MF10 from G66/Redsound vs Atomic CLR - UNBIASED REVIEW!

ZenRigs Man

Fractal Fanatic
Vendor
Hey folks!

If you're looking for a killer FRFR solution, I've had hands on time with two of the top contenders. Check out the video for my honest review of the MF10 stereo bundle from G66 against my trusty Atomic CLRs. I hope you find it useful.

And if you want to cheer me up (I need it today - my music room flooded - thankfully no equipment damage, but got some mess to clean up), please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thank you!
Sukh

 
Thank you Sukh for you hones review 👍
I had exactly the same experience when it comes to the recorded sound and the sound that is comming out of the MF10.
And yes, they absolutely bloom at gig volume.
I really love my MF10🥰

All the best
Sash
 
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Nicely done Sukh ... more fireside than broadside.

I've had pretty good results using modelling with conventional cabs but I've yet to find a FR backline solution that sits easy with me, especially in smaller stage gigs - so maybe the MF10s are worth a try.

I've tried a couple of 12 inch speaker based FRFR solutions in the past and have not been that impressed once they're firing at a good enough stage level - a bit biased towards the lower mids or perhaps just not exciting enough in the higher mids so the 10 inch speaker sounds on paper to be a thing worth experimenting with.

We've already had a couple of users on this board agreeing to disagree that the MF10 sounded good so as always it's difficult to gauge from personal reviews.

I think the most influential thing I got from it all is the fact you felt comfortable changing to MF10s after using the venerable CLR for so many years.

I could write a thesis on my thoughts/experiences of FRFR, Amp in The Room and all that good stuff - but I think you touched on most all the salient points in your video ... but can't resist just ear-marking:

Yes - Every cab of any type needs it's own tweaks ... always been my thought too. Well it's just fact really.

Yes - A FOH sound person has all the tools to make your DI feed fit into the mix - If you can make your 'live' set up presets' DI feeds sound ok in your studio monitors at home via a DAW or mixer with maybe a bit of post EQ applied via plugin or strip controls then it's all good.

Amp in the room: depends on loads of different things: the room, the volume, listening position and who else is playing with you. You never find that out until you're actually there. Anybody who has gigged live in small to medium size places with any sort of normally mic'ed up backline cabs over the years knows this I'm sure. Most times we just find a volume level and play on.

Yes - Operating volume is a key area. You can turn up the volume in an empty room at home to try and replicate a live level but it's never really the same as out at a gig ...... 4 times out of 5 what you thought was loud enough and cutting enough at home doesn't feel loud enough once the drums, bass and keys fire up on a hollow stage in a room with it's own acoustics thing going on.

Tweaking the EQs in your output eq or at preset level at the gig or soundcheck to cut more on stage is one solution but let's face it most of us feel happier to just quickly go straight to the most accessible thing - the volume knob - usually sneakily around the end of the first or second song when you're pretending to grab a quick drink! It's more productive than asking the drummer to play quieter :) Yes - it's that selfish thing you mentioned.

CLRs were always a bit too 'dangerous' for me to buy as a European ..... without going into too much detail there were 'issues' coming to light about certain things and they're a long way from home if not in the US. My personal feeling was to be wary - but I stress that was just my choice - I've no first hand experience with CLRs and therefore any issues.

Based on my wariness, buying from a European manufacturer/distributor just makes more sense for me geographically support wise. A 'stereo pair' of MF10s (and maybe a backup pedal size power amp) gives you some remedies for potential disaster scenarios too.

Another big positive for me is the lack of any DSP module - that's just another potential fault point that I think is better not being there in a box that gets vibrated a lot by a speaker - again just my personal opinion. Cable input, volume controlled amp, passive crossover, speakers/drivers, wire and wood ... that's plenty.

I don't place a whole lot of importance on the 'Flat Response' part of the FRFR equation ..... it just is going to sound like that cab in that room at that time at that volume. Set it up to sound good in one live environment and just motor on in others is my policy.

I'm well used to hearing my backline cabs out of the beam (being in close proximity to a couple of crash cymbals more than enough highs) so it's heartening to hear the MF10s seem to be designed for that sort of pant-flapping rather than ear-drum flapping thing.
 
Nicely done Sukh ... more fireside than broadside.

I've had pretty good results using modelling with conventional cabs but I've yet to find a FR backline solution that sits easy with me, especially in smaller stage gigs - so maybe the MF10s are worth a try.

I've tried a couple of 12 inch speaker based FRFR solutions in the past and have not been that impressed once they're firing at a good enough stage level - a bit biased towards the lower mids or perhaps just not exciting enough in the higher mids so the 10 inch speaker sounds on paper to be a thing worth experimenting with.

We've already had a couple of users on this board agreeing to disagree that the MF10 sounded good so as always it's difficult to gauge from personal reviews.

I think the most influential thing I got from it all is the fact you felt comfortable changing to MF10s after using the venerable CLR for so many years.

I could write a thesis on my thoughts/experiences of FRFR, Amp in The Room and all that good stuff - but I think you touched on most all the salient points in your video ... but can't resist just ear-marking:

Yes - Every cab of any type needs it's own tweaks ... always been my thought too. Well it's just fact really.

Yes - A FOH sound person has all the tools to make your DI feed fit into the mix - If you can make your 'live' set up presets' DI feeds sound ok in your studio monitors at home via a DAW or mixer with maybe a bit of post EQ applied via plugin or strip controls then it's all good.

Amp in the room: depends on loads of different things: the room, the volume, listening position and who else is playing with you. You never find that out until you're actually there. Anybody who has gigged live in small to medium size places with any sort of normally mic'ed up backline cabs over the years knows this I'm sure. Most times we just find a volume level and play on.

Yes - Operating volume is a key area. You can turn up the volume in an empty room at home to try and replicate a live level but it's never really the same as out at a gig ...... 4 times out of 5 what you thought was loud enough and cutting enough at home doesn't feel loud enough once the drums, bass and keys fire up on a hollow stage in a room with it's own acoustics thing going on.

Tweaking the EQs in your output eq or at preset level at the gig or soundcheck to cut more on stage is one solution but let's face it most of us feel happier to just quickly go straight to the most accessible thing - the volume knob - usually sneakily around the end of the first or second song when you're pretending to grab a quick drink! It's more productive than asking the drummer to play quieter :) Yes - it's that selfish thing you mentioned.

CLRs were always a bit too 'dangerous' for me to buy as a European ..... without going into too much detail there were 'issues' coming to light about certain things and they're a long way from home if not in the US. My personal feeling was to be wary - but I stress that was just my choice - I've no first hand experience with CLRs and therefore any issues.

Based on my wariness, buying from a European manufacturer/distributor just makes more sense for me geographically support wise. A 'stereo pair' of MF10s (and maybe a backup pedal size power amp) gives you some remedies for potential disaster scenarios too.

Another big positive for me is the lack of any DSP module - that's just another potential fault point that I think is better not being there in a box that gets vibrated a lot by a speaker - again just my personal opinion. Cable input, volume controlled amp, passive crossover, speakers/drivers, wire and wood ... that's plenty.

I don't place a whole lot of importance on the 'Flat Response' part of the FRFR equation ..... it just is going to sound like that cab in that room at that time at that volume. Set it up to sound good in one live environment and just motor on in others is my policy.

I'm well used to hearing my backline cabs out of the beam (being in close proximity to a couple of crash cymbals more than enough highs) so it's heartening to hear the MF10s seem to be designed for that sort of pant-flapping rather than ear-drum flapping thing.

Glad you found it useful mate!

Interesting comment you made about most folks reaching for the volume if they can't hear themselves over the drummer etc. To me, this usually means I need a touch more mids, so the output EQ is the most effective tweak. Spent years just turning up until I realised this was what was missing!

Thanks for taking the time to post dude :)
 
Yes the wise thing to do would be tweak EQ, but in a hurry that volume knob is just too enticing. It takes a bit of time to dig into the output EQ ..... and in some of the gigs we play you wouldn't want to turn your back on the audience for too long :)
 
Hey folks!

If you're looking for a killer FRFR solution, I've had hands on time with two of the top contenders. Check out the video for my honest review of the MF10 stereo bundle from G66 against my trusty Atomic CLRs. I hope you find it useful.

And if you want to cheer me up (I need it today - my music room flooded - thankfully no equipment damage, but got some mess to clean up), please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thank you!
Sukh


Hey Sukh, How are you setting up your volume compared to how you set it on the CLR's Thanks
 
Hey Sukh, How are you setting up your volume compared to how you set it on the CLR's Thanks
Hey mate - I have the volume on the MF10's set to 8 and am controlling levels from the output knob on the Axe FX. Works great. As I mentioned in the review, the speakers open up and sound way better once you have some volume out of them.
 
Hey mate - I have the volume on the MF10's set to 8 and am controlling levels from the output knob on the Axe FX. Works great. As I mentioned in the review, the speakers open up and sound way better once you have some volume out of them.
Awesome I like that better than the way I have been with
my clrs
 
@ZenRigs Man, Sukh, I just watched your review, very cool, thanks.

One thing struck me as weird though, the way you compensated for the CLRs being tilted back way more than the MF10s.
You set up the CLRs to also be pointing at your ankles, rather thatn pointing the MF10s more up at you.
To me, the "honest" sound of a speaker is what you hear directly on-axis, anything else is colored, by discarding a lot of the highs.
That's not the signal FOH or a recording is going to "hear".

Did you ever try the MF10s more on-axis?
 
@ZenRigs Man, Sukh, I just watched your review, very cool, thanks.

One thing struck me as weird though, the way you compensated for the CLRs being tilted back way more than the MF10s.
You set up the CLRs to also be pointing at your ankles, rather thatn pointing the MF10s more up at you.
To me, the "honest" sound of a speaker is what you hear directly on-axis, anything else is colored, by discarding a lot of the highs.
That's not the signal FOH or a recording is going to "hear".

Did you ever try the MF10s more on-axis?
Hey, thanks for watching!

Just to clarify, I didn’t compensate for the CLR being angled and pointing at me - I compensated for them as I found them a little bright for my taste. CLR‘s were in wedge format always.

‘Honest sound’ is a bit of a wild goose chase in my experience as FOH varies depending on speakers, size, venue etc and should be tweaked as needed per venue to support getting a coherent band sound. Even with the CLR I did this, and further tweaked tones for the recording of my album to get the tone I wanted to sit properly against everything else going on in the track. CLR is awesome… MF10 is awesome. But different beasts.

I think the idea of getting ANY frfr and expecting a tone created on it to be perfect in all places is nuts. Get something that inspires YOU to play, learn to adjust your sound and rock away :)
 
Hey folks!

If you're looking for a killer FRFR solution, I've had hands on time with two of the top contenders. Check out the video for my honest review of the MF10 stereo bundle from G66 against my trusty Atomic CLRs. I hope you find it useful.

And if you want to cheer me up (I need it today - my music room flooded - thankfully no equipment damage, but got some mess to clean up), please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thank you!
Sukh


After your video I took a closer look and finally ordered them today 👍
🤘
 
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