KRK RP5 Rokit 5
Active Studio Monitor Speaker (Each)
- Powered Studio Monitors (no power amp needed!)
- 45 Watts - plenty for most home/project studios
- KRK quality at a budget price
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Product Information
KRK RP5 Powered Studio Monitors Speaker (Each)
If you ever wanted proof that you can pick up excellent studio monitors on a budget, here it is. KRK have always been known for producing outstanding monitors, and you'll find their prestigious VXT range dotted around the world in commercial studios next to the likes of Genelec, Dynaudio, Mackie and many more uber-mega-expensive names... but none of those manufacturers really produce anything decent for those of us suffering with the "eat dinner or buy gear" dilemma.
The Rokkit Powered (RP) range from KRK takes all that experience from the standards of the world's greatest studios, cuts out a lot of the stuff those of us working in a bedroom / garage aren't going to benefit from, and leaves us with active monitors (just supply a line-level signal, no power amp required) that sound excellent... for just a few hundred quid!
As you probably know, the whole idea of studio monitors is to give you a completely accurate & unhyped reproduction of whatever project you're working on. To do that well is really difficult (since there's a whole load of mind-boggling physics involved,) and as a result, cheapo manufacturers completely miss the point and churn out speakers that sound like junk. Getting a good mix on these kinds of speakers is a game of luck, since the sound coming out of them is so flawed.
KRK are not a "cheap" manufacturer by any stretch of the imagination, and therefore with a pair of RP-5s you get the expertise of a team of speaker boffins poured into a product that's designed to the exceptionally high specifications that their reputation demands. The result? When you set up a pair of KRKs, you instantly get a large, well-projected stereo image; tight, defined low-end; crystal-clear midrange that's never brittle or harsh; and smooth, soft, extended highs. The overall character is open and airy, but with plenty of depth and without sounding thin. The difference is instant: you'll not only be able to hear the problem areas in your mix, but identify and fix them.
That said, the RP5s are 45 Watts have a 5" bass/mid-range driver, so if you're working on really bass-heavy stuff, you'll want to look at the bigger KRK RP8s. But for most of us, the RP5s are tight, compact monitors that focus on being excellent in "real world"scenarios and provide more than enough power for any small studio room.
The woven Aramid glass-fibre composite used on KRK's entry-level RP range bass/mid-range speakers still combines physical strength and stiffness with good self damping, which helps deliver a tighter sound. There's also a 1" soft-domed tweeter dedicated to handling those lovely high frequencies with ease.
The Rokit 5 measures just 28 x 19 x 23cm for each speaker and weigh 14Ibs each. An LED in the Rokit logo shows that the speakers are powered up, and the mains ON/OFF switch is on the rear panel next to the IEC mains inlet (yep, that's a Kettle socket to you & I!)
The rear panel facilities are the same for all RP models, with an input level control (-30dB to +6dB gain range) and a four-position rotary switch for a 2KHz shelving filter (+1, 0, -1 or -2dB gain). Audio inputs are unbalanced RCA phono, jack (balanced TRS), or balanced XLR connectors. The RP5's cabinet is made from high-density particle board, with rounded corners to help avoid diffraction. And last but not least, the styling is both simple and attractive, with yellow speaker cones and logos - totally cool!
Reviews
Age: ??
Location: The darkest depths of the Nevada warehouse
What do we look for when buying studio monitors ...? Personally I'd have to say firstly sound ... Do they sound good...? Secondly I'd say accuracy - Do they accurately convey the sound of the instruments and voices ? And lastly cost - How much will they cost me ..? Now I know that some of you will disagree with the order of the criteria mentioned and there are some that actually start with a fixed budget so this becomes the most important decision ...
But forgetting the order of the buying criteria for the moment, let's look at those three points and see how the KRK RP5 powered studio monitors stack up. There's no denying that straight out of the box these speakers look the business and for their size there's a good deal of weight to them. After setting them up in the standard triangular listening position (equal distances between each of the speakers and the "listening" position) I sat back to listen to the KRK RP5's ...
The first thing that struck me was how solid the bottom end was, despite the fact that the speakers are only 5" in diameter they pack a good deal of low end punch, and whilst the transient mids and high end weren't quite as accentuated as the bass frequencies they had a very nice open character which added a kind of "smoothness" to the sound. I was testing the KRK RP5's with various tracks from my iPod that I knew particularly well and also noticed a good wide stereo image with good seperation between the instruments.
Other than a slightly accentuated bottom end (which could have been my studio room ) the sound from the KRK RP5's was completely natural with no discernable colouration to the sound - so I'd have to say that the RP5's ticked the accurate representation box with flying colours. I purposely chose a track by the virtuoso American acoustic guitar player Billy Mclaughlin as one of my listening reference songs, as the playback representation of a single acoustic instrument such as an acoustic guitar really tests the efficiency and charcteristics of the monitors. I'm happy to report that the nuances and subtleties of the acoustic instrument were reproduced with great accuracy ...
There are a wide variety of monitors available on the market and like with most things in life you get what you pay for, personally I think that the KRK RP5's are sensibly priced and are within the realms of affordability for most musicians. Sound is such a subjective topic that when choosing monitors it's probably best to listen to several different types and brands so that you arrive at a product that satisfies all of your criteria. In which case I'd recommend that you definately put the KRK RP5's on your list to check out ... Available now at the Nevada Music Warehouse ...