I remember my first experience with KRK Systems monitors when I was hired to engineer in a Nashville, Tenn.-based studio. The year was 1998, and the K-Rok speakers were members of a relatively new breed of low-cost, self-powered nearfield studio monitors. I was pleased with what I heard, and also remember being struck by the thick, chunky look of the K-Roks—it was as if they really were carved out of rock.
Fast-forward nearly 20 years, and self-powered nearfield monitors are as ubiquitous in professional and home-based studios as coffee makers and moody lighting. There's a reason self-powered monitors have virtually taken over recording, mixing and mastering duties: they have the potential to sound fantastic. When designers can control every aspect of the sound reproduction process—amplification, time offset correction, filtering for crossover and EQ, speaker protection—variables are eliminated and fidelity can increase.
Although KRK has developed many higher-end monitors, they've made significant inroads in the low-cost speaker market. The company's Rokit series is affordable enough for even the most modest of studios, with the smallest speakers in the line sporting a street price of just $139 each. That “baby” of the line—the four-inch Rokit4—is the focus of this review. For those needing a larger speaker, the Rokit line also includes five-inch, six-inch, eight-inch and 10-inch models.
PRE-blast Off
Rokit4 boasts a four-inch, glass-Aramid composite woofer with a soft rubber surround. A class A/B amplifier supplies 20 watts to the woofer below the crossover point of 2.3 kHz. Just below the woofer is a front-firing port to tune the enclosure for extended bass response. Above the woofer sits a one-inch, soft-dome tweeter also driven by a class A/B amplifier. Because higher frequencies take less power to reproduce, a mere 10 watts is adequate for the tweeter. At full volume, these 30 watts of power will drive Rokit 4 to a maximum volume of 100 dB SPL.
Rokit4's enclosure is made of MDF wood with a vinyl wrap for durability, with a plastic front strategically sculpted to minimize interference with the drivers. Rokit4 is large for a 4-inch speaker, being nearly as deep as it is tall. It's also solid and quite heavy, weighing in at nearly nine pounds. Kudos to KRK for adding a thin layer of foam to the bottom of the enclosure to “float” the speaker and reduce vibration. Magnetic shielding is another plus. From enclosure to finish to controls, Rokit4 has a definite feel of quality.
"The Rokit series is affordable enough for even the most modest of studios, with the smallest speakers in the line costing less than $300 per pair."
Loren Alldrin
Reviewer.
Because speakers are seen and not just heard, it's worth noting the Rokit's bright yellow woofer cone gives it a distinctive look. The larger speakers in the line sport progressively more yellow, and I can't help but think they look like something from a Minion movie. My hunch is folks are either going to love or hate the look of the Rokit line—I doubt there'll be much ambivalence. Personally, I'm not a fan of the yellow. KRK says the yellow comes from the company's long-time use of pure Kevlar on their higher-end lines. They say Kevlar is this color yellow when new and fades to gold.
The speaker's back panel has a generous array of controls and inputs. In addition to both 1/4-inch and XLR balanced inputs, Rokit4 also has an unbalanced RCA input. All inputs feed a volume knob with a broad control range (-30 dB to +6 dB), calibrated markings and 7.5-degree steps. Having a stepped knob makes it easier to match settings between speakers, or return to a given setting at a later date.
Low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) control knobs allow for small tweaks to the speaker's frequency response. Both knobs offer -2 dB, -1 dB and 0 dB settings; the HF and LF knobs also have +1 and +2 dB settings, respectively. Rokit4 does not have a space switch to compensate for bass buildup when placed near surfaces (i.e., walls). Instead, all bass adjustment happens with the LF knob.
Power On
Nobody buys a four-inch speaker expecting it to crank out high SPL or deep bass. Rokit4 does neither, but I was quite surprised with just how much bass this little speaker can churn out. It's not especially deep bass (rated -10 dB at 50 Hz), but Rokit's sound is not lacking for a foundation.
In fact, Rokit4's bass threatens to dominate the speaker's sound. With my usual mixing setup, I found the speaker was somewhat bass-heavy. So I moved the speakers further from the wall, then went to -2 dB on the LF control, then went to +1 dB on the tweeter, then put the speakers up on 10-inch stands. In the end (and with no adjustment left), I still thought they sounded a bit heavy in the 60-70 Hz range. I don't think the -2 dB LF setting would adequately compensate for the speakers being placed right against a wall or tucked into the corners of a small room. That missing space switch would sure come in handy then.
Extending well past 30 kHz, Rokit4's tweeter has much greater high-frequency extension than my ears do. The speaker's top-end is clear and detailed, if just a bit harsh in the upper mids. Taking the HF control down 1 dB helped smooth things out.
With just 30 watts of power and a very small woofer, Rokit4 won't fill a 300-square-foot control room with sound. The speaker only gets to a medium volume before it starts to sound strained. But considering its typical application, its output is more than adequate.
I wouldn't trust Rokit4 for critical mixing or recording duties, but what application is Rokit4 suited for? Its sub-$300 street price opens up many possibilities. Setting up a low-budget music workstation? Need a pair of self-powered speakers for an AV cart? Time for real cue speakers at your front-of-house mix position? Need better speakers for your music pastor's office workspace? Consider Rokit4.
Any place someone is trying to make music or create multimedia or edit videos with a pair of awful computer speakers, Rokit4 is ready to come to the rescue. This little speaker is a bargain.
Note: If you have enough space and just a few dollars more, the five-inch Rokit5 offers deeper bass and higher output than Rokit4.
MSRP: $240
