On November 3, 2026, Thomann had 227 models of active nearfield monitors in our ranking. KRK, Yamaha, ADAM Audio and JBL had 30 of them between them, and 9 of the top 10. Our ranking weighs how much each model is bought and sold on the used market at Reverb, how widely Thomann stocks it, its price, its specs and its maker.
All prices below are per speaker, as Thomann lists them. A pair costs twice as much.
| Brand | Models | Price per speaker | Median | In our top 10 | Best placed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamaha | 7 | $178 to $316 | $234 | 5 | #1, HS 5 |
| ADAM Audio | 9 | $201 to $1,635 | $461 | 3 | #5, T5V |
| KRK | 9 | $151 to $1,210 | $221 | 1 | #6, Rokit RP5 G5 |
| JBL | 5 | $156 to $2,691 | $279 | 0 | #19, 305P MKII |
Yamaha: one line, the first four places
Yamaha HS 5, $178
A 5-inch woofer and a 1-inch dome tweeter with 70 watts of bi-amplification, plus room control and high trim switches to adjust for the desk and the walls. #1 of 230 active nearfield monitors.
The HS 8, HS 7 and the HS 5I installation version follow at #2 to #4, and the small HS 4 is #9. Yamaha sells almost nothing else here: one line, from $178 to $316, with prices that have barely moved since August. The HS 5 also has the most used listings on Reverb of any monitor in this ranking, which means it is the easiest to sell again if you upgrade.
ADAM Audio: ribbon tweeters, and prices going up
ADAM Audio T5V, $201
A 5-inch woofer under a 1.9-inch U-ART ribbon tweeter, the folded ribbon design ADAM is known for, at the price of the others' dome tweeters. #5 of 230 active nearfield monitors.
The T7V and T8V are #6 and #8. ADAM is the brand that raised prices since August 17: the T7V went from €219 to €239, the T8V from €289 to €309, the A4V from €388 to €411 and the A7V from €629 to €724. The A-series adds DSP with room EQ and voicings. ADAM also makes headphones now; we looked at them in our H715 special project.
KRK: yellow cones and an app
KRK Rokit RP5 G5, $168
A 5-inch Kevlar woofer and a silk dome tweeter, with 25 DSP EQ presets on a small screen at the back and a phone app that helps set them for your room. #6 of 230 active nearfield monitors.
The Rokit 5 is the only one of the four flagships that got cheaper since August, from €159 to €150. KRK's Kreate line starts lower, at $151 for the Kreate 5 with Bluetooth, but ranks far below the Rokits. At the top, the new V Series Five runs from $762 to $1,210 per speaker, with app-controlled room correction; it is too new for our demand data.
JBL: the cheapest way in
JBL 305P MKII, $156
A 5-inch woofer with 82 watts, a boundary EQ switch for monitors placed near a wall, and an HF trim. At $156 it undercuts the HS 5, the T5V and the Rokit 5. #20 of 230 active nearfield monitors.
The 306P MKII costs $223 and the 308P MKII $279. Above that, Thomann has only JBL's 7 Series, at $1,345 and $2,691 per speaker, with nothing in between.
Which one?
| 5-inch model | Per speaker | Pair | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| JBL 305P MKII | $156 | $312 | #19 |
| KRK Rokit RP5 G5 | $168 | $336 | #6 |
| Yamaha HS 5 | $178 | $356 | #1 |
| ADAM Audio T5V | $201 | $402 | #5 |
At this size the four are less than $100 a pair apart, so the choice is about what each one adds. KRK has the most built-in help for an untreated room, ADAM the ribbon tweeter, JBL the lowest price. Yamaha has the strongest demand on the used market, so it should be the easiest to sell on. Whichever you pick, the step to 7 or 8 inches matters more for bass than the brand does.
Where the numbers come from. Every active nearfield monitor Thomann had in stock on November 3, 2026, from its partner feed. Places are from our ranking of active nearfield monitors, which counts each model once, whatever its color; tied models share a place. Used-market demand is the number of listings on Reverb for the matching model. Prices since August are from our nightly price records, in euros; current prices are Thomann's US-dollar prices per speaker.
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Denis Kataev runs AudioFu. Every night the site records the prices of more than 38,000 instruments and studio tools at Thomann, and he writes about what those numbers show: what got cheaper, what just arrived, and which discounts are real.
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