CLR Neo vs Yamaha DXR10 Impressions

RKF

RKF

Inspired
Sorry, there is no audio or video here. Just an honest review.

I've had my DRX10 for quite a while now and have praised it often on this forum. A friend of mine recently picked up an AX8 and decided on the CLR Neo as his FRFR choice. He loaned it to me to get my opinion.

I've now A/B'd them extensively and as much as I hate to admit it, he made a better choice than I did. No matter what I threw at them, from the cleanest cleans to the heaviest distortions, the CLR topped the Yamaha every time. The Atomic is clear, present and seems to translate the AX8 perfectly. The DRX is a very good speaker, but just seems distant and has a weird midrange thing going on in comparison. Off-axis projection is better on the CLR also. I think the NEO is roughly twice the price of the Yamaha. Is it twice as good? Not to me. But noticeably better? I can't deny it. I had a really bad transaction with Atomic a while back and swore off their products because of it. But the CLR is so damn good I might have to rethink that.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my honest opinions as someone who really, really loved his DRX10. I just love it a little less now. :-(

Out of 10:

DXR - 7.2
CLR - 9.4
 

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I think if you ignore price, the CLR's are the single best monitor on the market. Fantastic dispersion, coaxial design, very linear frequency response over a huge range, and even pretty darn linear way off axis, and sounds good with darn near anything, including bass guitar. Basically does exactly what you want a monitor to do.

I tried 6 or 7 different options before and after getting my CLR's and always go back to them as everything else always seems to have a bit of a different coloration, less "depth" etc. I feel when playing through my CLR's I can hear every nuance of reverb, every tap of delay, just striking clarity, but never overly harsh or upfront sounding.

I think Jay Mitchell did an amazing job designing a rather no compromise monitor. Other brands have come out since, and the gap has narrowed, but back when the CLR's first came out, they blew away everything on the market.
 
lqdsnddist said:
I think if you ignore price, the CLR's are the single best monitor on the market. Fantastic dispersion, coaxial design, very linear frequency response over a huge range, and even pretty darn linear way off axis, and sounds good with darn near anything, including bass guitar. Basically does exactly what you want a monitor to do.

I tried 6 or 7 different options before and after getting my CLR's and always go back to them as everything else always seems to have a bit of a different coloration, less "depth" etc. I feel when playing through my CLR's I can hear every nuance of reverb, every tap of delay, just striking clarity, but never overly harsh or upfront sounding.

I think Jay Mitchell did an amazing job designing a rather no compromise monitor. Other brands have come out since, and the gap has narrowed, but back when the CLR's first came out, they blew away everything on the market.
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"..If you can ignore the price.." You will only have to ignore the price once, but it might be hard to ignore that you have a weird midrange thing going on every time you play. :)
 
I only had to hear it once in a vid and I could hear the obvious mid heavy character. Thanks for the review!
 
@RKF How did the 2 compare loudness and weight wise? I have 2 DXR12 and 2 DXR10 and I think they sound good but they're also light weight and small, so they can easily fit in my trunk. I really like the saying "Am I Too Loud Enough Yet!" :D
 
yek said:
Also, the CLR is a really great allround PA speaker, and a high quality studio monitor.
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I gave some serious thought to pole mounting my CLR’s behind my studio desk and using them as midfield monitors, selling my Scepter nearfields. They are that good!

Realistically though I enjoy them on the floor as wedges and don’t want to mess with moving them all the time, so my desktop monitors remain, but the CLR is totally on par in terms of accurate response.

You’d need to spend like $3000 to get studio monitors that can pit out the sound levels of the CLR’s. In that context it’s amazkng they are “only” $999
 
lqdsnddist said:
Realistically though I enjoy them on the floor as wedges and don’t want to mess with moving them all the time, so my desktop monitors remain, but the CLR is totally on par in terms of accurate response.
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Yeah, that’s why I shelled out for FOUR CLRs, so that I can keep two of them at home as studio monitors (on the floor, where I have space) and two for mobile applications. It’s a luxury solution.
 
GotMetalBoy said:
@RKF How did the 2 compare loudness and weight wise? I have 2 DXR12 and 2 DXR10 and I think they sound good but they're also light weight and small, so they can easily fit in my trunk. I really like the saying "Am I Too Loud Enough Yet!" :D
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I have 2 CLR Neo II and 2 DXR10’s, I’ve tried another few speakers (ASM-12, Matrix FR10, ...) and these are the only ones I’ve kept. The DXR10s are smaller, lighter and a lot louder. To me they feel pretty much bulletproof. And I agree with the OP that in a A/B test, the CLRs is easily the better sounding speaker in every single way. But the DXR10s are still so handy as a PA, vocal wedges, ... or when I want to bring something smaller/lighter that I’m not planning to ever get rid of mine.
 
GotMetalBoy said:
@RKF How did the 2 compare loudness and weight wise? I have 2 DXR12 and 2 DXR10 and I think they sound good but they're also light weight and small, so they can easily fit in my trunk. I really like the saying "Am I Too Loud Enough Yet!" :D
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I was actually surprised that even though this CLR was the Neo version, it still seemed pretty heavy compared to the DXR. I don't know the exact weight specs but I definitely wasn't able to swing the CLR around like the featherweight I thought it would be. haha

As far as volume, they're both insanely loud so that wouldn't be an issue with either one. I might have to give the edge to the DXR though. It's just so freakin loud.
 
For sure can be an issue of horses for courses

The CLR no doubt sounds better, but there are times I’d rather have a drunk dump a beer into a $99 Behringer wedge than my $999 CLR lol

Sometimes sound quality sits way down on my list of importance.
 
lqdsnddist said:
For sure can be an issue of horses for courses

The CLR no doubt sounds better, but there are times I’d rather have a drunk dump a beer into a $99 Behringer wedge than my $999 CLR lol

Sometimes sound quality sits way down on my list of importance.
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That is exactly why my CLR, RCF and XiTone stay at home and my front wedge is a JBL JRX12 that I paid $100 for. It drinks as much beer as my drummer does every night.
 
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