Tks to all for your feedback - my objective is exactly to have some hi-fi speakers with flat frequency response, so that whatever "enters" the speakers "leaves" them without further distortion/tolerance.
However, perhaps I am not too knowledgeable on the difference between "studio monitors" and "hi-fi speakers" per se, or whether the former mean the same as the latter. I saw some excellent reviews on the Adam A7X but of course it is at the top of my desired price range (I am currently in Switzerland, which normally jacks up prices considerably).
I also found a much cheaper option in a "sale" section of a Swiss online store: the BEHRINGER TRUTH B1030A - any ideas about this one?
What about the cheaper Adam A5X or the Genelec 6010A?
My Nuforce HDP DAC has three possible inputs: coaxial, RCA or optical...bearing in mind your comment above, would it be sufficient or do I really need an adapter?
Tks again!
Behringer's stuff is typically not viewed as trustworthy and usually make mediocre cheap product. Even though I've heard some people say the truths are decent for their price, I wouldn't risk it.
As for studio monitors vs hi-fi speakers, care is put into different things. Near-field studio monitors are made to point directly at you and set at ear level. Hi-fi speakers are made to fill a room and be exciting. For that reason, monitors typically aren't set that far appart from each other. As a result, their sweet spot is pretty small, maybe a 50cm diameter circle. They don't sound 'bad' outside of that they just don't sound as full. From my understanding, hi-fi speakers aren't design to be so focused, like large room filling column speakers.
The other thing to think of is that some of these mixing speakers are highly regarded because they allow to mix properly much more than because they sound good. The perfect example is the yamaha ns-10. It's a studio staple. It has very tight dynamics and also has a crossover frequency at 4kHz which is much higher than the average hi-fi system (the cross-over is a device that selects which frequency range goes to which speaker). These two things make it a great speaker to mix on, dynamics are easier to control and the ever so hard to mix mid-range frequencies aren't smudged by the cross over. That being said, for casual listening those two things really aren't that important and the ns-10 is regarded as being one of the harshest and most ear fatiguing speaker out there (for those same reasons actually).
Another thing is bass port design. The bass port is a hole in the speaker that acts as a suspension for the woofer as it pushes a column of air back and forth. Basically it allows it to go much deeper. However, it also effects the dynamics of the sound. For that reason I think monitors don't rely on ports as much as high-fi systems to get the bass. So, to get an extended bass range on monitors, you need much bigger speakers.
Lastly, engineers care a lot about the stereo image of their speakers. It's actually very neat because sounds that are centered really sounds like they are coming from a speaker right in front of you. That is great when you are listening in the sweet spot but not really all that important if you're elsewhere in the room. For that reasons, I think monitors are made to much tighter tolerances than hi-fi systems. Also, if you hadn't already noticed, they are sold by the unit. That's partly a marketing ploy but probably really nice if one of your speakers ends up dying.
So, you can see that hi-fis and near fields are made to fulfill different needs. Studio monitors will get you closer to what the mixing engineer was hearing when he was mixing but it doesn't mean that it'll be the best experience.
As for slightly cheaper alternatives to spoonie's initial suggestions. The Yamaha HS80 are quite highly regarded for their price. The krk rokit 8 are typically viewed as inferior to the HS80 as they have slightly hyped low-mids and not as clear mids as the HS80. That being said, having compared the two side by side the difference isn't as big as some people make it out to be and the krks are probably better for home listening as they have slightly deeper bass and have a front facing port which means they can be put closer to a rear wheel without ill effect on the sound (they can also play extremely loud). They're also cheaper. I can't recommend specific hi-fis as I'm not really familiar with them.
As for the Adam A5X and Genelec 6010A, they have pretty small woofers. They're probably really useful if you're not mixing bass heavy music or if have a sub-woofer on stand-by when you need it. They're probably not very exciting to listen to on their own and a very bad bang for buck for casual listening.
