rocketman331

I've been following the Hi-Fi Gear forum for a while and have been developing an urge to listen to music on quality gear. My listening preferences range from classical, jazz, classic rock to metal.

I have a few questions regarding a 2 speaker setup:

1) Would a 2-Way Active Monitor be better than a passive 2-way monitor that requires an amp, or which one is better?

2) Using an active 2-Way monitor would require a mixer, correct?

3) Are subs necessary or are they only needed for a more powerful low-end, or would it be wise to purchase an amp that has an output for a sub?

I've been looking at these speakers but really have no idea what a decent 2 speaker setup would be/cost: KRK RP5G2 Rokit

I have a budget of no more than $500, any help would be greatly appreciated.

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brkbeatjunkie

I would recommend a sub because not only will it produce clean bass, but will take the load off your other speakers playing mids and highs. The crossover in any quality amp will send just the low freq to the sub. The result is clean, not muddy sound.

Edit. I have the logitech z2300 2.1 with built in 200w amp certified by THX. Couldn't be more happy with them.

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my suggestion:

AV123 ELT525Ms $175

TCA Gizmo 1.0M $119

Dayton 150W 12" Sub $155

another option would be the Gizmo & WAF-1s instead of the ELT525s and Gizmo...

but you should rather get a sub with proper sub level inputs... but they're difficult to find within your price point...

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soloz2

1. That depends. There are some great active monitors, take the Audioengine A5's for the money you'd be hard pressed to get a pair of speakers and an amp that would sound better, but at the same time a pair of ELT525M and a nice t-amp will do other things the audioengines' cant.

2. no

3. not necessary. it all depends on how much bass you want, and to be honest I would choose better speakers any day over lesser speakers and a sub. Also, keep in mind that most 'cheap' subs will not be very musical, and will be boomy when placed under a desk. Since may be ok for HT use, but not for music in a near-field listening environment.


That said, the ELT525M or WAF-1 and Gizmo would be a great option. The Gizmo does filter out low frequencies so you will likely eventually want to get a good sub, but it does have a sub output.

I actually picked up a different $500ish setup recently and am very pleased with it. I would take it over the Gizmo ELT525 combo.

Musical Paradise MP-301 amp. It's a $200 all tube transformer-coupled amp. Swap out the Chinese tubes for some good NOS tubes and you've got a great amp for little coin. As an added bonus it can drive headphones as well.

Tekton Design 4.1 speakers. These are a single full-range driver speaker based on a pair of Fostex FE103e drivers. These speakers are very natural sounding, and for jazz, and smaller classical works, but are not the best for heavy rock or 'big' orchestral works. That said, even considering the drawbacks of single-full range driver speakers, these are the best 'budget' speakers I've found thus far.

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