What's a fortune?
Less than 300 gets you the M-Audio LX4's, which are great. Beyond that, start looking at the BX5, also from M-Audio, then start looking at Genelec, Mackie, KRK as viable options in the 1K price range. Move up to Macki 626's at 2K, and from there....the sky is the limit.
Make sure they're wood or composites, no plastic. Built in amplifiers are a monstrous plus. Avoid anything that doesn't have an amp in either the speaker or the sub feeding the speaker.
Don't overbuy for your room. Yes, monitors CAN be too big, and often are.
Figure nothing larger than an 8" for a 12 x 14 room for most uses. A sub is somewhat important, less so if you're only cutting dialog. You can always expand most of the above systems from stereo/2 channel to 5.1.

Don't necessarily avoid anthing without a built in amp. Lots of studios use speaker monitors with external amplifiers. I prefer monitors that don't have their own internal built in amp. It's a preference thing, so you'll hear conflicting information either way. Self powered monitors do have their benefits in that they can design the amp with a built in EQ to make up for frequency deficiencies in the speakers performance. The drawback is that the EQ is composed of additional analog circuitry that can add additional noise and phase distortion. I prefer the external amp route because you can usually get an amp with a higher power rating to crank it up if you so desire. I like the fact that you can get an amp made by a manufacturer that specializes in designing amps, and you can get speakers by a manufacturer that specializes in designing transducers. Just a personal preference though. A common inexpensive speaker used in studios is the Alesis Monitor one's. They where kind of like the replacement for a lot of people of the Yamaha NS-10's. You can get a pair of these for $150. The key is if you go the seperate amp route to be sure you get a good one with a low noise floor. Crown and Hafler are some good choices.

Hello,
Try the studio monitor series KKR at http://www.samedaymusic.com/browse--3170
Starts around 225.00. Bi amp system included each.

I am reakky cheap, so....
I used a set of Polks that are old and reconed. I bought em at a thrift store (blown out and rat eaten) for 20.00 bucks, both. What I got was two five pound magnets and the cases, re-conin was another 50.00 bucks each including shipping. I live in California so I used a re-coner in Texas,... right I am stupid! The reconer was wonderful, he may be reached at: http://www.simplyspeakers.com/

For my center channel I use a Bose sub wolfs ( 150.00 thrift store again). For the two back channels I used some really cr#ppy Pioneers.

My next purchace (after I get back to livin inside with an angry woman) will be a pair of 1" Exit Eminence Compression Driver-8 or 16 Ohm.
Size: 5-1/4" Power: 40W RMS Response: 1.5-20kHz Magnet: 34 oz. SPL: 105 dB
Available in 1-3/8" Thread-on or Bolt-on. for 95.00 bucks each to replace the two back channels. Same source http://www.simplyspeakers.com/.

Let me know how you go, I think I could have bought new and avoided the agravation for a little bit more money, but again I am really cheap.
Best Wishes,
Marty

"I think I could have bought new and avoided the agravation for a little bit more money, but again I am really cheap."

I'm reminded of the saying... "I can't afford to buy inexpensive things."

It all depends on what level you plan on working at.
I kinda overspent on my last PC so I had to get some Creative 5.1speakers instead of the M-Audio LX4s. I got a better soundcard (M-Audio Firewire 410) and figured I'll get better speakers later. That said, for now, I'm satisfied with the Creatives. Enough so that if I had enough money to get the LX4 5.1 set-up, I'd probably get two 15" LCD screens to replace my 17" CRT instead. The LX4s would come after that.

Mario

Only problem with the Alesis Monitor Ones, is that they're not video shielded. I'm unaware of any self contained speak that is not video shielded, but there may be one. Other point is, with a separate amp/monitor combination in the "budget" price range, is you stand to get a great deal more noise due to
1. Additional cables
2. Unbalanced cables if you're using a sound card that doesn't support, and an amp generally is not going to be as close as speaks that are powered, so you'll have a longer run there, creating more noise and problems.

As Red says, there are absolutely benefits to non-powered speakers, but I'd have to suggest that in the "low cost" range, you'll do far better with self-contained/powered monitors than buying an amp and non-powered speakers. Plus you'll save cable length, potential noise, etc.
Even a very low end amp like the RA 100 from Alesis is gonna cost you $100.00 used, then spend another $150.00 on the monitors, then spend another $40.00 on cables, you're well past the price of say, an LX4 system with amp and cables built in, and it will sound better, and be beyond very loud. Just ask anyone in this forum who's got them.
KRK Rockits are very good in the small size, available powered or non powered, the new JBL LSR 6's are great, Mackie 624's are a bit of overkill for a small room, but they are terrific. I just reviewed the new Tannoy Reveal 6, they are great, but a bit over the top for price. Heavy little muthas.
Anyway, short of it all, is that it just depends on what you want to do. Separate amps and monitors are great in the larger, higher $ range, IMO, but never a good value when you're on the cheap hunt.
Regardless of what you do buy, spend 20.00 more and get a set of MoPads from Auralex. You'll be shocked at the difference they make. Well worth the cost overall.

BTW, if you want a separate amp, I've got a stack of RA100's I'll sell for 50.00 plus shipping (each) Like many, I've got a room full of older stuff no longer used.

Yesss on the Auralex MoPads. I found the difference to be simply astonishing, can't get better bang for the buck than that :O)

Do non-shielded monitors affect also LCDs?
I haven't had any unshielded speakers in a long time, so I don't know.

"Do non-shielded monitors affect also LCDs?"
No

"spend 20.00 more and get a set of MoPads from Auralex."

What are these?

MoPads
A VERY inexpensive product that will make your monitors sound eons better than they currently do.
At the B&H "Now Hear This" classes, even in a huge room (approx 75 x 60) with 110 people in the room, tiny Genelec 8030's sounded immensely different when the MoPads were removed from the Gennies.
The designed density and cell weight of the MoPads make a big difference for even very cheap plastic speaks, but our HotHouse 4's wouldn't be nearly as great without them.

Hey, I can vouch for those M-Audio BX5's. The place I work at on weekends (they make a weekly radio show) has two of those and boy, they are simply awsome! They don't do any fancy audio work with them (except cleaning up really old audio, analog tapes, records, & reel to reel's occationatly) but you could tell the difference between those & the Altec Lansing 2.1 system they had there before.

What kind of sound card you got? I've got a good 5.1 system hooked up to my computer but am currently using the onboard sound. I can hear the ocational pop/distortion/etc that I KNOW isn't my speakers. So, what I'm saying is that good speakers aren't any good if you've got a crap sound card (like me!)

One other advantage of powered speakers...

If you have to travel or mix in another location, carrying your powered monitors is much easier. Even on a lowend, laptop soundcard, a set of powered monitors sounds pretty darn good compared to the built-in speakers. Plus, when you're in a strange land, motel room or studio, the consistency of using monitors that you're accustomed to is a real asset. Get yourself a small, padded suitcase and you're ready to roll. I use an old pair of powered Advents on the road...after about 15 years, they still sound great.

At the B&H "Now Hear This" classes, even in a huge room (approx 75 x 60) with 110 people in the room, tiny Genelec 8030's sounded immensely different when the MoPads were removed from the Gennies.

I can attest to this. I was sitting in the back of the room and heard this immediately. People were actually oooohing and aaaahing when it happened. Also it was a very loud room to begin with, due to noisy air conditioning vents. Even in that room you could hear the difference all the way in the back.

I checked B&H for these: all sold out! :(

Those look sweet. Would using some sound proofing foam do a simular trick?

lots of places sell them. Most pro music places have them

Mopads rock - I know Guitar Center has em'.

As for monitors I like the Tannoy Active Reveals - very detailed.

Alesis M1 Active MkII are on special at Sweetwater for $349.97 with free shipping. Not much use to me as I don't live in the US but might be a good deal for you guys over there. I've bought from these guys in the past and despite the distance they did give excellent service.
Bob.

nEar 05

They are shielded and you can't beat them for the price IMHO. And to my ears, they are very superior to Maudio or Edirol stuff in the same range .

You need enough low bass range to track adequatly popping or humm on takes.

Small 4"-5" active speakers have the major advantage to be actively EQed, so you'l get an extended bass response (60 Hz is a minimum to track humm) vs small passive monitors (limited to 70-90 Hz response).

Behringer stuff also worth consideration in a price/performance perspective if you don't care for an horrible service.

Mackie stuff is truly good if you have a higher budget.

Avoid any cheap plastic computer boxes and go for true small studio monitors.

I love my pair of Event 20/20p

You might check out the Alesis "Monitor One Mk2." I use them with a Crown MicroTech 1200 amp and like them a lot. (Yes, I know, the MicroTech is overkill, they don't need that kind of power. the Alesis RA-150 amp is plenty.)

Alesis Monitor One Mk2 speakers

Alesis RA150 amplifier

Even the Behringer "Truth" monitors have been getting pretty good reviews. You might want to look into those as well if you're on a budget. Behringer gear is ridiculously inexpensive for what it is.

Behringer Truth Studio Monitors

Of course, I have been listening to the Monitor One's for years in my suite and, consequently, they have become true "reference" monitors. The trick is to buy decent monitors (and there's plenty of them out there) and then spend a LOT of time finding out what a variety of material sounds like through them and, only then, will you be able to use them to make audio adjustments which will translate into the "real world."

John

My choice would be some Bowers & Wilkins Prestige/Nautilus the flagship model of course. It would only be half a fortune and you would need some amps to go with these passive speakers.

I would like to add a Paradigm servo-15 subwoofer with those B&W 's
Jon

Just like with video, the "real world" can be very different then what somebody thinks he sees/hears on his "professional" equipment.

<sarcasm>
I just ordered a "professional" chair with gas shock absorbers. It also has a digital control panel that lets me adjust seat height and rotation in tens of a degree. Its made of the highest quality leather, has real gold trim and gosh damn, built in seat warming and cooling, plus two cup holders, so I just know its going to be make a "better" videographer. Not!
</sarcasm>

Funny story #25

Back in my auditing days, there was this upscale restaurant that was one of our accounts. The owner was a perfectionist in the extreme... but only with regard to his extensive wine menu. His restaurant had a large underground state of the art temperature humidity controlled wine cellar that he loved to show off. It was very impressive. He was known to go ape if one of his staff put a wine bottle in the wrong rack, things like that. Being obsessed with his wine cellar, he let the kitchen slide. The kitchen staff at best was average and the food served didn't justify the fancy price. The owner never seemed to notice. If he did, he didn't care. Afterall, he had the best wine collection in town he kept telling himself. Maybe so, but last time I checked people go to a fancy restaurants for a GREAT MEAL. If the food at best is average, how good the wine is doesn't matter much.

The moral of the story is if you obsess over how "good" your video looks on your "professional" monitor and sounds on your "professional" sound equipment, I bet you can fall into the trap, I don't care how my work looks on my customer's equipment, buy hey it looks great on mine.

This reality check brought to you by BillyBoy, who's more "real world" than anybody. Rule one of running any successful business, please the customer, don't get carried away indulging yourself. <wink>

Thanks for the tip. I'm gonna sell my industry-standard Mackies and Hothouses, and start mixing on some really cool Creative Labs speaks I found at Walmart. Since they're portable, I'll take them with me when we go to Skywalker and Rocket Lab to post the big shows. I can't wait to tell all our clients at Disney that we're saving them money by using cheap speakers, and by golly, that's what their clients are listening to at home anyway.

Good audio monitors are far more critical than a good video monitor. Without them, you won't be able to hear a lot of elements in the mix such as noise, high end hiss, sibilant distortion. And yes, consumers in their homes WILL hear this, because never before in history have consumers had better gear on a more broad scope.
As John pointed out, only once you become really familiar with your speakers can they be used as ref monitors. The whole reason Yamaha NS10's were so common wasn't because they sounded so good, it was because they were "standard." They sound like crap, actually, but they were a great benchmark because everyone knows them and their personality. I'm confident that this whole thread just took a nosedive and will become quite contentious, but the point that has to be kept in mind is that audio is 70% of the viewer experience. Sound defines what viewers "see" and believe they are seeing. Every recording studio in the world has a set of crappy Auratones or some similar monitor so that the mix can be checked for low-clarity sound. Every studio has a mono button too, so the mix can be checked for mono compatibility. But no one, ever in their right mind, would mix in mono or mix through the Auratones. They are there for checking the low end, not the overall mix. Striving for the best sound possible is critical. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to get good. The higher you go in price, the lesser the degrees in quality become once you hit a certain price point. Without a good set of audio monitor, without a good sound card, and without some consideration and/or treatment for the room you're monitoring in, you CANNOT have good sound. Good sound is the absence of bad sound. If your system cannot display/allow you to hear the bad sound, you have no idea what you're sending out there. People will accept bad video long before they'll accept bad audio.
Just because *you* can't hear the difference doesn't mean no one else can.
People watch movies expecting great sound, as in the previous analogy, they expect a great meal. If the audio is bad, people don't care much about how good or bad the video is. They've tuned out long before they see the first scene.
Get good monitors, get a decent soundcard, get familiar with how they sound with a wide variety of programme material so you're comfortable with what you'll need to do to adjust your own mixes.
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