Feature:
The rear panel has plenty of switches to help optimize the sound. I took the time to experiment with the room switches and the low cut switches but I like them all at their default settings. These features mattered in my buying decision as well but I'm happy not using them for the time being.

Quality:
Excellent quality. My boy Ying, an acoustic technician at Mackie, provided me with a certificate of calibration and sure enough the FR is straight up and down like a 3... nevermind. The key overall though through all my personal research is the more effectively you treat your acoustic environment the better the performance of these monitors. Many others who made comments on these speakers before never talk about their rooms. I've seen a couple reviews where people aren't happy with them but never talk about the fact that their setup in a basement with five foot ceilings and set against a brick wall. My point is just that if you're going to drop some bread on new monitors consider your space. These are flexible though so I'd recommend them for just about anyone who is willing buy them.

Value:
I'm poor, Mackie. But I'm happy.

Desirability:
I got it.

Sound:
Alright. I'm writing this review the day these were delivered (purchased from zzounds). I am very happy with the sound quality of these monitors. My project studio still needs quite a bit of acoustic treatment, but the hr824s sound worlds better than what I upgraded from, the Alesis m1s. I am most impressed with the stereo imaging and the low-low distortion output. I had the opporitunity to play with the hr824s in a collegues studio and was sold the instant I heard them. Right now I'm just in love with the sensation of hearing sounds sweep left & right across the stereo field. You can actually feel it -- not just hear it, and it tickles my ears everytime -- can't get over it. I took the time to find the ideal placement for them in my studio and that has made a big difference in the preceived frequency response and stereo imaging.

Ease of Use:
The manual is a good time. Always read an instruction booklet no matter how trite you might think it is. Setting up the monitors is simple but I spent a couple hours trying several different positions and might even continue trying some more positions later. I've got a nice wide sweetspot though so I'm on the right track.

Support:
My boy Ying at Mackie hooked me up, yo! (refer to the "Quality" section of this review). The book makes a strong point to record your serial #s, date of purchase, save your reciepts, sign your own checks! That last one is my own bit of advice... Anyway. The manual also has printed, like, twenty-six times how you need to be careful about powering up and down and plugging in and unplugging. A basic troubleshooting section incase you didn't turn on your speakers. "My HR824s won't power on!" -- "Did you plug in your HR824 into an electrical outlet?" See, that is tech support, my friend. Mackie's got your back. Just keep the boxes they comes in and you'll be fine.

Overall:
Read the manual. Listen to your room and treat accordingly. The HR824s won't let you down.

Feature:
Very nice to have the switches on the front for those times you want to turn the speaks off and record a quick vocal or acoustic guitar track in the control room. Very nice also to have compensation switches for the speakers being placed against the wall or in a corner. The passive radiator in the back gives this small monitor a huge bass performance for its size. Automatic limiters keep you from blowing them up when you make the occasional mistake or just get carried away.

Quality:
Some folks really like those Adams monitors with their smooth sounding ribbon tweeters. Hey, I do too, they sound very nice. But what I want is accurate and reliable. Speaking of reliable, my cat knocked one of my 824s off the elevated stand. It sheared off the front controls of my Joe Meek preamp, bounced off a hard wood table, and fell all the way to the floor crunching another piece of gear I had. After I finished screaming I hooked the monitor back up and it worked just as it had before. Only reminder of its long fall was a small scrape in the cabinet that I used a black marker to hide.

Value:
Well, it is pretty expensive. But wouldn't you really rather pay ONCE and get something you'll use for a long time without lusting after some other monitor? Before I had these, I had three pairs of monitors in my control room and I was always running out to the car or the living room stereo to see how my mix sounded. I still have a bunch of speakers in my control room, but I haven't used them for a couple of years, just the Mackies. And I don't worry about my mixes sounding bad on other systems anymore, or even at the mastering lab. How much is all that worth to you?

Desirability:
I don't want my monitors to be "sexy." Sexy like an Adam monitor with a ribbon tweeter, I guess. You know, the "in" monitor of the day. I just want my monitors to tell me the truth and to keep working. I don't want to think about them or worry about them, I just want them to show me exactly what's on my tracks - and that they do in spades.

Sound:
The sound is very accurate, which is what's required of a monitor. I've done many mixes on 824s and then heard them in a mastering lab - very slight differences, all due to my room acoustics I'm sure. Speaking of which, there are some misconceptions in the previous reviews. Yes, 824s ARE flat within 1.5 dB over the stated frequency range. The very first thing I did when I bought one was to test it in the anechoic chamber at the university where I work - I do acoustics research for a living. You can't test these things in a room for accuracy as a previous reviewer mentioned, the room acoustics GREATLY affect your measurements. If you get your room acoustics in shape, these speakers WILL do the job for you. No more running out to the car, trying four different speakers, etc..unless you're just so excited you want to!

Ease of Use:
Powered speakers are wonderful. Not only do you not have to mess with a power amp, but the internal amps are perfectly matched to the speakers and give the monitors some additional mass which helps withe sound. And then you have the built in limiters to protect the speakers. This all adds up to effortless use. Some people probably leave them on all the time and put the switch in the position where they come on when sound is sent to them. I'm too paranoid about fire to do that. A thief will take a few things he can quickly carry, a fire takes everything.

Support:
Mackie writes very good manuals compared to most companies. That's about all I know about them because even though I have several pieces of Mackie gear, I've never needed their service. I called them after my monitor took the header, they were very friendly and supportive. They said it probably wasn't damaged, but if I wanted to I could send it to them and they'd check it out, no charge.

Overall:
I've had these monitors for a few years, I don't have any desire to buy a new or "better" pair. Now I can focus on mixing and I have one less piece of gear to worry about. Because you know what they say: if you can't hear right, you can't possibly mix right. Mixing with these monitors is like looking at the world through a clear pane of glass. It doesn't get any better than that.

Feature:
I like the auto-on/off feature and the adequate switching to compensate for different rooms/acoustics.

Quality:
Chinese sourced or American made. I own both "versions" and, to my ears, there isn't any difference. (BTW, I bought some "b-stock" which I'd bet was used at a conference. They were $75 cheaper (each one!) and arrived in like-new condition.

Value:
This product is worth the price I paid for it!

Desirability:
Hey, it's a two-way box speaker. Well built but hardly a piece of furniture. Function over form.

Sound:
I'm using five Mackie powered monitors in my home theater/5.1 system and I could not be more pleased. I listen critically to SACDs and DVD-As as well as using the system to watch HDTV and dvds. The Mackies provide a well-balanced, detailed soundstage with unexaggerated true timbral response and an "inky-black" background. They sound like they're hardly working though I do like to listen at realistic levels. IMHO, my older Mackies, made in the USA are not superior to the current Chinese sourced Mackies. They sound the same, THX certification or not.

Support:
Never had to deal with their service. Since the old days when Tapco was their main product Greg Mackie has offered top-quality goods.

Overall:
These speakers are keepers. I'm not shopping anymore.

Feature:
The flexible EQ options on the back make it very flexible as a cart-around-with-you monitor. The intelligent connector design allows you to mount it against the wall. These people are obviously using the products they design! Nobody else does these things.

Quality:
Design is well thought out, from every crossover to the passive radiator, to the venting ports, to the amplifier. Every single monitor is spec'd out. So you know what you get. Read the manual. You walk away knowing that they combed over every design option making these things. They just didn't throw in a crossover, or guess at "passive radiator design". It's a Butterworth filter for a well thought-out reason. 3rd order. not 4th. etc, etc etc. What you end up with is years of tweaking by Tweakers. That's what I like to see.

Value:
You DO get more monitor than any other in it's league, even tho it's the priciest in it's league. More EQ options, rolloff options, interconnection options - you ARE getting more monitor for those extra $$.

Desirability:
Aesthetic Design is simple. Not extraordinary. no neon lights. don't need 'em- Amazing sound comes out of such a small space.

Sound:
The soundstage is nice and broad. AND FLAT!.

Support:
N/C. I have had no problems as of yet.

Overall:
This is it. These are razor flat with no lies, 39Hz-22KHz. People argue with me that a Genelec or KRK "sounds better or brighter". That's a fine argument for a home-speaker purchase. But not for a monitor. I don't want a monitor that biases me to dull down my mixes. This is my last monitor purchase probably. I don't believe in $5,000 monitors. Because nobody you know has $5,000 home speakers, right? Okay, we all know one. Let's face it, if you can't make a mix sound good on $1,000 speakers, you are a complete loser as a mixer. Get out of the business.

Feature:
Solid speakers. Have various hi and low filters but they don't sound like they need them. Unlike some other speakers I listened to.

Quality:
Top quality. Have owned other Mackie gear. Amps and mixers. Never any problem.

Value:
I believe it blows anything selling for less away. It will probably do the same for many selling for more. This unit bridges the home studio and pro studio monitor markets. Probably a little expensive for home but cheap for the pros.

Desirability:
I saw a pair of these in Tom Petty's studio and said, "Some day I too will have them".

Sound:
Just bought a pair. The retailer had a Roland 2480CD digital recorder(like mine) set up with the HR624's. I pulled up the demo songs and was impressed with the 624's. We then brought in some of the larger M Audio's with the 8" woofer. Not even close. They seemed harsh with too much upper mid range. The sales guy thought they sounded better but more likely he thought I might spend $500/pair but not $1300/pr on the Mackies. He was wrong. The bass was better on the HR824's so that was it. The 624's for $420 a piece would have done very well though. These are for a home studio for recording original song demos and radio jingles. After hooking them up I started listening to some of my projects and CD's of bands I like and found the clarity and balance incredible. I found myself thinking, "This must have been exactly what the engineers were listening to when they mastered this album".

Support:
Will assume the best. Have never needed any.

Overall:
I'm done. These are the s_ _t.

I don't recall where I first heard about these speakers. But I do remember being so impressed that I went to a music store and spent half a day there, in their listening room, comparing these things to Event 20/20s, Genelecs, etc. The Genelecs I listened to cost $4K, by the way. The 20/20s sounded best to me at first, while the Mackies were...not too musical. But I kept switching between the speakers and I gradually became aware of the startling clarity from the Mackies. I could for the first time distinguish each voice in the choir (from my demo CD). The 20/20s sounded warm and nice, but I couldn't discern specifics as I could with the Mackies. And the soundfield of the Mackies was wide and deep--it was like swimming in a pool of sound--all the way from the front to the back of the room. The Events dropped off and sounded flat when I stood a ways away. So to make a long story short... They sound very much like the Genelecs, though not quite as smooth. They cost less than half, however. So for the money, I believe that there is no other speaker which compares to it. They are amazing. Though I would not use them for a music room, as their sound is almost clinically clean. For pure musical enjoyment there are better choices. However, if one is mixing music or soundtracks... forget about it. The HR824s rule.
* The only reason I gave it a 4 for features is because there are some digital monitor speakers out there that can emulate different playback speakers themselves. For me, something like that would be useful. Also, it might be nice to incorporate some holes or plugs so that these speakers can be screwed to the wall or hung, without much effort. Maybe they deserve a 5 and I'm nit-picking... I plan to buy a couple more HR824s pretty soon, regardless.

Feature:
Have to love a monitor with the switch on the front. I used to hate reaching behind my events..

Quality:
Exceptional quality. If your looking for a non fatiguing monitor that still gives you the base response of a club speaker in a price range that is just above a project studio budget. This is it. I have friends with genelecs and I can honestly the 824's sound just as good if not better to my ear. Granted these arn't the most asthetically pleasing thing on the planet but your not taking them to a fashion show.

Value:
Priceless

Desirability:
It's not the sexiest thing. But damn does it have a nice voice.

Sound:
Hands down the best investment I've ever made. I have a lot of toys in my studio that were much more expensive but these monitors are priceless. I would pay twice the amount If I had to. God, I hope I never do but I would. They are that good! beg borrow..well don't steal.. but yeah you get the picture.

Support:
Never had to deal with them.

Overall:
until I die. the monitors die or we both die simultaneously. And if I do die before they do, they will be burried with me. so don't even ask..

Feature:
The connectivity and adjustment capacity of these speakers is excellent. Balanced and unbalanced input are provided as well as a host of useful attenuators for room acoustice adjustment. You can even shut off each speaker component seperately to check the status of the transducers.

Quality:
This is hard to rate. I have not owned these for long. The way this thing is put together is very imressive though. These monitors are not wimpy. They are pretty hefty. Although weight is not always a sign of quality, it helps. (Maybe there are lead weights glued inside the cabinets to make them seem more substantial than they really are!) The long term reliability is a question I can't answer. I do know that Mackie reliability isn't perfect either and they cost 4 times as much as these.

Value:
This has got to be the best value period. I mean the speakers are very decent sounding and compare favoribly with anything out there. Most non-powered studio monitors cost more than these and realistically can't even begin to compare in terms of sound quality. I personally believe that most people who own overly priced gear are basically musical snobs and can't admit that there are products available that you don't have to mortgage your home to buy and do in fact give you excellent value for your money. If these speakers do hold up they will have proven my point if not I will sadly admit I was wrong.

Desirability:
These speakers even "look" good. They are more attractive than the Mackies I would say'

Sound:
The sound of these monitors seems to be fairly transparent from what I can tell. I am pretty critical when it comes to audio quality even though this really is a very subjective matter. For example I also own a pair of Mackie SRM450 stage monitors which are very highly rated speaker but to me the highs sound rather harsh and even somewhat brittle. Sound is a subjective matter, you are better off listening for yourself in the end.

Support:
I have had no dealings with the company.

Overall:
These speakers will have to last me for a loooong time. At least I hope they last. I was fortunate enough to get the money to buy these in the first place.