Gear of the Year 2016 – The Best Monitors

It’s day two of our Gear of the Year winner reveals, and this time we’re taking a look at both the winning and highly commended monitors of 2016…. Highly Commended Monitors – Genelec 8320A Details Price £959 pair Manufacturer Genelec Contact Source Distribution 0208 962 5080 Web www.genelec.com We reviewed these as part of the […]

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It’s day two of our Gear of the Year winner reveals, and this time we’re taking a look at both the winning and highly commended monitors of 2016….

Highly Commended Monitors – Genelec 8320A

Details
Price £959 pair
Manufacturer Genelec
Contact Source Distribution 0208 962 5080
Web www.genelec.com

We reviewed these as part of the Genelec 8300 series which also includes Genelec’s SAM (Smart Active Monitoring) system that enables the monitors to be calibrated to your room. Reviewer Huw Price was impressed by both models.

“Both speakers score highly for openness and realism of the sound stage, and the walk-in clarity. In this regard, they’re among the few monitors that give our regular monitors a run for their money. Every mix element seemed to occupy a distinct space within a precisely conveyed stereo picture.” He concluded: “Open, real and clear monitors that benefit from the SAM system.”

Winner – Dynaudio LYD Series

Details
Price LYD 5, £415 each; LYD 8 £579 each (street)
Contact Audio Distribution Group, sales@audio distributiongroup.com
Web www.dynaudio.com, www.audiodistributiongroup.com

Dynaudio has an incredible reputation in speaker circles, with some of the biggest names in production using its monitors. So we’re very pleased to award Best Monitor 2016 to the new LYD range from the company.

It’s a welcome return, albeit quite a white one. Yes, Dynaudio has chosen white as the colour of its LYDs and they certainly stand out. There are three in the range, but we were particularly struck by the two larger models, the 8s and, in this very issue, the 7s.

“These are great-sounding speakers,” we said in our original review of the 5s and 8s. “I was very impressed with what I heard on mixes from similar priced and more expensive monitors and could make all sorts of improvements, and at lower levels.

“Yet the flexibility from all these extras makes the LYDs suitable for all sorts of studio situations, even though it takes time to set up. There’s little to call between them. The 5s are obviously suited to smaller environments, but both can be ‘edited to fit’. Spend time sorting this and you’ll be very happy with either.”

We then concluded: “It’s hard to split these two, but the 8s deliver for larger rooms and have great balance and accuracy.”

Check back tomorrow for the winners of the next category

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