SECTOR SPOTLIGHT STUDIO MONITORS
KRK VXT 8 £1,058
Genelec 8030A From £509.84
The 8030A is a powerful bi- amplified nearfield monitor system ideal for project and home studios, workstations, installations, and surround sound monitoring. The Minimum Diffraction Enclosure (MDE) achieves a very smooth frequency response and superb imaging qualities with minimized cabinet edge diffraction.
This 180-Watt speaker is more than most MI customers will need, but it represents the top of the range VXT models and is a real beaut. An eight-inch woven kevlar cone, one-inch silk tweeter, XLR and TRS inputs all combine with the slotted port and curved cabinet for an improved resolution that will please the most discerning of ears.
Yamaha HS80M £249
This two-way bass reflex, bi-amped monitor has an eight-inch cone woofer and a one-inch dome tweeter, and packs out 120 Watts. It has both XLR and TRS jack inputs and is made for larger production spaces. These monitors deliver the frequency response and eq control that today’s producers demand.
Avid AV40 £POA
The USA’s best selling monitors, no less, and featuring a four-inch polypropylene-coated woofer, one-inch ferrofluid-cooled silk dome tweeters, OptImage III tweeter wave guides (for imaging and detail), TRS, RCA, and 1/8- inch stereo auxiliary inputs, topped off with magnetic shielding, so they can be used near computer screens.
Phonic P8a £POA
Samson Media One 5a £206.79
Media One monitors produce a powerful, full-range sound through the 40-Watt amp, extended range copolymer woofers and a 25mm silk dome tweeter. There is a solid bass response and clear highs, all in a compact cab. The right side cabinet also houses a convenient, front control panel.
Phonic’s P8As are 320-Watt, two-way bi-amped monitors providing 212 Watts of low frequencies and 106 Watts for the highs. They have bi- coloured on and clip indicators, a flat frequency response from 45Hz to 22kHz and a built-in overload protection circuit. Whether for the home studio, the audiophile or DJ, these monitor-quality speakers are built to satisfy everyone.
HR series studio reference monitors brought some great sound quality and affordability to the market. Now the HR series is in its mark two phase and, thanks to its aluminum Zero Edge Baffle design, these speakers minimise diffraction and control sound waves for ‘detailed lows, full, articulate mids, and shimmering highs’. The HRs are keenly priced, but
Mackie also makes the MR series, which takes much of the HR spec and slots it into a couple of units (the MR 8 and the MR 5) for less than half the price.
WHAT’S IN A NAME M-Audio (or Avid, take your pick) has a very healthy range of studio speakers under the Studiophile moniker, ranging from sub-£1,000 models (the DSM3), down to a sub-£200 model, the AV20. These and everything in between give
50 miPRO DECEMBER 2010
users the best possible reproduction at the price-point – a good example being the BX5a Deluxe – 70-Watt, bi-amped units, which host much of the spec across the range. A new waveguide and enhanced driver integration has been designed for a refined sound and the five- inch LF cones are made from Kevlar. Curved cone design and high-temperature voice coils and damped rubber surrounds deliver excellent durability. One thing rarely said about studio
monitors is that ‘they have a striking appearance’. Well, strike that one for a start as KRK produces some real lookers. The Exposé E8B is the flagship of KRK’s
monitors, utilising two discrete Class A/AB amps – one each for HF and LF – with symmetrical heat sinks built into the sides. This bi-amplified system is mated to the transducer, consisting of a beryllium and aluminium (or albemet,
apparently) tweeter that takes high frequency performance beyond conventional tweeter materials, we are told, coupled with a multilayered kevlar and rohacell woofer for accurate reproduction. With its highly functional enclosure, featuring thick, non-parallel, internal walls that eliminate standing waves, a non-slip, sound absorbing rubberised base and magnetic shielding for use in close proximity to video monitors, this model is seen by many young producers as the ultimate beast for the studio. With a list price of around £4,000 for the pair, this is not a product for everyone, but it’s always good to know what the standard is. Having made its name with home and
portable recording for musicians, Tascam has just one monitor, the entry-level VL- M3. That said, this is as fine a monitor as anyone starting out in recording could
want. A dual, 12-Watt amp powering the drivers in an attractive cab, these speakers fulfill everything necessary for the HD recording or computer studio. And at just £99, this is almost an impulse buy.
ON THE QT QTX, while making something of a name for itself on the entry-level live circuit, is also making inroads into the studio monitor market – although it does also tout these products as suitable for hi-fi, too. As well as the QM-80 passive speakers above, there is also the QM-120 tower monitors, a three-way set up with a seven-inch woofer, five-inch mid and one-inch tweeter, capable of pumping out 240 Watts of stereo peak power. Samson is one of those manufacturers that never ceases to surprise, covering large areas of the audio market with a quality and a price consciousness that
WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84