I've actually got all these side by side at my job. Though now its the BX8 D2. Very comparable to Mackie MR8, in that they are boomy in the low end.H20nly wrote:i know these monitors will rock a house party loud as hell and sound good doing it. what i am not 100% sure of is how flat/true their response is when compared to other monitors as it pertains to mixing... i.e. Genelec or Adam for example.
if i won the lotto though... i'd buy a set of Focal and never look back.
They're a bit away from Adam (X series, haven't heard the cheaper F series yet), Focal and Genelec though.
The Tannoy Reveal 601a sound a bit clearer than these, but is smaller and doesn't have the same volume output.
The next step up would be the KRK RP8. Very comparable to the HS80M. The RP8 sounds a bit colored in the low/mid. The HS80m is the flattest monitor you'll find for 250€. Colors a bit in the upper mid.
Then the Adam A5X. I love these, small but powerful. Can easily hold up against the 8" models.
It sounds clearer at roughly the same volume. The Adam's sound unforgiving, I find they really are the most accurate for club music.
The A7X has more power and will add enough bass to give that club feel, but with the same accuracy as the A5X. The A8X is like adding a woofer. But nicely balanced.
From there on its Focal with the CMS range. Same like Adam. Accurate, scales up nicely and will reveal the details in a mix. But its much better suited for roomy music like acoustic, classical, spacey, etc... The stereo image on these is awesome. To sell a pair, you only need to put on like 2 Zimmer tracks of the Lion King soundtrack
I could keep on going for a while. But that is pretty much the 1000€ barrier. Don't buy under 500€/pair if Flat is what you really seek. All the more high-end Focal/Adam stuff is the shit. But way out of my reach, even to just play with at work.
All I can add is that at 1500€, you get the Adam power with the Focal CMS stereo in the A77X. A mid-field, with an amazing bass output. But you'll need a few meters of room