Yamaha HS 8 W

I'm an odd guy when it comes to buying anything. I'll do my homework for weeks and weeks on end, and I'll change my mind about the order 10 times looking up reviews, reading others opinions and watching youtube discussions on a product before I'll finally pull the trigger. I did the same with these, and looking back on it - I'd slap myself and say "don't think, just do" with regards to this purchase.

I had a pair of Yamaha NS10M's back home in New Orleans that I still curse myself for not bringing with me here to Hungary. And because I was spoiled by those monitors, I found it hard to spit out the cash on these HS8's given they're a fraction of the cost of those NS10M's and I wasn't certain what I'd be getting.

What I got was amazing low bass response without hyping or colouring the frequency, awesome clean, clear and crisp mids and some of the most insanely flat highs I've ever heard.

We can say things like flat, responsive, crisp and blah blah - but what does it really mean? In short, what I'm noticing is that anything I mix on these speakers, they sound amazing on anything else I play that mix on. Car, computer speakers, television, headphones - the mixes translate incredibly well.

One thing I will say is that all these clowns on youtube talk about "right size speaker for your room" - blah blah blah. Perhaps that's part of it - but more critically is right size for your needs. If you get the HS5 and Hs7, you're going to be lacking on bass response. You'll "hear" the bass, but you'll have a hard time understanding how it's going to translate on larger woofers, for example.

I got the 8" to make sure I had an 8" sub covered and can feel the bass response. If you go the 5 or the 7 - you're really going to want to have a sub, which buying the 8 saved me from having to get an 8 inch sub. But I still have both a 10" and a 12" sub - simply because an 8" sub cannot push the super low frequencies in a way that I can understand what happens if someone throws my mix in their car with 2x 10" and 2x 12" sub woofers sitting in their trunk.

Personally, I don't think I'd go for the HS5 or HS7 regardless of the size room I have. I've tested my HS8's in my studio room, in my bedroom and in my living room - and all three rooms, these speakers simply sound amazing and give me the clarity in each frequency range I need to do a proper mix.

I use this to mix in my bedroom studio, to learn mastering and most of all to listen to music in general.

People have been discouraging me from buying reference monitors to listen to music, but I wouldn't go back. Why would you want to listen to music on some HiFi speakers that enhance the EQ and essentially make it sound different from the way the producers wanted it to sound? Ha!

As for the speakers themselves, they are heavy, solid, they give the impression they're gonna last forever and they sound crystal clear. I can't imagine having to buy a subwoofer, as these give more than enough bass. The high and low cut are very useful e.g. when you have less than 1.5m of free space behind the speakers (in corners, etc.). The only downside is minor interference noise whenever my cellphone is close to the studio desk. This can be solved easily by setting it to airplane mode though.

If you want to buy the best possible 8 inch studio monitors under 300EUR/piece, get this. you won't regret it.

Had my HS8s for 1,5 years at the moment of this review and they're still working 100%, no trouble whatsoever. The Frequency range is measured at -10dB so it's not really comparable with monitors measured at 0dB. There's a slight hiss when the monitors are on but not used. This is typical for monitors in this price range and only noticeable when you put your ear really close. When I listened to these and the older HS80s in a store there was this very harsh mid range but at home in an untreated room there was none of that harshness. Go figure. They sound just as good on low volumes also. The only negative I can come up with is that the power switch is in the back but most active monitors have it in the back. Reaching back there twice a day is not too much of a hassle.

I got those 2 speakers hs8 with the bundle stands in white and i:m very happy with the purchase. Customer service is great, quick and reliable info on your products ,orders , online help chat etc ..very nice. The speakers and the stands very good build quality . I am making music in my home studio and getting those hs8 was just the best decision so far on all my equipment. The frequency response , the raw sound coming out , the loudness and clarity is just amazing. ( for a small or a medium size music studio those have enough low end and you don t an extra sub). Anyway very very happy with them, and they look very sexy also. :)