Hi, Tom,

I have had good luck with my five Mackie HR-824 (original) speakers. I 
bought what is now the rear pair in 2002-2003 and the front trio in 
2004. They are still fine. I have an Energy subwoofer from the late 1990s.

Mackie has redone their lineup and have made a wider range of speakers. 
I think you should at least audition them. I can't vouch for the "new" 
Mackie.

I have only casually listened to an older Yorkville and I was unable to 
form an opinion due to how/where I was able to listen and the fast 
nature and program content.

These are relatively inexpensive (I believe lower cost than the 
Mackies), so again, worth a try).
http://yorkville.com/studio_monitors/ysm_series/

I do have four Yorkville PA speakers and they have been robust. Robert 
is using one pair for his room stereo system as well as for his keyboard 
and small-scale PA from time to time.
http://yorkville.com/installation/coliseum_mini/product/cx80p/
These are barely passable and sound a bit midrange honky but they work 
well as vocal PAs. Their use as stereo speakers is secondary...I knew he 
would use whatever he had as a PA at least once in a while, so better 
give him a PA than monitors <smile>. We used these for stage monitor 
speakers for various projects. They were also run off an inverter on our 
church's Christmas Parade float. The other pair I have are NX-25Ps which 
sound a bit better (and would have been a better choice for the float), 
but are still PA speakers. The point is that the Yorkvilles tend to hold 
up reasonably well. If I were buying PA today and had a bit of a budget, 
I'd seriously consider QSC...but I digress.

I am a fan of powered speakers these days, owning ten: six in the studio 
and four PA cabinets.

Cheers,

Richard




On 2014-02-18 7:35 AM, Tom Fine wrote:
> Hi All:
>
> I'd appreciate recommendations for current-production nearly-full-range
> speakers for the computer. The second amplifier module in my Blue Sky
> eXo speakers has blown up, and I'm not going to throw more money into
> them. Note -- NOT a good product. This amp that just blew up (after less
> than 2 years) is the "improved" amp module after known blowup problems
> with the first generation amp. I will not be buying any of their
> products again. Not that they're great speakers anyway. A ripoff at $500.
>
> This time, I'd like to keep the budget well south of $500.
-- Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask] 
Aurora, Ontario, Canada                             647 479 2800 
http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm Quality tape transfers -- 
even from hard-to-play tapes.