very easy to listen to. Not fatiguing. To include some of the arbitrary jargon we all use to imperfectly describe such things, I would say that they are crisp in the mid-high range without being shrill or hornlike. Vocals are the area in which I think they clearly outshine the mackies. In the lows to mids, they are surprisingly full for their size, and they sound very "fast" to me in terms of the punch of kicks and slap-bass kind of sounds. I wouldn't trust them if the tunes were very heavily reliant on low frequencies (house, dub, some hip-hop etc), but I think they're great for most rock/jazz/indie etc.

Other reference points based on limited listening I've done (and not always in good rooms):
The smaller KRK products sound shrill and metallic to me.
The MSP5s sound "boxy," but I can't really be objective about it. They seem accurate, but they were not pleasing to me.
I have not heard the ADAMs.

alexevansohio · Post by **alexevansohio** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 10:15 am

For what its worth, I listened to the F5s before buying my A7x's. Clearly these two speakers are in very different price ranges, but even compared to other speakers around $500, the F5 did not sound good. They had none of the clarity or extended frequency response of my A7x's. The Yamaha HS series is closer, but I think they get a bit harsh in the high end. JBL just came out with some new monitors that sounded surprisingly good for the price ($300/pr for 5", $500/pr for 8"). I've only heard the D5s once, but they seemed really cool. They kind of remind me of older Tannoy designs. I would happily use the D5s in a pitch, and have actually been considering picking up a pair to travel with, rather than adding wear and tear to my Adams.

drumsound · Post by **drumsound** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:54 pm

I HAVE heaard Ns10s so I would choose one of the others. I heard Adam s3a once and they were interesting, but a little odd to my ears. I'm quite interested to head the D5s.

Rosy · Post by **Rosy** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:17 am

I like my D5s and feel obligated to mention the outstanding customer service for at least the next few times I see them mentioned.

agershon · Post by **agershon** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:53 pm

Rosy wrote:I like my D5s and feel obligated to mention the outstanding customer service for at least the next few times I see them mentioned.

HA! Me too.

Message Board

Monitor advice @ $500> Equator D5? Adam F5? good ol NS-10

Which monitors would you use in a small listening space?

Monitor advice @ $500> Equator D5? Adam F5? good ol NS-10

D5

Who is online