Ok so here's the deal: the power amp i use with my Event speakers is
a Carvin DCM1000. The passive 20/20's are rated at 150 watts RMS,
200 watts peak. So at 4 ohms (the monitors), yea i'm obviously
overpowered at 350 watts/channel. Of course i have to be careful
but it's worth it to me because i can open up with my program material
and it sounds great.Obviously this amp/speaker mismatch is kindof asking for trouble, so
anybody doing this should definitely be using a limiter between the amp
and speakers!
One advantage with this type of overpowered, hyped sound, is that
it's closer to what you'd expect to hear from a home (or car) stereo than a set of frequency-flat midrange
drivers like those Celestion SL600's. This can save you lots of
time with mixing and mastering something that will end up being played
through a car stereo.
[update - when i say "hyped", i'm talking about the speakers here;
has nothing to do with the power of any amp i'd use]
How do the Event 20/20's sound? Well that depends on what
you're looking for in a studio monitor.
These low-priced speakers have a good frequency response and are ok
on the ears for several hours at a time. They allow for critical
listening of the mega-highs without being *too* harsh (yes, they are
somewhat
harsh).
Their hyped low end is enough that i don't have to use a sub-woofer,
which is cool. This low end hype is great for listening to the
Scorpions or Dave Weckl while working on other stuff (like repairing
bass guitars or blogging), but it's obviously not good for mixing and
mastering. I keep this in mind when treating audio and if it's
something really important then i just have to use other monitors.
In my opinion the Event 20/20's would be perfect for any home studio,
but it's not like i worship these monitors or anything; i mean if i had
to replace them tomorrow with a different set of $300 speakers it
wouldn't bother me in the least (accept that i don't have an extra 300
bucks right now!).
I'm not gonna sit here and say "I've used Genelec, JBL, Mackie,
and Dynaudio - the Event 20/20's sound as good or better than all of
them".
Because i have used Genelec, JBL, Mackie and Dynaudio; and i can tell you
that all of those speakers offer a flatter, more realistic
picture than the Event 20/20's. Those more expensive speakers are for the most
part FAR more open than the Events and they will all allow for a
much longer listening session before ear fatigue would set in.
And then i fried my tweeter...
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