Mackie HR824 Studio Monitor Speakers (Pair-B) – Used

These are a pair of used monitors in good condition with a couple small issues. One cab is slightly delaminating as shown in the photo and one speaker needs the volume up to engage auto input. Other than they work as they should and sound great!

The HR824 in action really is a revelation. The stereo sound field is wide, deep, and incredibly detailed. High frequencies and midrange are clean and articulated. Low frequencies are no more or less than what you recorded — you can actually hear the distinct tonal qualities (and harmonic quantities) of a particular bass instrument — instead of just a “generic” bass note. Most important, the sweet spot is a broad, three-dimensional area that gives you room to move up, down and across the console. With the HR824 you get pristine, uncolored treble that defines the finest details and upper harmonics of your recordings and mixdowns. In short, instead of having its own distinctive “sound,” the HR824 sounds like the outputs of your mixer.

Every HR824 off the line meets the same specifications – as it is stated in a signed certificate with each speaker – so you can buy any number of them and be assured of an accurate, consistent performance. This goes beyond quality control–an engineer sits with an oscilloscope checking every HR824 to ensure that each one works and plays well with others. And yes, the frequency graph IS actually that flat–it’s not a mistake, ±1.5dB from 39Hz on through 22.5kHz, and each unit is within 0.5dB of the rest. There is absolutely nothing you will hear through these speakers that wasn’t there when you recorded it.

Mackie Designs is one of the few manufacturers of active speakers that also makes stand-alone power amplifiers. Bottom line: Mackie knows how to make good-sounding amps – and the advantage of an active system is the total integration of amplifier circuit design with the electro-mechanical response of the speaker. Using surface mount components (and a big toroid transformer), Mackie packs two genuine FR Series amplifiers into each HR824. The HR824’s high frequency amplifier is rated at 100 watts with 150-watt peaks; the low frequency amp puts out 150 watts with 200-watt peaks. Both are high-current, low negative feedback designs that use Mackie’s proprietary Fast Recovery circuitry to prevent latching when the HR824’s amps are driven at their maximum.In short, all of the various complex systems that make up the HR824 are designed to work as an integrated whole from ground up. Not only does this result in the Hr824’s sounding better, but also saves the expense and matching problems one would encounter with an external amplifier system. It’s just your basic Mackie win/win situation.

Perhaps the best measure of the accuracy and sound quality of the Mackie HR824 monitors is the fact that the most discerning name in feature film sound; THX, approved the HR824 right out of the box with no modifications needed. that pretty much tells the whole story. That’s why you can depend on the HR824’s to tell the whole story when you put them on trial with your mix. The Mackie HR824s will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Acoustic Space is a three-way switch that adjusts the low-frequency response of the speakers to compensate for their placement in the room.

• If you want to place the HR824 monitors against a wall, set the switch to the “B” position. This activates a shelving filter to reduce the low-frequency output by 2dB to compensate for the half-space placement.
• If you place the monitors into the corners of your room, the low-freqency output approximately doublse from what it is in half-space. Se the switch to the “A” position to reduce the LF output by 4dB to compensate for the quarter-space placement.
• If you use the HR824s free-standing, away from the walls and corners, set the switch to the “C” position (“normal”).