Mackie HR624 MK2 High Resolution 2-Way 6″ Studio Monitor

Active Monitor with 6.7″ LF Driver, 1″ Dome Tweeter, Acoustic Space Control, LF Roll-off, HF Shelf (each) Mackie’s HR series of active two-way studio monitors is one of the company’s big success stories, as these speakers are in use everywhere from home studios to professional facilities. Now the company have finally launched a pair of successors, in the form of the HR824 Mk2 and the HR624 Mk2. The names may not show a lot of imagination, but one look at the new speakers shows that a lot has changed on the outside, and there have been a few changes on the inside too. Apparently EAW’s design team, best known for their high-end live sound systems, had more than a passing hand in the redesign (like Mackie, they are part of the Loud Technologies group of companies). Manufacturing is carried out in the Far East, as it is for much of the Mackie product line these days. As both the HR824 Mk2 and HR624 Mk2 models are quite similar, other than in woofer size, power and frequency specifications, I decided to focus on the larger HR824 Mk2, but I’ve also discussed the HR624 Mk2 in a box elswhere in this article. The first thing I noticed is that, instead of the usual utilitarian black-ash veneer, the dense MDF cabinets have a new, shiny, gloss-black ‘piano’ finish. Also, though monitors of this type produce the widest sweet spot when standing upright, Mackie have made their logo rotatable, so anyone who insists on sideways mounting can at least have the logo the right way up! Another obvious change is the plain rectangular baffle, which has been replaced by a bespoke aluminium moulding with a curved front and radiused corners, but this isn’t simply a cosmetic tweak — those rounded edges reduce diffraction, and the tweeter waveguide is moulded into the baffle so that the flare is completely smooth. A symmetrical driver layout means that there is no need for left- and right-handed models. Specs Powered Yes Power Configuration Bi-amped LF Driver Size 6.7″ LF Driver Type Cone HF Driver Size 1″ HF Driver Type Dome HF Driver Material Titanium LF Driver Power Amp 100W HF Driver Power Amp 40W Total Power 140W Frequency Range 49Hz-20kHz (�1.5 dB) Crossover Frequency 3kHz, 24 dB/octave Maximum Peak SPL 106 dB