New Luxury Felt Sack by Avantone By Chris Lord Alge Day

[Greg McCoy]

Actually got these a while ago but haven't posted til now on account of being super busy, thought I better get around to it before I misplace these one of a kind pieces of gear.

Not to understate the appeal of a signature model by a man whose name sounds like* an aquatic plant life based supervillain from an 80s cartoon, but behold this complimentary felt sack. Which is one of a pair of complimentary felt sacks I have recently acquired.



Truly one of the most ridiculously ostentatious presentations for a piece of gear I have ever bought. To say nothing of the letter from Chris Lord Alge (not Viscount Alge, not even Duke Alge, LORD ALGE) personally addressing me as worthy that came with it.

What have you been transporting your monitors in? Trash bags? Like a peasant. Not even Chris Lord Alge branded trash bags.

I also got the monitors that came with them, passive version, because I am a purist like that. I prefer passive and a discreet power amp, I think that's more flexible that being stuck with the built in power amp that comes with active speakers. Supposedly the closest thing to the NS10 manufactured new these days, closer than the active Yamahas, since Avantone had custom simulacra of the discontinued drivers unique to the NS10 done specifically for this unit. Though of course, being audio, opinions vary on whether it sounds exactly like it or isn't good enough. Don't have NS10s so I have no clue, they also aren't fully burned/broken in yet, so I also don't really know how they sound yet.



They sound uh, revealing I guess. Saying a monitor sounds flattering isn't really that much of a compliment. X-ray machines aren't meant for glamour photos and all that. My only complaint is the truly ridiculous amount of branding. On the front of the speaker no less. His actual signature and the model name based on his initials. You would think they could have just put that on the luxury felt carrying sack, but whatever. I'm sure CLA is a nice guy, but I don't need to see his name quite that much.

*(spelled like? No clue if it's pronounced "algae")

[Leon]

For a Lord, he may as well have gone full-regal, and had his face in gold-leaf on all available flat surfaces.

[Chris]

Boy that driver looks awfully similar to the one in my HS80s.

[thrashinbatman]

back in college the studio i was learning in had a set of NS10s, and i really regret not using them more back then. they sounded godawful, but that's sort of the point of NS10s. i didn't really understand that back then; i just stuck with the Genelecs they had as the mains.

[Greg McCoy]

Boy that driver looks awfully similar to the one in my HS80s.

Those are apparently not the same as the fabled NS-10 at all. About 90% of the people think the Avantone is great, Sound on Sound thought they didn't nail it at all. Very good write up on the process. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/avantone-cla-10

I'm not saying mine is better sounding, sounding pleasant isn't what the NS-10 is for anyways. I will point out though that yours didn't come with a felt sack.

Monitor vs Monitor is the stupidest place to have dick measuring contests since it's always "mine is better than yours" but the "better at what" isn't even "a better sounding speaker", it's usually "better at sounding unpleasant so I can find problems".

Pretty much everything you read on forums about Monitors from anyone but the top level pros is going to be bullshit and hearsay anyways. Most people only have experience with the set they bought based on reading reviews. So there's no real substance.

Unless it's someone like Lord Algae.

I doubt there is anyone here who bought their Monitors based on their knowledge of what makes a good monitor, let's be honest, we all bought them based on reading reviews.

[Greg McCoy]

I also went for it because Yamaha doesn't make passives, and I already have a bigger passive set up with an ART SLA-1. I like that amp as a studio power amp, didn't want it to go to waste.

If Yamaha made modern passive monitors as the far removed successor to the NS-10 that supposedly doesn't capture the magic but has a model name that sounds similar, I would have probably went for those.

[Chris]

I'm pissed my monitors didn't come with a LFS.

[Greg McCoy]

I'm pissed my monitors didn't come with a LFS.

There was also a certificate of authenticity approaching Mesa manual levels of self congratulatory pretentiousness. I need to find it.

Where Lord Algae reminds us for the 100th time he has changed the course of history using these monitors and by owning something with his name on it I might aspire to earn the rank of one on thousandth of his greatness. I suppose I should be thankful it's on a certificate and they didn't put that on the front of the speaker though.

There's also a CLA branded power amp to upsell along with the passive version. Which is obviously just the same thing as the ART SLA-1 with a $200 premium. It's not like there is that much variation in clean uncolored solid state studio power amp design.

[RevDrucifer]

I was looking at these earlier this year and considered them a bit, but I'm too chicken shit to move away from my HS-5's until I build my next studio and have to due to the size difference.

I tried looking around Gearslutz for some info on them around then, but all I could find were people talking shit about CLA.

[RevDrucifer]

There was also a certificate of authenticity approaching Mesa manual levels of self congratulatory pretentiousness. I need to find it.

Where Lord Algae reminds us for the 100th time he has changed the course of history using these monitors and by owning something with his name on it I might aspire to earn the rank of one on thousandth of his greatness. I suppose I should be thankful it's on a certificate and they didn't put that on the front of the speaker though.

There's also a CLA branded power amp to upsell along with the passive version. Which is obviously just the same thing as the ART SLA-1 with a $200 premium. It's not like there is that much variation in clean uncolored solid state studio power amp design.

While I use CLA's plugins for tracking demos because they're quick, I'm a bigger fan of his brother's mixes than his. Live's Throwing Copper is so fucking ridiculously good sounding that I'd put it up against anything in CLA's catalog.

[Greg McCoy]

I should also add that my awesome UPS guy, who I fucking love and chat with all the time, told me about the audiophile speakers he owned for like 30 minutes while delivering these. Box wasn't hidden and said what they were, he asks me what I got all the time anyways.

When I said this wasn't really a hi fi listening speaker, but the most recognizable widely used studio speaker, he just said "BUT WAS IT AT ABBY ROAD?" and started listing a bunch of obscure shit the Beatles records were made on. The younger Fed Ex guy is a cunt in comparison. He's my favorite delivery driver, even if there was no way I could convince him that nearfield monitoring wasn't even a thing until the late 70s/early 80s and the concept of "nearfield studio monitors" didn't exist in those halcyon days.

[Greg McCoy]

I was looking at these earlier this year and considered them a bit, but I'm too chicken shit to move away from my HS-5's until I build my next studio and have to due to the size difference.

I tried looking around Gearslutz for some info on them around then, but all I could find were people talking shit about CLA.

I actually bought them to downsize.........

Moving to a place closer to neighbors pretty soon here. These are the ones I use now.

The monitors I use now are vintage farfields, left and right here. An "X model -10" is really manageable in comparison. Maybe 1/5th the size. Much quieter



I know he's one of two brothers, and they are big names, but I don't listen to anything in the genres they are big in, so no opinion on that one.

[RevDrucifer]

I actually bought them to downsize.........

Moving to a place closer to neighbors pretty soon here. These are the ones I use now.

The monitors I use now are vintage farfields, left and right here. An "X model -10" is really manageable in comparison. Maybe 1/5th the size. Much quieter



I know he's one of two brothers, and they are big names, but I don't listen to anything in the genres they are big in, so no opinion on that one.

I couldn’t even tell you all the shit Chris has done or all the shit Tom has done, but that one album sounds better than anything I’ve heard Chris do. And it could just be a bias because for the most part, I can’t stand the vibe CLA gives off in his videos.

[jacksonplayer]

I have no idea how you can possibly get any work done without a proper CLA-endorsed studio chair.

[Mike]

Every.

Time.

That H-S Soloist just hangs there, taunting me.

[Randy]

I have no idea how you can possibly get any work done without a proper CLA-endorsed studio chair.

Is that the industry term.for those Fast and the Furious seats?

[Greg McCoy]

Is that the industry term.for those Fast and the Furious seats?

I'm upgrading to an exercise ball soon. True story.

[Darren]

I have a felt sack… IN MY PANTS!

[Snoop Travvy Travv]

I wanna know how these compare to ns-10s. I use mix cubes to produce because they sound like shit so you really gotta go the extra mile to make things sound good on them but mix cubes can take a beating unlike ns-10s. Any opportunity I've had to work on ns-10s you really had to push yourself to make something sound good on them and when I was finally happy with the mix it sounded amazing anywhere else. Those hs series yamahas just look like ns-10s. It's a marketing gimmick to sell more units.

[jacksonplayer]

I'm upgrading to an exercise ball soon. True story.

Smart move. You can work on your glutes and your guitar chops simultaneously!

[Drew]

Boy that driver looks awfully similar to the one in my HS80s.

It's a dead ringer for an original NS10, save for the branding and the orientation of the driver, and the HS series was positioned as a modern version of the NS10, although I'd argue that it didn't have nearly the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on (by forcing you to dial an effective loudness curve into your mixes) even with the mid boost engaged:

[Drew]

Also, this was the article I grabbed that picture from, and it's really pretty interesting:

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story

[Greg McCoy]

Drew, massive fan of SoundOnSound, I've also read all of their pieces on NS-10s and recommend everyone else read them.

The general consensus is that the HS series isn't a direct successor to the NS series.

"the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" you are referencing is their defining characteristic. The HS series might be good in their own right, but "NS10s without the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" is kind of like saying "Exactly like Star Wars, only without the Stars......or the Wars"

Having not owned NS10s, I can't say how close the Avantones are. Opinions seem to vary from people who have owned both. There are a lot of rave reviews, but a smaller number of more critical ones. I have not owned NS10s, so I can't review them comparatively.

The Avantones do have a REALLY defined obnoxious midrange band though useful for pinpointing a band that houses many of the most unpleasant frequencies. I can say that. There are a lot of drum related frequencies these REALLY show with X ray clarity my other monitors don't. That's my biggest take away thus far.

I think even Yamaha more or less acknowledges the HS series aren't direct successors and are a sort of different thing in their own right.

Haven't had the NS series or the HS series, so I bought after researching other peoples opinions. There aren't really that many people out there who have had all 3 and really know what they are talking about, so pretty much any info out there is mostly conjecture.

Sound On Sound's review (https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/avantone-cla-10a) of the Avantones was actually one of the minority on the side of "they aren't that good of a replication of the NS-10, but still pretty good in their own right". I usually defer to Sound on Sound. I don't actually remember if there was a place where they said they were closer than the HS series, but I'm curious now, so I'll probably look for Sound on Sound's review of the HS ones in a bit.

[Snoop Travvy Travv]

Drew, massive fan of SoundOnSound, I've also read all of their pieces on NS-10s and recommend everyone else read them.

The general consensus is that the HS series isn't a direct successor to the NS series.

"the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" you are referencing is their defining characteristic. The HS series might be good in their own right, but "NS10s without the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" is kind of like saying "Exactly like Star Wars, only without the Stars......or the Wars"

Having not owned NS10s, I can't say how close the Avantones are. Opinions seem to vary from people who have owned both. There are a lot of rave reviews, but a smaller number of more critical ones. I have not owned NS10s, so I can't review them comparatively.

The Avantones do have a REALLY defined obnoxious midrange band though useful for pinpointing a band that houses many of the most unpleasant frequencies. I can say that. There are a lot of drum related frequencies these REALLY show with X ray clarity my other monitors don't. That's my biggest take away thus far.

I think even Yamaha more or less acknowledges the HS series aren't direct successors and are a sort of different thing in their own right.

Haven't had the NS series or the HS series, so I bought after researching other peoples opinions. There aren't really that many people out there who have had all 3 and really know what they are talking about, so pretty much any info out there is mostly conjecture.

Sound On Sound's review (https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/avantone-cla-10a) of the Avantones was actually one of the minority on the side of "they aren't that good of a replication of the NS-10, but still pretty good in their own right". I usually defer to Sound on Sound. I don't actually remember if there was a place where they said they were closer than the HS series, but I'm curious now, so I'll probably look for Sound on Sound's review of the HS ones in a bit.

I've used the NS 10s and HS series before and bought mix cubes. The HS series sound absolutely nothing like the NS10s. The NS10s sound like mixing something through paper and if you get a decent mix on them then the mix will sound great anywhere else. The Hs series sound like decent monitors with a wider range and can be beat up a little. The mix cubes also sound like dull shit and a decent mix on them sound great anywhere else, but the material the drivers are made out of can be pushed harder than an NS10.

[Drew]

Drew, massive fan of SoundOnSound, I've also read all of their pieces on NS-10s and recommend everyone else read them.

The general consensus is that the HS series isn't a direct successor to the NS series.

"the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" you are referencing is their defining characteristic. The HS series might be good in their own right, but "NS10s without the same obnoxious midrange peak that made the NS10 so popular for mixing on" is kind of like saying "Exactly like Star Wars, only without the Stars......or the Wars"

Having not owned NS10s, I can't say how close the Avantones are. Opinions seem to vary from people who have owned both. There are a lot of rave reviews, but a smaller number of more critical ones. I have not owned NS10s, so I can't review them comparatively.

The Avantones do have a REALLY defined obnoxious midrange band though useful for pinpointing a band that houses many of the most unpleasant frequencies. I can say that. There are a lot of drum related frequencies these REALLY show with X ray clarity my other monitors don't. That's my biggest take away thus far.

I think even Yamaha more or less acknowledges the HS series aren't direct successors and are a sort of different thing in their own right.

Haven't had the NS series or the HS series, so I bought after researching other peoples opinions. There aren't really that many people out there who have had all 3 and really know what they are talking about, so pretty much any info out there is mostly conjecture.

Sound On Sound's review (https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/avantone-cla-10a) of the Avantones was actually one of the minority on the side of "they aren't that good of a replication of the NS-10, but still pretty good in their own right". I usually defer to Sound on Sound. I don't actually remember if there was a place where they said they were closer than the HS series, but I'm curious now, so I'll probably look for Sound on Sound's review of the HS ones in a bit.

Yeah, I mean, that's basically what I said, man.

Though, I should clarigy - it's cosmetically a "dead ringer" for a NS-10, I wasn't suggesting it sounds exactly like one. In fact, quite the reverse, I'm saying I agree with you that it doesn't have the same annoying midrange spike that made the NS10 popular. Yamaha kind of presents them as a continuation of that tradition/speaker, and you CAN boost the mids a bit with the mid switch, but IMO it's nowhere close to as overpowering as the NS10s.

I think the HS series are good monitors, very good monitors for the price, even, that look a lot like NS10s and can be made to be mid-heavy, but they're definitely not going to confuse anyone in a blind test. I like them, having used them for years now, but they're definitely still on my "things to upgrade" list, as my studio signal chain is gradually getting better.