Studio Monitor - Audiophile Style...

[supaheef]

Hey everyone, I'm a long-time reader, first-time poster.

Firstly, you all should feel proud of this forum. I have yet to find a place that has the level of knowledge that this forum has, and it feels pretty friendly too.

I'm a music lover, and a music maker. I have a home-based recording business: it's not based at home because I'm not good at what I do, it's based at home so I can work on the music I love instead of turning it into some "job" I'll eventually resent. Anyway, I have recently bought a house, and my new studio space is pretty big. 7metres by 6metres with 2.4metre ceilings. Cavity-brick walls, concrete floor, already well isolated from the neighbours - I'm in heaven! Now that I have the room for a little bit of "sonic boogie", I want to build a big-ish set of speakers that I can mix/master projects on, and do a little bit of general listening on too.

I'm looking for a system for nearfield listening (further than 1metre away, closer than 4metres) at sane listening levels (under 105db). Transparency is pretty paramount, I'm looking for a system that won't colour the sound, and present tonality and transients as naturally as reasonable possible (say less than US$1500 for speakers). Transients being or particular importance, actually.

I have been very interested in the re-designed Thors (Greenie512's Small Thors look great), as I have heard some excellent TLs from monitor maker PMC. I also like the possibility of not requiring a separate sub. However I am not too fussy as to how the design plays out, but for some (probably unfounded) reason I have a soft spot for sealed designs.

If anyone knows of a good Chip Amp (less than US$1000) kit to partner with the above speakers, please pass on your recommendations.

Thanking y'all in advance!

Heath.