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Help choosing studio monitors. Genelec, Adams, or Dynaudio?

John Saunders

John Saunders

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So I am looking to buy a new pair of monitors and I am kinda torn. I am coming from KRK rokit 8's at home and KRK V6's at work but I want to invest a little and get a good small pair.

I am using them primarily for video editing but I do some live recording and mixdowns every once in a while.

So far I am looking at the Genelec 6010 or 8040s, Adam A7, or Dynaudio BM5A.
I would like to spend at most $1000 for a pair I have a close relationship with a very large dealer here and I get stuff at cost so that shouldn't be a problem with any of these.

I have heard the Genelec and really like them. I have also heard the Dynaudios but I am not to much of a fan. I haven't heard the adams yet but that is what my friend is pushing me towards.

My thoughts on the genelecs are that I can get the sub down the road for more bottom end and then maybe move them to surrounds if and when I go 5.1

So I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these or any others I might look into. It's kinda hard for me to judge how I will like them for the long haul with only being able to listen to them in the showroom with CD music.

Thanks.
 
John Saunders said:
So I was wondering if anyone has any experience with these or any others I might look into. It's kinda hard for me to judge how I will like them for the long haul with only being able to listen to them in the showroom with CD music.
Click to expand...

Well... there are tons of online reviews available for the Genelecs, KRoKs, etc.

<audio geek/>

But I still rely on my old standbys whenever evaluating any monitors:

1) Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
2) AC/DC - Back in Black
3) Maurizio Pollini - Chopin's Etudes (Deutsche Grammaphon)
4) Generic Test Tones CD

The Nightfly - Still one of the most perfectly engineered albums of all time. Every instrument is in its own precise space, everything is crystal clear, and the entire frequency range of the average pop/rock record is well distributed and well tested.

Back in Black - Hard rock engineering at its best. Put this on to test midrange muddle. Guitars should be crisp and clean without interfering with vocal growl. Listen for kick snap (god bless the RE-20) and snare attack for good transient response.

Pollini - few things test speakers better than well-recorded, solo classical piano. Complete dynamic and frequency range, and this album (even on CD) is incredibly engineered and mastered. The arpeggiated sweeps of Op. 10, Et. 1 are as good as any frequency sweep for clear testing, and the dynamic range of Op. 10, Et. 3 will reveal tons of weakness. Years ago, I stopped listening to NS-10s because that damned high midrange stuck out like a sort thumb when listening to this album. Plus, I play piano... so I know how this should sound and what a Hamburg Steinway D should sound like.

Test Tones - Pink noise, white noise, generic tones, sweeps, etc. A must-have for any good evaluation.

</audio geek>

Lucas
 
Well I can say I own the ADAM A7s and I absolutely love them. I believe they have just replaced my A7s with a new model for the same price, although I find it hard to believe they could be any better.

The biggest difference is the tweeter. Hands down it is AMAZING. Also, because of it's design, I find it works better from all angles. I believe it's rated up to 40kHz so the rolloff at the top end is WAY outside the audible range.

These were the first speakers I could tell 0.5dB of difference in a tone. I suggest having a listen on them.

Like the genelecs, for the bottom end I'd suggest a sub. I use the sub8 from ADAM.
 
I'd suggest getting the new Adam A7X for $1200/pair retail or less being released in June (next month), with much improved power handling and high frequency response compared to the original A7.

As a musician, I prefer the sound of the Adam monitors since they use ribbon tweeters to recreate the "music coming from a live horn" sound, while to me Genelec produces the "music coming from a speaker" sound most people are familiar with from being in an audience.

Aside from these two reputable professional monitor manufacturers, everything else I've listened to is simply a matter of personal taste and room treatment, because ultimately a bad listening room can render a great pro monitor's output into sonic mush...
 
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Lucas Wilson said:
Well... there are tons of online reviews available for the Genelecs, KRoKs, etc.

<audio geek/>

But I still rely on my old standbys whenever evaluating any monitors:

1) Donald Fagen - The Nightfly
2) AC/DC - Back in Black
3) Maurizio Pollini - Chopin's Etudes (Deutsche Grammaphon)
4) Generic Test Tones CD

The Nightfly - Still one of the most perfectly engineered albums of all time. Every instrument is in its own precise space, everything is crystal clear, and the entire frequency range of the average pop/rock record is well distributed and well tested.

Back in Black - Hard rock engineering at its best. Put this on to test midrange muddle. Guitars should be crisp and clean without interfering with vocal growl. Listen for kick snap (god bless the RE-20) and snare attack for good transient response.

Pollini - few things test speakers better than well-recorded, solo classical piano. Complete dynamic and frequency range, and this album (even on CD) is incredibly engineered and mastered. The arpeggiated sweeps of Op. 10, Et. 1 are as good as any frequency sweep for clear testing, and the dynamic range of Op. 10, Et. 3 will reveal tons of weakness. Years ago, I stopped listening to NS-10s because that damned high midrange stuck out like a sort thumb when listening to this album. Plus, I play piano... so I know how this should sound and what a Hamburg Steinway D should sound like.

Test Tones - Pink noise, white noise, generic tones, sweeps, etc. A must-have for any good evaluation.

</audio geek>

Lucas
Click to expand...

Lucas, just to say that those are almost the same cd's that I use!

Just add:

- Si dolce e' il tormento / Paolo Fresu & Uri Caine from the album "Things"
- The Köln Concert - Keith Jarrett
- Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder

I love the Genelec sound, btw.
 
We went with KRK Rokit 5's and 6's for Stereo and Genelec for the 5.1 System.

(I am not an Audio guy, we had an audio guy choose them for us but heres my take)

The Rokits are fantastic, love the sound from them, they have the feel of a much larger monitor. The Genelec system was the best we could afford, I think it came in at about 3500 dollars for a 5.1 system, I thought that was kinda fantastic, its definitely not up to scoring a big budget feature but its more than enough for our 5.1 mixing purposes. We've sent 2 mixes off to larger sound studios before and they commented that our mix wasn't too far off at all.
 
Oh and we found that if you go to a proper audio dealer sometimes if your nice they will let you take the demo set overnight to check it in your room acoustics, we did this with the Rokit 5's as they were going into a very small room and were worried they'd drown the room out too much.
 
Lucas Wilson said:
The Nightfly - Still one of the most perfectly engineered albums of all time. Every instrument is in its own precise space, everything is crystal clear, and the entire frequency range of the average pop/rock record is well distributed and well tested.
Click to expand...

I second that. My use has mostly been very active, recreational listening, but I have used it on the rare occasions when I reinforced live events. It sounds great, and is still a joy to listen to.
 
Thanks for all of the input. I will see if they will let me take the genelec and the adams home for the weekend.

I am kinda torn between which genelec if I do go with them. I am looking for small speakers since my desk space at home is at a premium. Should I go for the 6010's with a sub or just the 8040s? I am a little fearful of putting a sub in since I know that if it's not setup just right I could be over or under compensating for the low end.

I come from a live/install sound background and have all of the tools to tune a room so I would assume I would tune it as flat as I can get them. Is this correct or should I tune to some curve?
 
Another set that I haven't heard but looked at is the Tannoy PRECISION 6D has any one used these?

It's kinda funny since I am a tannoy dealer (pro av side) I have never really looked to much into their studio monitors.
 
The older Genelec 1030A - I'll swear by it. They don't make them brand new anymore but second hand is a great way to save.
 
I would also argue that the room itself and the speakers' position within the room will have an enormous effect on sound quality.

Also, if you haven't already, get the computer and hard drives out of the room and away from your listening position (and remote the keyboard, monitor and mouse with long cables). This will make the room much quieter and minimize the distractions from the room.

Having said all that, I use Genelecs myself and think they're pretty decent. I know a lot of engineers who feel the older Genelecs were very "tizzy" at the high end (particularly the 1030s), but I just use the treble tilt control to try to tame them a little bit. The newer Genelecs are a lot flatter overall. I also think the JBL LSRs are pretty good, and I see them quite often in small rooms around LA.
 
Take a "look" at the mackies. They sound pretty cool too. When I did a longer comparision between the Genelecs 1030 and the Mackies I found them pretty close to each other. And they turn of automatically after a while when they`re not in use - (the clima-argument). From my experience you can work on every monitor after a while - it`s just a matter of training and routine.

Cheers Thomas.
 
I do have older Genelec 1030A and they are still pretty good choice for monitoring sound in any pro studio or amateur editing room...
 
It's funny. . .people either love Genelecs and Adams or they don't. We went with JBLs LSR6328s and love 'em.

Stephen
 
Coming from pro music sound recording studios .. for video post production I selected the Adam A7s a couple of years ago when they were new and we love 'em .. they translate well to TV sets and you can mix all day without fatigue.

Strangely pre production A7s were not magnetically shielded .. then they were (mine are) now the A5x/A7x are not. The Adams site SX-Series says 'All models can optionally be magnetically shielded'

http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products/s1x/series

but some SX speakers specs read differently.

http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products/s5x-h/technical-data

I've sent 'em a note and asked why they discontinued the mag shielding.
So currently Adams don't have an *economical* desktop video mixing set .. none are magnetically shielded.

Cheers.
 
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Another vote for Adam A7X, and I just bought a pair.
Try to listen to A7 and A7X comparison if you have a chance. A7, though an older model, still has its place for certain type of music. But for general speaking, A7X is a good progress.
Thanks.
 
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