Best studio monitor pair around £250-£300

BigPaulie · September 2023

I hear great things about the iLouds.

Anything else I should consider? Ideally they'll have Bluetooth and be not too big as desk space is at a premium.

tekbow · September 2023

I have the ilouds because I really couldnt find anything else in that price range with those reviews and that size.

In use, they seem grand.

swiller · September 2023

Yamaha HS series are nice, like NS10s so you mix and you get pretty good results because they are so flat and not too bassy. Ilouds are bassy, surprisingly so, so some learning how mixes translate is needed, I have a pair of i louds, sh from here and paid 150 so they are highly recommended and great for everyday laptop listening as well.

AntonHunter · September 2023

Which model iLouds do people have?

goldtop · September 2023

The MTMs iLouds are pretty pricey. Well over the OP's budget, IIRC.

I have the 2nd gen iLouds (i.e. the one with two monitors and the stupidly far interconnect cable, not the funny mono thing IK did first). They are very good - caveat: for their size.

But for that budget, I'd probably go for something bigger if there's space.

Wazmeister · September 2023

I think the clouds represent OK value for money... but I found that the Genelecs 8010s were a vast improvement...

You can get a set used maybe in your price range

TheMarlin · September 2023

Adam Audio TV5.

fretmeister · September 2023

Used pair of Yamaha HS7.

They are lovely.

Winny_Pooh · September 2023

^^^ ADAM or Yamaha's are a safe bet

theatreanchor · September 2023

Another Adam vote.

menamestom · September 2023

My ilouds broke. Sounded good but stupid design, big heavy interconnect cable into a weak connector.
A tweeter blew as well from memory and it wasn’t easily replaceable. Very much prosumer quality, rather than pro audio.

The Presonus stuff is good, I have the Eris 4.5.

octatonic · September 2023

swiller said:

Yamaha HS series are nice, like NS10s so you mix and you get pretty good results because they are so flat and not too bassy. Ilouds are bassy, surprisingly so, so some learning how mixes translate is needed, I have a pair of i louds, sh from here and paid 150 so they are highly recommended and great for everyday laptop listening as well.

Yamaha HS sound nothing at all like NS10's.
They just look similar.

octatonic · September 2023

Ribbon tweeter designs have three main makers at the moment.

Adam, Eve and HEDD.

ADAM are more common but I haven't always liked what I have heard.
HEDD are great but pricey.

I have reviewed and liked several Eve monitors.
Eve can be tricky to get in the UK though.

There is also Fluid Audio but I've never used any so can't comment.

I had a set of iLouds.
I'd never mix on them- they do not translate well and the cable/interconnect is not great, but if you just need cheap speakers that don't take up a lot of room then they are fine.

£300 for a pair of monitors is just a really difficult price point to do anything of quality.
A lot of the cheaper models are just glorified computer speakers with pro audio branding and limited usability for mixing.
But if that isn't an issue then pretty much everything in the sub £300 price range is a different flavour of 'moderately OK for the money'.

Focal are worth checking out.

Buying used might allow you to get a set of smaller Genelecs for a bit more money, which you'd probably never sell and they seem to work forever.

dindude · September 2023

I had the iLoud’s and thought they sounded super for their size but they don’t go loud. On the back of that I bought the MTM’s, which to be honest I don’t love. They can sound really great but the sweet spot seems so small once you’ve set it up with the room correction you may as well wear headphones. Thinking of going for something else, I like the look of the Focal Shape but out of your budget here. presonus have the new Eric’s Studio just launched which will be more the price range,

Funkfingers · October 2023

Teledyne Acoustic Research AR18S with the Graham's mod gasket upgrade.

I stole the idea from a Sound On Sound interview with Hugh Padgham.

Mine are Eighties ones with the brown finish. Graham's is a North London hi-fi shop

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Best studio monitor pair around £250-£300

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