Studio monitor opinions?

Hi!

I'm looking for a second set of (nearfield) active monitors for our control room. Currently there's a pair of elderly Spirit Absolute 4Ps, ? I know, but I know them well and kind of like them), which are 100W and fill the room.

I'm looking for something smaller, and accurate rather than flattering, to use whilst I'm working at the computer editing and mixing for hours on end.

Control room is about 5m x 4m - (it also acts as our second tracking room).

I've been checking out the usual suspects such as ADAM A5, A7, Genelec 4020a, 4030a and wondered if any of you have any experiences with these or suggestions for others to try out. Obviously I'd rather spend less than more, but am worried that something like the A5 or 4020s won't have enough grunt.

Thanks in advance - and apologies for getting all gearslutty.

Stewart

I heard the Adam A7's at EEMO1's place. They were actually pretty nice, once you tamed the tweeter by 1dB with the dip switches. The bass had a nice definition, probably a well-tuned port for ooomph, but the sound was easy to understand.

Genelecs I just don't like. Older models were piercing, new ones sound scooped like you were listening with a wool hat on ears, slightly stoned.

If you could find 2nd hand Dynaudio BM6A's (mk1), they would be great.

I'll second the A7 recommendation and also Dynaudio's are in general quite good.
I have a Genelec system of 2029's ( digital input ) and the matching sub, they took
a while to get used to but i know them now .... that's always an issue !
Newer Genelec's are not very good at all IMO.
The small Yamaha MPS-5's are quite well rated and have a good "nearfield" sound.
I'm thinking of getting the Adam A7's myself but may go a bit upmarket to the Adam
"P" range.
It's all SO subjective though, take tracks that you know well and have a good listen to
some alternatives, anything that's fairly flat and reproduces elsewhere is fine, even if
it's only £100 worth of speakers ! ( my mission M73's will never leave me )
Your room is at least 50% responsible for artifacts, so keep that in mind too.

MM.

Thanks for the comments so far, especially on the Genelecs.

The room is not bad, but there's always room for improvement. We spent quite a bit of time on the acoustics when we built the place last year. Most of the walls and ceiling are traps of one sort or another. The current set-up is quite flattering to the bottom end, and at first I came out with some bass-heavy mixes until I learnt how the room was working.

think about passives with an overrated amp. the all in one speakers dont have any headroom and inside some of these they are running 12v rails to 5534s. I know! timing references cant be good. Ive got a pair of speakers with a silly amp. stark timing refs and they would be great for editing. Im tracking so every little thing is too obvious. but hey, I wont trade em! cant wait to mix/ master on them. (I got a super deal on some quested, passives with a silly amp. they dont sound pretty but incredibley accurate.)

I think there should be more of this type of discussion here! Gearslutz sucks...

I'm with Jaakko 100% on both the old and new Genelecs. Either spitty or scooped, the 80 series are disgusting.

However not a fan of the A7's. Really nice punchy bass around 100, but they don't really tell you whats up with the low end below about 60-70 Hz. With a sub they should be mucho better.

The top end is quite nasty IMO, trimming does help somewhat but if you're looking for a speaker to vibe with and create music or produce on they are a bit uninspiring. Fatiguing top if working for hours.

I work with a guy with a pair and the top end sounds noticeably different on the left and right speakers, I measured it (psuedo scienctifically) to verify somewhat!. However they are decent compared to a lot of others in their price bracket.

The new Acoustic Energy AE22s are well worth a listen, sealed box, tight, not loads of bass but should translate better than the A7's. I would bet you would find the tweeter less tiring too. I want to hear them more before I make up my mind...

I know its a lot more money, but I have been very impressed with the Focal speakers. Not tried the solos but the twins are fantastic and not tiring at all yet very detailed (like ATC detailed). I did 13 hours straight on them and had no tiredness. Bass held up well at low volume. I guess the solos are out of your price range at a grand but the new CMS series would be well worth a look and more towards your price bracket.

Quested S6 would be worth checking out too. His speakers always seem to work well.

If you want to spend less, the A7s are workable, and some of the Events are quite good, a measure pretty flat too. SP6?

-T

Can't do wrong with Questeds or Dynaudios unless you happen to like the metal-dome tweeter sound. I also prefer passives with a big amp, not as tidy, but a configuration with a proven track record.

the event asp 8 is killer.

Oh, one more option: Proac Studio 100!

It's a passive speaker, but it should be extremely good and it's widely used as a studio monitor. I heard the 110 model and liked it a lot. It was fun to compare an expensive Sonus Faber speaker with a square Proac 110, the latter won hands down.

Just build a Hypex UCD180 amp to go with it.

Sounds like you need a pair of NS-10's.

<=DUCKS=>

Geithain anyone? Even their smallest speaker (rl906) gives a better bass impression than my ADAM S2a's, which are twice the size :shock:

If you go for the Dynaudio's, check their passive version of the BM6.
Together with a decent amp it's far better than the active version (the BM6a..)

Dynaudio BM15A are among my favorites. Haven't heard the BM6, but the BM5 are kind of small, but not too bad.

Not a big fan of the Genes at all, very quick on ear fatigue.

Heard the S3A, didn't blow me away, but also didn't hate it. I thought the sweet spot was very narrow.

A lot of people raving about the barefoot
http://www.barefootsound.com/products_mm27.html

if you have $6000 USD.

I've also mixed on the JBL LS4300 and they were not the worst thing in the world as I thought they would be.

I decided to try building my own. I'm a big fan of coaxial drivers and there aren't a lot of people making studio monitors with them that are worth what I can afford. I already have the drivers, just need the box.
Hopefully I'll finish it in the next 5 years or so.

take care
Gil

[quote author="radiance"]Geithain anyone?
[/quote]

I've got the big ones. Truly amazing loudspeakers. (AB'd them against big PMCs, ATCs, K&Hs before buying them)

I'll be looking very soon to replace my nearfield PMC's with the RL906s.

Hopefully the retain the character of the RL901Ks.

I fully reccommend Geithain to anyone!!!!! :thumb:

A lot of guys complain about the 80 series Genelecs. To me they are the best near field I've used so far. They are are just hard to tune. We had two guys from Genelec come out and tune our 8040's and 8050's. What a difference!

IMO, guys that say they're scooped sounding, are listening to improperly configured systems. If any thing they suffer from exaggerated upper mids. You learn to hear that.

I'm using a 5.1 8240 system in my room. The auto-cal is awesome. With the click of a software button, I can make the producer desk the sweet-spot.

Historically, prior to the 80xx I've not been a Genelec fan. I've found them to be even more fatiguing and harsh than NS-10's. Still use those NS-10's though.

I'm getting a demo of some Barefoot Sound and some Proac. I'll be sure to write about it.

check these:
http://www.ksdigital.de/deutsch/inhalte/produkte_deutsch/adm_deutsch/coax_c5.html

I´m a fan of coax speakers. These tiny thingies turned out to have a better resolution than my Tannoy FSM. And this has something to say.

What do those cost?

Coaxials are really interesting, as well as full-range drivers. Each have their limitations.

At least for home use, I'd love to get a 15" Tannoy Monitor Gold or something like that.. :twisted:

[quote author="radiance"]Geithain anyone?[/quote]

My fav speakers of all time, if I had the money I'd have bought the RL901K years ago. Even the little ones are expensive, but they all have a very common tonality from the little to big. Impressive stereo image. Just read noulou's post - yeah the 906s sound very similar in tonality to the 901. It's like shrinking the speaker 70% but the sound only shrinks 30%! They truly are amazing.

KMR distributes them now here in the UK.

RE the S3A, I find they have to really wide to get a solid image. I didn't like them much when we shot them out with K&H, PMC, ATC...

Miko, interesting on the Genelec 8040 front, we have 2 x 5.1 rigs, and around 8-10 pairs of them ranging from 8020 to 8040 and I've never heard them sound great. However the rooms are hard to make work, I'l give you that. When you say tuning them, you mean twiddle a few dipswitches right?

I haven't had much that translated perfectly off the genelecs, tend to mix vocals low. Yet bizarrely bringing my mixes from home (off AE's) onto Genelecs makes them sound good and they don't really reveal my mix issues.

I don't hear them as scooped in the uppermids, more around the girth region, especially compared to the K&H. I have heard good things about the 8050 though.

The barefoots were recommended to me by a guy who really knows what he's doing! and will try them this year, Funky Junk are looking after them here I think.

I love speakers, so personal...

-T

[quote author="MikoKensington"]What do those cost?[/quote]
900 Euro/pair
I cannot recomend them enough.

Thank you all so much for all the opinions, and in particular for pointing out stuff like fatigue, which is really important but rarely touched on at less sane forums.

Sounds like you need a pair of NS-10's.

Click to expand...

...I was actually thinking about it!

The reason I was thinking active was because it means I don't have the added stress of matching it to the right amp. But you've got me thinking now....