what poweramp are you using to moinitor? what speakers?

[supafuzz]

I have a hafler 1100 and feel like i'm probably not geting the full sonic picture...what do you guys recommend...

I have roland studio monitors [not bad]

do you really need ns10's to hear what everyone else is hearing?

[Kil Howlie Day]

i happen to use considerably more powerful amplifiers than i need for my near field monitoring setup, but i can tell a difference from the mackie 1400's that i presently use and the qsc 850 that i used previously. i do live sound from time to time and i have a mackie 1400 for the mains and one for the subs as well, so that's what i use in my studio to power my monitors. and when i'm recording or mixing bass heavy material, i use my yamaha subs in conjunction.

as for your second question, i own a pair of ns-10s but i wouldn't say you need them to hear flat mixes. there are a ton of nice monitors out there and i'll let everyone recommend their own, but i do think it important to properly power speakers if they are to recreate sonics as accurately as possible. i am an absolute speaker freak and i don't remember ever owning fewer than six pairs, but i think the need for clean amplification is just as great as the transducers themselves.

[housepig]

Samson 120 power amp into Tannoy SBM monitors. and a pair of 70's Pioneer 3-way stereo speakers hanging off the ceiling, powered by a little (but loud as all hell) Aiwa bookshelf stereo power amp.

[matter]

I'm using a BGW Stereo Broadcast 150 going into NS-10m's. I may be underpowering the speakers slightly @75 watts each 'cuz they're rated at 100-125w , but I don't think its hurting the speakers. Anybody have an opinion about that?

[kcrusher]

You can't beat a Bryston for sound quality, warranty (lifetime) and build.

[supafuzz]

yeah bryston keeps coming up on my list but very pricey
was thinking about the small single rackspace one.
2b

[New Orleans Steve]

Guitarguy,
Briston rules. Recomending them is like recomending a Rolls Roice though. The diference between that and the QSC 850 is like night and day! The thing I do like about the QSC is lots of power for cheap.
I always like to go one size up on the power amp. That is roughly TWICE the power I think I will need. This is based on mid size room power, and then I'm usually in a small room, so I'm even MORE overpowered. It really makes a diference. If you go a little over O.K. but you really can hear it when a 100 wt. is recomended and you go with 200 wt. I know I never even draw more than probably 30 watts at my max volume.
This really gives headroom, lets the Monitors breath! It also gives a little more noise and you reallyhave to watch Non Musical signal! Phantom Power Hot Swaps. Feedback. ECT.

In this day and age I would go with good biamped Powered Monitors for Mid or Near fields. These are going to be frindly to a varity of listening styles. good for tracking, O.D.ing mixing, and general listining. Get a pair you like and listen to them as much as possibly. Your old mixes, CDs you like both old and new.
Steve

check us out online www.frenchmenstreetrecords.com
Our 'new' websight will launch soon

[JGriffin]

I'm not much help, I know: I use Genelecs at work, which I love but they's expensive. At home I use jamos powered by a Phase Linear 400, and M-Audio Studiophile 5s. The M-Audios are cheap but suck, and the Phase Linear is an older amp you'd have to scour Ebay for...and the jamos are alright but not designed to be studio monitors. I love the Phase Linear, especially when used with my JBL 4410s, but the JBLs are blowed-up right now and I don't really ave space for 'em. One of these days I need some better small speakers.

[sdelsolray]

Dynaudio BM6 passives with a Hafler P3000 amp. Works fine, no issues, sounds great. Decent cost/performance too.

[AGCurry]

Bogen DB230 all-tube stereo amp into Tannoy Reveals.

[Professor]

Brystons are certainly nice but they do run hot - damn hot, so keep that in mind as they will go into thermal shutdown if you make them angry, but you have to push pretty hard to do that.
I have two of the little 2b amps running the headphone system in the studio and they have performed marvelously. Though I didn't expect headphones to weigh them down, even with 18 pairs on one amp. But keep in mind they only run 60-watts.

My mains and surrounds run on PowerPac 300 monoblocks (five of 'em) and only thermal at atrociously high volumes, and it's mostly because of the locations of the front & center amps.

Otherwise, check out a home hifi store (the snootier the better) and see what they have, just to get an idea. If you're in NYC, then check out Sound by Singer or one of the similar folks that advertises in Stereophile, just to see how the top 1% lives. Actually you might be surprised to find some very nice offerings from Adcom, Rotel, Denon, and other companies that offer lots of power, low AC consumption, and other nice features for a pretty low price point. I love having the 12v triggers to turn on the Brystons and I have a nice little remote switch panel setup for the mains, surrounds, and headphone amps. The home hi-fi stuff is just likely to drop the XLR input on anything below about $1k.

-Jeremy

[Jerry]

Hey DWLB - I also have a Phase Linear (700B) and a pair of JBLs 4412s (I think) that I love. I've had the Phase for years and we used to use it to drive the subwoofers for the rock band I was in. The soundman said that you could arc weld with the output - because of the gobs of current. Its a colorful quote, but probably not true.