I have a chance to buy a pair of brand new Mackie MR5 MK2 for $250. Wasn't really looking for any speakers until this deal came up. Don't know anything about them and never heard them in person. Would these sound good with a digital piano? I have a Kawai ES7 that sounds incredible w good headphones but just mediocre with on-board speakers. Thought this might be fun to try. However, really don't want to waste $250 if these are garbage in conjunction with a DP and I have no other use for them aside of my dp.

Any comments, good or bad, would be appreciated.

I think you find them quite suitable.

Definitely not "garbage". And the price sounds pretty good.

There are some threads here that discuss the importance of "lowest-octave" (27 Hz - 52 Hz) bass response. Most of the sound energy, in a piano's lowest octave, is in the overtones, not the fundamental. So fairly small loudspeakers can sound pretty good.

If you want/need more low-bass response, you can always add a subwoofer.

. Charles

Thanks Charles,

I do have a very nice Polk Audio subwoofer that I tried hooking up when I first got the piano. It was almost too much or not just quite right with the on-board speakers. Maybe with the Mackies it might all balance out well when together.

Glad to hear that they are not garbage. I checked out a few reviews online this morning and they seem to all be on the positive side.

So I ended up buying the Mackie MR5 MK2 for $250. The good news is that they sound great with a dp! However, they are VERY bass heavy. I cant believe the bass coming from this 5" studio monitor. No need for a subwoofer whatsoever. So, with that said, you absolutely need to use your EQ (and EQ on back of both speakers)to get the right sound, tone, and balance. Takes a awhile to get it right - not perfect of course. Unfortunately, it needs to be adjusted frequently depending on what songs you are playing. I actually found a nice combination with the Mackies and my ES7 onboard speakers that sounds very good with most songs and no adjusting.

Conclusion; in my opinion(i know very little about audio) If you like to play loudly, like tweaking your EQ, and want to shake the house with 5" monitors for short money -- these are fantastic and a lot of fun. If you are a serious sound enthusiast or just in search of a pure unadulterated piano sound, not so much for you. Spend the money and go get your Focal CMS50's.

Hello,players,does somebody tried to use two nearfield monitors Nady 200 a , for a good dp piano sound? Thanks for any conclusions.

Hi Grazzy,is this what you are referring about: http://www.nady.com/pm200.html

Hi Marko, I was going to say the same thing about the bass as reading down your thread!
I had MK1's and found them bass heavy and not as "melodic"- I used them with my Juno Gi. I think I paid $175 for the pair.
I ended up selling them on CG for $125 and purchased the limited white edition KRK R5's (my second set) for around the same amount on black friday.

I think I am getting a nice amount of bass with my Krome on them.
I did find the KRK's much better for my Juno than the Mackies

Could it be that 'MK' stands for bass boost? I recall someone saying so when talking about headphones, and advising to avoy those with MK letters unless you were looking for more bass.

Edited: I had a look at both those white boxes and MKIIs' a couple of weeks ago. When listening to the music they had on demo (mostly electro, not my cup of tea) I found the sound to be very cold. Besides, they are nearfield monitors and as soon as you go three steps from them (2,5 mts. I guess) the sound becomes too wide.
So, I'd be very interested in your opinions, too.

Hi mabraman, You are right about distance. Also, they tend to be VERY directional. It took me me awhile to get it to right (or decent). I have them about 3 feet in front of me, aligned with my shoulders (im sitting not standing) and about 5 ft apart point in towards me. On the ES7 I adjusted the EQ to "user low and mid low" between -4 and -6 depending on what I was playing. So with that in mind these speakers can be great for personal-in your-face use mostly, not so much performing for others. Even on playback recordings it sounds odd if im not right in front of the speakers. When I got the Makies I think I was expecting more of a PA like system that would just be plug&play and a few steps better of than the onboard speakers. However, I think these monitors are so good at picking up every bit of sound detail that it is very challenging to get the sound acceptable. Which is why they are studio monitors. They are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.

Yes that's what I guessed. I think I'm gonna try the hi-fi route. With such a crisis, there must be lots of second hand amps. and shelf boxes at cash converters. I'm thinking in a more flexible setup.