6" monitors vs 8"

happle · Jan 9, 2011

ok so im looking at buying 2x 6" or 8" ikey audio monitors (comparable to krk's). i will also be purchasing a 10" ikey subwoofer with the monitors.

i do some small time producing so sound quality and accuracy is important, but at the same time i will not have a sound treated room so take that into consideration. but i do have some nice sennhesier headphones to mix accurately on.

now i will be throwing some small house parties with these speakers, which will be placed in my living room and/or bedroom. nothing too huge...

so what im asking is will the 8" monitors be worth the output gain? keep in mind i do like loud music. how will the sound quality differ? also i heard 6" monitors may be better with a sub because there will be less overlap of frequencies, but couldn't i just adjust the LPF and HPF of the sub and satellites to compensate for this?

8" monitors
Products - iKey Audio

and this 10" subwoofer
Products - iKey Audio

albarran9 · Jan 9, 2011

as far as output goes, they will probably have the same RMS watt rating. The advantage the 8" Mid bass has over the 6" is that it can go lower in the Hz range (not by much) and may give you more of a fuller sound. A sub will always help out the lower side of the spectrum. Remember that the monitors are just a tweeter and a MID bass driver, not a subwoofer. For house parties, the bigger the better

Killyp · Jan 10, 2011

Not wanting to put you off, but at this price, I wouldn't worry about accuracy. These budget monitors are generally incredibly inaccurate as far as overall tonality goes (the KRKs demonstrate this very well). The sub has a variable crossover point between 40 Hz and 180 Hz. According to the spec sheet, we can guesstimate that both the 6" and 8" speakers roll off pretty quickly at the bottom of their ranges, around 45Hz for the 8" and 50Hz for the 6".

As you have no high-pass filter on the speakers of any sort, you're going to struggle when it comes to running house parties off them. Studio monitors are designed for monitoring, not house partying, and you're going to trash your speakers pretty quickly if you start turning them up.

The specifications don't really give any sort of indication of how loud these speakers will go, but having used a lot of different studio monitors, and seen a lot of them pushed much harder than they should be, I wouldn't expect these to go particularly loud...

My 2c, for how often a house party is possible, you're better off renting in a system (no jokes) and go with just the pair of monitors.

If you're going to blow £400 on a speaker system and run house parties off it, I'd expect to replace it within 5 years. Spend £200 on just the speakers themselves and rent in a decent pair of speakers for parties. I can rent a really decent pair of PA speakers out locally for £35 a day, which will blow any studio monitor out of the water when it comes to house parties.

As far as the sub goes for monitoring, don't bother. All you're going to do is cause yourself nightmares in your un-treated room. Deep-bass in un-treated rooms is kinda a no-go area.

happle · Jan 10, 2011

albarran9 said:
as far as output goes, they will probably have the same RMS watt rating. The advantage the 8" Mid bass has over the 6" is that it can go lower in the Hz range (not by much) and may give you more of a fuller sound. A sub will always help out the lower side of the spectrum. Remember that the monitors are just a tweeter and a MID bass driver, not a subwoofer. For house parties, the bigger the better

i plan on getting a sub for sure, so that wont be an issue. im just trying to decide if the 6" will be loud enough.

Killyp said:
Not wanting to put you off, but at this price, I wouldn't worry about accuracy. These budget monitors are generally incredibly inaccurate as far as overall tonality goes (the KRKs demonstrate this very well). The sub has a variable crossover point between 40 Hz and 180 Hz. According to the spec sheet, we can guesstimate that both the 6" and 8" speakers roll off pretty quickly at the bottom of their ranges, around 45Hz for the 8" and 50Hz for the 6".

As you have no high-pass filter on the speakers of any sort, you're going to struggle when it comes to running house parties off them. Studio monitors are designed for monitoring, not house partying, and you're going to trash your speakers pretty quickly if you start turning them up.

The specifications don't really give any sort of indication of how loud these speakers will go, but having used a lot of different studio monitors, and seen a lot of them pushed much harder than they should be, I wouldn't expect these to go particularly loud...

My 2c, for how often a house party is possible, you're better off renting in a system (no jokes) and go with just the pair of monitors.

If you're going to blow £400 on a speaker system and run house parties off it, I'd expect to replace it within 5 years. Spend £200 on just the speakers themselves and rent in a decent pair of speakers for parties. I can rent a really decent pair of PA speakers out locally for £35 a day, which will blow any studio monitor out of the water when it comes to house parties.

As far as the sub goes for monitoring, don't bother. All you're going to do is cause yourself nightmares in your un-treated room. Deep-bass in un-treated rooms is kinda a no-go area.

well im getting a sub no matter what. i love bass and don't find music as appealing without it. i will mix without a sub and then check with the sub. but theres no talking me out of a sub. i listen/produce dubstep, house, rap, and other styles of electronic etc that just aren't the same without strong bass.

as far as loudness...put it this way im using klipsch promedia 2.1's right now. how much louder do you think the 6" ikey drivers will be than my current klipsch's? my klipsch's almost cut it, but just not quite.

im not throwing massive ragers with 100, people so i definitely wouldn't rent speakers. plus sometimes i just like to jam the **** out randomly, so renting speakers would be out of the question, and i cant afford 2 sets...so this is it i need to use 1 set of speakers for mixing and listening.

do you think i wouldn't have to push the 8's as hard as the 6's to get the same output? if so i may go with the 8's so i dont have to push them very hard.

sporadicMotion · Jan 10, 2011

How big is the room they will be going in as that is a factor for monitors. I work in a room that is 14' 7" x 17' 6" x 8'. I used both 5" and 6" monitors in this room and as far as mixing goes, it's hard to control that bass on the 6" speakers in this room without proper treatment. I'm very glad I didn't pick up the 8" (KRK RP G2 series). I would recommend getting separate speakers for house parties to protect your monitors.

happle · Jan 10, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
How big is the room they will be going in as that is a factor for monitors. I work in a room that is 14' 7" x 17' 6" x 8'. I used both 5" and 6" monitors in this room and as far as mixing goes, it's hard to control that bass on the 6" speakers in this room without proper treatment. I'm very glad I didn't pick up the 8" (KRK RP G2 series). I would recommend getting separate speakers for house parties to protect your monitors.

yeah i hear you man. the room is like 15x20. and i wont be having parties with non stop blasting music. just some friends chillen with some decently loud music, on and off. depending if were talkin and chillen or jammin out.

i dont plan on using the speakers in any fashion that would damage them.

any comment on how much louder the ikey 6" or 8" will be vs my current klipsch promedia 2.1's?

Killyp · Jan 11, 2011

happle said:
i plan on getting a sub for sure, so that wont be an issue. im just trying to decide if the 6" will be loud enough.

well im getting a sub no matter what. i love bass and don't find music as appealing without it. i will mix without a sub and then check with the sub. but theres no talking me out of a sub. i listen/produce dubstep, house, rap, and other styles of electronic etc that just aren't the same without strong bass.

as far as loudness...put it this way im using klipsch promedia 2.1's right now. how much louder do you think the 6" ikey drivers will be than my current klipsch's? my klipsch's almost cut it, but just not quite.

im not throwing massive ragers with 100, people so i definitely wouldn't rent speakers. plus sometimes i just like to jam the **** out randomly, so renting speakers would be out of the question, and i cant afford 2 sets...so this is it i need to use 1 set of speakers for mixing and listening.

do you think i wouldn't have to push the 8's as hard as the 6's to get the same output? if so i may go with the 8's so i dont have to push them very hard.

I'd go with the 8s in that case.

A sub in a room without treatment is wasted. I used to use a Genelec 7050b (not a big sub) in a room which was a little smaller than yours, which also had a little treatment (trapping in the corners, high and low, and one big trap immediately behind the listening position), and it was next to useless. It never felt all that impressive. Hearing the same sub in bigger rooms shows it was just the room sucking up all the low-end.

Your funeral, but I wouldn't go about wasting my money on a sub in a room that small. At least spend the cash on some treatment first. Your monitors will sound miles better straight away...

happle · Jan 11, 2011

Killyp said:
I'd go with the 8s in that case.

A sub in a room without treatment is wasted. I used to use a Genelec 7050b (not a big sub) in a room which was a little smaller than yours, which also had a little treatment (trapping in the corners, high and low, and one big trap immediately behind the listening position), and it was next to useless. It never felt all that impressive. Hearing the same sub in bigger rooms shows it was just the room sucking up all the low-end.

Your funeral, but I wouldn't go about wasting my money on a sub in a room that small. At least spend the cash on some treatment first. Your monitors will sound miles better straight away...

thanks for the info mah dude. and i know i know everyone keeps telling me to wait on the sub. but honestly, id rather have crappyish sounding low end than barely any at all. until i can get some bass traps of coarse. a sub is a must for me. just for my own personal listening preference, not mixing.

also do you think a mix on the 8's will translate well to smaller speakers? if so i think ill def go with the 8's.

sporadicMotion · Jan 11, 2011

They will be way louder than PC speakers period.

If you really want a sub, get the 6" and subs. Avoid the mess that will ensue with 8" speakers and a sub in that room. You are gonna need some serious treatment though. Either ones will sound great for parties and all that jazz BUT if you are serious about your mixes, then get the 6" or don't buy anything yet and build 6 to 8 bass traps and get a cloud above your work area.

happle · Jan 11, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
They will be way louder than PC speakers period.

If you really want a sub, get the 6" and subs. Avoid the mess that will ensue with 8" speakers and a sub in that room. You are gonna need some serious treatment though. Either ones will sound great for parties and all that jazz BUT if you are serious about your mixes, then get the 6" or don't buy anything yet and build 6 to 8 bass traps and get a cloud above your work area.

i agree totally. and i do want to have a good area to mix in but it doesnt need to be 100%. im not a serious producer, its just for fun. that doesnt mean i dont want the best setup im capable of. in the near future i will look into building my own bass traps and such.

but you still think the 6" will be better, even if i treat my room?

sporadicMotion · Jan 11, 2011

happle said:
i agree totally. and i do want to have a good area to mix in but it doesnt need to be 100%. im not a serious producer, its just for fun. that doesnt mean i dont want the best setup im capable of. in the near future i will look into building my own bass traps and such.

but you still think the 6" will be better, even if i treat my room?

For sure. IMHO, the budget 8" monitors are often under powered as well which causes flabby bass. The sub will be covering any ground an 8" might give you anyways. Save the cash and get the 6" and a sub. You won't regret it. I just did a physical measurement of my room instead of guessing and it is 14.5 x 21.25 x 8. We're dealing with similar size rooms. Also keep in mind that near field monitors are just that... Near field. A lot of near fields really only sound good in their idea listening position. Krk's are one of the few that still work ok at a greater distance.

zimv20 · Jan 11, 2011

happle said:
its just for fun. that doesnt mean i dont want the best setup im capable of. in the near future i will look into building my own bass traps and such.

what bass traps are going to give you are reduced peaks and nulls in your room.

right now, untreated, you'll be able to find some spots in your room where the bass is incredibly loud (relative to other frequencies), and other spots where it'll be absent.

adding a sub to an untreated room will simply relocate those nodes, and possibly make some peaks louder and nulls more quiet.

thegoldenmackid · Jan 11, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
For sure. IMHO, the budget 8" monitors are often under powered as well which causes flabby bass. The sub will be covering any ground an 8" might give you anyways. Save the cash and get the 6" and a sub. You won't regret it. I just did a physical measurement of my room instead of guessing and it is 14.5 x 21.25 x 8. We're dealing with similar size rooms. Also keep in mind that near field monitors are just that... Near field. A lot of near fields really only sound good in their idea listening position. Krk's are one of the few that still work ok at a greater distance.

That's the advice.

Treating the room is going to be the next step, the reality is that I doubt that you'll really be make or break in a situation between the 6" and 8", but once you are in a proper room, going back to the jungle probably won't be an option.

sporadicMotion · Jan 11, 2011

thegoldenmackid said:
That's the advice.

Treating the room is going to be the next step, the reality is that I doubt that you'll really be make or break in a situation between the 6" and 8", but once you are in a proper room, going back to the jungle probably won't be an option.

Two thumbs up.

The $100 difference between 6" and 8" monitors will even start you on your way. You could build two 4' x 2' bass traps with the left over cash. There are some great guides to building bass traps over on the GearSlutz forums in the studio acoustics forums.

happle · Jan 11, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
For sure. IMHO, the budget 8" monitors are often under powered as well which causes flabby bass. The sub will be covering any ground an 8" might give you anyways. Save the cash and get the 6" and a sub. You won't regret it. I just did a physical measurement of my room instead of guessing and it is 14.5 x 21.25 x 8. We're dealing with similar size rooms. Also keep in mind that near field monitors are just that... Near field. A lot of near fields really only sound good in their idea listening position. Krk's are one of the few that still work ok at a greater distance.

thats an interesting concept. and sounds logically correct too. but i would most likely turn the low pass filter to cut out most of the bass from the 8's to avoid the flabby bass.

do you think the ikey's will sound good from a distance like the krk's? i heard they were actually very similar so hopefully they will.

zimv20 said:
what bass traps are going to give you are reduced peaks and nulls in your room.

right now, untreated, you'll be able to find some spots in your room where the bass is incredibly loud (relative to other frequencies), and other spots where it'll be absent.

adding a sub to an untreated room will simply relocate those nodes, and possibly make some peaks louder and nulls more quiet.

yeah yeah yeah, iv heard it all to many times. but its a fact that i will be getting a subwoofer and eventually treating my room. and yes i hate those peaks and valleys of bass in my room

.

thegoldenmackid said:
That's the advice.

Treating the room is going to be the next step, the reality is that I doubt that you'll really be make or break in a situation between the 6" and 8", but once you are in a proper room, going back to the jungle probably won't be an option.

yes i totally agree.

sporadicMotion said:
Two thumbs up.

The $100 difference between 6" and 8" monitors will even start you on your way. You could build two 4' x 2' bass traps with the left over cash. There are some great guides to building bass traps over on the GearSlutz forums in the studio acoustics forums.

yeah i love gearslutz. and alright. im still going to be open to all opinions/facts until i decide to buy.

sporadicMotion · Jan 11, 2011

Enjoy whatever you pick up.

happle · Jan 11, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
Enjoy whatever you pick up.

thanks for your input and support. when the time comes ill let you know what i chose and how i like it, if your interested. it will probly be a couple months because im probably moving into a different apartment.

sporadicMotion · Jan 11, 2011

happle said:
thanks for your input and support. when the time comes ill let you know what i chose and how i like it, if your interested. it will probly be a couple months because im probably moving into a different apartment.

No worries. The nice thing about having to wait, is it gives you time to choose and spend time auditioning if possible. Picking a new apartment is even better because you get to shop for a new room to work from

Please post what you pick up in the end. Also, let me know how the sub goes over in the apartment. I want to get one for movies but I'm just a little concerned about the neighbours.

happle · Jan 11, 2011

sporadicMotion said:
No worries. The nice thing about having to wait, is it gives you time to choose and spend time auditioning if possible. Picking a new apartment is even better because you get to shop for a new room to work from

Please post what you pick up in the end. Also, let me know how the sub goes over in the apartment. I want to get one for movies but I'm just a little concerned about the neighbours.

sure thing. do you live in an apartment as well? if so where are the neighbors located? above, below, next to you? i live in a condo near my school right now and i can tell you a sub for movies is fine, as long as you dont have it blasted anyway.

movies dont have repetitive bass such as constantly playing music. so you dont really notice it as much. id def say get a sub and just adjust the volume to your likings, but also at a reasonable level.

i currently use my klipsch promedia 2.1's, and i also have a logitech x540 surround hooked up to my tv.

6" monitors vs 8"

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