Are you looking for quality, active studio monitors, but don’t want to pay for features you won’t need? You may need to look no further than the Studiospares SN6A Active Monitors.

The Studiospares SN6A Active Monitors come in at a very reasonable price of £79 per speaker Inc. VAT. So when I was asked to review them, I wasn’t expecting much. Yet, for the price, the performance and sound of the SN6A’s far surpassed my expectations.

The Studiospares SN monitor series come in three different configurations; the 4A with a 4” driver, the 5A with a 5” driver and the 6A with the 6” driver. All models come with a 1” neodymium tweeter and the frequency response of the SN6A are an impressive 50Hz - 20Khz.

At first glance, you could be forgiven in thinking that these are copies of another well known budget monitor. If it wasn’t for the small Studiospares badge under the woofer, I would have thought the same.

The other budget monitors that I am referring to are the Yamaha HS Series that are priced around £400 per pair, and they include 5-inch woofers.

The Studio Spares SN6A’s come in at less than £160 for a pair and come with a 6-inch woofer. Having worked on the Yamahas on many occasions, I can honestly say that the Studio Spares SN6A’s perform as well as, if not surpass the Yamaha equivalents.

Like many speakers in this price range the Studiospares SN6A’s are rear ported to give a greater bass response. I’ve never really been a fan of ported speakers let alone rear ported. Most studios that would use a budget style monitor like these tend to have a lack of space and push them up close against a wall, which smears the bottom end. I completely understand why companies do this as it makes the speakers sound more exciting.

Construction

The cabinets construction is MDF and has a matt - vinyl type - covering which is easy to keep dust free. Internally I was really impressed with how neat the circuit board was and the quality of the components and construction. It still baffles me how a company can produce a quality product like this and sell it for such a reasonable price.

Woofer and Tweeter

The woofer and tweeter on the front of the monitors are both recessed to create a flush finish, while on the back of the cabinet you’ll find an XLR and Jack inputs. Each monitor features a dedicated volume control on the back of the cabinet.

Bass Driver

The bass driver has a white mineral-filled polypropylene cone with a high-temperature voice coil and rubber surround. This allows the woofer to move large amounts of air to create high sound pressure levels with low distortion.

The 1" soft dome tweeter is ferrofluid cooled which they say creates a rich high-end that helps to bring out clarity in a track.

Listening Test

I played a variety of different mixes through the SN6A monitors and was impressed with the detail. These monitors are not really going to be the first choice for professionals working in stereo, but as a second pair I can see them coming in handy as an alternative listening source. For this kind of performance at this low a price I can see them being very interesting to anyone looking for a less expensive way to get into Dolby Atmos. For the non-professional, budget minded engineer and mixer, these are a great budget option - that I would highly recommend.

Features:

• 50Hz - 20KHz Frequency Range

• 6" White Mineral-Filled Polypropylene Woofer

• 1" Soft Dome Tweeter 16mm

• MDF Cabinet Construction

• Volume Knob

• On / Off Switch with LED

• Includes Bi-amp, 1/4 TRS and XLR input

• Dimensions 320H × 210W × 255D mm