It sounds like a West-coast heavy-metal station (and it probably is). But K-Rok is also a new budget monitor speaker from US manufacturer KRK, well known for producing quality nearfields. Steven Streater finds himself between a Rok and a hard place...

The epithet 'industry standard', is notoriously over-used, but there can't be many pieces of gear with a better claim to it than the good old Yamaha NS10 monitor speaker.

It's not that they're the most enjoyable speaker to listen to, or even particularly revealing of the last ounce of detail. They just managed to secure a niche in the market in the 80s, becoming so commonplace atop mixing consoles that they almost joined at the hip. Now, almost every engineer knows how they sound, and how their mixes will translate to home systems. So as you can imagine, a new kid on this particular block has his work cut out, to say the least.

Out of the box

Enter KRK Monitoring Systems, based in the USA and offering, certainly in terms of perceived value, the very substantial-looking K-Rok monitor. Although almost two hundred pounds more than the NS10s, my first impression was favourable. You get quite a large box for your money, with drive units which appear to be of a higher standard than the Yamahas', using what looks to be a polypropylene bass driver and soft dome tweeter, with twin forward firing ports. Build quality seems impressive. Without drilling holes, I would guess the cabinets are of MDF origin, with a granite-effect veneer reminiscent of a kitchen worktop. The input is received via a pair of gold-plated binding posts (there is no provision for bi-wiring), and the K-Roks have a power rating of 100 watts (into eight ohms).

For auditioning purposes, the K-Roks were mounted on sand-filled stands and hooked on the end of a DDA DCM desk, next to NS10s, using Quad 303 amplification.

"I'm sure in a straight A/B comparison, most people would prefer the sound of the initially impressive K-Roks"

Acid test

First impressions were good. Giving significantly more extreme high and low frequency extension than the Yamahas, they also had good dynamics, separation and detail, especially in the mid band. The bass seemed a tad slow, and strangely detached, especially on uptempo tracks. I suspect this may be due to the hollow, boxy coloration of the cabinet, leading me to speculate that better internal damping might prevent any muddling of upper bass detail.

The treble, whilst revealing and sweet in content, erred slightly on the bright side. This could become fatiguing during the laborious process of mixing, and also led to an emphasis on vocal sibilance, and splashy-sounding cymbals and hi-hats. Otherwise, stereo imaging was good, and would perhaps benefit from an overall reduction in baffle width. I appreciate, however, that the speaker has been designed with such a wide baffle, to accommodate the reflex ports.

That said, I'm sure in a straight A/B comparison, most people would prefer the sound of the initially impressive K-Roks over NS10s, which can sound truly awful in the wrong mix. Paradoxically, that's been the great strength of the Yamahas: Not great in any one area, but not seriously flawed either. They're a good compromise, and at least you know that if you can make a mix sound good on NS10s, it will sound good on just about anything. At the end of the day that's what it's all about.

Final analysis

If, like me, you tire of listening to the same old monitors and would like an alternative set of speakers, the K-Roks are well worth a listen. Their contrasting view of things may well prove useful in a studio environment, and the price is pretty competitive.

Those considering upgrading their hi-fi to a proper monitoring system should definitely give the K-Roks an audition — they might just be the only nearfields you ever need...