active professional monitors for HT

I've used active monitors in my Post Production surround studio. The best one's I've heard are the ADAM, Focal and PMC.

Regards,
Bruce

Excellent design idea. Active monitors play quite loudly and can do the job nicely.

Many pro theater designers use Genelec for those reasons.

I suggest, at that price range, something that's tried and true, possibly in "B stock" or used on the net, and that's the Active M&K 150 THX monitors!

Sent you an e-mail.

Thanks for the responses. Some of the brands like PMC and NHT Xd are over my budget, but the others I am going to try to audition once I get further into the process. I anticipate that making decisions even after auditioning isn't going to be easy, because no one place will have all the brands, and the acoustic environments will differ greatly. For instance, it looks to me like Focal can only be auditioned at a working pro studio, whereas some of the others like Genelec, Adam, JBL are going to be at actual "stores" like Guitar Center.

BTW it was seeing reviews on the NHT Xd that in part interested me in actives for HT (that, and already owning a pair of Paradigm Reference Active/40 ...too bad Paradigm stopped making active monitors!) But as I said, the Xd is over my budget.

M&K is closing their doors? Are you sure? People have been rummoring this for years, but they're still around. What's up?

I second Bruce's recommendations.

FYI I noticed that Mackie has introduced mk2 versions of its monitors... http://www.mackie.com/press/2007/messe/MESSE_2007_hrmk2.html

FWIW. I have some Genelec HT206's that I am tinkering with right now. They are impressive.

I am working on integrating three Meyer Sound HD-1's into my system. I bought three of them and am breaking them in now. My first impression is that they are very analytical, realistic and energetic. I also picked up a Meridian G68 that I am trying to figure out. So far I like my old system better but I am confident that I will exceed it with this new stuff, at least that is what I tell my wife. :)

Things have improved markedly. The monitors are on stands, have had some break-in time and have been tamed by MRC. Theater is awesome. It feels like you are there. Music is really dynamic. More to come.

It feels like you are there.

That's the whole idea!

Stearnsn,

What else did you audition before picking the HD-1? And how much did the HD-1s sell for, street?

Thanks.

They were $4000 each but I got them just before a price increase.

I listened to bluesky & dynaudio but not in my home.

I auditioned a bunch of small, powered, studio monitors about a year ago. The Mackies are quite good but the Dynaudio impressed me the most. These really sound like audiophile speakers.

The ones I checked out are for nearfield use, though. Not sure how they'd sound if you were more than 5 feet or so from them.

Meyer says the HD-1's are best listened to within 9 feet.

Watched a movie with my son last night that I have probably seen 50 times. "Cars" was amazing on my new system. It was like I had never seen it before. The audio was outstanding. The energy this system produces made me feel like I was at a Nascar track.

Stearnsn,

What was your old system, which you mentionned liking alot?

Sorry,
NHT T-6's, L5's
Boston Acoustics AVR-7120
Bel Canto REF1000's
Audience AU24 speaker & IC's

Watched a movie with my son last night that I have probably seen 50 times. "Cars" was amazing on my new system. It was like I had never seen it before. The audio was outstanding. The energy this system produces made me feel like I was at a Nascar track.

Cars like Toy Story 1 and 2, a bug's life and Monsters inc were all mixed on ATC SCM 100 Actives by Frank Wolf and I agree that the sound is absolutely phenomenal on any of these movies...

Funny you mention it, I had to watch Toy Story 2 yesterday.

Dont know if you've found a solution yet, but a friend of mine uses Mackie powered monitors and I have to say that they sound fantastic. For the price it is a no brainer unless your theater is like mine which won't allow for a rear port.
Good luck

Alun,

No, I haven't settled on anything yet....I am in the early stages as I haven't even designed the room yet, much less started construction. Mackie actually seems to have recently introduced mk2 versions of its monitors, which will be on the list to for me to audtion.

If you can swing an extra $850 per pair, get the Focal Twin 6. I just sold my Von Schweikert VR-4SR MK2's ($12K) and I'm in heaven with the 6's ($2850 pr).

Yeah, to keep it simple, especially since it's an HT system mainly, you could consider the active Mackies, and they're likely going to do the job with as much guts as most anything.

The Mackies would probably work just fine. They cost half as much as the Focal Twin 6's too. You might ask what do you get for twice the price? You get to take the blanket off the Mackies. The tweeter in the focals just plain rocks. How do I know all this? I had the Mackies before I got the Focals. I'll bet the Solo 6's would work great too. They pop up for sale on the Gearslutz site quite regularly. Those guys don't know when to stop, just like most guys here on Audiogon.

Hi,
I own 5x Focal SM8 and 2x JLaudio F113
I think its the best sounding speaker ever.
Best tweeter Be,
Its 100w high and 250w mid with a passief woover on top.
Even without the woovers it fantastic sounding set

gr

Alex