Does Anyone Use Pro Audio Speakers as their Main?

I did that, starting in 2004 or 2005. I picked up a pair of Yamaha HS80 8” near-field monitors and the companion HS10W 10” studio sub for my computer setup. I had a pair of KEF Q60 bookshelf speakers in my main system. The computer system was driven by an M-Audio Firewire Audio interface with balanced XLR outs.

After moving into a larger place, I removed some components from the HS80 built in amplifiers; basically ripped out the bass limiting circuit to make them perform correctly in a midfield environment. I had already been using them zeroed out with a pro analog EQ and spectrum analyzer.

Later, I bought more, adding a theater processor and eventually totalling out at 7 monitors and 5 of the studio subs. I’ve voiced them not to be flat but to follow the Toole/Olive psychoacoustic response curve, as measured at the listening position, published from research by JBL Labs.

All in all my experience is tremendously positive. Studio monitors are cheap, they take insane amounts of EQ without batting an eyelash, have fantastic off axis response, are amazingly detailed. I’ve stuck with this system for 20 years and find it is more convincing to listen to than friends’ systems costing an order of magnitude more.

If I were to upgrade today, I’d just get better monitors from Genelec or Neumann.

@engineears

All in all my experience is tremendously positive. Studio monitors are cheap, they take insane amounts of EQ without batting an eyelash, have fantastic off axis response, are amazingly detailed. I’ve stuck with this system for 20 years and find it is more convincing to listen to than friends’ systems costing an order of magnitude more.

Thank you for that.

That was exactly what I was looking for, first hand experience.

If I were to upgrade today, I’d just get better monitors from Genelec or Neumann.

Perhaps I’ve dropped by the ASR forum a little too often but I’m beginning to think the same.

I’m sure it would be interesting to see the likes of these going up against the great and the good from domestic audio.

@cd318 

Just know that studio monitors are pro gear and many, especially the smaller ones, are voiced for accuracy in near field monitoring. So for example, the Yamaha's have non-linear response to gain; as you turn them up, the bass doesn't increase at the same rate as the higher frequencies. This is because they're trying to keep bass from becoming too loud when you're sitting close. I had to take mine apart and modify them to stop this behavior, which involved literally snipping components out of the active crossover. Non-trivial.

Bigger monitors geared toward mid-field listening or main monitors shouldn't have that issue, but they're not cheap. Just don't think that you can get away with the little desktop monitors in a full sized listening room.

For me, monitors aren't a way to save money, they're a way to get better accuracy and more control. With DSP (mine don't have it onboard, but many monitors have this built in) I was able to get mine within ±0.5 dB of the response curve I wanted at the listening position. The imaging I get with stereo, 5.1, and 7.1 is insanely great, but it took years of monkeying with settings and a lot of learning to get my gain structure and room/speaker correction where it needed to be.