3 way studio monitors that are not fatiguing?

[1niltothe]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

 

[fredstuhl]

Listening fatigue is not coming with a specific tweeter material, associations between driver material and sound characteristics (metal tweeters are harsh and shrill, soft dome is smooth and silky) are better explained by psychology than physics. What‘s crucial is the frequency response of your speaker. Do you use room correction/ equalization? If not, try it out, and test a more downwards sloped target curve.

 

[fredstuhl]

If you want new speakers and you are looking for three way studio monitors, I‘d say the Neumanns you mentioned are an excellent choice. If you perceive them as boring, they are a very good platform for applying whatever sound signature you might subjectively prefer by eq.

 

[Frgirard]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

you feel ear fatigue on speaker where others people doesn't feel ears fatigue.

Assuming hearing fatigue is permanent and not dependent on the spl level, loudnesswar concentration, daily mood, headache, muscle stiffness in the spine or jaws....
the best thing to do is to take the tracks with generation of auditory fatigue and listen to loudspeakers, possibly in your room. In your case the choice of monitor could be a bad thing.
For the Neumann i have (KH420 and the old k+HO300), they are not fatiguing. With my aging makes them possible.

 

[Purité Audio]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

You have to hear some ‘possibles’ in your own space contemporary designs can be adjusted to your taste, target curve, sophisticated tone controls PEQ etc etc.
Keith

 

[tifune]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

Obviously the KH310s I'm selling are the best choice

It may be helpful to know a little more about your use case and budget. D&D 8C, Geithain, and Kii Three would certainly be in my list, but $$$. Passives have come such a long way, even the R3 or Sointuva could make that list. Not quite as loud, but maybe also not relevant? Or something like KH80/120/150+750 w MA-1 for similar price as pair of 310's.

I have Neumann and Genelec - "fatiguing" = bad setup, IME. Remember, these are studio monitors and intended to be used as such. If you just want to plop something on the desk/floor and hit 'play' - Revel, JBL, or Kef. Many others, those are just the cool kids ATM.

 

[Chaconne]

Listening fatigue is not coming with a specific tweeter material, associations between driver material and sound characteristics (metal tweeters are harsh and shrill, soft dome is smooth and silky) are better explained by psychology than physics. What‘s crucial is the frequency response of your speaker. Do you use room correction/ equalization? If not, try it out, and test a more downwards sloped target curve.

My thoughts exactly. I've heard plenty of soft domes that "sound metallic" and plenty of metal domes that "sound soft."

 

[MAB]

Difficult for me to imagine the Focal or the Genelec monitors sounding 'fatiguing'. It sounds like these observations are impacted by reflective surfaces or other room setup issues. Regarding the mid-frequency impact, I find voicing issues like this are often determined by the bass as much as the actual mid frequencies, are your Focal's a bit bass-shy? And I also don't find Neumann boring, but rather accurate. I'm not trying to cast shade, but I wonder if your Focal's could benefit from room treatment (I know you said you got a good space...) Or even a pair of subwoofers! I just don't think that any of the gear you mentioned is going to be less fatiguing compared to your Focal monitors, and have hope that you got some good gear that you can build on...

 

[heraldo_jones]

I have listened to the whole Eve Audio line and none of them are fatiguing, opposite to Adam. I have also heard Hedd and while they were not fatiguing in a short period of time they felt slightly brighter than I usually like a speaker to be.

 

[heraldo_jones]

Difficult for me to imagine the Focal or the Genelec monitors sounding 'fatiguing'. It sounds like these observations are impacted by reflective surfaces or other room setup issues. Regarding the mid-frequency impact, I find voicing issues like this are often determined by the bass as much as the actual mid frequencies, are your Focal's a bit bass-shy? And I also don't find Neumann boring, but rather accurate. I'm not trying to cast shade, but I wonder if your Focal's could benefit from room treatment (I know you said you got a good space...) Or even a pair of subwoofers! I just don't think that any of the gear you mentioned is going to be less fatiguing compared to your Focal monitors, and have hope that you got some good gear that you can build on...

If you check Gearspace which is the most respectful pro audio forum you can find a consense on Genelec 8xxx being fatiguing and metallic sounding. I must say I also share the same opinion and also 1xxx series being far superior to the 8xxx

 

[Pearljam5000]

Obviously the KH310s I'm selling are the best choice

It may be helpful to know a little more about your use case and budget. D&D 8C, Geithain, and Kii Three would certainly be in my list, but $$$. Passives have come such a long way, even the R3 or Sointuva could make that list. Not quite as loud, but maybe also not relevant? Or something like KH80/120/150+750 w MA-1 for similar price as pair of 310's.

I have Neumann and Genelec - "fatiguing" = bad setup, IME. Remember, these are studio monitors and intended to be used as such. If you just want to plop something on the desk/floor and hit 'play' - Revel, JBL, or Kef. Many others, those are just the cool kids ATM.

Why are you selling them?

 

[simchaz]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

I personally have owned 3 sets of modern 3 ways in the last year. Focal twin 6be, eve sc3070 and HEDD type 20 mk2. It came down to the eve and the head for me and I owned them and tested them extensively side by side. I liked the actual sound profile of the eves more BUT the hedds are what I went with. Their sweet spot was far wider and I found that their midrange translated better. in the end, I just found that while the eves were more exciting and better to produce on, the hedds were a better tool for mixing.

I had a lot of issues with the focal, couldn't get a good sweetspot with them and that tweeter I found had a bizarre honk to it. I know a lot of people love them, they're just not for me.

 

[thewas]

Sometimes mid/high listening fatigue also can be related even to too few bass due to room and placement problems, in my current highly bass absorbing listening room neutral loudspeakers sound too shouty unless I add some bass per equaliser or subwoofers.

 

[tuga]

Looking to replace my Focal Be6 Solo. My studio is quite small, but measures well.

I find the Focals have (1) a fatiguing high end due to metal tweeter and (2) lack some of that mid frequency impact.

I'm in the market for a three way. Want to steer clear of Genelec (fatigue complaints) and ATC.

I also saw someone here describe Neumann KH310 as 'boring', even though they test very well. I'll still give them a spin, but would like to compare.

Are there other models you would (not) recommend bringing home for a shoot out?

EVE Audio, e.g. SC3070?
HEDD Audio, e.g. type 20?
Quested V3110?

Ignore other people's opinion, go out and listen fo yourself.

 

[JustJones]

I have the Focal Trio 11be and I don't find them fatiguing. I do have high shelf starting at 1khz -4db you might try EQ first.

 

[DVDdoug]

Depending on what you're doing you can do a lot of "audio work" at lower levels which might help with the fatigue. But if you are listening intently for several hours that probably gets tiring no matter what.

 

[LTig]

KH310.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I have the Focal Trio 11be and I don't find them fatiguing. I do have high shelf starting at 1khz -4db you might try EQ first.

I'm surprised they're not more popular around here
I liked the Solo6, i can only imagine how good the Trio 11 are

 

[tifune]

Why are you selling them?

Unfortunately it's just a matter of circumstance. My "critical listening" environment is my work-from-home office, which basically requires vertical positioning around 60-90cm listening distance. It's debatable as to whether an 8" 3-way would sum properly at that distance, not to mention whatever mess would be created by all that horizontal energy hitting my desk. I even bought the grilles thinking i'd use them as L/R mains in my living room, but WAF score was far too low.

 

[MAB]

If you check Gearspace which is the most respectful pro audio forum you can find a consense on Genelec 8xxx being fatiguing and metallic sounding. I must say I also share the same opinion and also 1xxx series being far superior to the 8xxx

I have the 8361A in my studio, they are really great and can be listened to all day. The sister studio to mine has older Genelec mains, we all agree the 8361A are simply better in every regard except for peak SPL. Both are non-fatiguing and wonderful, the concentric drivers make the 8361A so much easier to work with and listen all day.
I read gearspace, mostly to get ideas. The opinions there are difficult to act upon, and if you search that forum you can extract just about any apparent consensus about just about anything. There are lots of really great sounding studio monitors these days, with so many tools to tune them to a room and a particular listening preference, all using measurements. And unlike 20+ years ago there are so many subwoofers available, and ways to integrate them into your system.