Oh I agree - give me more of something I appreciate. I like depth... but in my own experience I didn't think the ATC active speakers I owned for a bit gave me "more" of it, so I find the Radio France note interesting, albeit not quite matching my own experience. Had I read it *before* listening to the speakers may have changed my perception... :-D
I know all about the measured merits of the Genelecs, but I find them hard to look at... :-D
I appreciate depth too, when it's there in the concert hall, but when it's less there, the speaker has to translate it. We are talking about accuracy in the recording process, not personal preferences in listening.
For the mastering studios, of course the rooms are treated (it's visible of the pics you published) and the speakers equalized (maybe not heavily, I grant you). I know no good studio with no room treatment and some EQ, only hardcore audiophiles never equalize nor use tonality knobs-the myth of straight wire with gain, you know that kind of BS.
There is absolutely no ATC bashing in my comments, nor in the reactions of Radio France engineers, they never said and will never say ATCs are bad or crap, Radio France woudn't have selected several models of this brand after testing and hearing if they were "bad" ; they only consider they're not the ideal tool for recording live classical music. This is not bashing at all, but an apprecition made after extensive experience.
And once again, I myself like much the sound of Atcs i've heard : a small one -which refernce I don't remember, it was a long time ago (I was quite surprised by the negative ASR test of the 19, because the small ATC i heard -maybe it wasn't the 19 but it had about the same size- was one the best mini monitor I ever listened too, Oh they don't put out massive SPL and the low end is on the lean side, that's right, but they're not intended to be listened too at long distance nor to play hard rock at "realistic" levels, but for a string quartet, a harpsichord or a lyric recital, they shine out marvelously, no matter the measurement, but Amir lives in America, he likes listen out loud and low. I'm french, I like chamber music and I don't like bass that much nor listening loud, different cultures, different perceptions- I also listened to the ATC SCM 50 and the 100 -or 150, i don't remember- i liked them a lot too, a little bit less the scm 40 passive but they weren't bad, they just impressed me less than the other models).
As for the Genelecs, I never heard the 1031, but the 1030 yes, a good friend of mine who sadly passed away last year had them in his home studio, and also the 1032 in Radio France and The Ones 8351 and 8361 in another studio, i liked a lot all these Genelec and never found they sound harsh when the recording wasn't harsh. Maybe they're not the best in abslute terms but who is and which "absolute terms" means ?
It's not me who is talking "absolute", but experience, as a music lover who knows some good pros. This is my own experienceon Atcs and Genelecs, for what it's worth, as is yours.