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Which speakers are the Classical Music Pros using?
- Thread starter tuga
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Dvass13
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The hi-res record label trptk based out of the Netherlands has a pretty sweet setup for their mastering studio. They have five KEF Blade Two, Hegel H30 amps, Merging Technologies ADs/DACs, Furutech cabling, and the list goes on...
https://trptk.com/studio
https://trptk.com/studio
It seems to me that the focus of this post was to counter the hate B&Ws get in this forum (rightfullly or not, is up to everyone to think), by showing
the preference of famous, world-renowned studios.
Noting some speakers, (mostly from the list of https://www.billboard.com/photos/7997296/top-recording-studios-2017) this list of famous classical and not studios
Abbey studios: BWs
metropolis: PMC
Recordplant studios: Augspurgers
Electriclady studios: Augspurgers, ATCs
Eastwest studios: ATCs, Dynaudio's
Criteria studios: Augspurgers, Genelecs
Airstudios: Dynaudio
Capitol: PMC
BernieGrundman mastering Tannoys
Sterling sound: ATC
Masterdisc studios: Duntechs (..)
Powerstations.nyc: Altec, Genelec, Urei's (..)
Providing some extrapolate discussion on OPs (assumingly by me) point on lack of ASR popular speakers (no JBLs or Harman speakers), and the fact that many of these speakers would get probably a decapitated ASR review (Looking at PMC, BW), i would note that:
- Most of these speaker brands used are a result of partnerships/contract. However, it is extremely naive that a huge studio would pick a subpar system to work with.
- Piggybacking the above with a hot take: Is studio success (as indicated by the bands/title success) related to equipment and specifically speaker performance (whatever that is, on/off axis, dynamics, phase etc..) ? Maybe not a directly correlated, but i would expect a strong relation to exist
- Studio systems may have slightly different priorities that home systems. Dynamics should play more important role that directivity, considering that their are considerably more ac. damp that homes.
- I believe that many/most mastering/mixing pros will still prioritize their subjective preference (in comb. with their room) ahead of measurements.
- With all the spread of acoustics knowledge from the internet and the nowadays cheap tools to perform measurements, i get we have reached a paradox where sometimes amateurs (ASR included) will put more weight on a speaker's objective performance than a professional whose work is critically impacted by it.
the preference of famous, world-renowned studios.
Noting some speakers, (mostly from the list of https://www.billboard.com/photos/7997296/top-recording-studios-2017) this list of famous classical and not studios
Abbey studios: BWs
metropolis: PMC
Recordplant studios: Augspurgers
Electriclady studios: Augspurgers, ATCs
Eastwest studios: ATCs, Dynaudio's
Criteria studios: Augspurgers, Genelecs
Airstudios: Dynaudio
Capitol: PMC
BernieGrundman mastering Tannoys
Sterling sound: ATC
Masterdisc studios: Duntechs (..)
Powerstations.nyc: Altec, Genelec, Urei's (..)
Providing some extrapolate discussion on OPs (assumingly by me) point on lack of ASR popular speakers (no JBLs or Harman speakers), and the fact that many of these speakers would get probably a decapitated ASR review (Looking at PMC, BW), i would note that:
- Most of these speaker brands used are a result of partnerships/contract. However, it is extremely naive that a huge studio would pick a subpar system to work with.
- Piggybacking the above with a hot take: Is studio success (as indicated by the bands/title success) related to equipment and specifically speaker performance (whatever that is, on/off axis, dynamics, phase etc..) ? Maybe not a directly correlated, but i would expect a strong relation to exist
- Studio systems may have slightly different priorities that home systems. Dynamics should play more important role that directivity, considering that their are considerably more ac. damp that homes.
- I believe that many/most mastering/mixing pros will still prioritize their subjective preference (in comb. with their room) ahead of measurements.
- With all the spread of acoustics knowledge from the internet and the nowadays cheap tools to perform measurements, i get we have reached a paradox where sometimes amateurs (ASR included) will put more weight on a speaker's objective performance than a professional whose work is critically impacted by it.
One further comment is that in many (most?) studios, any loudspeakers of quality monitoring standard will sit behind an equaliser to compensate for any frequency response anomalies. Consequently, I would expect the current B&W HF rise to be equalised flat, as well as any other errors. Already equalised 'speakers like the ME Geithain won't need it, but pretty much all passives will, and many actives.
S
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DSJR
Major Contributor
An ex-Decca mastering engineer pal of mine (he left Decca UK when the Belsize Road concern closed and the Decca tape store and archive vaults was moved out of town) told me their B&W 801's and later M801's were basically given to them by B&W. He 'inherited' his 801's when the 'M801' series were introduced - his work power amp was a large HH MOS-FET I remember - V800 I think). Some Polygram 'pop' stuff was mastered in adjacent rooms and the main chap there used NS1000's. Abbey Road were delighted to use ATC 150A's many years back I was told until the 'B&W Invasion' but no idea if either of these were purchased or not.
Old 801's in a modern domestic setting can sound very impressive, even if not lifted off the floor as they were in said pal's mastering room (he turned the stands on their sides to gain some needed extra height), but I remember disliking the N801's when I heard them as it was all bass and lower mids, the 'presence' range kind-of missing - these in a large space well clear of walls and long before my ear infections which have left their scars..
Old 801's in a modern domestic setting can sound very impressive, even if not lifted off the floor as they were in said pal's mastering room (he turned the stands on their sides to gain some needed extra height), but I remember disliking the N801's when I heard them as it was all bass and lower mids, the 'presence' range kind-of missing - these in a large space well clear of walls and long before my ear infections which have left their scars..
Last edited:
andymok
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Skywalker Sound
Large
Allen Sides / Ocean Way Custom Monitor System L, C, R
Mid and Near Field
B&W Nautilus 802 L, C, R, L/S, R/S
Tannoy SGM10B w/ Mastering Lab Crossovers
Tannoy PBM 8 Limpet (powered) L, C, R, L/S, R/S
M&K MPS 2510 (powered) L, C, R, L/S, R/S
Meyer Sound Labs 833
Meyer HD1
ATC 20 (powered)
Genelec 1030A
Yamaha NS10m
Neumann 120A
Subwoofers B&W
ASW 4000 subwoofers (powered) (3)
Tannoy PS115 (self powered)
M&K MPS 5310 (self powered) (2)
Surround M&K S100B (ambient in wall for film mixing)
Not speakers, but a bit of trivia that has stuck with me for a long time now is that Wu-Tang Clan (or did) use Chord amplifiers in their studios: https://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/701chord/index.html
I am not sure how to distinguish which studios are doing exclusively classical or which studios from my list do not do classical/orchestral music at all. So, i expanded the list a bit, which does not disprove your point IMO. Are you implying a connection between B&W and classical exclusively?
No JBL or Revel but hard to find in the UK and maybe the rest of Europe too.
I am considering upgrading my surround system to use it for music as well as film, though it seems a bit extravagant since my stereo stuff is good and I am getting old.
Here in the UK I am looking at Genelec or Neumann.
The US models popular with this forum are hard to audition however potentially nice they mat be.
I am considering upgrading my surround system to use it for music as well as film, though it seems a bit extravagant since my stereo stuff is good and I am getting old.
Here in the UK I am looking at Genelec or Neumann.
The US models popular with this forum are hard to audition however potentially nice they mat be.
Hi sprellemannen,
At first I mistook the equipment list in your profile post ("Revel Ultima Salon2, Benchmark AHB2 x 2," etc.) as a list of the gear in the photograph. itself." And I imagined that the big Pass Labs amps were using the Benchmarks amps as footers...
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The problem is that EQ can't correct the directivity / sound power problems of newer B&Ws, older ones like 801 Matrix were very good though.
