Active 7 inch Monitors

1
The main benefit of coaxial
designs is off axis response,
and horizontally these hold
up with the RM-07, but vertically
(when standing up!) they didn’t fare
so well. The frequency range is full,
but marred by an overcooked 10kHz
area and a lack of airiness. The
three-band EQ helps adapt the
response and a cut in the mid
seemed to mitigate some of the
phasiness I found there. The front
bass reflex port is a bit ‘chuffy’ when
driven and overall they lacked power
for a mid-sized room.
pioneerproaudio.com
VerDICt 7.0
2
The FPX7s may be the
cheaper of the two coaxial
designs but they bring
ribbon tweeters to the table. This
pays dividends in stereo imaging and
off axis response, both of which are
excellent. There’s some air I’m
missing and some over-focus around
10kHz, but otherwise the HF is clear
and detailed and the bottom-end is
punchy and quite deep. The upper
mids (around the crossover point of
3.5kHz) can overwhelm in a dense
mix at volume. The Acoustic Space
and HF Trim controls settle these
into most spaces, though the power
may not be enough for a large or
heavily absorbent room. A solid pair
of monitors.
fluidaudio.co.uk
VerDICt 8.5
3
These are the most
expensive of the bunch, and
rightly so. The soundstaging
is excellent, remaining stable off-axis
within expected parameters. The
phase coherency and frequency
response is smooth and crisp from
top to bottom, never ringing on or
‘hazing’ quieter elements in a mix.
The bass is tight and true and there’s
plenty of power for pumping out a
heavy low-end track without losing
dynamic range. The rear panel
control set is comprehensive and I
found it easy to tailor to my room.
genelec.com
VerDICt 9.5
4
The LYD 7s perform closest
to the Genelec 8340s. The
focus is on a meaty mid
range that doesn’t turn harsh,
making it easy to mix less forward
elements, especially reverb tails,
quickly and audibly. Despite being
more box-like than other models,
they produce a solid stereo image
with good off-axis response. There is
a slight lack of air in the high HF
and a slightly over-forward low
sibilant range but the low-end is
excellent. The bass extension control
may sacrifice ~5dB of power (there’s
still plenty left), but it’s well worth it
for low-end mixing without a sub.
dynaudio.com
VerDICt 8.7
5
The E66s take their design
cue from the Focal TwinBe,
though at a far lower price.
In this instance the spaced twin
woofer design is problematic with
regards stereo soundstaging; while
remaining still in the centre it
garners a pleasing image, but the
phase shift that accompanies
movement does the opposite.
Despite this, the E66s are tighter
and more powerful than I expected,
far preferable to the RM-07s. The
mids are detailed but rather forward,
so mixes with a lot of information in
this range can easily mask the lower
HF region. The low mids seem a bit
peaky, which doesn’t clear up with
tweaking the three-band EQ trims.
presonus.com
VerDICt 7.5
5
4
Presonus Eris
E66
£269 each
Dynaudio LYD 7
£950
BEST QUALITY Genelec 8340A: Hard to fault, from
the top-quality audio performance to the comprehensive
tailoring controls. An investment worth making.
FM VerDICt
BEST VALUE Fluid Audio FPX7: A confident design,
which is well executed and for a good price. The stereo
imaging is the standout feature.
Group Test | Reviews
93
FMU310.rev_grouptest.indd 93 9/8/16 2:26 PM