forumuser936783 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 3:39 pm
I went into vintage King in LA and listened to all their monitors on display .
For a big room. ATC Scm 25a are the clear winner . Once you’ve heard them you can go back. Pure analogue. But they are too expensive.
Small room-
Genelec 8330 monitors w the SAM Active Studio Monitor Bundle. About $2k , more affordable but excellent small foot print near field monitors .
Seems like UK prices are better ! Fantastic. Used to be the reverse.
Exchange rate comparison is about the same , but UK wins .
By the way, genelec was recommended to me but there are so many small footprint quality newer monitors. Neuman, Adam, Focal, Kali, etc. But the genelec speakers w their software is quite good. And no dsp latency. Very happy w them.
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
How about a nice pair of Kinoshita RM7s with RS-1 subs*
Allow, say, £350-450k (haggle!) to add a pair of JMF Audio HQS 9001 power amps and FM Acoustics Forcelines speaker cables (5s or 7s should probably cover it; you could push the boat out on some 3s but it's probably not necessary (or you could try some nice heavy duty arc welding cables but why cheap-out when one is looking for the best regardless of cost?).
*Not sure how much they (or variants of them) cost as the ones I've used always came as a package with a Tom Hidley designed infrasonic/non-environment control room, without which you probably won't get the best out of them. So, after demolition of your house and the one next door, and clearing of the site, allow maybe £3-4M? for structural work and acoustics (though, given the prices of building materials and builders these days, and judging by what I've just been quoted for part of a garden wall(!), that could've doubled or more since I last looked at this!). Oh, and another couple of hundred grand for suitably spec'ed power and aircon systems and you should be getting there.
And bear in mind that it'd be a good idea to allow some cash to cover miscellaneous fees and expenses and a decent contingency for when the unexpected happens.
Don't bother buying the speakers and amps and putting them in your spare bedroom - it'd be money wasted. And they'd probably be heavy enough to fall through the floor! And you'd probably need to be peeled off the back wall with a wallpaper scraper after the first kick-drum beat.
Or get a nice pair of cans and a half decent amp for them.
forumuser840717 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 5:22 pm
How about a nice pair of Kinoshita RM7s with RS-1 subs*
Yes please!
I've heard those systems in several different Hidley rooms, and they are always utterly incredible. They are the unicorn at the end of the rainbow of audio monitoring.
Sadly, like most here, I'm not far off the wet end of the monitor speaker rainbow....
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
forumuser840717 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 24, 2024 5:22 pm
How about a nice pair of Kinoshita RM7s with RS-1 subs*
Allow, say, £350-450k (haggle!) to add a pair of JMF Audio HQS 9001 power amps and FM Acoustics Forcelines speaker cables
...
Don't bother buying the speakers and amps and putting them in your spare bedroom - it'd be money wasted. And they'd probably be heavy enough to fall through the floor! And you'd probably need to be peeled off the back wall with a wallpaper scraper after the first kick-drum beat.
Remember also if your hearing is as gammy as mine lol then telling them apart from some £5k speakers could be quite not so easy.
Drew Stephenson wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 5:54 pm
I have a pair of the KH80s that I've been happy with for a few years but I recently added a KH750 sub and borrowed a Neumann measurement mic to go through DSP calibration process - both aspects have improved the speakers further and I'd now say I'm very happy with them.
Certainly at the level I'm operating at spending any more on my monitoring would be wasted - any issues I have now are solely down to my inexperience.
Which is precisely why I'm still using my (passive) Tannoy Reveals through a Nad amplifier!
Drew Stephenson wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2024 5:54 pm
I have a pair of the KH80s that I've been happy with for a few years but I recently added a KH750 sub and borrowed a Neumann measurement mic to go through DSP calibration process - both aspects have improved the speakers further and I'd now say I'm very happy with them.
Certainly at the level I'm operating at spending any more on my monitoring would be wasted - any issues I have now are solely down to my inexperience.
Which is precisely why I'm still using my (passive) Tannoy Reveals through a Nad amplifier!
Oh dear, makes my Berry Truths seem positively exotic, or is that the other way round?
And what exactly is a "professional" monitor? is it one that won’t turn on unless you put money into a slot?
I'm still using my late 70's Kef (kit) 104ABs with a ex BBC Quad 522 that I've had for 30+ years. I keep thinking of buying some Neumann KH80s or 120s but sticking with what I have seems to make sense.
Sam Spoons wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 3:32 pm
I'm still using my late 70's Kef (kit) 104ABs with a ex BBC Quad 522 that I've had for 30+ years. I keep thinking of buying some Neumann KH80s or 120s but sticking with what I have seems to make sense.
I'm still using my KEF based transmission lines, KEF bass/mid, STC tweeter.
Amp is a Quad 405/303 combo, this is for checking mixes on, and is actually very neutral, at least, you can tell if something sounds "right" and the bass extension is phenomenal.
I use Berry Truths in the studio, I can't see them ever getting changed.
Which leads us to this extraordinary SOS article. https://www.soundonsound.com/music-busi ... dios-story
I wonder what the situation is like there today. Perhaps just make an offer and you'll have not just the most professional monitors but an amazing recording studio as well.
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
I wish I'd known about it when my parents were living just across the border in Botswana.
I still re-read the article every now and then just to revel in the art of the possible.
If I were going for a strictly stereo pair in my new room I think I’d be doing anything I could to stretch to those - I absolutely adore the SCM100s we have at the main studio.
Alas, since I’m now rather ‘Atmos-curious’, I’m going for much cheaper Adams!
Back in the day (mid-90s), I specified and purchased two pairs of SCM100s to upgrade facilities in two quality-critical areas of the BBC training centre.
One pair went into the multitrack music studio, and the other went into the 'listening room'. Both sets replaced venerable LS5/8s which were redeployed elsewhere on site.
Those SCM100s were, and are, stunning — ATCs midrange dome is a thing of great sonic beauty! Good though the SCM25 mk2s are, they pale against the 100s.
Regarding the Atmos fashion.... personally I'd still rather have a stereo pair of SCM100s than a room full of Adams. While I can appreciate the merits of immersive sound in some applications, for me it all too often involves too many quality compromises, especially domestically. I'm happier with very good stereo....
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
My limited experience of SCM100s was at a mastering course in Skipton a few years ago. In a properly designed room they just kind of disappeared. It really was as if you closed your eyes and were listening to the performance, not a recording of the performance.
If I remember rightly the front plate is basically a sheet of 1/2 inch steel?
Drew Stephenson wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:42 am
In a properly designed room they just kind of disappeared. It really was as if you closed your eyes and were listening to the performance, not a recording of the performance.
Good description. They do 'disappear' leaving just the sounds across a tangible soundstage. I've often felt I could reach out and touch a violin or trumpet, etc.
If I remember rightly the front plate is basically a sheet of 1/2 inch steel?
Nope, the baffle is 32mm (1.25 inch) MDF which is then bolted onto the rest of the 18mm (3/4-inch) MDF cabinet. They're more than heavy enough without half a ton of steel on the front!
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
Yeah.... I still remember the effort required too get them onto their 4ft high studio stands to look over the top of the mixing console! They'd be portable with a team of Sherpas, maybe...
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: What are the best most professional monitor speakers on the market?
Drew Stephenson wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:42 am
In a properly designed room they just kind of disappeared. It really was as if you closed your eyes and were listening to the performance, not a recording of the performance.
Good description. They do 'disappear' leaving just the sounds across a tangible soundstage. I've often felt I could reach out and touch a violin or trumpet, etc.
Exactly what brought me to the AE22s I now use. I'm never listening to the speaker. I've heard similar in studios where the budget runs to the GDP of a small country, but nothing that does the trick significantly better IMHO.
Hugh Robjohns wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:30 am
Back in the day (mid-90s), I specified and purchased two pairs of SCM100s to upgrade facilities in two quality-critical areas of the BBC training centre.
One pair went into the multitrack music studio, and the other went into the 'listening room'. Both sets replaced venerable LS5/8s which were redeployed elsewhere on site.
Those SCM100s were, and are, stunning — ATCs midrange dome is a thing of great sonic beauty! Good though the SCM25 mk2s are, they pale against the 100s.
Regarding the Atmos fashion.... personally I'd still rather have a stereo pair of SCM100s than a room full of Adams. While I can appreciate the merits of immersive sound in some applications, for me it all too often involves too many quality compromises, especially domestically. I'm happier with very good stereo....
I absolutely agree- and if I didn’t have a nice room with ATC half an hour down the road, I wouldn’t be doing this surround/Atmos malarkey at home! A lot of it is just curiosity on my behalf.
It seems it might be leading to some potential extra work though (5.1 not Atmos, at the moment…)
Actually, come to think of it, having just seen The Elf’s post - if I just wanted a good stereo system I would’ve kept the AE22s I sold him. They had something special too.
Drew Stephenson wrote: ↑Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:42 am
My limited experience of SCM100s was at a mastering course in Skipton a few years ago. In a properly designed room they just kind of disappeared. It really was as if you closed your eyes and were listening to the performance, not a recording of the performance.
If I remember rightly the front plate is basically a sheet of 1/2 inch steel?
Yes, that’s what I feel too. Ours are soffit mounted.
Sometimes, with a good stereo pair, mics such as Senn MKH40 etc, it feels as though the glass separating the control and love rooms has been removed.
I know I’m never going to experience this at home, so I might as well experience somethinf different there!
