Yamaha HS80M Active Studio Monitor (120 Watts, 1x8 in.)

Feature:
Well, it has room controls. high trim, low trim, all the trim you need. Ideally you want these mounted / isolated about an inch from the table you're working on. and a meter from the walls behind, but if you cant afford that, just use the room controls. I said afford because space is expensive isnt it!? I've heard alot of monitors, alot. And unless they're mounted and isolated properly for demo, your judgements are in vain. Mackie's to me sounded very harsh and all over the place. Genelecs to me were the smoothest and most transparent, obviously, because they come with isopods that must be used or the monitor wouldn't even stand. So they have a distinct advantage over all other monitors when it comes to demos.

Quality:
No problems with quality. These things came out fresh from the box wrapped up nicely, when I took it out, it was mint in condition and the very first thing that I really liked when I put them on desk was how nice the white cones contrasted with my setup ;-). I have a P-250 beside my desk and boy do they look sweet together. If anyone were to walk in i could say they would be impressed by how nice these monitors look. They look pro. ;-) Sure they dont have the yellow woven cones like KRKs, but they also dont have that unpro looking Rokit logo. (I can see KRK fans here squinting their eyes to a side) sorry couldn't help it ;-)

Value:
I would have to give it a 10. You get ALOT for your money like I said, if it wasn't assembled in China, Yamaha could have asked double or triple for it, and you wouldn't be able to afford it. Honestly. These are pro standard monitors in both aesthetics and performance. They are an example of 'Just because you're not paying $500 per monitor doesn't mean they're not equally as good, or better.'

Desirability:
Like I said, these monitors give my room a very sexy feel. The monitors may appear to be very deep blue in pictures due to the light reflecting off the MDF, but really, its jet black, and the cones are white as snow. If I could ask for one last favour from Yamaha, it would be to radius the edges and place the power switch on the front. (Make that two last favours) But I presume they were going for that classic NS10m look, so I guess its their call and its very acceptable indeed.

Sound:
Sounds excellent, I decided to try them after reading the reviews and even from music tech giving them a 9 I can clearly see why. Made in China (like all things) but if it wasn't for that, it would cost 3 times as much so be thankful you can have studio quality monitors today at this price range! As far as design is concerned, to my knowledge, Yamaha engineers do all the work to prototype the monitors, once that's done, they just hand over the specs to the factory in China to duplicate it. Mackie's made in USA or Mackie's made in China, there is no difference. Sounds exactly the same simply because its the exact same components, just different people putting it together. At worst, you get slightly sloppy workmanship on the chipboards but that's all down to the QC of the manufacturer. The frequency spectrum I must say, very flat and very wide, very nice indeed. THESE MONITORS LIKE ALL MONITORS MUST BE ISOLATED SO THE SOUND CAN COME OUT RIGHT. Mopads or books or whatever, isolate them and hear them sing. Completely different. How many people do you know who have returned their monitors cause they think it doens't sound crisp or tight enough but the truth was, THE MONITORS WEREN'T EVEN ISOLATED! Very very close to the sounds and imaging I was looking for, the only other monitor that can blow this away is Genelec 8050a, and I wouldn't say blow, just that Genelecs are maybe a little more transparent overall. And a million times more expensive giving you the mental feeling like its a hundred times better but that's not true at all...these Yamaha's are pretty incredible. I've never heard the NS10ms so I cant tell you if they sound the same, but I know this, they sound good enough. I cant imagine a monitor sounding any better. And like Yamaha says, a monitor is not supposed to sound good, its supposed to sound honest. But these monitors sound good so dont worry. Very accurate representation of the mix as far as I'm concerned, playing different tracks off different record labels will give you a good idea of what you're getting.

Ease of Use:
A dummy could use it. Just plug it in and turn the power on. Please be careful, first time i set the levels at +4 I almost blew my eardrums into my holy skull. These speakers are seriously powerful, I can honestly say, you can start a party with just these two pretty looking babies and none of friends will ever complain about the music not being loud enough. And you can bet, if you're mixing at high levels (not recommended for hearing loss) you'll have your neighbour knock your door in no time. There's no need to mix at such high levels unless you want to lose your hearing before 40. Even at low or medium levels due to the size of the monitors, I get a very wide spectrum and imaging.

Support:
Well, I have a Yamaha P-250 made some calls to them and it wasn't too bad. I always recommend calling, emails, take forever. I haven't had any problems with my Yamaha products so far (knock on wood) but I hope it stays that way. Shipping large audio stuff around is no joke.

Overall:
Currently, unless I can afford to fork out $3500 for the Genelec 8050s, I dont think i'm switching to anything else. These will do for now. I gave them a 9 overall because there's always room for improvement even though I cant fault these monitors other than the design twitches i mentioned. If they were lost? I'd probably say to heck with monitors and save up a year for the Genelecs ;) Then again, these monitors may be all i'll ever need. Especially if i'm getting used to them and making good mixes and am very familiar with them. You dont need to pay $5000 to get a good set of monitors. Yamaha has set this record straight.

Feature:
average features for a monitor of this price range...

Quality:
Excellent, heavy duty casing, they feel real solid and heck its yamaha what do you expect

Value:
at roughly $350.00 each with the sound that you get they are worth it, they beat the pants off of my $1,000.00 Events, im sad to say that but its true...so these might be a little steep for the newer guys, but do yourself a favor and SAVE UP....

Desirability:
after one listening session I HAD TO HAVE THEM, so that's my view on it

Sound:
excellent, these things are milky, punchy a crisp threw and threw.

Support:
havent had to use it yet

Overall:
they are great, I heard them in my buddies studio after he initially set them up and right out of the box without tweaking they were hammering, so i knew i had to have them, bought mine a few days ago and im in love...