I am spoiled, having grown up in the era where speakers were part of the living room decor in their elegant walnut cabinets and big smooth sound. The behemoths were capable of filling a room with sound with little effort, producing solid bass down to 32Hz, in the case of my speakers (I still have them). Most of these behemoths were hand made in either Hope, AR or Northridge, CA. These were the speakers that set the standards for movie and audio mastering.
Most of these old speakers lasted so long that there are replacement parts readily available, something that can't be said in a throw away generation.
Most of the new "mini monitors" are very directional, or as my friend would say "tinny". I found the detail in these speakers to be remarkable, yea, they have no bass line and no, they don't come close to the old Altec Monitors with the 811b sectoral horns, but the aren't half bad for inexpensive little guys. They are for near field monitoring, the farther away you get, the more directional they sound.
All in all, if you're on a budget, they ain't half bad in near field.
