Customer Reviews

Alesis Monitor 1 MKII Passive Monitors (Pair)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Alesis Monitor One Mk2 monitors surprised me with really good sound quality and stereo imaging. Listening to these makes it evident that the engineers who worked on this product really made an effort to sweat the small details that make for truly good sound. The crossover network (the electronic circuit that transfers high frequencies to the tweeter and low frequencies to the woofer) is one of the most critical components in a good loudspeaker system, and it's not easy to get it right in a passive loudspeaker system - but the Alesis engineers managed to do it. The result is smooth imaging and sound dispersion through the midrange and into the high frequencies, which makes the sound seem "larger than the box" - you never hear a little wooden box, instead you hear a glorious expanse of sound filling the entire sound stage.

I'd recommend these Alesis monitors not only to home recording engineers, but also for general music and TV listening. If you're used to muffled consumer-grade speakers, these monitors will sound a little bright at first - and then you'll notice how much more detail you're hearing in the music, detail that is obscured by lower quality speakers.

The Monitor One's have good bass response for their size, but this is inevitably limited by the 5" effective piston diameter of the woofers. I added a budget Velodyne VX-11 subwoofer to extend the bass response of the Monitor One's. The subwoofer is set to roughly a 70 Hz crossover frequency, and about 8 o'clock on the sub volume knob. The Velodyne integrates very smoothly with the Monitor One's at these settings, and the overall sound is nothing short of superb - for a total budget of about $300 for both monitors and subwoofer! Outstanding sound on the cheap!

I have not heard anything that sounds audibly better than these Alesis Monitor One's until you get to the Mackie HR 824's in the $1300 range - more than *seven times* the Amazon price of the Alesis Monitor One's!

As an aside, these passive Alesis Monitor One's sound much better than the active Alesis M1 Active Mk II monitors do. The active monitors use the same woofer and tweeter, and the active crossover network is even smoother, but unfortunately the M1 Active's have very sloppy, boomy, undefined one-note bass that ruins the otherwise smooth balance of their sound. A real pity.

In summary, if you're looking to spend under $1300 for a pair of monitors, check these Alesis Monitor One Mk 2 out. There's a lot to love about them, and not much to critique.

I purchased the MK2s for my home studio and was very impressed with the sound quality. These bad boys give you a true sound and really help you tune those drums coming off your samplers. The price is a steal. I remember when it cost a lot of money to own quality studio equipment that would produce a prefessional, industry standard, sound. The MK2 makes the starvin musician sound like the hit makers.

I bought (2) Alesis Monitor One Mk2 studio reference speakers on Amazon.com and I am VERY happy with my purchase. I have heard about these speakers for years. Putting together a personal recording studio ....my research discovered that these speakers were in use by million dollar studios for mixing down final recordings and even mastering projects. I was amazed at the clarity of the sound even at higher listening levels. I could have saved some money and buy used Alesis speakers, but I decided to go for the brand new ones complete with full warranties. I was also amazed by the professional craftsmanship that went into producing these exceptional speakers. With them being shipped from the factory, they were professionally packaged for the trip and arrived with absolutely ZERO damage. Testing them with a very high-dollar 2,400 watt professional amplifier and running it from .5 watts up to a full 200 watts, these speakers sounded beautiful and acting as if they could take a lot more power. But I played it safe and never went above 200 watts RMS. Test1,539.00ing them side by side with my JBL LSR4328P/PAK Studio Reference Monitors I was still very impressed with the Alesis monitors. Even tho the JBL LSR4300 Series speakers are professional studio monitors with computer connectivity, networking, and automatic room compensation .....in my control room, the Alesis monitors held up just fine to the JBL's. With price tags as follows... The Alesis Monitor One Mk2's (a pair) at $220.00 brand new and the JBL LSR4328P/PAK Studio Reference Monitors (a pair) going for $1,539.00 also brand new. I could find many uses for $1,300.00 savings buying the Alesis monitors ......maybe upgrading some amps and improving room acoustics are just two ideas.

I bought my first pair of Monitor One speakers from Alesis when they first came out over twelve years ago. I used them for front speakers in a home theater sound system, for recording studio monitors, as stereo speakers in my home audio system, and I've used them as PA speakers for practice drum sessions. Except for a tweeter that blew about eight years ago (and Alesis was GREAT! providing a replacement tweeter) these speakers are still going strong. You will not find a more robust, better sounding pair of studio monitors for the money, especially at the sale prices being offered now (3/4/10). In fact, I just ordered my second pair of Monitor Ones on Tuesday. I've been overdue for a pair of the MK IIs, which are magnetically shielded. The original Monitor Ones are not magnetically shielded, something to keep that in mind if you're looking to buy used. You'll want a magnetically shielded pair if you plan on housing the monitors near a TV or computer.

Here's an example of the Monitor Ones reproduction detail: I had my brother visiting one day. I sat him down about four feet away from the speakers and put on a Joe Satriani CD. We got to this one song and all of a sudden my brother looked up and said: "Wow, that's the first time I ever heard that." He was talking about a little pic work that you won't hear on anything but a good set of near-field studio monitors.

I'm know there are other excellent near-field monitors out there, and there's almost no limit on what you can spend. M-Audio are highly rated, and the new top shelf Tannoys and JBLs are $1,000 and $1,500, respectively.

If you're a professional recording engineer or musician, that's one thing. You can probably justify spending a lot more. But if you're in the semi-pro category or just an audiophile who wants the hear the music as it was intended to be heard, I don't think you'll be disappointed with these monitors.

-seabgb

I just connected these magic boxes to my Yamaha amp (after flipping the toggle on rear of amp to 4 ohms position) and my boy how me ears did smile. In all honesty, these are the best sounding passive speakers I've ever heard. Do yourself a favor and give them a try. The secret is in the woofer material and porting I think.

I had been using some Yamaha monitor speakers in my home studio for many years, and thought I was happy. Then I heard some powered Alesis monitors and was intrigued. I knew I was missing something. I started doing some research and it was clear based upon all the positive reviews that the Alesis Monitor One MK2 speakers had something special. I ordered them (how could you not at such a low price!). When I received them I had the thought that if they didn't work out, showing a clear advantage, I could return them. On first listen, I was startled! Was that really my favorite music? But, wait a minute, listen to all that detail.....oh, oh, I was hooked. Then I REALLY ran them through the paces. I am driving them with a MacBook Pro, Logic Pro, ART SLA1 100 watt studio amp. Oh, boy, now I understand why my mixes always came out different on my monitors than how they sounded through other systems. All I can say is, the Alesis monitors are incredible, just amazing. I listen to them at a fairly high volume, and honestly cannot get used to the clarity. It seems I am stepping into the music, and can find EVERY part now clear as a bell. It's like I just took my listening experience out of a muffled room, and came into the open for the first time. Just a very, very nice experience. I'm looking forward to using these for many years. I would buy them again, without hesitation. Alesis has always been a good value, and with these monitors, they continue to impress.

You just can't beat these things. You can spend a lot more and get mediocre sound, or buy these and get great sound. I drive them from my Mac Pro with a Focusrite Saffire 40 pro into an Alesis RA-100 reference amp, and the result is magic. Add an inexpensive subwoofer and roll it off around 80 hz, and you've got the best bang-for-the-buck reference system you can imagine.

Just click 'Buy Now' - you won't regret it.

These speakers sound AMAZING!!!!!!
Don't even think twice just hit CHECKOUT.
Real Deal Audio Quality out of these, works amazing! in love!
and amazing price tag! would buy another any day.

Had previous version Alesis speakers for 15 years and they still do work as new. Now I added these 2 babies for double the sound - and yes they sound clearer than their predecessors, though I can't complain on the quality of the sound of either one :)

I have never bought speakers without hearing them first with my own music playing. On the strength of the reviews in Amazon and other places I bought them and I'm glad I did. The sound is so much better than a speaker unit like Bose. There is a lot more flexibility in placing them in a room and directing them for optimal sound.