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Pro Audio Gear for HT?

1132 Views 16 Replies 10 Participants Last post by aBlueSky, Mar 9, 2005

carlm9

Discussion Starter · Feb 17, 2005

I have been reading about using pro audio gear for HT and would like to know how to use it with my existing equipment? I have a Rotel 1095 amp with the matching pre-amp. There are no balanced outputs or inputs for this equipment. The pro audio equipment I have been looking at is the Mackie HR626 or HR824. Both of these are powered monitors and are in my price range. It seems like you get much more bang for your buck in the Pro audio world then in the residential market.

1. Is it possible to use these powered monitors with certain adapters?

2. Same question except for non-powered monitors?

Thanks for the help.

Jason

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1 - 17 of 17 Posts

cpu8088

· #2 · Feb 17, 2005

if you are considering a change from 1095 i would say this is a downgrade unless you want to turn your room into a disco

BobL

· #3 · Feb 17, 2005

The HR626 is really a sweet speaker and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in HT or for music. It is a very accurate and revealing speaker. As with any speaker purchase I suggest you try them before purchasing but definitely worth a listen. The HR824 is no slouch either, I just feel the 626 is better.

For people that don't know these are studio monitors and not the type of speakers you see in a night club. The Matrix movies were mixed on HR626's before it went to the dubbing stage for the final mixdown. A lot of studios use these.

You need long good quality coax RCA cables from your preamp to the Mackie's. You could then sell your 1095 amp. Non powered monitors you connect to your amp like any other speaker.

Bob

Cowclops

· #4 · Feb 17, 2005

I second this. Those Mackie speakers are biamped with active crossovers and have very close to neutral response. Its disappointing that "hifi" companies don't more often sell true biamped speakers, as a true biamped setup can often be the biggest improvement you can make to a set of speakers.

heath1066

· #5 · Feb 17, 2005

No problem, if you read the Mackie manual (at least the ones i have read) it will tell you how to unbalance the connection in the cable (usually tying together pins 1 & 3 or ring and sleeve). If you want to go hardcore, you can buy premade or make you own balancing transformers. I built my own with some jensens bought through a company i used to work for.

BTW the mackies sound awesome for HT.

heath1066

· #6 · Feb 17, 2005

Sorry, use the amp for something else, or sell it, you can't run from the pre to the amp to the mackies without a whole lot of yucky mojo!

Grond

· #7 · Feb 17, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by BobL The Matrix movies were mixed on HR626's before it went to the dubbing stage for the final mixdown. A lot of studios use these.

I think this is more an indication that these are the kind of speakers they expected the movie to be played on more than it being an endorsement. I don't doubt they are excellent speakers though.

BobL

· #8 · Feb 18, 2005

I think people mixing movies in the more well respected studios are looking for accurate sound and an environment that will somewhat mimic the dubbing stage environment. This keeps changes to a minimum in the dubbing stage for the final mix. If you look at the top studios you'll notice that they generally use the more respected names in studio monitors.

I think the advertising Mackie does to let people know certain studios or certain movies were pre-mixed on their equipment is just normal marketing fluff.

Bob

carlm9

Discussion Starter · #9 · Feb 18, 2005

Thanks for all of the responses. I just won a bid for a pair of Mackie HR626's for one hell of a price. I heard the HR824's yesterday and was quite impressed. I also bought a pair of Fostex PM2's today. I should also get my Onix Ref 100 in this weekend and can't wait to do a shoot out between the three of them. I also have all of the cabling issues figured out. I will post with the results in a few weeks. Thanks for all of the help.

cue03

· #10 · Mar 8, 2005

carlm9... did you ever perform the shootout?

Thanks.

carlm9

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 8, 2005

Today 07:51 PM

cue03,

I was able to do a partial comparison. I have the Mackie 626's and the Onix Ref100. I cancelled the order on the Fostex PM2's becuase I was so happy with the 626's. I have also ordered the M&K S150's, which should be here in 4-8 weeks. I didn't want to do a full comparison until I have the M&K's. What I did find out to so far is that both the Mackie's and Ref100 are extremely clean, nuetral speakers. The Ref100 is a great center channel for multichannel music and movies, but the Mackie appears to put out more SPL's. If my system was for strictly multichannel music I would have to go with the Ref100. It images better and has a better soundstage. The birds eye maple finish is absolutely gorgeous.

The Mackie 626's are also an amazing speaker. They are very clean and put out some serious SPL's. If I was going with a HT only set-up, I might just get (3) of these for the front and maybe 824's for the rears. They are also very easy to hook up. I just used an extended RCA cable from my preamp and do not get any hiss or noise what so ever. I definitively think pro monitors are an excellent alternative for home theaters. I will post more when the M&K's show up. Don't hold your breath, I hear they are backlogged. Thanks

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Rysa4

· #12 · Mar 9, 2005

Eek. I auditioned these and spend time in LA studios. Fine for mixing but awful for playback. In general, monitors that are great for mixing and awful for playback. The two activities are inverse essentially. In mixing you want to put together flat response tracks and need to hear each track at total and tonal neutral.

I agree that active speakers make sense though. The other professional monitors often discussed and available at Guitar center are the KRK v8s ( if I remember correctly). Better for play back than the mackies but not quite as strong for mixing.

Now the NHT Pro studio monitors ( not the computer ones) with XLR only connects.... them be sweet. And genelec is a near field winner for playback ( expensive though)

thebland

· #13 · Mar 9, 2005

I am a big fan of pro audio eqiupment. The heart and soul of my theater is pro audio (LCRs, subs, amplification). Dynamics are far greater than can be acheived with the wimpier HT brands and you get so much more performance for the money!

Rysa4

· #14 · Mar 9, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by thebland
I am a big fan of pro audio eqiupment. The heart and soul of my theater is pro audio (LCRs, subs, amplification). Dynamics are far greater than can be acheived with the wimpier HT brands and you get so much more performance for the money!

Me too. But you arent exactly using Mackies in your system!!!

aBlueSky

· #15 · Mar 9, 2005

We have gotten a decent amount of attention from consumer users in the UK and Denmark. We have also had a reasonable amount of interest from consumers in the US. However, we don't really actively market to consumers today.

For what it is worth, I love using our pro studio monitoring systems in my casual HT room... ...Here is a link to my setup...
http://www.abluesky.com/asp/forum/vi...sp?topicid=178

Hopefully this isn't considered spam...

Cheers!

carlm9

Discussion Starter · #16 · Mar 9, 2005

I did get to listen to Bluesky's sat/sub set up. It was excellent. It definitively competes with the other speakers I auditioned. The only drawback was that it was a 2.1 system. Do you make a 5.1 system? For around $1,000 retail the 2.1 system was phenomenal. It also uses the same sweet Vifa tweeters as the Ref100.

aBlueSky

· #17 · Mar 9, 2005

Quote:

Originally posted by carlm9
I did get to listen to Bluesky's sat/sub set up. It was excellent. It definitively competes with the other speakers I auditioned. The only drawback was that it was a 2.1 system. Do you make a 5.1 system? For around $1,000 retail the 2.1 system was phenomenal. It also uses the same sweet Vifa tweeters as the Ref100.

A sizable percentage of the business we do is for professional surround applications (broadcast, post production, DVD/A / SACD). So yes, we do offer surround configurations of all of our systems. The thousand dollar 2.1 system you listened to was ProDesk, we have another system above that, called Sky System One (which I currently have in my family room) and then we also have a smaller system called MediaDesk (desktop audio monitoring system).

Feel free to e-mail me directly if you have any questions.
[email protected]

Cheers!

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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