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Amphion One18, PMC Result6 or Focal Shape Twin?

EPC

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Budding mix engineer looking to upgrade my monitors!

Due to lockdown I am unable to test these speakers in person, so I'm hoping someone could advise me on which would be the best monitor of choice.

My budget is around £1000 ($1300) per monitor.
I have my eye on the above monitors, but I'm open to other suggestions!

(I currently own Presonus Spectre S6)
 

q3cpma

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1) Listening distance and room size?
2) Subwoofer or not? If yes, is this included in the £2000 budget?
3) Will you do digital room correction yourself?

Anyway, without having the answers to these question and supposing nearfield use, I say: disregard your current choices, they're not very good for their price. What I recommend: Genelec 8030C or 8330A with subwoofer or 8340A/8050B without. Neumann could be a good choice, but I don't see any reason to choose the KH120A over the 8030C and the KH310A is over your budget while not being able to use their MA-1 without their expensive subwoofer.
 
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EPC

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Nearfield
Room size - 4.5m x 3.5m
Subwoofer - I intended to upgrade monitors first, then purchase a sub at a later date, so that is something I'm keeping in mind
Correction - I use Sonarworks

The Amphions have a very low passive cross over.
The Focals have passive radiators, and what seems to be an advanced tweeter design.
The PMCs have new waveguide technology and the extended internal airflow for low end clarity.
What is the specific reason you would advise Genelec over the others?

Also, out of interest, what would you suggest are the flattest, highest quality nearfield monitors regardless of cost?
I know that is a loaded and somewhat difficult to answer question...
I've read most of the tests done on here, and the Genelec 8341s seem to be close to 'perfect'.
Any thoughts?
 

q3cpma

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The Amphions have a very low passive cross over.
The Focals have passive radiators, and what seems to be an advanced tweeter design.
The PMCs have new waveguide technology and the extended internal airflow for low end clarity.
This is marketing, measurements are facts. And those facts points to:
* Amphion being mostly bad and overpriced (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/anyone-heard-amphion.15441, https://www.soundandrecording.de/eq...2-wege-monitor-mit-externer-endstufe-im-test/, https://www.stereophile.com/content/amphion-heliumsup2sup-loudspeaker-measurements).
* Focal being only decent (https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/focal-trio11-be-−-midfield-monitor-im-test/, https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/focal-shape-65-studiomonitore-im-test/, https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/nahfeld-studiomonitor-focal-shape-twin-im-test/).
* PMC being horrendous shite (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...pmc-twenty-21-bookshelf-speaker-review.14442/, https://www.stereophile.com/content/pmc-fact8-signature-loudspeaker-measurements) unless you get to the ridiculously expensive and overpriced stuff.

And this is all third-party, these brands don't provide any official measurements that can't be denied with flowery language later on, unlike Genelec and Neumann that proved themselves honest and transparent (backed by said third-parties).
Also, out of interest, what would you suggest are the flattest, highest quality nearfield monitors regardless of cost?
I know that is a loaded and somewhat difficult to answer question...
I've read most of the tests done on here, and the Genelec 8341s seem to be close to 'perfect'.
Any thoughts?
Indeed, I'd say the Genelec Ones and Neumann's stuff.

In your use case, I'd consider:
* Genelec 8030C + a "cheap" studio subwoofer (e.g. JBL LSR310S or Yamaha HS8S) + keep using Sonarworks
* Genelec 8330A + 7350A + GLM kit (£2600); GLM can be used to correct the monitors even without subwoofer, unlike the Neumanns
* Neumann KH120A + KH750DSP + MA-1 (£2500)

Or if you want to get your last setup:
* Genelec 8341A/8351B (+ 1 or 2 7360A)
 
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EPC

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What sonic difference would you expect from the coax 8341A, compared to the 8340A?

Would you say the 8340A are relatively flat?

Also, can you use the GLM calibration with just one Genelec monitor (for testing mono compatibility), or does it require 2 minimum?
 
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q3cpma

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What sonic difference would you expect from the coax 8331A, compared to the 8340A?

Would you say the 8340A are relatively flat?

Also, can you use the GLM calibration with just one Genelec monitor (for testing mono compatibility), or does it require 2 minimum?
The dispersion improvements (horizontal, vertical and power response) shouldn't be very audible in nearfield, but the distorsion advantages of a 3-way should.

Otherwise, both are extremely flat, even if the 8340A does have a minuscule midrange emphasis centered around ~1.8 kHz, more than probably due to the DSP equalization, as this is joined to a power response dip; GLM might be able to fix this, though.

Pretty sure that GLM can work in mono too.
 
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EPC

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In regards to the GLM, can you calibrate a single monitor, or does it have to calibrated with 2+ (similar to Sonarworks)?
 

q3cpma

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In regards to the GLM, can you calibrate a single monitor, or does it have to calibrated with 2+ (similar to Sonarworks)?
Honestly, I don't know. Some other GLM users can chime in, or you could ask Genelec directly, they're usually fast to answer. But that'd surprise me if they couldn't do mono correction.
 
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EPC

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Thanks for all the advice!

I have one final question...
Do you think it's worth spending the extra money on the 8341A for the 3-way design but sacrificing on tweeter size (3/4 inch), or spending less on the 8350A for more bass response and bigger tweeter, but only 2 way?
What would be the benefit of the 1/4 inch difference if the frequency response is basically the same?
 

q3cpma

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Thanks for all the advice!

I have one final question...
Do you think it's worth spending the extra money on the 8341A for the 3-way design but sacrificing on tweeter size (3/4 inch), or spending less on the 8350A for more bass response and bigger tweeter, but only 2 way?
What would be the benefit of the 1/4 inch difference if the frequency response is basically the same?
Bigger tweeter means bigger power handling but narrower dispersion. 3-way means a lot more:
* Much reduced IMD in the sensible audio band (1-6 kHz), see these measurements of the 8350A and 8331A; the 8331A and 834AA share the same coaxial assembly, even if the 8341A has more potent amplifiers:
Genelec-8350A9.jpg

8331-MLT.jpg

* Smoother power response.
* Reduced harmonic distorsion in general.

On the other hand, the 8350A will have more bass headroom, though, but a subwoofer can always be bought later to solve this (even the 7350A would help a great deal).
But be aware that the 8350A needs at least 75 cm to you: see https://www.genelec.com/correct-monitors
 
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EPC

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Do you think the 8351B is the best bang for buck out of all monitors?
Is there anything else that would rival the quality?
 
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EPC

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What’s your current monitor setup?
 
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EPC

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Do you have opinion on the Neumann KH310?
I’m just looking at their lineup now, and the price of entry based on specs, seems a slightly less then Genelec..
 

andreasmaaan

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Do you have opinion on the Neumann KH310?
I’m just looking at their lineup now, and the price of entry based on specs, seems a slightly less then Genelec..

Also an excellent monitor. Was measured by ASR.

But aren't all the speakers we're talking about now way over budget? :)
 

q3cpma

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Do you have opinion on the Neumann KH310?
I’m just looking at their lineup now, and the price of entry based on specs, seems a slightly less then Genelec..
Might be the best one for you, as the advantages of the Ones over the KH310A aren't really to be found in nearfield; but only in nearfield.
 
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