In this video interview with German sound engineer Peter Lagoda for Eve Audio, Peter highlights several reasons why he chose Eve monitoring for his new Atmos studio. Here are some things to think about when choosing your monitors, particularly if you are considering an Atmos install.

Range of Options

Peter already had a stereo monitoring system based around a pair of compact 3 way 3070 monitors. This format is really convenient for people wanting the performance advantages of a 3 way system in a unit the size of a 2 way monitor but Peter eventually opted to go for the larger and more authoritative 4 way 4070 monitors across the front of his 7.1.4 Atmos install. Pairing these big 4 way monitors with the much smaller 2 way SC205s for surround and height channels and a TS110 sub for bass and LFE duties, Peter had a well-matched system which shared the Eve ‘house sound’.

AMT Tweeters

The Advanced Motion Transducer ‘folded ribbon’ design of tweeter has several advantages over the conventional pistonic dome style tweeter so common in other monitor designs. Because of the way it works it is inherently more efficient than a dome tweeter and the sound is different too. The high end is hard to describe but sounds very good indeed and many users, including Peter, find it less fatiguing than conventional tweeters. The horizontal dispersion is wide too, creating a generous sweet spot - useful in stereo applications and extremely welcome in an immersive installation.

Flexible Options In The Smaller Models

Peter chose SC205s for his surround and height channels. These compact 2 way monitors have a 5” bass/mid driver and an AMT tweeter. They go respectably deep (nearly 50Hz) for a box only 175mm x 275mm x 233mm. The cabinet depth of a potential candidate for height channels is important and, at under 7” deep and with mounting points on the back plate, these boxes are ideal for his needs but if you have less ceiling height there is an SC204 and an even smaller SC203 available. For both of these smaller models there are implications on max SPL and low frequency output but in a smaller space they might be options worth considering.

Using the SC205 in combination with the SC4070s and a TS110 sub, Peter has a system well matched enough for him to be able to pan objects to points in the array and have the voicing and bass extension hold up. Using the TS110 for both LFE and as a sub to supplement his bass output via a system of bass management Peter maintains full bandwidth in his studio using his Eves

Flexibility Of Placement

The 4 way 4070 has two independently amplified 6.5” woofers, a 4” midrange driver and an AMT tweeter. The midrange driver and tweeter are mounted in a rotatable mounting plate allowing the 4070 to be configured in portrait or landscape format. Because of the symmetrical layout the speakers aren’t ‘handed’ into left or right handed models further adding to the flexibility of this cabinet style. Peter’s L and R 4070s are configured in portrait format and his C is landscape but all three speakers are identical out of the box.

Passive Radiators

The SC205 and the 4070 are all rear ported. The large rectangular ports are designed to minimise port chuffing while maximising bass output. The TS110, a compact subwoofer which uses a 10” bass driver and has a low frequency cutoff of 24Hz and a max SPL of 108dB doesn’t use a port. Instead it uses a passive radiator. The passive radiator looks like a dummy speaker as it has the diaphragm of a speaker but no magnet or voice coil assembly behind it and it is designed to influence the compliance of the air within a cabinet to produce more and deeper bass. It’s similar in function to a bass port but crucially doesn’t involve air entering or leaving the cabinet so doesn’t produce wind noise. Part of the reason the tiny SC203 manages to put out frequencies down to close to 60Hz is that it also uses a passive radiator.

With so many people migrating from stereo to Atmos monitoring a range of active monitors which offer the options Eve does are worth checking out. Are you considering going to Atmos?