Active Monitors

Monitors / Monitoring

Published November 2025

KRK’s affordable new Kreate speakers offer plenty of bang for your buck!

KRK’s new Kreate speaker range comprises three‑, five‑ and eight‑inch models, and is aimed at the budget‑conscious studio owner. The cheapest ‘multimedia’ speakers of this type tend to have passive crossovers and house all the electronics in one of the speakers — and some of them do a fine job — but the Kreate series are a step up in being proper active speakers with individual mains powering.

Here we’re looking at the Kreate K5, which sits in the middle of the range. The Kreate K5 is an active, rear‑ported, two‑way speaker crossing over at 2.56kHz, and its aesthetics are unmistakably KRK. It sports Bluetooth connectivity (Classic 5.3 TWS A2DP) along with its conventional analogue inputs. These comprise a balanced combi connector that accepts a quarter‑inch jack (TS or TRS) or XLR, and an unbalanced RCA phono input. The Bluetooth and analogue inputs can be used at the same time, which could be useful if you use the analogue connections for your studio but need to stream a reference track from your phone without having to disconnect anything.

As the model name suggests, the woofer is a five‑inch unit, this sporting the familiar yellow KRK woven glass‑fibre cone. The one‑inch soft‑dome tweeter utilises a neodymium magnet and is protected by a perforated metal grille. The port takes the form of a slot at the top of the rear panel — a common location, but one that means the speakers should not be set up too close to a wall. Finished in black, the cabinets are functional but stylish, constructed from the usual vinyl‑covered MDF with rounded corners and with a rubbery pad bonded to the base. Though a little larger than some five‑inch speakers I’ve looked at recently, they are still reasonably compact at 259 x 185 x 229mm.

The Kreate series features separate HF and LF EQ adjustment, both balanced and unbalanced analogue inputs, and Bluetooth connectivity.Amplification comes courtesy of a 45W Class‑D power pack for the woofer and a 15W Class‑A/B amp for the tweeter. The controls and connectors are located on the metal rear panel along with an IEC mains inlet and power switch. The internal PSU is a switch‑mode design with a universal voltage range of 100‑240 V AC (±10 percent), 50 or 60 Hz. When powered on, the KRK logo lights up.

A detented level control is accompanied by two EQ controls, intended to compensate for placement and room acoustics. The HF level can be set to +1dB, flat, ‑1dB or ‑2dB using a rotary switch, while the LF can be set to +2dB, flat, ‑1dB or ‑2dB. I did my original assessment with the speakers set flat and mounted on a monitor shelf well away from the studio’s rear wall. The specified frequency response at the ‑3dB points is 58Hz‑40kHz, dropping to ‑10dB at 46Hz. (The fundamental frequency of a bass guitar’s bottom E string is around 41Hz). The maximum SPL at one metre is given as 105dB, which is more than adequate for long‑term, nearfield listening. The nominal dispersion is quoted as 135 x 90 degrees (horizontal x vertical).

There’s a Bluetooth Pair/Link button, alongside a blue status LED. It’s possible to pair a Bluetooth source to a single speaker in mono (indeed, the Kreate series speakers are sold and priced individually for mono use), or to two speakers as a left‑right pair. There are various button‑pressing options for linking left and right speakers together and for pairing with a phone or tablet. In fact there are so many button pressing routines it may be worth printing off that section of the manual and keeping it handy!

Loud & Klear

KRK advise that the Kreate K5s benefit from being ‘run in’ — the woofer suspension tends to soften up a little after playing music for a few hours, which has an effect on the cabinet tuning. However, the speakers gave a good account of themselves right out of the box. As we’ve come to expect from KRK, the sound is workmanlike, generally neutral and comfortable to work with for long periods, though in comparison with my main studio monitors, the sense of space between individual sounds isn’t so obvious and of course the fundamental frequencies of the deepest bass notes and kick drums are all but inaudible on such a small speaker. Their performance has to be weighed against their remarkably modest cost, though, and the lack of deep bass reproduction can actually be a benefit in smaller rooms where an extended bass response would only cause problems due to poor room acoustics.

If your room will stand more low end, the eight‑inch model might be a better bet. Alternatively, these speakers could be paired with a small subwoofer, though headphones are generally a better option for checking extreme low end when working in small rooms. Given that the cost of a pair of these speakers would only cover around half the VAT on my main monitors, I think they can be forgiven for not exhibiting the same degree of transparency and soundstage depth perspective!

Bluetooth setup proved straightforward, with some informative computer‑style bleeps and chimes accompanying the process. You probably wouldn’t want to use the Bluetooth connection with your studio computer for tracking as the latency is almost 0.4 seconds, but that’s not an issue when playing back reference tracks or mixes.

The Kreate 5s offer good value for the small studio operator on a tight budget and are capable of presenting a mix without hyping it.

In summary, the Kreate 5s offer good value for the small studio operator on a tight budget, and are capable of presenting a mix without hyping it. Given that few five‑inch monitors can deliver very low frequencies, it would be unreasonable to expect anything of a similar size to the Kreate 5s to behave much differently at the low end unless it was considerably more expensive. These speakers are comfortable to work with, delivering the highs without stridency, and once you have the EQ settings adjusted to suit your room, the overall tonal balance provides a reliable impression of how your mix really sounds.

Summary

Attractively priced and offering room compensation EQ and flexible input options, including Bluetooth, the Kreate 5s have a neutral and non‑fatiguing sound that would be especially suitable for those working in small rooms.