We ran 4 tests as our monitoring source only allowed for A/B/C switching as follows:

Monitors A vs. B vs. C

Monitors A vs. B vs. D

Monitors A vs. C vs. D

Monitors B vs. C vs. D

Ridin' The "Big Knob"

We used a variety of sound sources, including classical music, blues, jazz, pop. Rock, metal, rap and some homegrown stuff. There were 43 tracks in all…too many to list here. Ideal sweet spots were determined by listener placement at a triangular position with the stereo monitors and all were placed according to their woofer size (largest further apart). Stands and Mopads were used to minimize refection and unwanted sound. We used an SPL meter to set each monitor for approximate levels in relation to the inherent sound source volume for each of the four test and kept the listening levels comfortable (not loud).

The Monitors

Behringer Truth B2031A ($330)

Event ALP5 ($330)

Samson Rubicon R6A ($400)

KRK V4 Series 2 ($400 now – but frickin’ $500 when I bought them)

Preparing for Another Round

The Results

Overall Favorite - Samson Rubicon R6A

I was never a sucker for the “ribbon tweeter” hype that started and ended with Adam Audio’s first foray into affordability, but that’s probably because I never owned a pair. The Rubicons were our favorite hands down, and didn’t do a bad job in any category.

Clarity – Samson Rubicon R6A

For detecting subtle nuances such as reverb trails to better noticing overly equalized tracks, the Rubicons were fantastic. They were noticeably better than the Event’s and the KRK’s and spanked the Behringers soundly.

Imaging – KRK V4 Series 2

The KRK’s edged out the Rubicons on stereo imaging, though voting was close and we listened to more tracks for this test than any other to finally come to a decision.

Highs – Samson Rubicon R6A

I suppose this is tied into clarity, but the Rubicon’s seemed to have a much more realistic high end presence than the other three options

Lows - Event ALP5

I don’t think woofer size mattered at the levels we were listening at, but if it did matter, the Behringers needed more than sheer size on their side. They were muddy at best, and though we opted to set the low, high and room compensation switches on the back to “typical” for this test, we eventually made adjustments that improved matters. Unfortunately, those improvements didn’t pull the Behringers out of dead last. The KRK’s and Rubicons were both decent but the Events did the best job here despite having the second smallest woofer. They are ported differently than the others, which may have made the difference.