Studio monitor upgrade from A7X's to...

C

capt994

Member
I've had my A7X's for several years now and as a lot of members here know firsthand, they're an excellent set of monitors. Lately, GAS has been kicking my @ss and I'm in the early stages of research to upgrade my monitors. So far, I'm looking at Focal Trio6 BE, Genelec 8050 and Neumann KH310. I'm completely open to other brands as well. Would sincerely appreciate anyone's experience that has been in a similar situation. Ideally, I need to find a store (similar to Sweetwater) that has an impressive inventory to audition monitors. There doesn't seem to be many of these type stores around. I'm in NE Florida and if anyone has any suggestions for a road trip, that would be appreciated as well.
 
I haven't tried those particular models but I'm a big Focal fan, especially the BE series. I've auditioned the Solo6 Be and thought they sounded a little "boxy" but otherwise very impressive. My son-in-law co-owns a studio and they mix on Trio6 Be's, and he and his business partner love them.

I was using A5X's and Kali LP6's and went with Barefoot 02's when I upgraded and I love them. They are also in the same price range as the others you are looking at (actually just checked Vintage King and they are on sale for $2550!).
 
capt994 said:
I've had my A7X's for several years now and as a lot of members here know firsthand, they're an excellent set of monitors. Lately, GAS has been kicking my @ss and I'm in the early stages of research to upgrade my monitors. So far, I'm looking at Focal Trio6 BE, Genelec 8050 and Neumann KH310. I'm completely open to other brands as well. Would sincerely appreciate anyone's experience that has been in a similar situation. Ideally, I need to find a store (similar to Sweetwater) that has an impressive inventory to audition monitors. There doesn't seem to be many of these type stores around. I'm in NE Florida and if anyone has any suggestions for a road trip, that would be appreciated as well.
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Vintage king will have what you’re looking for, you’ll need to make an appointment the last I checked. They’re in Nashville TN though…

May I ask if you’ve already considered or have room treatment?

I have a set of Twin 6 BE and love them btw.

 
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boyce89976 said:
I haven't tried those particular models but I'm a big Focal fan, especially the BE series. I've auditioned the Solo6 Be and thought they sounded a little "boxy" but otherwise very impressive. My son-in-law co-owns a studio and they mix on Trio6 Be's, and he and his business partner love them.

I was using A5X's and Kali LP6's and went with Barefoot 02's when I upgraded and I love them. They are also in the same price range as the others you are looking at (actually just checked Vintage King and they are on sale for $2550!).
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Thanks...I'll look into the Barefoot monitors as well.
 
Bioloop said:
Vintage king will have what you’re looking for, you’ll need to make an appointment the last I checked. They’re in Nashville TN though…

May I ask if you’ve already considered or have room treatment?

I have a set of Twin 6 BE and love them btw.

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Yes, my room was treated earlier this year. I was pleasantly surprised how much of a difference it made.
 
Ive found that anything with the Neumann name on it, could be considered the cream of the crop. Having said that, Genelecs are not to be sneezed at either. Speakers are a hard one because their selection is so subjective. We have done experiments here that prove if you listen to a speaker for 15 minutes and then change to a “better” speaker, the better one sounds like shit to most listeners and they prefer the shitty speaker if you put it back on immediately. This changes if you leave the better speakers on for a while, and then change back to the shitty ones. Our minds, and the way they process auditory information, are amazing - making adjustments to low end and other parts of frequency response so we can tolerate all manner of crap.

In your position, even if it takes a long drive, and appointments, I’d make a hq usb of a bunch of music you know intimately, and audition the speakers on your short list. It’s the only way to know, and even if you do that, it may take some adjusting to get used to the ones you select in your room.
I’m excited for you! What a great dilemma to have 😃 Please let us know.

Thanks
Pauly
capt994 said:
I've had my A7X's for several years now and as a lot of members here know firsthand, they're an excellent set of monitors. Lately, GAS has been kicking my @ss and I'm in the early stages of research to upgrade my monitors. So far, I'm looking at Focal Trio6 BE, Genelec 8050 and Neumann KH310. I'm completely open to other brands as well. Would sincerely appreciate anyone's experience that has been in a similar situation. Ideally, I need to find a store (similar to Sweetwater) that has an impressive inventory to audition monitors. There doesn't seem to be many of these type stores around. I'm in NE Florida and if anyone has any suggestions for a road trip, that would be appreciated as well.
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I upgraded from Adam A5x + Sub8 to Genelec 8341 + 7350 and that was a BIG upgrade and I'm super happy. The reason I went with the Genelec's was:
  • Coaxial design (that I've really come to love from CLRs and now Elis.8).
  • Very small due to the Coaxial design compared to other around 7" speakers.
  • GLM that can compensate for my less than ideal room.
 
I’ve used Focal Twin 6 (smooth and sweet) Genelec 8341a (punchy, best stereo imaging)) and ATC SCM25A Pros (deadly accurate). All have their place, and I have no problem mixing on ANY of them in a halfway-decent room. Blonde, Brunette, Redhead — take your pick depending on your personal preference. Highly recommend live auditions if possible, using VERY familiar high-quality source material.

Using ATC’s at the moment b/c they reveal EVERYTHING, warts and all. Proper placement is pretty critical. Also cross-reference to a JBL 4430/Bryston 4B lounge room rig b/c I’ve had them since 1986 and they’re a good “home speaker” hifi test.
 
pauly said:
Ive found that anything with the Neumann name on it, could be considered the cream of the crop. Having said that, Genelecs are not to be sneezed at either. Speakers are a hard one because their selection is so subjective. We have done experiments here that prove if you listen to a speaker for 15 minutes and then change to a “better” speaker, the better one sounds like shit to most listeners and they prefer the shitty speaker if you put it back on immediately. This changes if you leave the better speakers on for a while, and then change back to the shitty ones. Our minds, and the way they process auditory information, are amazing - making adjustments to low end and other parts of frequency response so we can tolerate all manner of crap.
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Never trust your ears ... after some minutes everything sounds great. That's more or less true! Repeat it with "fresh" ears ... that's time consuming ...
 
I have Dynaudio LYD48s with a SCS 1000 Pro sub. It sounds great. Even without the sub the Dynaudios are more than capable
 
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After treating my room I went with Hedd type 07 mk2 on IsoAcoustics ISO-155 stands. Hedd is owned by the designer of the Adam A7X. They make a 3 way design called the Type 20 if you have the budget. Any monitor in this mid-level price range is going to perform very well if you place them correctly and have sufficient bass absorption to reduce the strength of the room modes (i.e. pressure-based absorbers, not just panels filled with a few inches of building insulation which do nothing for low frequencies). Once you get into this range you should start considering factors other than the sound such as the warranty, if there are authorized repair facilities near you, etc.
 
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Amsz said:
In this price range, you should consider ATC with the SCM20ASL Pro.
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Can anybody please explain, what is the real sound difference of really expensive studio monitors e.g. compared with "cheap" KRK Rokit RP5 G4? Is it more the quality on higher volumes or the low end because of the larger cabinet size or is it really much more linear in source sound reproduction? Is the quality difference more 50% to 100% or 95% to 100%? I never heard really expensive ones but I know the sound of standard guitar cabinets with standard mid speakers. I do not understand, why we need such expensive studio monitors if the source is based on such simple speakers and high quality mics. The sound quality should never be better than at the source, or?
 
@TheRedDevil Usually, when you're paying for more expensive studio monitors, you're paying for flatness of frequency response.

Cheaper monitors are usually less flat and therefore less accurate; it's a simple as that.

On top of that, more expensive monitors have room tailoring features and often DSP to support that. But again, the goal is to result in as flat and accurate response as possible.
 
TheRedDevil said:
Can anybody please explain, what is the real sound difference of really expensive studio monitors e.g. compared with "cheap" KRK Rokit RP5 G4? Is it more the quality on higher volumes or the low end because of the larger cabinet size or is it really much more linear in source sound reproduction? Is the quality difference more 50% to 100% or 95% to 100%? I never heard really expensive ones but I know the sound of standard guitar cabinets with standard mid speakers. I do not understand, why we need such expensive studio monitors if the source is based on such simple speakers and high quality mics. The sound quality should never be better than at the source, or?
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It’s all about accuracy, so that qualitative judgements can be made while listening to a “trust-able” reference.
 
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