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What powered studio monitor speakers do you recommend? I'm on a limited budget so I'd like to keep things under $400 a pair. Thank you.
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07-14-2025 11:59 AM
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I assume that these are to be used for recording and mixing purposes?
For under $300 a pair the JBL 305p mkII seem to get very good reviews and the general consensus appears to be that they are good sounding speakers that punch well above their weight for the price. However, optimum speaker placement (height, angle and decoupling) and appropriate acoustic treatment in the room (especially at the first reflection points) is always critical in obtaining the best possible sounds, regardless of what speakers you choose.
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Genelec 8030C is what I settled on. Neumann was a close second and while the auto calibration sounds nice, I wasn't too keen on the whole DSP thing. Focals and Adam Audio were a distant 3rd when I auditioned speakers.
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In that budget the JBL 305p mkII are widely acknowledged as excellent. I have the KRK Rokkit 5 which are also good for the price, even better with EQ (settings available at spinorama.org). One of them failed, however, fortunately within the warranty period. But the best ones in your budget are the Kali Audio LP-6 I believe. Also, they have a 6.5 driver, meaning better bass extension - definitely something to consider, especially if not using a sub.
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When I researched it several years ago, the Kali LP-6 is what I chose
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My son has the JBL305's here and just used them to mix my record. They are a good monitor for the money. Fairly neutral sounding.
For general listening in the living room we have some M-Audio Graphite BX5's that are also decent considering the cost but I do find they are muddy/bassy next to the JBL's so if you mix using them you'll wind up adding more treble frequencies than necessary to get the right sound through those speakers. We had some Graphite BX-8's and they are excessively muddy to the point that I would not attempt to mix anything using them but they are ok for general music blasting, especially rock or metal stuff.
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I have 2 pairs of JBL 305s and love them. My monitors from 1975 until I got the first pair of JBLs about 10 years ago were Rogers LS3/5As driven by a series of top shelf amps (Marantz 8, Mac 275, Hafler 500, Prima Luna). The Rogers are still the gold standard for passive near field monitors. I loved the JBLs so much that i bought a second pair and have used them for most of my daily listening as well as monitoring since I got them. The Rogers were worth a small fortune, so I sold them.
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+1 for Kali Audio.
Originally Posted by fep
I have these: Kali Audio — LP-UNF and like them a lot. Small, great sounding and for a very attractive price.
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I have a pair of the Genelec 8040Bs. I really like them; they are uncoloured to my ears. Originally Posted by jazzloverfat
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I got the Kali LP-6's for my studio a few years back and liked them so much I bought LP-UNF as a bookshelf system for my office. Astounding value for both. The Bluetooth on UNF's is well implemented and so very convenient.
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FYI - A couple (or a few?) people left JBL and started Kali Audio 7 years ago.
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I like my old Yamaha NS 10M Studio. You can get them on eBay ...... . If a mix sounds okay on them it sounds great on other (better?) speakers.
The most important is to know them ......
YAMAHA Yamaha NS-10M Studio Pair | eBay
(no affiliation)
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NS-10s of any flavor are fantastic monitors. But they're not powered - they're all passive. There are about half a dozen different versions of them, starting with the original NS-10M that came out almost 50 years ago. Unless I've missed something (which is certainly possible), none has an onboard amplifier. The OP seeks powered monitors. Originally Posted by JazzNote
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Oooops, obviously I didn't pay enough attention, didn't notice the word "powered" in the post. I apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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QFT Originally Posted by JazzNote
...and that's true for any monitor, in any price-range, in any room.
If you don't know how the sound of the monitor (and the room) are shaping your mix before you've even touched a single knob, you can't reliably determine which knob needs to be turned (if any).
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No speaker/room combo is an ultimate standard. I always check a mix on a variety of earphones and other speakers.
Back in AM radio days, studios would have a cheap 6x9" speaker to test the mix for car radio.
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Andres or taylor?
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