From what? They have plenty of deep punchy bass. Some unpleasant resonances and harmonics make sound somewhat fatiguing. Sound is not smooth, partly because monitors are supposed to be revealing, partly from poor design. I thought they were bright with Marantz CDR-500 as source and HAD to turn the treble down all the way (maybe -2dB ?).
Try Dynaudio BM-5 from markertek.com. They are passive but much more smooth and still plenty of bass although not as punchy and deep as you will get from an active speaker.
KRK V-8's from Guitar Center stores are better still IMHO. |
Mackie HR824's are fabulous speakers. They are bi-amped, powered
speakers and they will take a balanced XLR input from your pre-amp. They
are a huge bang for the buck, impossible to beat the sonics at that price since
you won't have to buy an amplifier. They are used in many recording studios.
Far from being fatiguing, I can listen to them all day long. I'm guessing the
differing opinions here are due to upstream electronics and listening room.
Taste may have something to do with it. Mackies are accurate speakers --
they do not color the sound with artificial warmth or punch out the highs for
artificial edgy detail. They are linear within +/- 1.5db from 39kHz to 22Hz
and the bi-amping means you will get deeper, more accurate bass out of
these than from any other speaker of their size. I've had them in a 15' X 20'
room and they filled it, no-sweat. |
Second the KRK's,still have them in a 2nd system.The Mackies are good for that room size.Either way your going to be happy,Bob |
I am looking to upgrade from Quad 12L driven by Roksan Kandy III. Looking for bookselves that are more extended but smoother at the top-end. Present combo can get a little fatiging. Quite listenable with recordings of lesser quality. Total listenable with pop/rock music.
Thanks. |
|
|
I cant open that link,but would sure like to,thanks,Bob |
i use them in the Nearfield as they were intended as Monitors at my computer and they are fabulous.I just upgraded my soundcard and they sound even better.I have PLENTY of bass in the Nearfield(3-4 ft from my ears) but if i were to separate them more and want to fill the room more i may want to concider the sub that compliments the HR824.I can't think of the model # off hand.That being said, i run them directly flat with no EQ attenuation.I do not find the Mackies fatiguing at all and they have a treble cut and extend switch in the back if need be which i never really deal with(just use the "normal" position).Yeah i think they are a bargain as well.Picked mine up for $900 used and the amps are built in.You can always sell them for that price as well i believe as these speakers appear to be in rather high demand.At least this is what i had found when searching for them and researching them. |
|
|
I would suggest Dynaudio BM6A's.They don't go as low as the Mackies but they are also tighter in the bass and the treble is one of the best. They use the same tweeter as Dynaudios mega-buck studio systems. |
Take a pair home overnight. These are great speakers!
Guitar Center let me take a pair home overnight. I paid for the speakers up front first, and then got my money back then next day when I brought them back!
I took them home and really llked them. I could enjoy them as my main speakers. They weren't quite good enough, as I expected perfection from them (high expectation, huh). They were really good, though. I could definitely understand someone buying these--no amp needed!! Sweet! IMO, Lacking in dynamic slam, and had a noticeably colored low end in my room. I could forgive the dynamice, but not the bass coloration. Otherwise fantastic!
Paul |
I owned these for 6-9 months and was very happy with them,
very accurate, used good interconnects (RS cables) and a good pre amp IRD Purist and the sound was fantastic. One other side note....very good wide dispersion that results in a nice wide sweet spot, which is important to me. I get frustrated with narrow listening spot. Now using Carolina audio JTM being fed with panny xr-50.....nice combo....thinking about trying decware r 1.5.......
824's will play loud, the only drawback to me is the rather industrial looks.... Cheers |
The mackies are not ...repeat not a home audiophile speaker.They are a terrific value for a project studio monitor or studio on limited budgets.Yes I have offended many people but until you live with the better monitors like adams,genelecs,dynaudios,lipinskis and others you would'nt realize the difference they make in a mix.Essentially no one BUT crazed audiophiles would care about the mix differences but since you am who you is you should know whats up. |
The Mackies beat Dynaudio 1.3's in both shoot-outs and beat Revel M20's
driven by a Bryston amp in another. I've heard both the Revel M20's and
Mackie HR824's and I wouldn't necessarily say the Mackies sound better, but I
think the Mackies sound just as good for less money -- especially when you
consider that the Mackies are powered. Revel M20's are certainly considered
audiophile speakers so it is kind of silly to say Mackie HR824's are not
audiophile grade speakers. |
I did say they were a terrific value.Certainly good enough for 99% of the music out there but no audiophile label that I am aware of mixes or masters using mackies |
Using that criteria, most audiophile grade speakers wouldn't qualify because they don't happen to be used by an audiophile label to mix or master. But, that wasn't the criteria set out by the original poster. |
I'm not concerned with the original posters criteria since it was far too narrow to address the issues.Our speakers we use to recreate an event are quite different than the idea of a mix monitors flat response.Check out the frequency response curves on your audiophile speakers and tell me what the curves look like.I bet they aren't any where near flat.My reference 3a decapo i's are not even close to flat yet sound alive and smooth.So this is why mix monitors are usually not very good at mirroring a performance but are terrific at achieving balanced compromises in the way the mix will end up.Why use a surgeons knife for everyday listening? |
I'm not sure where you are going because you've completely contradicted
your prior premise, but this needs to be dealt with ---
>>Check out the frequency response curves on your audiophile speakers and
tell me what the curves look like. I bet they aren't any where near flat.<<
Hmmmm....okay, let's look at Joseph Audio Pearls. They have won best of
show at several audiophile conventions. Price: $20,000+
Frequency response +/- 2dB from 25 Hz to 20 kHz.
Von Schweikert VR-9 SE Price: $60,000+
Frequency response: +/- 2 db from 15-35 kHz.
Avalon Eidolon Diamond Price: $30,000+
Frequency Response +/- 1 db from 15-35 kHz
-------------------------------------------------
If you're now saying the frequency response curve of the Mackie HR824's;
+/- 1.5 db from 38Hz to 22 Khz -- is a negative based on the idea that
audiophile speakers are, by definition, less linear, the evidence doesn't
support your contention. |
You can find a exception to any rule anytime but generally you don't want flat response in a home system.The better speaker designers know that the psychoacoustics of response actually negates a ruler flat curve in tweaking designs. |
The first three high end speakers I looked at contradict what you're claiming.
Here are six more ---
Aerial Acoustics 20T Price $18,000+
+/- 2db 28 Hz to 30 kHz
Vandersteen 5A Price $15,000+
+/- 1.5 db 20Hz to 30 kHz
Thiel CS 7.2 Price; $15,000+
+/- 1.5 db 25 Hz to 18 kHz
Revel Ultima Salons Price; $20,000+
+/- 1.5 dB from 25 Hz to 18 kHz
Eggleston Savoy Price; $40,000
+/- 1db 20Hz to 20kHz
B & W Nautilus Price $40,000+
+/- .5 db 25Hz - 20kHz
I don't think it is necessary to fill this thread with more examples. Most
audiophiles aspire to own top of the line speakers such as these and they all
contradict your claim about "audiophile speakers." |
Well then enjoy your mackies.I will be enjoying my reference 3a decapo i's in my home system and saving my sheckles for the brilliant point source lipinskis for my mixdowns. |
Your decapo's are rated +/- 3 db 44Hz to 20Khz. I don't know where you
got the idea that your speakers have some exotic frequency response curve
based on psychoacoustics. The frequency response doesn't bear this out and
there is no reference to such a thing on their web-site.
I do enjoy my Mackies. They sound great. I believe they will compete
favorably with anything in their price range and when you consider that they
are powered bi-amped speakers, I consider them a screaming bargain.
The decapo's to which you refer cost $2,500 -- almost twice as much as the
Mackies.
At that price and since they are not powered, they had better sound better
than the Mackies, but this isn't much help to someone who is shopping in the
Mackies' price range. I think we all know that if we spend twice as much, we
are likely to get better performance. |
