TAPCO S-5

May 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By Rusty Cutchin

The news last year that Mackie was reviving the Tapco line brought nods of recognition and some eagerness to musicians with long memories. After all, before Greg Mackie helped kick off the home-recording revolution with his CR1604 small-format mixer, his first company, Tapco, made a similar impact with small, well-built, and reasonably priced mixers that were embraced by bands for use with their P.A. systems.

The new incarnation of Tapco, a company called Tapco by Mackie, aims to bring some of Mackie's know-how and considerable success with pro-studio monitors to budget-minded users who have been courted with inexpensive powered monitors by Alesis, Behringer, M-Audio, and others. The first product from the new company is the S-5 Active Studio Monitor, and a full workout reveals it to be a serious contender among speakers in its price range.

PRODUCT SUMMARY
Tapco S-5 active close-field monitor $499 per pair
FEATURES	3.5
EASE OF USE	4.0
AUDIO QUALITY	3.0
VALUE	4.0
RATING PRODUCTS FROM 1 TO 5
PROS: Compact and portable. Versatile input connections. Front panel power indicators. Bargain priced. CONS: Highs sound slightly compressed. No matching subwoofer. Input-level pot difficult to grasp.
Manufacturer
Tapco tel. (877) 827-2669 e-mail sales@tapcogear.com Web www.tapcogear.com

BACK TO BASICS

The S-5 is a compact powered monitor that houses a 5.25-inch polypropylene cone woofer and a 1-inch silk dome tweeter mounted in a wave guide. Dual 60W amps drive the high- and low-frequency sections. A recessed rear panel protects the electronic components from potential damage and enables units to be packed tightly for transport. The S-5 is smart in appearance, with antique silver panels accenting the black, rounded-corner, seamless MDF cabinet on which the orange Tapco logo stands in bold relief. Chrome hex nuts secure the tweeter panel and woofer rim to the cabinet.

Below the recessed heat sink, the rear panel is divided into sections for Inputs, Settings (EQ switches and Input Level), and the power section, which includes the cable receptacle, the power switch, and an AC Select switch. The default voltage-selector setting is one clue that these monitors are manufactured in China. A bigger hint comes from the bright yellow crime-scene-style caution tape across the rear of the unit that lets you know your first job is to switch the S-5's voltage from 230 to 110. Though the country of the monitor's manufacture is clearly stated on the rear panel, users are reminded in true Mackie fashion that the S-5 is “brought to you by the groovy folks in Woodinville, Washington.”

And several elements of the S-5 are indeed groovy. Power and clipping indicators are on the front where they should be. The monitor is easy to set up and move around. Handling each 17-pound unit (they're sold in pairs), you get the sense that Mackie gave the S-5, though part of a “bargain” line, the right amount of heft while keeping it easily transportable. (Some other similarly sized and priced powered monitors I've examined in the last year made me wonder if I should pop the cover and see if there was really an amp inside.)

Tapco has also made the analog-only S-5 user friendly by including all three common input connectors: balanced XLR, balanced TRS, and unbalanced RCA. Unused inputs can be daisy-chained to additional monitors. The different connectors make the S-5 easy to hook up to devices ranging from a large-format mixing console to a modest computer sound card. If you're shopping for your first set of powered monitors, be aware that connection options vary from model to model, especially if a compatible subwoofer is part of the system. For example, some small powered monitors ship with XLR inputs only — high quality but not desktop friendly. Tapco deserves points for providing this flexibility.

ON THE DOWN LOW

Speaking of matched subwoofers, Tapco has not announced a model designed to mate with the S-5. According to its specs, the S-5's frequency response bottoms out around 65 Hz. Clearly these boxes are not designed to reproduce the extreme club environment in your bedroom studio. Modern powered monitors with 5-inch drivers and a 65 Hz low-end limit should have compatible subwoofers in the same box, or at least clearly in sight on the showroom floor.

Having stated that, I must also point out that the first thing I noticed when I began pumping CDs through the S-5s was the bass response. Though no one would mistake them for the heart of an underground hip-hop system, the S-5s do a fine job with most low-end material, owing in part to a well functioning slotted rear port below the power-cable connector and switch. The onboard Low Frequency Filter switch boosts bass response by 2 dB or 4 dB at 65 Hz. These choices make for a subtle but noticeable improvement without significantly increasing the threat of creating mixes that are bass deficient when played on other systems.

Placement, however, is of primary concern with the S-5s. This monitor will probably wind up in smaller control rooms and on desktops, so in my initial setup I positioned the monitors close to a corner of an almost acoustically dead room, which compounded my initially favorable impression of the S-5's bass response. Moving the monitors to a position three feet away from the walls gave me a more reasonable assessment of their low-end capability: the S-5s do a fair job with bass for their size and cost. (Tapco has also just released the S-8, which, with its 8-inch drivers, promises an extended low-frequency response for those who can spend a little extra cash.)

The S-5's High Frequency Filter switch creates a ±2 dB shelf at 5 kHz. However, I didn't have to adjust this switch; the S-5's high-end performance was already generally satisfactory for every placement and type of music I pumped into it.

LISTENING IN

I popped in several well-known commercial CDs with which I was familiar for quick comparisons while setting up one of my mixes. My initial impression on material like Nelly's “Hot In Herre” and Pink's “Don't Let Me Get Me” was that the monitor's power handling was excellent. Even with the input control set to its center detent position, the monitors were slamming when fed a stereo signal through my MOTU 2408mkII. But tonally, the S-5s seemed to flatten high-end transients and compress highly compressed pop music even further, besides missing the ultra-low end that I wanted to feel and hear on dance and hip-hop.

Yet I was surprised when I inserted more conventionally mixed material like Norah Jones's Come Away with Me and Jay Graydon's retro-modern jazz Bebop. The S-5s exhibited an impressive evenness and clarity across the full frequency range. I detected no obvious flaws in the stereo image, and the response was surprisingly even as much as 30 degrees or so off axis. Just when I thought the S-5s wouldn't be very satisfying over the long haul, they came up with new ways to make me appreciate them.

On my own mix of a heavily arranged R&B-jazz theme composed for a video tutorial, the results were consistent with what I heard from the CDs. Upper-midrange material in the horn arrangements was strong and prominent without being overbearing, and there were no obnoxious peaks in the low mids. However, the ride cymbal loop lacked the brightness I'd come to expect from mixing the track on my usual monitors, and the driving quarter-note bass part from a Korg Triton was missing the deep bottom I had purposely built into the sound, as was the 808-style kick. The dual-harmonized lead guitars generated with the Crunch preset on a Pod Pro, however, were spot on.

While remixing the track, I quickly got used to what I was missing in low-end frequency response and was glad the S-5s were making up for it in gain. In fact, I began to think seriously about how killer the S-5s could be in a 5.1 system with the right sub. For a studio primarily booking rock sessions, the S-5s would, well, rock, and with the right bass management, I wouldn't be surprised if they made some of the best satellites available.

BOTTOM LINE

For me, the S-5s are not the right choice for a 2.0 monitoring system. I can see using them in a small writing room away from my main studio, and I can certainly see them forming the mid-to-high-frequency components of an exceptional 2.1 or 5.1 system, assuming Mackie comes up with the right sub or I can find a compatible one.

For a traditional stereo monitoring system, I'm looking forward to checking out the Tapco S-8, which should offer a little more oomph in the low end. Still, on many projects, the efficient, low-cost, solid performance of an S-5 pair will make it a great choice for users who don't need extended bass frequencies.

S-5 Specifications
Audio
Frequency Response	64 Hz-20 kHz (±3 dB)
High-Frequency Equalization	±2 dB shelving at 5 kHz
Low-Frequency Equalization	+2 dB; +4 dB peaking at 65 Hz
Peak Output Amplifiers	113 dB
Power Rating	60W (HF amplifier); 60W (LF amplifier) rated with 4ž load, 100W peak
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (HF amplifier)	>93 dB unweighted
Signal-to-Noise Ration (LF amplifier)	>101 dB unweighted
Total Harmonic Distortion	<0.01%
Power Consumption	20W (idle); 80W (full program)
Speakers
High-Frequency Driver	wave-guide loaded 1" silk dome
Low-Frequency Driver	5.25" polypropylene cone
Input Connectors	XLR, ¼" TRS, RCA
Crossover
Crossover Slope	24 dB/octave at 4 kHz, active
Enclosure
Material	0.625" MDF with 0.750" MDF front panel
Dimensions	7.6" (W) × 11.3" (H) × 9.1" (D)
Weight	17 lb.

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Rusty Cutchin is an associate editor of EM.