Tight accurate midfield monitor pair suggestions

If you can find a pair of used Lipinsky monitors. . .

PMC are worth a Demo!.

Used KCS X-1 exotic.

Ditto klipschfan's suggestion. PMC's are used for mastering in studios. Neutral and accurate speakers in comparison to smeared/expansive/lush midrange of the B&W 805S.

ATC SCM 20 - based on your description this is exactly what you need - used by Telarc and countless other studios. They have enough SPL to do midfield.

Just a comment to add some perspective. In looking through the national yellow pages on-line, there are 8,444 commercially available recording studios listed in the United States. (With no shortage of the listings claiming they are "state of the art.")

You're going to be able to find pretty much any brand of speaker you can think of in use. And, every brand is going to have its fans and detractors.

You didn't mention your volume need. You've got plenty of power with the Rowland, but some speakers are better fits if you want to mix at a 95 or 100 dB average level and still have room left for peaks.

Besides volume, another factor you didn't mention in your post was whether you are mixing mostly amplified/processed music or primarily acoustic. While some studios take whatever walks in the door, others do concentrate on certain types of music.

One last question, any reason you consider the Dynaudios to be nearfield only?

Merlin TSMs are very accurate. Search the archives.
Cheers,

Spencer

thanks everyone so far!
Answers to Mlsstl:
Volume is not a premium. I dont mix at high volumes, and although I dont know exactly the dB at midfield listening, I can casually talk without having to raise my voice at all to talk to the clients while listening at 10-12 ft in front of the speakers.
I have done a large mix of clinets, pretty much everything except the new electrona or rap. Much of the music naurally veers towards rock. So the vital area is the size and presence of the kick, and the accuracy of the bass, and the seperation between the two.
Good question re the dynaudios. Ive used them in my nearfield array for 5 years now, so I'm very comfortable with them there. Ive thought of moving them for a day or 2, maybe I'll do that today.
Again, thanks for evryones time

I can casually talk without having to raise my voice at all to talk to the clients while listening at 10-12 ft in front of the speakers.

At 12 feet back you lose 12 db. Asuuming you want at least 10 db of headroom then you are going to need a decent speaker, preferably with a pro woofer that does not badly compress when driven hard.

If you are judging rock at normal conversation level with your clients then this might be a bit too low a level for bass checks - you'll end up with overly bass heavy mixes unless you can adjust for it in your mind.

You want a speaker with a wide sweetspot and NOT a narrow dispersion monitor like a Dynaudio nearfield.

ATC will do the trick for you - will give a very large sweetspot for you and your clients. A larger Dynaudio or Merlin would work also but you said you don't want a floorstander - so I would not go that way....besides you have three near-fields already.

I'd also seriously consider adding a good tight subwoofer like JL F113 and have everything in room calibrated with a measurement microphone - see my virtual system for calibration plots.

PMC IB2S is another great option but it is way above your budget.

Have you considered Barefoot MM27? Double your budget but they are active so no need for a beefy amp...

Second on the Lipinski's. Stereophile has a review of the 707's on line, most of which applies to the 505's as well.

The new Green Mountain Rio's are in your price range ($2500). Very accurate and musical sounding, time and phase coherent too. Some early sales have been into the pro/studio market. Disclosure: I sell 'em, Departure Audio.

May want to look at the Lenehan ML1. There are a few testimonials from sound engineers on the Lenehan Audio website. You can also inquire and talk to Mike Lenehan about his thoughts regarding using them for your purpose. He is awesome to deal with.

hey thanks for the suggestions. Those Lenehans looke rally interesting to me.
I think i have it narrowed down to the ATC scm20sl; the PMC TB2S+; or these lenehans. So far in the order of Lenehans> PMC > ATC..
Thanks!

If possible, I would try to hear the Induction Dynamics 2-way monitors. I heard them once in Florida and they are very impressive. Just a thought.

Shadorne's suggestion is a good one. You can't go wrong with ATC. Take a look at the Focal monitors too. I have the Twin 6 and they're a wonderful speaker. You can find a used pair for around $2300. Check the Gearslutz website classifieds.

The pro monitors that have been recommended here are all certainly appropriate, although I'd personally choose the Lipinskis only for near field use. If you want to go another way, consider the Ref 3a deCapo. It is essentially a direct coupled mid/bass driver in a ported cabinet (augmented by a tweeter with a single capacitor for protection in lieu of a full blown x-over network). These will compress dynamics and don't offer much bass below mid 40 cycles (depending on your space), but they are also very neutral and revealing.

Marty

thoughts on the Opera Callas.
Can these be in the ballpark?

I've not heard them but the design is rather odd (five tweeters) ...weird... a novelty perhaps?

Second the Merlin TSM.

You would have to stretch your budget a bit, but Devore Fidelity's new 3XL are a great choice at $3750.

I'm going to second Joc3021's recomendation for the GMA Rio.
I'm a mastering Engineer in San Francisco and have been searching for a pair of speakers, I can live with, for the past 3+ years. I'm very familiar with the adam 2.5a and s3a and niether can hold a candle to the Rio. I just finished breaking-in my pair and have been working on my first mastering projects since taking ownership.

They are the TIGHTEST and most ACCURATE pair of two-ways I've heard, By far. FYI, I've auditioned everything the pro-audio market has to offer ATC, Barefoot, Proac, Adam, K&H, PMC, JBL, Genelec, Meyer etc.... and none are as clean or natural sounding as the Rio.

I feel like, for the first time, I'm really hearing what my eq's, compressors, limiters, codecs and different, dithering algorithms are doing to my audio. I'm making eq and compression decisions much more quickly and not second-guesing them. In other words, my quality of work has increased and the length of time it usually takes me has decreased significantly. More free time.

The owner/designer, Roy Johnson is a pleasure to deal with and REALLY knows Scthuff!

If you're anywhere by sf feel free to send me a message and you are welcome to hear my pair.

They are the TIGHTEST and most ACCURATE pair of two-ways I've heard, By far. FYI, I've auditioned everything the pro-audio market has to offer ATC, Barefoot, Proac, Adam, K&H, PMC, JBL, Genelec, Meyer etc.... and none are as clean or natural sounding as the Rio.

You must be one of the first few owners of this new model - would you call this a giant killer? (kind of like the Benchmark DAC1)

Hey Shadrone,
I believe my Rios are the third pair ever made.

I've heard the rio make minced meat out of speakers costing thrice as much, with ease.

So, yes "Giant Killer" indeed!

I think they are one of the best values I've encountered.