Best Monitor Size for Fractal

Fizz

Inspired
I've tried 3", 5" and 8" in my home office and found the 5" to sound the best. To me, it has a much better mid range sound for guitar. I've never tried any other sizes though. If you've compared sizes, what was your favorite size for Fractal and guitar?

As a side note, I have my monitors sitting on my 4x12 in a closet at the back of my room. Those 5" monitors sound bigger and better than my 4x12 at the same loud and quiet home volumes. I like the spread of the sound when they are farther away from me like that because it gives more of that amp in the room sound. Those little things sure can thump and punch at these volumes.
 
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Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
Years ago I used a pair of M Audio 8" monitors they weren't the best monitors money could buy but it's what I could afford at the time. I liked the larger drivers just because of the added low end and volume I could get. Mid range was never really an issue as I would just add mids as needed if I was using tem to play along with someone else.

Playing along with tracks they worked great!. Though not really nearfield monitor I like my EV's as I can get good sound at pretty much any volume.
 
I have my monitors sitting on my 4x12 in a closet at the back of my room. Those 5" monitors sound bigger and better than my 4x12 at the same loud and quiet home volumes. I like the spread of the sound when they are farther away from me like that because it gives more of that amp in the room sound. Those little things sure can thump and punch at these volumes.
These are my thoughts:
  • The closet is emphasizing the bass response. Desktop-size monitors with 5” speakers are typically near-field, meaning they are meant to be positioned close to your head and ears, at ear level, pointing toward your head to get the best sound. Moving them into a closet emphasizes their low notes, helping them sound better when they’re loud, but they’re probably not sounding as good as they could when positioned correctly.
  • A 4x12 isn’t made to be used at volume levels used in a normal room in a house, especially if it’s stuck in a closet. The speakers need to be running loud, 95+ dB at which point they should be reinforcing each other’s low notes providing a solid low end from the cabinet that the monitors can’t approach. On a stage a 4x12 with good speakers at stage volume will overwhelm the smaller speakers, it’s just how you are using both types that gives you the results you’re getting.
  • 5” speakers in good quality monitors close to your head should give you a great sound. You don’t say what brand and model they are, or give a description of the room and whether it has any sound treatment, but you probably don’t need anything bigger. Of course it all comes down to your personal taste and preferences.

I suspect that having them positioned closer to you would allow you to reduce their volume a little and still have the same punch and would improve the overall sound of your guitar and modeler combination. They might last longer than they will running them loud also. We have people who have lots of experience putting together studios in the forum, so the more information you give, the better the suggestions you will get.
 
These are my thoughts:
  • The closet is emphasizing the bass response.
Completely agree with that (or is it that the treble is being muffled?). In that situation (4x12 in a house) you'd be best off with an isolation room. So the sound would actually be miked and then sent to monitors.
 
I prefer the HS8's, but dont have the space, so I have the smaller Yamahas. 8" speakers give you a bit more low mids
 
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