LOOKING! For an Active monitor??

[Bokke]

I am looking for an Active Studio Monitor that can match or better the Event Opal Studio Monitor but is there such a thing?  I have a budget of 3k maybe 3.5k if there's something special at that price so looking for advice/pointers from the Active speaker community please.

I have been trying to source a new pair of Event Opals with no success and companies don't update their websites so just keep getting disapointed time & again.  There are 2 second hand pairs for sale on eBay but a bit nervous about going down that route

ATC ASL20PRO Job Done with about 10 - 20 Percent discount at funky junk - Will be in budget last time i checked

 

[tuga]

In HiFi circles this would be called a flat response. It’s certainly flatter than the ATC SCM11 https://www.stereophile.com/content/atc-scm-11-loudspeaker-measurements

And the Mackie monitor is considered to be fatiguing so it’s not just about distortion. There is a difference with theory and sitting nearfield for several hours working on a mix.

A flat on-axis anechoic frequency response should be flat but also horizontal (except with omnis).

A tilt downwards from bass to treble will likely sound pleasently "warm" to most people, a tilt upwards will sound "bright", no tilt produces a "neutral" balance.

Frequency response correlates directly with tonal balance.

The plots above show harmonic distortion but there's also intermodulation distortion and other types as well. Could be the tweeter, the on-board amplification or something else.

 

[DomT]

I did look very hard.

There are more manufacturers than that. There are also all of the old passives.

These are probably the brands most used ( and Neumann and Genelec most well known names) in studios and so you must have sought out some obscure brands

 

[Pedro2]

Hedd 20 / 30

+1 for Hedd.

Ive used Acoustic Energy AE1a speakers since their release in 2017 (I think) - their many glowing reviews are well justified. However, just before Christmas, I trialled the smallest Hedds (Type 05 mk2) and they are now a keeper. 

I don’t believe that good active monitors can’t sound good at home. The Hedd’s for example, are revealing, smooth and reproduce the tonality of voices and instruments accurately. They are also not fatiguing. 

One other plus for studio/home actives is that they are usually amazing value for money (e.g top notch speaker + power amps built in for £1300). One potential downside is their appearance - many actives have a utilitarian styling, although there are exceptions - the AE1a in walnut are stunning.

Enjoy your Event Opals. I’ve never heard them, but the reviews all speak volumes.

 

[Jezmond]

And this is an important point about studio active monitors. They are designed to tell you what’s wrong with a mix and not to beautify it. They often make poor choices for HiFi but clearly some people like them. 

Absolutely Dom. The Opals are very unlike that vast majority of studio monitor for sure. I moved from a lovely and natural sounding speaker (Shahinian Obelisk) to Opals and in no way were they clinical. 

 

[StingRay]

+1 for Hedd.

Ive used Acoustic Energy AE1a speakers since their release in 2017 (I think) - their many glowing reviews are well justified. However, just before Christmas, I trialled the smallest Hedds (Type 05 mk2) and they are now a keeper. 

I don’t believe that good active monitors can’t sound good at home. The Hedd’s for example, are revealing, smooth and reproduce the tonality of voices and instruments accurately. They are also not fatiguing. 

One other plus for studio/home actives is that they are usually amazing value for money (e.g top notch speaker + power amps built in for £1300). One potential downside is their appearance - many actives have a utilitarian styling, although there are exceptions - the AE1a in walnut are stunning.

Enjoy your Focal Events. I’ve never heard them, but the reviews all speak volumes.

I would not class all actives as studio speakers. Some are designed for studios and some are designed for the home. KEF and ATC actives get very good feedback from owners and most prefer them to the passive versions. Not heard Hedd I will add them to my list of possibles.

The problem with passives is matching them with suitable maps, the amp. manufacturer does not know what speakers you will be using, so has to cater for a fairly wide range. Actives can choose the amp for each driver.   

Pro gear tends to be better value than HiFi, it is very competitive market, so the margins tend to much lower. 

 

[MartinC]

This thread has some comparisons to Event Opal's if still of interest:

https://gearspace.com/board/high-end/1244159-almost-zero-talk-about-hedd-type-30-20-a.html

 

[MGTOW]

Someone mentioned Unity Audio on one of the forums a couple of days ago, may have been on here, but having never heard of them looked them up on the net. I did see they made a speaker called the Boulder, but at £5k a little over budget. They also did a couple of smaller speakers, I believe called the Rock, are they better than your Event Opals, I've no idea, you'd have to go take a listen yourself.

The 'Rock Monitor' was a favourite of mine for some time. Original models were great, compact but with enough bandwidth to sound convincing but not enough to cause 'issues' in untreated domestic rooms.

They have gone through various 'upgrades' but remain a straightforward, all analogue, system with no 'pro' technology that would most likely not be wanted in a hi-fi application.

Original model had amplifiers designed by Tim de Paravicini as do the current HiFi models. Probably a bit more 'self effacing' than the Opals which can sound a bit 'boisterous' on occasions.