Best high end monitors at around 6000-9000 EUR a pair

[Egoquaero]

Dears,
this should be my first post here, lovely community!
I'm about to get a pair of nice studio monitors.
It'd be great if you can help me choose THE ones.

Setup:
- My room is not the biggest but it's properly treated (all corners of the room and early reflections are treated with GIK acoustics panels, bass tritraps and soffits)
- Size is around 4*6 meters (but I might move to somewhere bigger soon). I would mostly listen to them at round 80-90db. 90-100db if I want to party hard.
- Listening distance around 1,8-2 meters.
- I own two Klipsch R-115SW (15 inch consumer subwoofers)
- I own a Minidsp SHD and I'll use it for room correction and integration with the two subs

Who I am and what I want from these monitors:
- I'm more of a "cut the bs" audiophile (though I hate this term.. who doesn't?) who just realized that studio monitors are hifi speakers with better bang for the buck (not always true, but most of time). This is never clear in the audiophile community... Nobody in the audiophile world wants you to know that. There must be a conspiracy…

Audiophile magazine reviewers hardly ever mention studio monitors, while spending so much time bull****ting over uber expensive amplifiers (or cables or dacs or whatever) with magical properties. I'm just quite fed up with all this noise/nonsense.
- I'll start to produce some music as well (I know that these monitors are overkill for someone who's just starting up with music production.. But hey again, I'll be mostly using them for listening)
- Clarity, transparency, neutrality (whatever these terms might mean) are important, but I guess at this price range, they should all be sufficient at this job


IMPORTANT THINGS:
- I like the impact, the slam of big drivers giving you vibrations all over the body
- I like big sounds (I like to be immersed in music, possibly with a tab of lucy

)
- That's why I would skip over small boxes with woofers smaller than 7 inches (I guess size does matter). Even if they're the most accurate monitors of the world, I don't care, I want physical energy

A few models popped up during my short research:
- Focal Trio11 BE (6600 EUR) (10 inch woofer) (30 Hz-40 kHz)
- Neumann KH420 (7300 EUR) (10 inch woofer) (26 Hz to 22 kHz ± 3 dB)
- EVE SC3012 (8600 EUR) (12 inch woofer) (25 Hz to 21 kHz ± 3 dB)
- Adam S5V (12000 EUR, probably too much money) (12 inch woofer) (25Hz–50kHz)
- Please feel free to recommend others!


Few questions:
1) The Focal flagship Trio11 BE is brand new, I think they launched in 2019. The Neumann KH420 are older (2014 release maybe?) but does this mean anything? Audio manufacturers don't seem to reinvent the wheel every other year.
2) Eve SC3012's got a good price for having a 12 inch woofer. I wonder… Does the bigger woofer really translate into a bigger slam for me? (in comparison to the 10 inch woofer Focal and Neumann)
3) I have a few doubts about subwoofer integration. As you know I own two Klipsch 15 inch subs. They're definitely not studio grade subs, but to be honest I'm not a sophiscated 30 hz vibration sommelier. So my main concern is… how should I set up the sub crossover? I know that normally people would set up around 70-80hz, but I think it doesn't make much sense in my case, since my mains can dig so low and so cleanly. I just wonder if it makes sense to set the crossover around 35-40hz, so that the subs will only take care of the lowest frequencies, leaving the rest to the mains.

So yeah.. There you have it. I want studio monitor precision, neutrality and big speaker energy/slam. Any other suggestions?

Thank you so much for your help, guys!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

JBL 708p? specs for a single monitor:

Frequency Response	-1.5 dB @ 45Hz – 23kHz
	Frequency Range	35Hz – 36 kHz
	Max SPL	(80 Hz - 20 kHz) >108 dB SPL / 1m
	Maximum Peak SPL	(80 Hz - 20 kHz) >114 dB SPL / 1m

JBL M2 would a slam dunk, probably better than all of your other options, but at 2x money.

 

[John Parks]

Woah! I can't help you with professional monitors, but I know there are some on AH that can (I know @KEW has talked about Focal studio monitors before) but I REALLY like your budget and am curious to read the responses!

BTA, I care about music reproduction, so yes, I am an Audiophile and I proudly wear the Scarlet A in public!

 

[Truthslayer]

I think when your spending between $6000-$9000 Euros on speakers, you really owe it to yourself to get out an do some auditioning. Even if you have to dedicate an entire weekend or several weekends and possibly drive several hundred miles (kilometers) to find some shops that carry what you are interested in.

You can get all the recommendations possible, but we all hear slightly different and have slightly different taste when it comes to the way a speaker sounds. Spending that chunk of change is a big commitment. So you should really spend the time in making your decision with your ears.

 

[Egoquaero]

@BoredSysAdmin: cheers! Thanks for the recommendations. The 708p are kinda "small". The M2 are so sexy! But to be honest, too much over budget
EDIT: I thought that the M2 were really expensive, but they're 6k USD actually.. doable then! Let me check if they have them in Europe somewhere.
@john: nice one! Though I'm not so sure I can wear the same for prolonged time in public haha I just love music... the term audiophile brings too many responsibilities on the table hahaha

 

[Swerd]

Just a few points to consider:

• You want a speaker for home use, in a medium sized room, with a listening distance 1.8-2 m or 5.9 to 6.6 feet. Those studio monitors you mentioned are optimized for near field or mid field listening. Maybe you would be better off if you looked for speakers optimized for far field listening. With far field listening and larger rooms, mid range and higher frequency off-axis performance and the resulting imaging capability, become much more important than in smaller rooms like recording studios.
  
  
• The models you mentioned are expensive because they include built-in amplification. Do you require that?
  
  
• They are all European made. Here in the USA, we are unlikely to be familiar with most of them.
  
  
• You place too much emphasis on woofer size and not on woofer performance. Look for the low cut off frequency, often expressed as F3, the frequency at which the response drops off by 3 dB.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

if you want more slam, you'd want to add sub

 

[Verdinut]

I did not have the opportunity to hear either the Neumann or the Eve monitors, but according to some reviews those two products seem to be excellent monitors which have low distortion and a neutral frequency response. They will easily expose imperfections in source material. That represents the character of a good monitor speaker.

As already stated by Truthslayer, you should listen to them both before making a choice. Preferably, if you could rent a pair of each one to try them in your listening room, that would be ideal.

Good luck in your search and keep us posted on your final decision and eventually your impressions on the one you purchased.

 

[slipperybidness]

@BoredSysAdmin: cheers! Thanks for the recommendations. The 708p are kinda "small". The M2 are so sexy! But to be honest, too much over budget
EDIT: I thought that the M2 were really expensive, but they're 6k USD actually.. doable then! Let me check if they have them in Europe somewhere.
@john: nice one! Though I'm not so sure I can wear the same for prolonged time in public haha I just love music... the term audiophile brings too many responsibilities on the table hahaha

Is that $6k per pair?

I think it is more likely $6k per individual speaker.

 

[Egoquaero]

Just a few points to consider:

• You want a speaker for home use, in a medium sized room, with a listening distance 1.8-2 m or 5.9 to 6.6 feet. Those studio monitors you mentioned are optimized for near field or mid field listening. Maybe you would be better off if you looked for speakers optimized for far field listening. With far field listening and larger rooms, mid range and higher frequency off-axis performance and the resulting imaging capability, become much more important than in smaller rooms like recording studios.

Well, most of them are midfield monitors and they go well beyond 2 meters (6.6 feet) listening distance.

• The models you mentioned are expensive because they include built-in amplification. Do you require that?

• I don't necessarily require active amplification, but I feel like this way I get more quality sound for the money. Buying amplifiers separately to power passive speakers... going through all the black magic of matching speakers and amp... I don't know.. I just feel I'm better off with high end monitors that cut the whole process away. I don't think that Focal, Neumann and these companies use random or not suitable amplifiers for their flagship monitors.

• You place too much emphasis on woofer size and not on woofer performance. Look for the low cut off frequency, often expressed as F3, the frequency at which the response drops off by 3 dB.

• The woofer size in the absence of other information gives me at least a sense of the energy delivered and the size of the sound. I actually put F3 information for many of the speakers I listed

 

[Verdinut]

• They are all European made. Here in the USA, we are unlikely to be familiar with most of them.

The Neumann is sold in Canada and is also available in the US:

Neumann KH 420 - 3-Way Active Studio Monitor

Buy Neumann KH 420 - 3-Way Active Studio Monitor featuring 10" Long Throw Woofer, 3" Fabric Dome Midrange, 1" Alloy Fabric Dome Tweeter, 295/130/130W Class AB Amplifiers, Flow-Optimized Bass Reflex Ports, Elliptical Math Modeled Dispersion, Fast-Acting Independent Thermo Limiters, Acoustical...

www.bhphotovideo.com

 

[Egoquaero]

Is that $6k per pair?

I think it is more likely $6k per individual speaker.

I hoped they were around 12k USD a pair (around 10k euros) so that I could stretch my budget a bit. But actually in Europe I can't quite find them at this price.. All the offers seem to be over 15k Eur. Intense loathing for American speakers right now !

 

[lovinthehd]

I like the JBL M2 idea, but you've got two big names missing from your list: ATC and Genelec. Both european, too.

 

[Egoquaero]

ATC and Genelec... I know... but which models?
I feel they may offer less bang for the buck in my price range compared to other brands. Look, if my budget was around 20k, I would have probably gone for some ATC speakers

 

[lovinthehd]

ATC and Genelec... I know... but which models?
I feel they may offer less bang for the buck in my price range compared to other brands. Look, if my budget was around 20k, I would have probably gone for some ATC speakers

I have no idea what prices are like where you are to begin with nor am I shopping for such, so I am of little help in general let alone specific models and prices! Just thought I'd throw out two of the more respected names in the field.

 

[everettT]

JBL 708p? specs for a single monitor:

Frequency Response	-1.5 dB @ 45Hz – 23kHz
	Frequency Range	35Hz – 36 kHz
	Max SPL	(80 Hz - 20 kHz) >108 dB SPL / 1m
	Maximum Peak SPL	(80 Hz - 20 kHz) >114 dB SPL / 1m

JBL M2 would a slam dunk, probably better than all of your other options, but at 2x money.

Fabulous speaker. I'd fathom to say the most R&D of a speaker line ever.

 

[Verdinut]

ATC and Genelec... I know... but which models?
I feel they may offer less bang for the buck in my price range compared to other brands. Look, if my budget was around 20k, I would have probably gone for some ATC speakers

If you are referring to the ATC SCM100ASL, it's published frequency response is no match with either the Neumann or the Eve:

ATC SCM100ASL: +/- 2dB = 65-17 kHz (32 - 22 kHz (Low cut-off @-6dB, free-standing)

Neumann KH420: +/- 2dB = 28 - 20 kHz (26 - 22 kHz =/- 3dB)

EVE SC3012 : +/- 3dB = 25 - 21 kHz

EDIT: With either the Neumann or the Eve, you would most likely not need a subwoofer.

 

[Egoquaero]

Yeah exactly..
I feel like the Neumann KH 420's got the best price value ratio.

Neumann KH420

Neumann are known for producing outstanding microphones, and their new flagship monitors are no less impressive!

www.soundonsound.com

These guys at Neumann must be so OCD in designing their production processes to achieve this high manufacturing consistency.
"Neumann’s consistency graph, taken from a sample of 2500 monitors.
The graph shows that, between 40Hz and 12kHz, 50 percent of the 2500 tested KH monitors are within ±0.2dB of the median (cyan), and 80 percent are between ±0.35dB (blue). These are astonishing results of precision and consistency. Even the remaining ‘wayward’ 10 percent of production units are still within ±0.9dB (magenta). From these results it seems easy to justify Neumann’s claim of every KH monitor being ‘pair-matched’ to every other monitor of the same type within very tight tolerances"

 

[DigitalDawn]

Triad Gold Monitors ($3500 each) are amazing speakers. Triad just won best of show with their Gold Monitor system at the CEDIA show in September. I personally own them and love their silky-smooth Scan-Speak drivers.

Monitors – Triad Speakers Online

www.triadspeakers.com

We use Triad speakers exclusively. Triad is a Portland-based company that hand builds speakers in just about every configuration you can imagine. They will even color match the speakers and grills to match the paint on your walls.

Triad has In-Wall and angled InCeiling speakers and subwoofers that work amazingly well for spaces in which you have no floor space, or when you wish to hide the speakers from view.

While not a household name, Triad is a favorite of custom installers and has won numerous industry awards. The company is also a prototype partner for Dolby, helping to design speaker systems for immersive audio.

Let me know if we can help.

 

[Verdinut]

Yeah exactly..
I feel like the Neumann KH 420's got the best price value ratio.

Neumann KH420

Neumann are known for producing outstanding microphones, and their new flagship monitors are no less impressive!

www.soundonsound.com

These guys at Neumann must be so OCD in designing their production processes to achieve this high manufacturing consistency.
"Neumann’s consistency graph, taken from a sample of 2500 monitors.
The graph shows that, between 40Hz and 12kHz, 50 percent of the 2500 tested KH monitors are within ±0.2dB of the median (cyan), and 80 percent are between ±0.35dB (blue). These are astonishing results of precision and consistency. Even the remaining ‘wayward’ 10 percent of production units are still within ±0.9dB (magenta). From these results it seems easy to justify Neumann’s claim of every KH monitor being ‘pair-matched’ to every other monitor of the same type within very tight tolerances"
View attachment 32745

IMO, the Neumann would be the one to go for.