Yamaha HS8 8-Inch Powered Studio Monitor (each)

Yamaha HS8 8-Inch Powered Studio Monitor (each)is the largest of the HS nearfields and the one to choose when your room and your desk have space for an 8-inch woofer. It is a two-way, bi-amplified box with 120 W on board and a flat response you mix against rather than enjoy, which is exactly what a monitor is for. Black cabinet, sold as a single speaker.

Bi-amplified: 75 W to the woofer, 45 W to the tweeter

The 8-inch low-frequency driver gets its own 75 W amplifier and the 1-inch tweeter gets 45 W, with the crossover set at 2 kHz. Giving each driver its own amp means the woofer working hard on a bass line does not rob the tweeter of headroom for the cymbals.

47 Hz to 24 kHz at -3 dB

Rated at 47 Hz to 24 kHz within 3 dB, with a wider 38 Hz to 30 kHz range beyond that, the HS8 reaches low enough that most mixes will not need a sub. The bass-reflex MDF cabinet keeps the port tuned and the panels quiet, so what you hear is the driver, not the box.

Room Control and High Trim on the back panel

The ROOM CONTROL switch cuts 0, 2 or 4 dB below 500 Hz, which is the fix for bass build-up when the monitors have to sit near a wall. HIGH TRIM adds or removes 2 dB at the top end for a bright or dead room, and a LEVEL control with a +4 dB centre click makes it easy to match a pair.

Connections and the practical bits

A balanced XLR and a balanced TRS input cover interfaces, desks and monitor controllers, with input sensitivity of -10 dBu at 10 kOhm. A white LED shows power. The cabinet is 210 mm wide and 334 mm deep, weighs 10.2 kg and draws 60 W, and a power cord and manual come in the box.

Specifications