Tannoy Reveal 501a Reviews

I love sweetwater.com because everything I have ordered from this site have been as reliable as the costumer service (Best costumer service by the way). These speakers have been just another perchase that I will not ever regret.

I purchased a high-quality set of headphones, which are great for recording, but don't work well for mixing and mastering. I was taking 3 to 4 hours to mix a simple song, and a lot of it didn't translate into the real world. I used the Tannoy speakers, and in one and one half hours had a master track that worked well on the CD player in my car as well as on my home stereo. What you hear is what you get with these!

I have a pair of superior quality headphones that I use for recording, but they don't lend themselves to mixing and mastering; I just couldn't get it to sound right. Within 1 hour of setting up these speakers with my equipment, I had a wonderful mix and master on a project I have been working on. If it sounds good on these, It will sound good in your car or on your home stereo. Can't go wrong!

In my project (home) studio, the 501a's have proved to be excellent for both voice work and to listen to my DSI Tempest. They are very transparent for voice and really show the punch of the Tempest. I've found it difficult to find a pair of budget monitors (under $1000) that will do both, but these cover all my bases easily.

I have mixed with Genelec, Even Opals, Focals, and a number of high end monitors as well as listen to my fair share of lower end monitors Rokits m audios and so on. I have to say for the price there is nothing out there that will beat it hands down. If you are looking for near field monitors and have less than $1000 then get these. They are clear and transparent. They will REVEAL mistakes in your mixes and things in songs you have never heard before. They have good low end as well for being so small and the front port for that helps.

Don't hesitate! if you are looking to get monitors and these and enjoy

I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I didn't expect much for my money, but these speakers are fantastic!

My sales engineer, Andrew Malloy, told me he used Tannoys at home and suggested I try them. Andrew was right!

I bought them for my fiance to use with the Tascam 2488 Neo I got her for home recording. That gal is really going to be pleased with them!

Thanks Andrew...again :)

I bought a pair of these when i was looking for a cheap pair of speakers that could make me feel like I was at home while in the army, and these did the trick. I love their compact size as I have to lock them up every day, and for me space is severely limited. They are great even though they have been packed up and shipped across the country several times, the rooms I live in have terrible acoustics and they have been abused by my fellow soldiers who play all sorts of loud crap through them.
They do have a rather tight sweet spot, and I need mopads for them. They are an excellent value, great sounding and rock solid. I'd recommend them to anyone who wants something in their price range.

I was absolutely set on a pair of monitors that were in the $300-400 range for my home recording needs. I did quite a bit of research and found that many liked the KRK PR5 and PR6 as well as the Mackie MR5's and some promote the Yamaha MS80,. A lot of people really praised the M-Audio 5" deluxe (sorry forget the model). I read many reviews and even checked youtube videos. I finally decided it would be best to just go to Guitar Center and check them all out.

I was actually pretty convinced that I would probably go with the KRK Rockit 6" RP6 as there are so many people that own the RP5's and love them, that is, until I heard the monitor that blew it out of the water...the Tannoy Reveal 501a. These monitors immediately changed my mind. I could really hear no coloration (other than a slight top end boost). The mids were VERY detailed, the stereo imaging was articulate and defined. The low end was natural and present in a way that no other small monitor was able to capture. The low end was not pushed or ported incorrectly, It gave a natural open sound that I was truly impressed with. Wow, I was sold!

I found the KRK to have a low mid muffled, somewhat messy quality that turned me off as it was very colored and pushed. However the highs were silky and nice.

The Yamaha MS80 was TOO flat, not like the ns10's that I have used for years. The Mackie MR5's and M-Audio seemed hyped in the low end (as they use a rear port design which does create some bass problems IMO).

Anyway, these speaker REALLY SHINE!! Go get them, you will not be disappointed!

BTW, I owned and operated a professional full size real studio (3,000 + square ft, grand piano, SSL, tube mic goodness and fresh coffee, yada, yada, yada)

These are amazing speakers!! And Im not just saying that because I want them to have a good review or I only like Tannoy and hate everyone else - no these are truly awesome!!! In deciding to buy studio monitors I was on a tight budget and really did not want to spend my money on crap and I knew it was going to be hard to find truly great monitors for under $500. Long story short I read every review, every book, saw every video, talked to a lot of producers from the worlds top studios and spent a LOT (over a year) of time looking for the right monitors, I even looked into building them myself.

I went to guitar center many times and listened to the different monitors they had set up and I was actually really set on the Mackie MR8's or the JBL LSR4300 series but when I was introduced to these Tannoy's I was blown away. These have more clarity, depth, bottom end - and top end than any speakers within the $1,000 price range!

WARNING!!! I did discover one thing about these speakers though that you have to watch out for. Dont throw away that "pointless" little manual that comes with these because it tells you how to find the sweet spot on these monitors and I can say I found out the hard way that if you dont fallow the diagram on how to place these, you will loose ALL and I mean ALL of the bass. I had them fairly close together and pointed straight out...dont do that haha. Once I set them up properly the results were AWESOME!!!

If your looking for monitors for under $500 a pair or even under $1,500 a pair dont look any further, the Tannoy Reveal monitors are what you need!!! Trust me, I spent A LONG LONG....VERY LONG and a LOT of time trying to find perfect monitors. And yes I do have experience in some of the countries top studios so I am not making this up haha. I hope this helps!

God Bless

I purchased these to go with my Tascam 2488neo in my home studio. They sound fantastic. Good clean base, mid and high end. I hadn't seen them in person before I purchased them, so I was surprised that they were slightly larger than I imagined. Otherwise, I love them. Well worth the money.

If you like the Dynaudio sound, you will like the Tannoy 501As....They have a pristine midrange, a present and focused bass, and the high end is just short of crisp....Their response is quite flat tho balanced, and their ability to reveal a mix is wide and deep.....Placement is important, yet the sweet spot is quite wide for a set of 5" monitors.....When breaking them in, and yes, you'll begin get the best from these about 3-5 days into the first week of use, you'll notice that your CD collection when played through these sounds fresh...I also noticed that when listening to solo finger style guitar music, and music that is of slightly less track complexity that is recorded in high res,, you will be blown away as the reproduction is remarkable, easily the equal of my Dyn BM5As if not superior.....Tannoy definately spent some R&D time dialing in their midrange reproduction, and that is always where the real music lives or dies.....I would rate the value of these Tannoy's as 3x their cost.....These Tannoy's are a professional product...Dont be fooled by the reasonable price as these sound great, and translate very well to other systems.

I chose the Reveal 501a's over the JBL 2325's due to the bass port being located on the front panel rather than the rear of the box. I was a little concerned about bass coupling from the JBL's due to the location of the monitors to the rear wall (I couldn't say whether this would have been the result or not, just a concern). The 501a's are sitting near field on MoPads (I noted a big difference in response between MoPad and no MoPad). I would like to try the IsoAcoustic stands some day to note the difference, if any. The 501a's are being used for low-level mixing rather than using headphones. They seem a bit bright on the high end but to my enjoyment, I believe they are telling the truth. Stereo imaging and stage depth of sound are really outstanding. The 501a's are clearly proving to be a true asset to my mixes and worthy of the minimal cost. I am satisfied with the choice. A special thanks to Alex Morales and Sweetwater for all the great service and follow-up.

If you're trying to decide between the comparable JBL, Yamaha, M-Audio, KRK, or anything thing else in this price range and small form factor, I truly believe these are your best bet. I actually work at a music store that you've probably all been to but shall remain nameless. So I hear these almost every day, along with the others. They really do blow the others out of the water. The high end is GREATLY improved. The low end is a little iffy but nothing you can't manage with. If you don't go with these I would also recommend the JBL's. Very similar responses. These aren't as good as Dynaudio's or Focal's, or even HS80m's, which are my favorite in the larger and slightly more expensive line btw. But in the cluster of 5" budget monitors these are the flattest. If you can't do a good mix on these its because you can't do a good mix.

The tweeters are amazing. The speakers as a whole are great for the price. Great for having another tool in the kitchen. If you want an amazing speaker, unfortunately you will have to spend more money on something else. Great for beginners with small budgets.