KRK Rokit Help!

DaftBehemoth · July 20, 2013

So I'm in the market to replace my Klipsch Promedia 2.1 setup with something that has a little more oomph. Based on a fairly loose budget of around $500-$700 a friend of mine (who has very similar tastes, but I can't afford what he got :P) recommended that I went with a pair of KRK Rokit studio monitors. I do know that studio monitors have a flat response (which is a huge pro in my book), but I want to make sure that whatever I get ends up doing the low-end justice. I listen to quite a bit of house, dubstep, and drum 'n' bass. Basically I need the bass to be punchy while still being just as crisp and clear as the mids and highs. My questions are as follows:

Will I want the 10" KRK sub ($400) to match the monitors I choose, or should I just get the 8" monitors ($500) by themselves? If I did get the sub, would I still be happy with the 5" ($300) or 6"($400) KRK Rokits? Does anyone have much experience with such a setup?

The goal is to try and stay within the budget while compromising as little as possible. Though if I'm not going to be happy with the smaller monitors or without the sub, I'd rather just try to find the extra money somewhere.

I'll be running these off of my Asus Xonar Essence STX.

I'm sorry if there are any weird grammatical/ spelling errors in this post; it's pretty late where I am.

t0wer · July 20, 2013

is there any way to try out the speakers before buying them?

That's really the only way to know if the 8" will be enough or if you'll need the sub.

I've also heard krk are more bass heavy, so you may be fine with just the 8" set.

IME, subs always seem like there's a weird dip in the sound between the mids and the bass.

I don't know if that's because all the systems w/ sub I've heard have been cheap or if all subs sound like that.

DaftBehemoth · July 22, 2013

is there any way to try out the speakers before buying them?

That's really the only way to know if the 8" will be enough or if you'll need the sub.

I've also heard krk are more bass heavy, so you may be fine with just the 8" set.

IME, subs always seem like there's a weird dip in the sound between the mids and the bass.

I don't know if that's because all the systems w/ sub I've heard have been cheap or if all subs sound like that.

I don't think there are any nice audio shops in my area. The best there seems to be are just car audio shops or, god forbid... Best Buy (which of course has nothing).

As for the dips between mids and bass, that hasn't been my experience with my Klipsch system. My guess is that most decent systems are tuned to themselves. I'd hope that since the KRK sub is from the same company in the same series, it SHOULD match the speakers well... should. I have definitely heard what you are talking about though. The first thing that comes to mind is the people who throw subs in their cars with stock speakers :P

ShearMe · July 23, 2013

The first thing that comes to mind is the people who throw subs in their cars with stock speakers :P

Oh gahd, why would you even?

I just installed a new system in my car; the head unit lets me change the crossover frequency for both low and high pass. I'd assume lots of people simply don't implement the correct setting, whether it be digitally controlled at the source or via hardware.