The Best Speakers We've Ever Heard Cost $99 (PART 2)

Damn, why didn't you look into the Adam A7V or the Kali Audio IN-5/8? I did three separate, multi-hour shootout tests against all the usual suspects, including the Neumanns. Budget wasn't an issue for me, but the competition was tight, specifically between the Kalis and the Adams, not even the Neumanns. Honestly, I only chose the Adams for the integrated DSP and because they're a German brand. The Kalis are truly all you need. They made such an impression that I’m considering buying a pair for my TV and casual listening. And given that I had the exact same feelings with the Focals, and was equally impressed by the JBLs, I think our tastes might align perfectly.

"Angry Audiophile" is redundant. Audiophile implies "angry".

I have my old Creative Gigaworks G500 system connected to my pc, and I really love it....

The Neumann KH 120 II monitors are phenomenal. I have a pair of JBL 305 mkii's on my desk, as well as Yamaha NS10Ms, and my dream speakers are the Neumann's paired with my NS10Ms for audio production. I have a mid size room I record and mix in, so having a non-ported design like the NS10Ms is a requirement for me, just so I can accurately hear the mids, but for general mixing and recording, I think the Neumann's are phenomenal. Even just for music listening, I always hear things on those monitors that don't seem to come through on other monitors. The problem with every speaker you tested for audio production is the ported design. Ported designs all have the same time distortion issues in the bass frequencies. They lie to you a bit, so when you transition to non-ported speakers which are everywhere in the world, or systems with subwoofers, you can get some unpleasant results that don't translate well, where doing that check on a non-ported design, the translation to ported speakers almost always works.

The thing is, you shouldn't use studio monitors for just listening to music, studio monitors are for reference, they should sound as flat as possible. Thats great for mixing, mastering and producing. While other speakers are made to have a own sound profile

i think as far as i am informed, that the hs5 are suposed to sound that way. they emphasize the mid range so as an audio engineer, you can mix this part very well. at least the ns 10 yamaha were that kind. if you can make your mix soung good on these, they will sound good everywhere, at least thats the idea. those and many other studio speakers, are not designed to be main speakers to sound nice and rounded. one problem i instantly see with testing only one box at a time, is that you completely ignore stereo fields and the resolution of those. something i was explicitely looking for when buying my speakers for mixing and music listening. the neumann kh120 (mkI)were my personal winner back then, and in this price range expect for the mk Ii i supose

The point of studio monitors is to play accurate sound not sound good

Your comparing flat response monitors to full range speakers two different animals.

I have those polks! I always enjoyed them. I’ll sell them for $1000. :)

And that's why ported speakers are better.
You need to be confident in your DIY capabilities to stuff batteries into sealed ones.

You can use the Wiim pro plus as a dac and the room fit room correction to correct some standing waves to make the JBL sound a bit better.

I've run the Polk 45B speakers as my primary L & R speakers for my home theater setup, along with a Polk sub and surround speakers. The 45B is a slightly larger speaker with two 5.25" speakers in each cabinet and handles 125w per channel. I've had this setup since 2013 and I still get compliments when guests hear them the first time.

Anyone Fluid Audio 8 ?

No EDIFIER Speakers??????? 😒

omfg...i am getting so sick of youtube now. People talk non stop. No natural pauses. No time to think they are reading from scripts in a non stop fashion and while this guy may know a thing or two i just tired of his non stop talking.

Studio monitors aren't supposed to sound "good". They're intended to highlight the mids where the most important mixing is done.

Clearly the problem was you forgot to put batteries in the other speakers.

I don't think you understand what the purpose of the Yamahas is.

wow! fantastic. Absolute BS content.

Technical geeks, emotional attachment geeks. What about how it sounds to you? If it provides the quality you desire, then it is good. Reminds me of wine experts, who, once you scrape away all the fancy rhetoric, end up equating price with quality.

You have touched on a few important points I have picked up from being on the periphery of the pro audio industry for a few decades: 1. There is a LOT of BS.. Lore, pseudoscience, exceptionalism are rampant especially in the audiophile community 2. The drivers (speakers) are about half the battle - room treatment and normalization are REQUiREMENTS if you want either predictably good sound or reasonably accurate reproduction (not necessarily the same, which leads to) 3. Sounding GOOD and sounding CORRECT are different objectives. The job of a HiFi speaker system is to flatter the recordings you love listening to - accentuating what you enjoy hearing and minimizing what you do not, Reference systems, on the other hand, should give you the most brutally honest representation of your source waveform so that you can edit, mix and master with the best chance that what you're hearing form it translates to the myriad of other listening arrangements that will color everyone else's experience with as few compromises as possible. There aren't really easy answers - the more particular you get, the more involved your solution is likely to end up, but it helps a lot to clearly define the goal (which should include a budget)

polks are V shaped..... and you brought a studio monitor into this comparison only to shit on it. embarrassing

If you wanna really test speakers against other speakers..... test them outside of a cab. The cab they are in can make or break the sound of a speaker. Then once you find the best speaker start testing that speaker in different cabs to see which cab sounds best. A very time consuming test.

Back in the 80's I had a 8" set of Realistic stereo speakers which also had a small tweeter in them that I had connected to a JVC stereo amp. I used them in my studio as reference monitors. Back than I was recording to a Teac A-3440 4-channel Reel to Reel. Those Realistic speakers were Awesome as reference monitors. I wish I still had them.

genelecs actually are usually most accurate to the way mixeres wanted the music to sound like.

weird.

Noyman! I can't take any more. 😂 WTH

Those old Polks are almost nonexistent on the used market. Were they only made for a very short time? Only found a single listing, on Ebay, for $250.

I use "Monkey Banana Turbo 8" in my Studio and at home. Also I have "Martin Logan MKII" Speakers at home. But in my opinion the Monkey Banana is currently the best speakers for producing and audiophile.
I use to have Speakers from Adam, Genelec, DAS, KRK, M-Audio and some others,..

with that speaker positioning ? lmao

Speaker placement and room acoustics are massive. I have a pair of C-notes that are cramped up on my desk against a wall and they sound SO much better given some room to breathe but that's not what I bought them for.

I also have a couple of Tang Band wideranges in 3D printed enclosures. Paired with a 12" sub I picked up off a junk table, a 2.1 amp and a bit of fiddling with settings they sound very very nice.

Those JBLs caught my eye a while back, good to know they are amazing bang for buck

People would find that getting some acoustic paneling in their offices will make even the cruddiest speakers sound better than not getting any treatment and buying more expensive speakers

Also try SB Acoustics Micro-C & Ara line up & please let us know...

The Yams sound bad on purpose. If you know, you know.

"Audiophiles" are about as insufferable as flat earthers

Why is he struggling to pronounce “focal”?

***Legally Blind Man Reviews Clarity Of Displays from $10 to $10,000

this is you

yamaha “sounds bad” is exactly why you buy it, you couldnt ask for a better endorsement from a non-engineer like you.

Next sh!t comment: the air in your room is not pure.

Why are they sitting 50 cm away from the speakers?

Finally someone who said it.....the hs series from Yamaha are shit🎉😂.....

It's the subject here, but you better give a chance to Ik Multimedia monitors.... And starts with the mini ones. I've been blown away how accurate it is and how correct are the basses for that so little monitors !

The answer is he just likes what he's used to. I use genelec and always will.

Hi from the UK, I haved lived with my pair of Rogers BBC LS35a for the last 50 yrs. To me they are one of the most beautifully natural speakers available. Have you tested them? Try listening to 'songs in the key of life on them, pure heaven.

ermm... clearly your room was too cold for the yamahas, making them sound worse. If only you set your room to 80 Fahrenheit, then it would sound like shit AND you'd be sweaty