Monitors or Single Speaker for Bedroom Use

    Hi Guys,


    Just got my Kemper and totally blown away with it.


    I am a bedroom hobby guitarist and just play along to songs and backing tracks - I will never be playing live.


    The guitar store recommended an Alto TS210 which I went with and it sounds great but I am reading that the Kemper sounds so much better in stereo.


    Given I will only ever be a bedroom player should I take it back and get a good set of monitors ? Maybe Yamaha HS8's ? Will they sound better than the single Alto ? The room is approx. 3m x 3m.


    Or is something specifically designed for the Kemper such as the Friedman ASM-12 going to be better ? Are monitors as good as the larger active speakers ?


    Sorry just upgraded from a practice amp/pedals so all this is very new to me!


    Thanks in advance


    Cheers

    Hi Monkton123,
    There is another option: at home I play my kpa with my InEars. With a 1U Behringer RX 1602 I mix the Stereo signals from my Kemper and the backing tracks from IPhone or IPad.
    It sounds amazing in my opinion!

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    Quote from MONKTON123

    Thanks for the replies guys its appreciated. Sounds like I need to take the Alto back and get some monitors!!


    Cheers

    I play in 3.5 x 4.5m room and I use Neumann KH120A 5 inch monitors. I also have Yamaha DXR10 conencted to Monitor Out, which adds body and thump to this stereo setup.

    The alto is def too much for the room and for bedroomlevel playing. I use a pair of rokit rp6 g3 monitors. Very good for the money and I have choosen the rp6 and not the rp5 for more bass. I wont drive a seperate woofer.


    For me the rp6 have a very cool and massive sound when playing at a very low loudness level. Punchy.

    Quote from Eltzejupp

    The alto is def too much for the room and for bedroomlevel playing. I use a pair of rokit rp6 g3 monitors. Very good for the money and I have choosen the rp6 and not the rp5 for more bass. I wont drive a seperate woofer.


    For me the rp6 have a very cool and massive sound when playing at a very low loudness level. Punchy.

    This, monitors all the way. Advantage would be if you plan on using the cab down the road & if you can swing it, keep it.

    Thanks Guys!


    My budget would be circa £350 so around $500 for Monitors.


    May be able to push to £400 if this made a significant difference on quality but believe me this would take a lot of convincing with the boss given the cost so far! :)


    Cheers

    :D


    Tell her it'll save you money in the long run if you go for something that'll never need upgrading in the future.


    I'd go for something in the £600-£700 range. Below that it'll be fine, great even but once you get familiar with the monitors you'll start to notice the shortcomings. I used KRK Rokits and VXT's for 8 years and they both became annoying to use since you couldn't really make out anything below 150Hz clearly.

    Welcome! Hmm if you can be certain you're not going to be playing live further down the road then a single monitor-like solution probably wouldn't be your best option ... A pair of decent studio monitors (like the brands nakedzen suggested) would be a good call so not only do you have stereo functionality but they are there for music playback also whereas a monitor such as Friedman ASM12 is likely tailored for stage use for example (able to go much much louder before clipping/breaking up to keep up with drums etc.) and with a 12" speaker despite still likely being FRFR. You also probably wouldn't need 8inch cones for such a size room/setup in your studio monitors and could go with HS7s or 6inch cones for example. Whereabouts in the UK are ya out of curiosity :)

    Thanks Guys,


    This is great forum!


    I am in West Yorkshire UK.


    I spoke to the store today and they agreed to swap the Alto so going to visit on Saturday hopefully and check out some monitors!


    Cheers

    Let us know what you tried and what you chose. There will be never enough opinions on last in the chain, meaning speakers/cabs.

    For you guys that use monitors, what do you do when it comes to playing while standing? I currently use two DXR10's as I have them for band use but that has fizzled out. I am considering dumping them for some Yamaha HS8's. I have the DXR's on speaker stands so they are at ear level when I am standing to play. I don't like to sit much while playing. My room is only 15x10 so the DXR's are a bit overkill. Most monitor setups I see are for a seated position. Any of you use monitors while in a standing position?

    I have the Yamaha HS5 with the Sub HS8s.
    At first I only had the HS5s and they were clearly missing the low end thumb I was used to with normal cabs.
    So maybe 5 isnt enough to get that thumb.
    I know that a sub is out of your budget right now but maybe try to get something bigger than 5.
    Maybe other small speakers have way more bass than the Yamahas.
    Just my personal experience that the HS5 alone for me weren't fun to play.

    Hi Guys,


    So I went to the store yesterday and tried out Yamaha and Focal's. To me there was a big jump from the HS5's to the HS7's and not so much between the 7's and 8's. The Focals Alpha 65 sounded (slightly) more open than the 7's but not enough for me to spend the extra.
    I was drawn to the HS7's in terms of the sound quality and physical size of the monitor for my room.The in store expert agreed the 8's would be too much and I think I got a good deal at £350 with Samson stands thrown in.


    I got them home and finally got set up this evening..... WOW what a difference in stereo. It makes such a difference for delays etc and just playing along (well trying!) to some U2 it felt amazing.


    Distorted tones too were incredible. The commercial profiles I have did sound very slightly more trebly than the single Alto PA speaker but I just tweaked the EQ and it was sorted.


    There is a little bit of low volume buzzing with the distorted profiles is this normal ? I have the volume on the monitors at 12 o'clock ?


    I have only had a short time with them but the impact was instant so glad I went for it. I cannot wait to get playing again and that inspiration for me is worth every penny as I am only just on the border of beginner/intermediate.


    The HS7's are great but I realise this is subjective when you are trying these things out so can only recommend you go and try different ones in store and make your own mind up based on what please you. But definatly stereo set up all the way for me.


    Thanks guys for all your advice on this I really appreciate you guys taking time out to help a beginner like me. This is a great forum!


    I have posted another question on EVH Sammy Hagar era tones if anyone has any advice on that one much appreciated.


    Cheers!!