Some years back I remember reading that there were some Tannoy consumer speakers that were flat enough that they gained some popularity as monitors.

To make use of most consumer speakers as monitors, you probably need to take a big chunk out of the 90 Hz range without killing the sounds 50Hz and below. You might also want to shelf down the highs. There may also be a resonant peak in the highs that need to be tamed. Listen to some pink noise (or a recording of the ocean) to see if you can hear a resonant peak, and pull it down.

It's far from ideal, but reduces the risk of making dull mixes on hyped monitors.

Make art no matter the tools at hand. (And save up for better tools...)

Okay, that makes sense. Just like a pro video mon doesn't try and hide defects in the picture the way a consumer grade model does.

Jon, thanks for the tip on setting up consumer speakers.

Thanks.
Jeff

I wanted to re-visit this thread for a variety of reason's. I have a few points and questions I would like to pose. So here it goes:

I started work with a new client and his system has creative computer speakers; man these speaskers suck. So I finally get the point I guess, don't rely on computer speakers. (to make matters worse, a former editor of his and acquaintance of mine recomended these speakers to him) The plastic roland multimedia speakers that I used in college easily bested these speakers.

Jad,

I don't get why you would go out and mod a pair of airplane headphones. All of the airplane headphones that I have heard (though I have never traveled first class) were not good. I don't see any reason why anybody that considers themselves indie filmmakers can't spend $100 or even $40 on a decent pair of headphones. This was the first investment that I made in school and my production values instantly went up.

On a similar note, I don't agree suggestion that any video editor or audio editor should invest in a pair of top of the line headphones (like the hd650 suggested). This investment is much better put towards loudspeakers. Spend 10 hours of straight editing, and you'll thank yourself. These headphones were designed to listen to stradivarius violins recorded with tenthousand dollar microphones, not audio recorded with a $2000 camcorder.

Other than that, I have a couple questions for all of the talented ears that have posted on this thread about a couple of monitors that I might be interested in. Has anybody auditioned the Samson Rubicon R5a's? I'm a big fan of electrostatic drivers and I figure that these may be a decent set of workstation speakers. Also, I might be interested in the Tannoy Reveal series of powered monitors. Tannoy has a very good rep on the consumer market, and I have seen these in a few suites. Would these worth a look at?

My two cents,

Thanks

Hi Greg,

You'll find a pretty positive review of the Samson Rubicons in the July 2005 issue of Sound on Sound magazine:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul05/articles/samsonrudicon.htm

The Tannoy Reveals were also got a positive review in their July 1999 issue (that's about when I got my VX1000... goes to show how good sound gear is a long term investment):
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul99/articles/tannoyreveal.htm

cheers
kl