Surround Monitor/ Controller

[meathman]

Hi- Im upgrading to 5.1, and I have a few questions.

1. Im eyeing a blue sky system one 5.1 . Does anyone know these monitors, and If so, how do they sound? I have a pair of dynaudio 6a now, and was looking at getting 3 12a's as my LCR and using my existing 6a's as LS RS... How do you think this will do in comparison to the Blue sky ? Are the dynaudios a better choice?

2. I need a 5.1 monitor controller, but it dosen't seem like there are many out there. Can anyone recommend one in the 1,000 - 1,700 $ range... I know tascam discontinued theirs... Hows the spl ? Its only 700$ and the Dangerous music?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks

[Joe Mendelson]

to your second question, i'm a big big fan of the Dangerous Music ST/SR. i use it every day (of course) - it rocks. great sonic transparency, nice features. NOT, however, programmable like the multi-max or the tascam. oh and it has a very cool looking remote. btw - i also own the SPL, which moved to my B room when i got the Dangerous. not a bad box at all for the price, but the Dangerous sounds noticeably better - which they will tell you is because of their superior components and craftsmanship. hence the higher price. it also has more features, like a talkback/headphone amp.
so to summarize:

1. low budget: SPL is a good choice

2. medium to high budget: Dangerous Music is a great choice

3. if you need programmability, the Tascam or Multi-Max. both are at least as much as the Dangerous, i think.

btw - there are at least 3 or 4 other companies making these too, maybe more. seems like i see an ad for a new one fairly often. can't think of names at the moment. but i'd certainly be curious to hear from our fellow DUCers on this.

[Eric Seaberg]

As far as a controller, I'd HIGHLY recommend CROOKWOOD. The main designer did the same for many of the major players in the UK (SSL, Focusrite, etc.). These systems are TOTALLY customizable and not only control monitoring but are also configurable to handle all analog and digital routing.

They may be a little more than you want to spend, but you're getting much more than just a monitor controller.

[Richard Fairbanks]

I saw Crookwood C2 at the AES show and it looks interesting, unfortunately Crispin was not around and I never got back to see him to ask about a few things.

The specs indicate that perhaps there is not a formalized surround version yet. No doubt one can be strung together but I did not get a feeling about costs or things like bass management options. Eric, have you seen a surround version or any version in action?

[Wellnitz]

Hi Meathman,

if you got the money i would highly recommand RTW 30900. www.rtw.de.
In the new one you have an dolby e decoder or sdi input integrated.
Measuring in 8 ch is also on board. 1 HE and a remote controller.
for example you can flip ch 7/8 to your L/R speaker.
2 analog and 2 digital 8 ch inputs. One can be change to 4 x stereo.


my 2 cents

Jochen