Whats size monitors and recommendations?

My studio is a tiny 2.4m wide x 2.9m length. I record mainly acoustic guitar, occasionally electric guitar miking up the THR10,  nothing like EDM or dance with heavy bass requirements.

I also use my studio for teaching. It is not acoustically treated at present, although I am about to start placing a few bass traps as I get some resonance boom in the 100-200hz range.  In fact just sitting at my desk and talking (nothing coming out monitors) whilst recording guitar lessons on that Logitech webcam attached to my PC monitor I can hear a boomy resonance at times when I play back the recordings.  Anyway this post is about monitors, not acoustic treatment. But I can't go overboard on the latter as I'll have no space left, and couldn't justify it anyhow.

So.. my Tannoy Reveal monitors are already too big for this space and my desk (140 x 60com) I think(?), and whilst they are angled their nearest edge to the rear wall is just 3cm away, not great with rear ported monitors in this confined space. I am about to install a 10cm Rockwool bass trap panel on the wall behind my PC monitor & speakers so will have even less space, even if I pull the desk away from the wall.

My question is what size monitors to go for, considering the above room and my needs? A pair of used Yamaha HS5s locally are tempting me which in terms of footprint is 4cm less depth and width, 6cm smaller in height. Not bad  space saving but maybe I should go all the way to a very small monitor like the IK Multimedia ILoud Micro?

Budget couple of hundred or so, happy for used. What do you guys think?

Comments
JAYJO Frets: 1588
11 Dec, 2024
Could you get the studio desk from thomman. You could have them sitting on the top and you get a pull out leaf also. Really handy. 
Winny_Pooh Frets: 8279
11 Dec, 2024
Neumann KH80 and some panels, at least 10cm deep on the back wall facing the desk, perhaps a 5cm one underneath the wall hung guitar.

No need to use depth to treat behind the monitors, maybe a small bit above them to cut down on reflections even more. 

Whistler Frets: 406
11 Dec, 2024
Stereo imaging will be nigh impossible with guitars on your right and a window on your left; they will not reflect sound from your monitors equally.

I would not waste money changing your monitors. Deal with the room first - or find a more suitable room or position within that room.
I use Adam A3x monitors for my tiny desk space. They also make for pretty good Spotify listening when I’m working.
Winny_Pooh Frets: 8279
11 Dec, 2024
Whistler said:
Stereo imaging will be nigh impossible with guitars on your right and a window on your left; they will not reflect sound from your monitors equally.

I would not waste money changing your monitors. Deal with the room first - or find a more suitable room or position within that room.
In my experience the human brain corrects alot, you can get by fine with these mismatches of positioning in applications for recording and mixing basic stuff at home. 

And the monitors absolutely make a difference if that's what you can actually change, and monitoring at low levels works quite well if you're not trying to get perfect polished low end.

Neumann KH80 and some panels, at least 10cm deep on the back wall facing the desk, perhaps a 5cm one underneath the wall hung guitar.

No need to use depth to treat behind the monitors, maybe a small bit above them to cut down on reflections even more. 

Thanks - so you think the back wall facing speakers/desk would be the place to start reducing the boominess I experience in my desk area? I thought with bass traps it was important to cover the corners, so I was going to put  bass trap panels across each of those corners behind my desk, top to bottom, (as well as behind the monitor, but if that doesn't need a thick trap all well and good),


Winny_Pooh Frets: 8279
12 Dec, 2024
Bass is weird. Low frequencies are unidirectional unfortunately but if you can place the speakers right on the wall you can negate some of that bouncing back and foward off a solid wall toward you again.

What is more of an issue in small rooms is when bass (low long waves take a few feet to develop) hit a solid back wall and bounce back toward you and cancel out approaching waves, causing weird varying frequency dependent cancellation at different distances from the listening position. So I'd recommend banging bass traps behind you to start with and thin side panels for early high reflections. 

On the window a wooden slat blind could be a decent diffuser.