Don't know about those other monitors, but I've been using the HS80 for about a year now and I'm really happy about the results. I don't know how transparent they are, but they translate well to other systems for me, and that's all I really care about. I also like that the bassrange extends decently low for the pricerange. I use them within a treated room, and I don't feel the need to use a sub for now. I don't mix any of the extreme sub-bass genres though, so keep that in mind.
The only gripe I have with these is that the high-end is very fatiguing imo. I used the switch on the back to attenuate that by 2db and have been perfectly happy eversince. I also like the mid-boost switch, because it shoves that critical guitar/vocal/etc clashing range in your face. Almost like putting a magnifyingglass over it. You may or may not like that, so try and see for yourself.
I've heard people say that with this midboost activated, the speakers are closer to the NS-10, but I can't confirm that since I've never worked with those.
Another thing you should know is that these monitors always seem to produce a tiny bit of hiss. It is comparable to using VCC with analog noise enabled on a couple of tracks. It never bothered me at all, but I've seen posts on several fora where people would go nuts over this, so it's worth mentioning.
And yes, the placement and the room is important to make these things work at their best, but I'd say that's true for any monitor. Far too many people are using decent monitors in an untreated corner of their room below earlevel, and wonder why it sounds like shit. Makes stereojesus cry! One advice that gets repeated everywhere again and again, that shouldn't be taken lightly, is this: roomtreatment is the BEST investment you can make for your studio. Even more so when you build it yourself. Don't be scared of this, because it is very easy to do. And this comes from a guy that can't even drill a straight hole
Even if very minimal, it's still a lot better than not having any treatment at all. If that's still out of the question, at least try to optimize your monitoringposition as much as possible. If you are unsure how, this is a good place to start:
http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm
Sorry if I'm giving you way more information than needed here by the way...I tend to do that. I just wish someone else would have given me this kind of info a couple of years ago, cause it would have saved me a lot of frustration. If even a single person picks up something helpful from my walls of text, I've served my purpose
