Tapco S8 User Manual

Here’s a quick look at all the features packed into the S•8 Studio Monitors:

•   Flat frequency response (±3 dB, 40 Hz to 20 kHz)

•   1” silk dome tweeter, fully magnetically shielded

•   8” polypropylene cone woofer, fully magnetically 

shielded

•  Convenient compact design, perfect for near-

fi eld monitoring

•   Ported, bass refl ex design for enhanced bass 

performance

•   60 watt HF and 60 watt LF power amplifi ers

•   Low-frequency over-excursion protection

•   Front panel clipping indicator

•   High-strength cabinet constructed of 5/8” MDF 

composite and 1” front board with radiused edges

•   High-density adiabatic fi berfi ll absorbs internal 

refl ections

•   Full magnetic shielding allows placement near 

computer monitors

•   Balanced XLR and 1/4” TRS, and unbalanced RCA 

input connectors

•   24 dB/octave crossover at 3 kHz

•   Adjustable sensitivity control

•   LF equalization provides +2 dB or +4 dB at 100 Hz 

and below

•   HF equalization provides ±2 dB at 5 kHz and above

•   Rear panel power switch with front panel 

indicating LED

Introduction

Thank you for choosing TAPCO S•8 Studio Monitors by LOUD 

Technologies. The TAPCO product line hails back to the days of TAPCO 
Corporation, Greg Mackie’s fi rst company. TAPCO revolutionized 
the audio industry back in 1969 with the very fi rst 6-channel mixer 
specifi cally designed for keyboards and rock ‘n’ roll.

In essence, TAPCO redefi ned the price/performance ratio and 

made high-quality professional audio equipment accessible to virtually 
anyone. Today, TAPCO is reborn with the same ideals and is backed by 
the world-class engineering and manufacturing horsepower of LOUD 
Technologies. The TAPCO S•8 is the second active studio monitor in the 
TAPCO by Mackie® family, joining its sibling, the TAPCO S•5.

These versatile compact “mini-monitors” can be used in a variety of applications, 

including small project studios, surround sound editing, home theater playback, and 
desktop audio workstations (DAWs).

The S•8 active studio monitors are packed with features and designed to produce 

transparent and uncolored sound for monitoring multitrack recordings and mixdowns. The 
two-way bass refl ex (ported) design provides an amazingly fl at frequency response from 
40 Hz to 20 kHz.

There are many benefi ts to integrating an active crossover, power amplifi ers, and drivers into 

a single cabinet, and we’ve taken full advantage of these benefi ts in the design of the S•8.

• The crossover point is designed so that the high and low frequency drivers are fed only 

the frequencies that they are best able to reproduce.

• The amplifi ers are designed to provide maximum acoustic output from the speakers, 

yet minimize the danger of speaker damage due to overdriving.

• The connecting wire between the amplifi er outputs and the drivers are kept to an 

absolute minimum so the damping factor of the amplifi er isn’t compromised by the 
resistance of long speaker cables.

• The acoustic sum of the outputs from the two drivers are optimized electronically, as 

well as physically, so the amplitude response is unity and the phase difference is minimal.

In short, all the complex interconnected components in the system are designed to work 

in harmony with each other to produce the best possible sound.

TAPCO version of Greg

TAPCO van (a.k.a. micro bus)