People often ask me about monitor speakers. For years I used Yamaha NS10Ms and a very powerful Crown Amp. I also had a pair of large Alesis Monitor Two’s. My own opinion is you need a really powerful Amp to drive any speaker. That’s what you pay for and that’s what makes a speaker sound good. I’ve been slowly saving a bundle of cash to build a all new studio here in NYC and it’s definitely time to make the NS10Ms secondary helpers. So money no object what would I get? Adam S3X’s! I’ve heard them a few places and in each room they were majorly tight, bassy, bright and beautiful. They have a pair hooked up at Guitar Center on 14th St. Would I spend almost $7,000 on speakers? I purchased my NS10Ms in 1995 from Sam Ash Pro. That’s 15 years of use and they are still going. 15 Years divided by 7k = $39 a month. Who need a new car anyway? In the end I don’t know if I will bite but it’s always nice to have a Lamborghini to dream about.

“With 800-plus watts of onboard amplification, the system is capable of SPLs exceeding 126 dB, offering plenty of headroom, which adds to the SX3-H’s superb transient response. Despite all that punch, any amp noise was almost undetectable and the SX3-Hs provided long sessions without listening fatigue. And besides simply sounding right, mixes made on the SX3-Hs translated effortlessly to other systems.” – Mix

Here’s a few links to dream on: S3X at Mercenary, Gearslutz thread, and a Mix review.

I always held Event monitors in high regard. My brother had a pair of nice sounding 20/20s and I’ve always lusted after the highly regarded ASP8′s. This past July in Las Vegas, Event announced their new flagship speaker the Opal. As with most active speakers with high powered amps these are not bargain priced (about $3000 for a pair). The claimed frequency response is 30 Hz to 10k Hz and they can handle 1,000 Watts. They incorporate a lot of new technology and some of it sounds like stuff you would find in a Audi R8 such as a carbon fiber speaker cone! As a 15 year+ Yamaha NS10M user I am pleased that the Opal’s entire HF unit (tweeter) can be rotated so the speaker can lay on it’s side.

“Many remarked on the clarity of the critical mid-bass regions, while the upper mids in the range of the crossover and the highs seemed nicely balanced. And there were plenty of comments on the well-defined imaging within the stereo soundstage.” – mixonline.com

Your studio is only as good as it’s weakest link. I always say spend your money on good sound treatment first and once you got that out of the way spend high on speakers. Try and find a dealer with a good return policy because speaker taste can be quite subjective.

Read the forum thread about the new Opals on Gearslutz: click here
Ty Ford’s Opal Road Trip: click here