Everything in the personal studio is smaller and more portable than ever, and monitor speakers are no different. But while there are plenty of inexpensive speakers available to plug into your computer, few deliver the pro-level sound needed by those of us creating music or sound on a desktop for multimedia, games, and post-production. And if surround is your world, you want a speaker system that is a step up from the inexpensive consumer sets sold to gamers.

To address this need, KRK offers the VXT4, an active, biamped studio monitor that has a 4-inch, low-frequency driver offering 30W, a 1-inch tweeter pushing 15W, and a front-panel bass port. Its diminutive size—just over 10-inches tall and 7-inches wide—is perfect for desktop use in a multimedia production environment. And the price makes these a practical choice for a relatively inexpensive pro-quality, surround system.

Like other KRK VXT-series monitors, the woofer is made from woven-Kevlar, while the domed tweeter is silk. To protect the speakers, a color-coordinated metal grille can be attached using the provided allen wrench. Rubber gaskets around the screws are used to decouple the grille from the speaker cabinet.

The pair I received for review are the white VXT4w ($249.99 each), which are sold exclusively via Best Buy and are designed to match Apple devices. They come with the white grilles installed and a Y-cable (3.5mm stereo to two 1/4-inch TS) for use with a computer or media player (see Fig. 1). The original black VXT4 is available everywhere and streets for $299 each.

The Highs and Lows
One reason to go with studio monitors at this price point for multimedia work is not only for sound quality but for headroom. I was immediately taken aback by how much signal the VXT4s can handle.

In addition, they offer quite a bit of low end for a 4-inch driver. The specs say the VXT4 can reproduce frequencies from 72Hz to 22kHz (±3dB), which looks impressive on paper, but the monitor itself sounds equally impressive.

The first thing I noticed was the clear high-frequency reproduction, which is useful when you want to hear every click, pop, or noise that may be lurking in your signal. You’ll certainly hear it on this monitor.

FIG. 1: The VXT4w with the grille attached.

The impressive low-frequency playback seems to have been electronically balanced in a way that helps these small drivers deliver convincing bass. I used audio test recordings to see how the monitor would respond to its intended frequency range, and I was surprised to hear how robust it was throughout the low end. Although full-range tone sweeps demonstrated subtle boosts and dips in the frequency range, the VXT4 is remarkably smooth from rumble to whistle registers.

With some of the recorded material I was working on, the VXT4 had a tendency to accentuate the mid-frequency registers a bit more than my larger monitors, but that is to be expected in transducers this size.

More importantly, the VXT4 is a very pleasing monitor to use. It doesn’t have an overly hyped sound, and after hours of listening to them on a variety of projects, I didn’t feel fatigued.

Leave It To The Pros
Although small, the VXT4 offers many of the professional features found on KRK’s larger active monitors (see Fig. 2). It has a Neutrik combo jack that supports XLR and balanced and unbalanced 1/4-inch inputs, an input level control (-30dB to +6dB), a ground-lift switch, switchable auto-muting, and a clip indicator and limiter switch (more on this in a moment). Features that are found on the larger VXT6 and VXT8 but missing here are the high- and low-frequency adjustment switches.

The VXT4 has an internal power supply and comes with a standard, detachable IEC cable. The power level is switchable on the rear-panel from 110-120V to 220-240V.

Internally, the speaker cabinet has no parallel walls, mitigating any frequency nodes and standing waves. The cabinet material is hardened ABS structural foam that has a wood-like feel when you tap it. Despite the use of lightweight materials, each monitor weighs 14 lbs—heavy and solid, in a good way. On the bottom is a thin rubber pad when you want to place the monitor on a flat surface. A pair of threaded M6 holes are also provided on the bottom for attaching the monitor to a stand or wall-mount.

FIG. 2: A plastic cover keeps the switches from being inadvertently changed.

Red Light. Green Light.
When engaged, the auto-muting function shuts off the high-voltage power supply when an input signal is not detected for 20 minutes. Although the manual doesn’t say what the threshold level is, it does recommend against using this feature if you’re working on very quiet material. (Kudos to KRK for including a useful manual, which offers tips on how to use the monitors, including how to configure and position them in 2-channel to 7.1 surround setups.)

The clip indicator and limiter are on one switch. When engaged, the clip indicator illuminates a red LED (located below the lighted KRK logo) when the input signal is too hot for the VXT4 to safely handle. At that point, you’ll probably want to reduce the level of your input.

In Limiter mode, the built-in circuitry clamps down on excessive and extended volume peaks (illuminating a green LED when it does so.) When I cranked up the input to see how well the limiter worked, it did a decent job of keeping the peaks in check, though the speaker had a tendency to crap-out when the material was bass-heavy. Mind you, I intentionally pushed these speakers past their limit: If you need higher volume levels than the VXT4 can handle, I’d suggest adding a subwoofer, or getting a pair of the larger KRK monitors. Nonetheless, I was surprised how loud the VXT4 could get—they easily overpowered my other small pro-level monitors, yet sounded very clean and musical.

Fantastic 4
Monitors speakers of this size are not designed for critical mixing chores. For that, you’ll want at least 6- or 8-inch low-frequency drivers, and KRK offers a number of models. However, the larger monitors are heavy and take up more room, which isn’t so great if studio space is at a premium.

But when you want clarity for sound design and editing, the VXT4 has it. These are very revealing monitors; you’ll immediately detect harshness or artifacts in your projects, which is exactly what you want from a studio monitor. The stereo imaging is excellent and it sounds equally good at high and low volume levels. And with this level build-quality, the VXT4 definitely gives you your money’s worth.

Gino Robair is the Editorial Director of Gearwire.