Yesterday I had my first 3-4 hours (only listening to music) on my new (used) Amphion One 18 and I love them already. The bass is stunning for a 6,5 inch woofer and the size fits much much better into my new room then my 3 way Adam’s. In a few days I will decide if I buy a sub for them. On my first listening session I didn’t had the feeling I need one for decision in the bass department, but especially with songs with heavy 808s it would feel nice for sure.
Especially the stereo image and time effects was stunning on amphions.

I am between getting amphion 2 15's or the genelec 8451's. Has anyone compared?
both are here are good speakers for guitar based music to track and mix.

I've worked on a lot of sessions using Two15's as the main monitors for tracking and mixing bands as they do a great job retaining the energy and dynamics of fast/heavy music

Their mid range clarity and strong stereo imaging makes seating a lead vocal/punchy snare within a wall of hard panned busy rhythm guitar tracks fun rather than a challenge

I have Two18's but know several rock producers that chose Two15's over Two18's

Never used the Genelecs and I'm sure they're great but they look like Darth Vader had a child with a Minion!

now you put that image in my head of darth vader.
Are the 2 15's good for acoustic music? singer songwriter type?

Apologies for that but you brought the Genelecs up!

I work with artists in a more traditional/old fashioned way (people playing/singing live in a studio) so yeah a singer/songwriter session would be ideally suited to the strengths of Two15's

I think it's important to consider the kind of music someone is making when reading their opinions on gear

I might respect your work but if you're using lots of samples and synths and working more with computer generated sounds it might mean we don't have any common ground in terms of what we need or want from a product

Hi Folks!

I've been working with a pair of Amphions one18s for 2 years. Very pleased with the results so far. The only thing I find distracting/annoying is how narrow the sweet spot is. Not so much frequency-wise (my room is very well treated), but panning-wise. I have them placed a little narrower than they should (not much), because I'm also using a pair of Lipinski 707's as mains.

Last week I had the opportunity to test a pair of PSI A17's on the same spot and they felt reaaaaaally wide in comparison (even a little too much). I didn't care for them soundwise but the sweetspot was way bigger than that on the amphions.

Anyone had the same behaviour in their room?
Cheers!

I love you, sir/madam.

one18's look like nearfields but to me are almost midfields in the way they like to be positioned. Maybe try them on the outside of the 707's.

How well treated is your room?

Thanks Karloff!

They sound pretty balanced (mid/side) as they are. Again, they're VERY close to 60 degrees, and I very much dislike super wide positioned speakers. Rather have the opposite, really.

In any case my concern is not MID/SIDE balance, but SWEETSPOT. They sound right, just only in one place.

VERY-WELL-TREATED. It's very flat. 17 years working here too, so I know the room very well.

Keep on mind that I have tested other speakers in THE EXACT SAME POSITION and the amphions have comparatively a much narrower sweetspot. Again, they sound great frequency wise and Mid Side balance is fine. They're just very directional, I guess.

I recall they are sensitive to minor moves. On thing I'd try is less and less toe-in.
You could adjust their height as well, not everyone likes to be right in the acoustical center.

But yes generally, if toed in 60deg in a fairly small triangle, with treated walls, the sweet spot is pretty narrow.

As Karloff70 said, I used to love them almost mid-field with a lot a room around them. For the small triangle nearfield I have One15.

I also generally dislike speakers too wide, but one18's specifically for me sounded right when placed looking almost comically far apart (and further away) for their size.

Very happy camper with my amphions one 18. I ordered a sub to see if I prefer them with a sub. I have a small room now. First mixes came out great. I would say they translate out of the box better then my old Adam s3v what I used for 4 years.

which sub did you get?
interested in the Flexbase25 .... but that's a lotta clams.

-pete

Yea that would be the best solution. But too rich for me right now.
I have a small room that’s why I ordered a Kali ws 6.2. when I don’t like it I will maybe order a Neumann kh 750.

did anybody of you go back from one15 to ns10 ? is the hard transient thing and speaker time decay a valid point for ns10 instead of one15 ?

hmmm. Those options are probably too small for my room. Anyone else have One18s and a sub in a larger room ( 22' x 30' x 14' (height) )?

My room is small. Listend now a few days to the Kali sub. To impress people who come to my room it is more then enough. Also I produce sometimes and it is fun to listen so some subs.
I think I miss the fast and precise bass when the sub is on, so i appreciate the possibility to turn the sub off with a foot switch.

You can hear the amphions mids much better when the sub is on. So they dont work so „hard“.

But all over a very good addition. When my room would be bigger i would try a Neumann kh 750.

The longer I've gone using the One18 without a sub, the less and less I want to add one. I've done all the bass-y 808 genres on them and have not once felt limited. I use mastering headphones to dial the ultra low end balance, but I never feel insecure about my low end translation on the One18.

The low end decisions I make on the One18 are simply better than those I make when working on more full range systems. First passes are just always way more musical.

Sometimes it's easy to lean on the bass/sub in extended systems, because it's fun, but it can also be a musical crutch. I'm speaking less in terms of audio, and more in terms of musicality. I feel like with the One18 I treat bass more as a component that is there to enhance feel and groove, and not something that I spend an inordinate amount of time over-analyzing. Bass gets put in its pocket, and then I spend most of my time on space, feel, groove, texture, style, and then can push or pull where the sub bass can enhance the overall feeling.

Also, the interplay of the mids and bass in the woofer actually make it easy to hear when you have core mid/bass balance issues that could lead to translation problems. When your frequencies are neatly pulled apart on three-way+ systems you can miss some of the issues that only crop up on small consumer playback devices.

Well described. A monitor that makes you deal with the bass, or even any fundamental energy in separates in general as 'just make it groove and we'll be great' is one that makes the music work better and less focus get wasted on details in separates that do not actually benefit the music working better.

I have tried and tried to mix low end on headphones and I just cannot. I have to feel it in my body.
That’s just me though - everyone’s different.

I think when I mix I will turn off the sub most of the time. But it is nice to can turn it on.

Fundamentally I don’t think of it as mixing any one individual component. I’m (usually) mixing a song, and every decision I make is in the context of the whole. If I’m working on low end, it’s because it’s serving the aggregate mix. I acknowledge that It’s a bit of a semantics thing, but I would say if I’m ever to the point I’m thinking of it as “mixing the low end,” instead of mixing the song, I’ve lost the plot.

If you do use headphones, the ones you use are also very important, and I am a proponent of dialing your headphones in with EQ correction. Personally, I use a slightly customized Oratory curve, which is based on the Harman curve, and significantly boosts the low end compared to the typical “flat” studio headphone voicing. It’s what I use if I have to self-master a mix, and/or hear if there’s significant energy below 40hz that I simply wasn’t clocking on the One18s.

Generally, I find if you’re relying too much on energy below 40hz to make a something feel “big” then your mix needs more attention above that range anyways. That or the musical arrangement itself has a gap that needs to be filled.

I also think crossfeed is an under-utilized tool for working on headphones. It really helps with overall imaging translation and center balance when working in headphones. I run my own headphones with 23% L/R crossfeed, (don’t ask me why 23%, it’s just what sounded right 😅) which better simulates how left and right studio monitors combine at the listening position.

This is what we all do.

Not necessarily. I’ve witnessed quite a few of “we” losing the plot. It happens.

Out of curiosity, what headphones are you using?

We have very similar tastes - One18's, Oratory-based correction with some crossfeed simulation for headphone checking.

I'm going to throw this out there in case the sonic Gods happen to be listening

If I could have any currently not existent product become a reality it would be Amphion made headphones