Buying some reference monitors! I need your opinons/advice please

[headswimmer]

Hi all!

I am looking to buy a pair of home studio reference monitors for my bedroom (average medium sized bedroom space). I have searched the net and narrowed my selection to these 3 speakers: Event ALP5, Alesis M1 MkII and Yamaha HS50M as these come under my £250 or $500 budget.
The monitors will be mainly used for radio production (jingles etc) and for mixing Rock/Alt music. Does anybody have an opinion on the selection? as I am torn between the three. I am looking for the pair that will come closest to sounding accurate, with a flat response and good stereo image.

So far the HS50Ms are most appealing, but i am worried that when mixing a bass instrument i may run into problems. In the past i have been mixing on small Hi-Fi speakers, resulting in in-accurate mixes were the bass just sounds muddy and doesn't cut through.So i don't want to go down the same road again.:)
you can listen to my mixes here: www.myspace.com/spectralfiresband.

I will try and listen to all three monitors myself, but i find it helps to see what others think too.

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advice!


Headswimmer

[Geno_xl]

honestly, the best thing to do is to take a cd of your music down to your local store and compare between the different speakers. I did this and expected to pick up the yamaha hs50's but after hearing the hs80's I had to stretch my budget and pick them up. At the time they were on sale so I got the pair for $600 plus tax. If that is too much for your budget you might find a good pair used on ebay.

It's been about 6 months later and I 'm still very satisfied with my purchase. The good thing is you can hear all the bass in the mix and I won't have to upgrade later on.

[Tarktones]

If you want to avoid mud then avoid the Alesis M1 MkII. I own a pair and while they serve their purpose for me, if you're looking for this to be the nicer/more accurate pair of monitors you mix on, I'd say the Yamaha's will probably do a better job.

The Alesis don't have much in the way of clarity anywhere in the frequency spectrum. The high end comes across a little dull, the mid-range sounds mangled by the crossover and the low end is woofy and very un-defined. I think they're a great approximation of a $300 stereo with the super-Xtra-mega-ultra-crap-your-pants-can't-have-babies-anymore bass button engaged but I wouldn't want to depend on them for critical mix decisions. I use them more to help ensure translation.

[Rad]

Tough choice... for that money, it's hard to get monitors that are bass-accurate, even from a good brand. In general (not considering some exceptions), with a 5" monitor you'll hear less bass than with an 8".

Among the three pairs, I'd vote for the Yamahas, with the caution that the HS-80's and 50's have a very crispy top end, which, to people who're not used to mixing on them, can sometimes be misleading. It just takes some learning, as with any other monitors.

[Smithcok]

If you want to avoid mud then avoid the Alesis M1 MkII. I own a pair and while they serve their purpose for me, if you're looking for this to be the nicer/more accurate pair of monitors you mix on, I'd say the Yamaha's will probably do a better job.

The Alesis don't have much in the way of clarity anywhere in the frequency spectrum. The high end comes across a little dull, the mid-range sounds mangled by the crossover and the low end is woofy and very un-defined. I think they're a great approximation of a $300 stereo with the super-Xtra-mega-ultra-crap-your-pants-can't-have-babies-anymore bass button engaged but I wouldn't want to depend on them for critical mix decisions. I use them more to help ensure translation.

I agree. The M1's don't sound that "bad", but to me, they don't sound "right". Bass is way hyped.

I'd vote for the Yamaha's (and I also like the M-Audio BX line)

[headswimmer]

Thanks for the comments so far, they have been helpful!!!
It seems like the Yamaha is a favourite with a lot of people.
It also seems like i may have to extend my budget a little and invest in monitors that have a better bass range. Maybe a speaker with a 8 inch woofer is the way to go. Any recommendations??? all i know of is the Yamaha hs80m's.
Cheers
HS

[Rad]

Well, with the HS-80s I really don't think you can go wrong ... again, this series has some peculiarities that the user must know, but the overall quality is excellent and commendable. At least I personally prefer them to Mackie HR824 or KRK Rokit V8, which are either in the same price range or more expensive. Especially when it comes to muddy bass, with the Yamahas there ain't no such thing unless you actually have it in the mix. With the Mackies, not always so (although the new MkII seems to have gotten rid of this problem, from what I hear). To me the yamahas sound very balanced and require only little "learning", the only thing you need to get used to is that what sounds slightly bright on them is just fine on regular speakers.

That being said, I've had some problems detecting a very elusive boominess in one of my tracks with a HS-80 pair, but it ultimately turned out to be a room problem - I think we overdid the bass traps.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

If that is too much for your budget you might find a good pair used on ebay.

I have found that buying speakers on ebay is not such a good idea. I got some that I thought would be great but ended up having to spend almost the same ammount as I paid for them to get them repaired. Be very careful buying from a source that you can't actually listen to them.