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Post by Tbone81 on Jan 9, 2023 18:37:54 GMT -6
This is thread isn't helping me (or my wallet) resist a new set of monitors. I've been eyeballing a set of ATC scm12's for a while, looking at some zero percent financing at the moment...goddamn you guys.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 9, 2023 18:46:45 GMT -6
Fine, you're right. I just wanna say I'm pretty shocked by these KH310's. I don't want to get too much into those monitors specifically, I just want to comment on the the cost/value balance of high(er) end monitors as a concept. Quick summary... the cost value is actually pretty linear. First, some personal opinions. Grain Of SaltWhenever people have said things like "buy the best monitors you can afford" I've always taken it with a big grain of salt. In my head I'm kind of rolling my eyes and saying "yeah, you say that about literally every piece of gear." And in most cases it turns out not to be true. Take microphones for example. In my years as a sideman I've used pretty much every mic you can imagine outside of the really esoteric stuff. In my years doing production work I've acquired a pretty solid mic collection. My favorite microphone is my custom built Signal Art 48 that is just awesome. It costs a couple grand it sounds like it. My second favorite mic is my Lewitt 440. It cost a few hundred bucks and sounds like it's worth 10x that amount. In the middle is UT FET47 (I'm seeing a pattern here on mic design...), $800 and worth every penny. But on the other hand I've bought expensive mics that are like "huh? what's the big deal" and I've acquired supposed hidden gem mics that are like "this is not a bargain, it's just cheap and bad." Enter The KH310So when I unboxed the new monitors I did so assuming it was about 50/50 that I would be re-boxing them and shipping them back in a few days. I just couldn't believe that monitors that cost 5x what they were replacing could actually be 5x better in any tangible way. And boy was I wrong. This is just a different game. It's like getting glasses for the first time. I remember when I got glasses when I was ten years old I said to my mom "I had no idea what leaves actually looked like." This is the same thing. Some examples... - My various hardware compressors sound completely different from each other. Even the cheaper ones I used for "transparency" like the RNC and the ART VLA. Two weeks ago I would have said they both basically have no sound but they can grab stuff and control it. Not so. - I found out that I don't have a single delay plugin that can give me transparent delay to do things like build my own room effects. I had no idea these plugins were adding so much tone where I wasn't asking for it. Turns out what I really wanted was the bog simple Apple AUDelay (I'm chaining it into a tape sim so I needed something ultra-clean). What I thought was clean was not at all. If you're still skeptical, read thisHere's the biggest example of all. I was scoping out the Tegeler Creme RC just a few days before getting these monitors. My feeling was that it made a difference but that, honestly, I was having trouble hearing it. I could hear what the Creme was doing but I wasn't sure what the big deal was. So I cued up one of the reviews I had just watched a few days prior and watched it again. While the reviewer was giving his opening spiel, I was reading something else and only half paying attention. The music started and I still was reading something else. Then... "Whoa, what happened? Did something just come unplugged?" Something happened to the music in the review that literally made me jerk my head up and say "what the hell just happened?" What happened? Dude hit the bypass button on the unit he was testing. Are you getting this? A hardware review that four days ago felt like the hardware was barely different than the bypass was now so distinct that it grabbed my ear even what I wasn't listening for it. If that doesn't say it all, what could? And oh yeah, I also have two sets of very premium headphones I switch between, that's not the issue. I am now "monitor first" guySo the next time someone tells me they've got money to put in their studio my advice is going to be this. And I can't believe I'm now one of "those" guys but... I guess I am now. Treat your room and then spend all your money on monitors. Like... every penny. Use whatever mics you already own and your stock plugins, you can iterate on all that later. If I ran into money trouble, I'd rather be left with my laptop and these monitors than literally any other piece of gear I own. What can I say? I've seen the light! Wait till you demo a Trinnov  310’s in your room would be interesting, from memory the wave guides on the Amphions are a bit deeper, so they give you a bit more pattern control as you go lower in theory, but I think the tweet in the Amphions is crossed higher so the wave guides on th 310’s might actually have more control. You could probably get by with the 310’s and no sub, but I’ll bet you would miss the ability to have some thump. You would probably need to set the 310’s a little further back but it would be fun to try in your room. Looking at a picture of the 310’s ( I always picture the 3 way genies when I think 310’s I think that wave guide on the mids is more to keep control above the x-over, but still give into GAS and try them, like maybe in May when I’m in town😎 |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2023 18:48:25 GMT -6
Hell yeah new monitor day! New drivers and amps that haven't begun their death march yet! Part of it isn't that you're getting a better speaker, you're getting a not broken speaker which is why all these used monitor prices are bogus. I think the KRK expensive 6" woofer models are better monitors than the KH 120 and 310... WHILE THEY LAST. The tweeters burn out, killing high frequency detail, and the plate amps will break in a couple years on the KRKs. The tweeter was probably cooked long before your woofer was which is why the KH310 seem like such a big upgrade. The KH310 will last until the plate amps give out or the heavily limited woofer cooks itself playing back kicks or resonances. christopher often the cheaper monitors or the passive monitors present more info than the expensive active ones. Not just only the info you need. JBL didn't turn on built in limiter for the 305's chip amp so it gets louder but more distorted in the low mids than most smaller expensive monitors. Even the Yamahas are more limited. Those cheap little JBLs will just play until the drivers crap out while more expensive small active monitors like all the 6" genelecs and the genelec wannabe neumanns simply won't let the woofer get louder. Dan without trying brings up something about most speakers DSP that always bugs me, in most DSP set ups you can set up a limiter after each crossover point, but you can’t link them. So if you key the LF limiter you can keep pushing the HF and MF and get this strange mix perspective. I know they are there for driver protection but still it wouldn’t be hard in DSP to give me a link / key option. Instead what I find myself and others doing is lowering the threshold on the input limiter so it kicks in a little earlier, limiting your overall SPL. Now besides this what I would love to see someone do is give me a heat sensor for each driver so I could key a true expander and compensate for power compression. Even on the older model analog "Neumann" aka "Klein und Hummel" aka Sennheiser and Genelec 6" monitors simply collapse when you turn up the monitor. They stop getting louder and get fuzzy. Sennheiser has a soft clipper into a limiter on the woofers so you just at first lose all detail and then it stops getting louder. The digital monstrosity that is the Kiis have a sliding dsp limiter. So on anything with a nice kick, you lose all detail in the low end and the rest of it isn't very precise sounding either if you're familiar with the mix despite how it's advertised. |
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Jan 9, 2023 18:48:55 GMT -6
This is thread isn't helping me (or my wallet) resist a new set of monitors. I've been eyeballing a set of ATC scm12's for a while, looking at some zero percent financing at the moment...goddamn you guys. Yeah but but with 12’s you need to budget for at least a modded Adcom. |
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Post by Tbone81 on Jan 9, 2023 19:00:01 GMT -6
This is thread isn't helping me (or my wallet) resist a new set of monitors. I've been eyeballing a set of ATC scm12's for a while, looking at some zero percent financing at the moment...goddamn you guys. Yeah but but with 12’s you need to budget for at least a modded Adcom. Already got the Adcom my friend! Its powering my lowly NHT SuperOnes. The difficult part is finding someplace to demo monitors. |
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Post by christopher on Jan 9, 2023 19:01:22 GMT -6
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jan 9, 2023 19:06:33 GMT -6
The 310 retail for around $7500 cdn plus tax and I can see a used pair for $4500, but is just not the right time for me:) Killing the new monitor hype train a little bit because hey new monitors are great and all but 7500 for these new is ridiculous and most of that price is is just the Neumann brand name. Sennheiser jacked the price up far beyond what they're worth in many countries. They use generic Chinese drivers. The amps like most active monitors aren't good either. You used to be able to get them for 3k in the USA which is what sold pairs but for 7500 you're in Genelec and ATC territory which are more reliable, have more detail, more volume, and way better customer service for the jacked up prices. It's getting even worse. Sennheiser now wants to sell the 6" woofer KH150 monitor for 3k in the USA advertising a bunch of bullshit like DSP crossovers. Guess what? the cheapest possible stuff has DSP crossovers too because they're cheaper.
But for similar money you can get:
The old Dynaudio BM6a for 2200 still, the drivers are better, and any tech who can read a service manual can fix the amps. The Neumanns are wannabe Genelecs and 2k gets you real Genelec 8040s new and 8050 (bass and volume but crossover dip) are a little over 3k.
3k in the usa gets you the ATC SCM12 + a beefy power amp.
Barefoot Footprints. The hip hop guys love these. The woofers get loud when you turn them up.
4k gets you the Hedd type 20s on discount. I paid $4400 open box. Must be extra brutal in Canada. I know this dumb but I hate the design of the Genelecs. Could never look at those 8 hours a night. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jan 9, 2023 19:13:01 GMT -6
Killing the new monitor hype train a little bit because hey new monitors are great and all but 7500 for these new is ridiculous and most of that price is is just the Neumann brand name. Sennheiser jacked the price up far beyond what they're worth in many countries. They use generic Chinese drivers. The amps like most active monitors aren't good either. You used to be able to get them for 3k in the USA which is what sold pairs but for 7500 you're in Genelec and ATC territory which are more reliable, have more detail, more volume, and way better customer service for the jacked up prices. It's getting even worse. Sennheiser now wants to sell the 6" woofer KH150 monitor for 3k in the USA advertising a bunch of bullshit like DSP crossovers. Guess what? the cheapest possible stuff has DSP crossovers too because they're cheaper.
But for similar money you can get:
The old Dynaudio BM6a for 2200 still, the drivers are better, and any tech who can read a service manual can fix the amps. The Neumanns are wannabe Genelecs and 2k gets you real Genelec 8040s new and 8050 (bass and volume but crossover dip) are a little over 3k.
3k in the usa gets you the ATC SCM12 + a beefy power amp.
Barefoot Footprints. The hip hop guys love these. The woofers get loud when you turn them up.
4k gets you the Hedd type 20s on discount. I paid $4400 open box. Must be extra brutal in Canada. I know this dumb but I hate the design of the Genelecs. Could never look at those 8 hours a night. But the point really isn't the KH310's, the point is the higher end monitor. Could be SCM12's, Footprints (also looks to me like an evil robot, ymmv), Hedd's or whatever. Whatever anyone's preference, my recent observation is that getting up into that slightly thinner air actually pays off. Where the diminishing return is, who knows? Not me. But until I get another lucky chunk of mailbox money, I won't have the capital to make another big $5k - $7k outlay all at once and I'm glad I used this one on monitoring! |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 9, 2023 19:23:16 GMT -6
That’s Cdn, you are most likely used to buying in the us with usd ! Even when we buy retail, we have still still typically paid more in cdn $ thsn you pay in usd, purchasing power, currency exchange, different duties/taxes. Also, us retailers will typically go after your business more competitively. Cdn gov’t keeps our $ devalued vs usd to promote exports, good for parts of the economy, not so great for Cdn’s buying in the us and importing ! |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 9, 2023 19:37:50 GMT -6
Quick math $4400 usd is $5900 cdn, spot price you would actually pay more for exchange so call it 6,000 6-8% duties minimum There’d be some hidden brokerage fees etc Got to be some shipping and insurance embedded costs. 13-14% total taxes (prov/fed) so easily 20-25% more so $7500 cdn:). Welcome to my retail world: eh! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2023 19:40:24 GMT -6
It depends on which set of 3-ways, the issue with monitors past the $6.5K range is they start to get big. Like very big.. Their performance is generally excellent though, I have no real complaints about the Core 59's and they're just small (I use that term very loosely) enough to carry (at 25KG's each). I loved the SCM 50's (I got offered an ex-demo pair for less than the SCM 45's) but I had to get a couple of friends around every time I had to move them.
I'd say the core's are a bit forward in terms of phantom center "mids" compared to ATC which you may / may not like. Vocals dance around in your head, when it's time to do the next refit or upgrade in about 8 years I might buy the PSI A-23M's, lots of saving to do before that though.
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Post by Quint on Jan 9, 2023 19:41:17 GMT -6
The 310 retail for around $7500 cdn plus tax and I can see a used pair for $4500, but is just not the right time for me:) Killing the new monitor hype train a little bit because hey new monitors are great and all but 7500 for these new is ridiculous and most of that price is is just the Neumann brand name. Sennheiser jacked the price up far beyond what they're worth in many countries. They use generic Chinese drivers. The amps like most active monitors aren't good either. You used to be able to get them for 3k in the USA which is what sold pairs but for 7500 you're in Genelec and ATC territory which are more reliable, have more detail, more volume, and way better customer service for the jacked up prices. It's getting even worse. Sennheiser now wants to sell the 6" woofer KH150 monitor for 3k in the USA advertising a bunch of bullshit like DSP crossovers. Guess what? the cheapest possible stuff has DSP crossovers too because they're cheaper.
But for similar money you can get:
The old Dynaudio BM6a for 2200 still, the drivers are better, and any tech who can read a service manual can fix the amps. The Neumanns are wannabe Genelecs and 2k gets you real Genelec 8040s new and 8050 (bass and volume but crossover dip) are a little over 3k.
3k in the usa gets you the ATC SCM12 + a beefy power amp.
Barefoot Footprints. The hip hop guys love these. The woofers get loud when you turn them up.
4k gets you the Hedd type 20s on discount. That's $7,500 Canadian for a new pair (apparently). It's $5,000 USD for a new pair. I've seen open box go for $3,500 US recently. I paid $4,000 USD for mine recently. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jan 9, 2023 21:20:55 GMT -6
Quick math $4400 usd is $5900 cdn, spot price you would actually pay more for exchange so call it 6,000 6-8% duties minimum There’d be some hidden brokerage fees etc Got to be some shipping and insurance embedded costs. 13-14% total taxes (prov/fed) so easily 20-25% more so $7500 cdn:). Welcome to my retail world: eh! Man. Time to get into gear smuggling. |
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Post by chrissweet on Jan 9, 2023 21:55:35 GMT -6
Completely agree with the sentiment here. So much money is spent on new plugins and gimmicks and people aren't even really hearing what's happening in their audio. I've become a huge JBL 7 series enthusiast; I think I'd have to spend significantly more to do better. Once you can actually hear your audio, get quality microphones and get to know what they offer. After that, I could probably get the job done with pro-q3 and an 1176 |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Jan 9, 2023 22:39:00 GMT -6
This is thread isn't helping me (or my wallet) resist a new set of monitors. I've been eyeballing a set of ATC scm12's for a while, looking at some zero percent financing at the moment...goddamn you guys. Do it. Do it. Do it. [chanting] |
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Post by drumsound on Jan 9, 2023 23:19:03 GMT -6
Very cool, 9. I'm curious, are these your first 3-way monitors? That was a thing that sparked me to do my monitor upgrades that I'm actually finalizing later today. Yeah, and I think you're right. It might just be the nature of 3-way monitors. I was using KRK VXT6's before which I got on with very nicely for years until a woofer blew. I could have repaired the woofer (and still will) but honestly the monitors are only worth a few hundred bucks at this point and I was gonna spend half that to fix them. Seemed the right time. I also was using a pair of Pioneer RM-05's which I really like but are really most useful for being really fast/tight sounding. I've moved one off to the side and am running it in mono while I do level mixes. I used to use a bluetooth speaker for that but hey... we all deserve a little luxury! EDIT: I also have a pair of old LSR 2328Ps I use when I'm tracking drums in my rehearsal space. Nice and loud for the deaf ear set. But, again, two way. 3-ways are really giving a lot of information that just can't be given my 2-ways. It gets into efficiency and how much information each driver needs to project. The problem with these monitor revelations is it just keeps going until you've defiantly lost the plot and spent too much .... unless you're earning the big bucks with your music/productions. I went from TOA ME265's to Mackie HR824's .... it was a Wow. Then from the Mackie's to the Klein and Hummel 0300's .... a Big Wow! Then from 0300's to ATC 25's .... this was almost a full on epiphany - like a serious "oh my gosh" moment!! That's my limit, I know some people have ATC 50's or Kii 3's etc but $12K+ is crazy. Yes yea yes. Each time we advance is wonderful. When I got the Pelonis 4288 mkiis, and sound anchor stands for them at the same time, I was like FUUUCK when I put on some well mixed and mastered CDs of mine. I can’t mix for shit but, I can certainly hear if you can’t mix for shit either. 😂 I got to hear a pair of those in Charlotte in May, which really kicked me in the butt to move toward 3-ways. My late friend Chris scored a set of those for a ridiculous price. His successor was not willing to sell them to me at that price. He now has them feeding his live room for both using it for a reverb send AND at times for headphoneless tracking, and even light rehearsal. I was thinking about a set of those or the KH310. But my guy was into making a set of nearfields and I can't believe how good these things are!!! And for far less. |
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Post by thehightenor on Jan 10, 2023 2:03:18 GMT -6
Hell yeah new monitor day! New drivers and amps that haven't begun their death march yet! Part of it isn't that you're getting a better speaker, you're getting a not broken speaker which is why all these used monitor prices are bogus. I think the KRK expensive 6" woofer models are better monitors than the KH 120 and 310... WHILE THEY LAST. The tweeters burn out, killing high frequency detail, and the plate amps will break in a couple years on the KRKs. The tweeter was probably cooked long before your woofer was which is why the KH310 seem like such a big upgrade. The KH310 will last until the plate amps give out or the heavily limited woofer cooks itself playing back kicks or resonances. christopher often the cheaper monitors or the passive monitors present more info than the expensive active ones. Not just only the info you need. JBL didn't turn on built in limiter for the 305's chip amp so it gets louder but more distorted in the low mids than most smaller expensive monitors. Even the Yamahas are more limited. Those cheap little JBLs will just play until the drivers crap out while more expensive small active monitors like all the 6" genelecs and the genelec wannabe neumanns simply won't let the woofer get louder. My 0300's lasted 12 years until the left monitor amp failed. I contacted Sennheiser to organise a repair and they told me the 0300's were out of production and to essentially "throw my pair in a skip" and buy a pair of 0310's instead. My friend is a professional technician and offered to repair the amp but Sennheiser refused to give him the schematic - so that was that. When I opened up the amp to look inside I was surprised to see such a cheap looking amp board, mostly SMC - the burnt out part was all SMC! I contacted ATC to ask them what they would do in this scenario, if I were to buy into their brand, and they told me they were still fixing speakers and amps from models in the 1970's! I thought that's the kind of service I'm looking for if I'm spending north of 5K on monitors - plus they use proper discreet full sized components in a class A/B MOSFET amp - proper old school electronics that's serviceable and every driver has a serial number they have records of - as ever - you get what you pay for. So over and above the famed ATC forensic mid driver I went for ATC -25's on the basis I'll be using them for the rest of my career and then passing them on to my grandchildren - I like to get maximum value for money in the long term. I vowed never to buy Sennheiser again!!! And then this year bought a multi channel G4 wireless system for my band from them - it's an excellent system too - darn them I just hope for all the 0310 users out there, Senny don't discontinue the range as from my experience, if anything fails on them, you'll be buying again! |
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 10, 2023 4:42:25 GMT -6
In case anyone is interested in some atc20, here’s a pair near the border,
Up on Kijiji in Oshawa, Ontario, that's near Toronto.
Three month old excellent condition pair of ATC SCM20ASL active reference monitors, in original boxes with all original packaging. Simply the best, and the extended warranty (6 years) transfers fully to the new owner. Price is firm at $6700 for the pair. Can ship these anywhere in Canada for an additional $200.
Remember, that’s canadian, factor in your big currency exchange discount with your stronger us $.
If anyone’s serious, let me know if i can help re: ship to US, its ni big deal to use fedex, negotiate with the guy and see ?
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 10, 2023 4:47:16 GMT -6
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Post by nick8801 on Jan 10, 2023 5:11:31 GMT -6
Yeah but but with 12’s you need to budget for at least a modded Adcom. Already got the Adcom my friend! Its powering my lowly NHT SuperOnes. The difficult part is finding someplace to demo monitors. Where are you located Tbone? I have the 12’s here in North Jersey. I also power mine with Behringer amp and it’s great and cheap. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2023 5:20:12 GMT -6
3-ways are really giving a lot of information that just can't be given my 2-ways. It gets into efficiency and how much information each driver needs to project. Depends on the design, a cheap 2-way coaxial can certainly give a mediocre 3-way a run for its money. I had a pair of Equator D8's at one point and to move up in terms of clarity / imaging and accuracy I had to buy the LYD 48's. Then you get to Geithain and things become rather interesting, their 2-way RL906's don't know the meaning of "sweet spot" as in you can be sort of anywhere in their vicinity and get a pretty accurate response.
The problem is once you get to Geithain prices 3-ways from a performance level begin to pick up and you notice the amount of distortion 2-ways have in comparison. There's also not a massive difference in terms of phase response (if positioned correctly), that whole equaliteral triangle listening position thing with my Core 59's means nothing. I can get up pretty close or move nearly 2m back still on their original positioning, turn my head 40 degrees, shift from side to side and I can still get a more accurate picture of what's going on than any mediocre three way or just about any 2-way I've come across.
There's not much distortion at higher levels if you're in a near / mid field position, I mean they are incredibly loud if you need them to be. The bass / sub response is dead on accurate and I don't worry about EQ's, raw files with high dynamics etc. causing problems. This is the reason I didn't bother with ATC, I mean the price of some 25's isn't too far away given you find a half decent deal (which for some reason there's always plenty about). The Core's are overpowered and are overkill in their entirety, I promise I don't try to push the Core's here, in fact I often probably do the exact opposite. Sure they're incredible but they also border on unnecessary, the ATC SCM 50's and PSI A23's went a step further on them..
I'd rather have more than less but in terms of practicality surely something like the HEDD type 20's is more than enough for most home studio's? I went for the Core's ultimately due to room sizes, they work incredibly well as midfields which in my final studio room 21 X 15 X 10 is perfect. I mean, they're also fun for client listening, great for mastering, general listening and being extensively technically impressive but that's a novelty when you're only mixing. Although I do sometimes like to whack the bass up and enjoy them as just great monitors, if you're looking to emulate a small club environment then they're also a wise choice.
I must admit I do agree with the hightenor in terms of support, I do hope if Dynaudio are truly aiming into the lofty arena they don't pull a Neumann. They won't be so impressive when they end up like an oversized novelty paperweight. Hence if they do crap out in a decade I will be forced to go ATC or PSI.. I'll end on a cliche though, I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it and enjoy a relative bargain for what they are because the next competitor (in terms of frequency response etc.) cost nearly $5K more.
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Post by bchurch on Jan 10, 2023 5:42:53 GMT -6
I know this dumb but I hate the design of the Genelecs. Could never look at those 8 hours a night. (Nods in acknowledgement) I loved the look of the 103x series and have mixed on them a gazillion times by now. Not my favorite monitoring setup, but it's able as long as you check against your handy thumb drive of reference mixes often. But those were quite handsome and aesthetically pleasing. Then.... what happened? That Smurf Village looking stuff starting landing from space and I'm like... "I can't trust this... these look ridiculous". Looks aren't the point - but I agree, the new McDonaldland character style of Genelec just doesn't look right on a meter bridge. |
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Post by reddirt on Jan 10, 2023 6:42:16 GMT -6
I'm interested there's no interest here in the Focals with the mid and high that can switch to not include the bass driver; anybody given them a run (Trio 11 and Trio 6 BE)
Cheers, Ross
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Post by kcatthedog on Jan 10, 2023 7:18:05 GMT -6
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Post by svart on Jan 10, 2023 8:37:12 GMT -6
Hell yeah new monitor day! New drivers and amps that haven't begun their death march yet! Part of it isn't that you're getting a better speaker, you're getting a not broken speaker which is why all these used monitor prices are bogus. I think the KRK expensive 6" woofer models are better monitors than the KH 120 and 310... WHILE THEY LAST. The tweeters burn out, killing high frequency detail, and the plate amps will break in a couple years on the KRKs. The tweeter was probably cooked long before your woofer was which is why the KH310 seem like such a big upgrade. The KH310 will last until the plate amps give out or the heavily limited woofer cooks itself playing back kicks or resonances. christopher often the cheaper monitors or the passive monitors present more info than the expensive active ones. Not just only the info you need. JBL didn't turn on built in limiter for the 305's chip amp so it gets louder but more distorted in the low mids than most smaller expensive monitors. Even the Yamahas are more limited. Those cheap little JBLs will just play until the drivers crap out while more expensive small active monitors like all the 6" genelecs and the genelec wannabe neumanns simply won't let the woofer get louder. My 0300's lasted 12 years until the left monitor amp failed. I contacted Sennheiser to organise a repair and they told me the 0300's were out of production and to essentially "throw my pair in a skip" and buy a pair of 0310's instead. My friend is a professional technician and offered to repair the amp but Sennheiser refused to give him the schematic - so that was that. When I opened up the amp to look inside I was surprised to see such a cheap looking amp board, mostly SMC - the burnt out part was all SMC! I contacted ATC to ask them what they would do in this scenario, if I were to buy into their brand, and they told me they were still fixing speakers and amps from models in the 1970's! I thought that's the kind of service I'm looking for if I'm spending north of 5K on monitors - plus they use proper discreet full sized components in a class A/B MOSFET amp - proper old school electronics that's serviceable and every driver has a serial number they have records of - as ever - you get what you pay for. So over and above the famed ATC forensic mid driver I went for ATC -25's on the basis I'll be using them for the rest of my career and then passing them on to my grandchildren - I like to get maximum value for money in the long term. I vowed never to buy Sennheiser again!!! And then this year bought a multi channel G4 wireless system for my band from them - it's an excellent system too - darn them I just hope for all the 0310 users out there, Senny don't discontinue the range as from my experience, if anything fails on them, you'll be buying again! So you got 12 years out of a set of speakers and then got mad that one popped and bought a 10K$ set of speakers to spite them instead of just buying a cheap used one and swapping the amp? Do you also get mad that Apple doesn't service your Mac after 12 years? |
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