Sweet Sounds from Sweetwater

I just fired up my newly-arrived Opals and had to drop a note to first thank Robert Williams and Sweetwater for a nice price and quick, safe shipping and to sing the praises of the Opals.
Admittedly I did not audition a bunch of high-end monitors; can't be done in Cincinnati. So I went with the reviews in combo with my budget and am very pleased.
I came from an older pair of Event 20/20's. I new I'd be taking a step up.
Very tight, smooth bass in spades. Articulate, non-fatiguing highs. Wonderful imaging.
The packaging complements the solid fit and finish.
Working for me!

Event Opal

Well, what can one say or add to the discussion that has not already been said about these fantastic monitors? Very little to be sure but I will only reaffirm what others have said. The midrange clarity of these speakers is absolutely stunning. The potential these have for improving the work taking place in ANY studio cannot be understated unless, of course, you are using a pair of high-end three-ways such as Genelec 8260a's as this the highly competitive tier of quality in which the Opals not only dwell but can do so proudly.

The Most Accurate Monitors I Have Ever Heard

I have owned the Event Studio Precision 8 before getting the opals. At first i was concerned about the price tag, but I was happy with the Studio Precision when i first got it , so i decided to take a chance with the opals.

When i first powered these up and listened to them, i was totally blown away . Event has out done themselves with this monitor. Its a million times better than the Studio Precision 8. Stereo imaging is spectacular. Low end presence is accurate and it translates songs as they are .

When i listened back to different songs , I got a much better feel as to where the instruments sat in the mix. When i mixed on them , my mixes translated more accurate when i referenced on other systems .

BOTTOM LINE ... GET THEM .. YOU WONT REGRET IT !!!!

Incredible speakers changed my life.

Seriously amazed by these beauties. I spent a year, 1 month, and 2 weeks waiting for the opals because of tsunamis interruption and then the 20/20bas take over the production line. I was disconcerted and considering getting some pmc's. I e-mailed event and before I knew it there was a shipping confirmation in my inbox. I finally put them in to replace some genelec 1029a's and 8050b and was blown away by the full range goodness of these "speaks". The midrange is full and glorious, the highs are defined and perfectly balanced, and the lows on these are something that Michael Clarke Duncan would be intimidated by. Needless to say I am more than satisfied and elated to say that these speakers are everything and more than I hoped they would be. They are the perfect price and easily outmatch sets ominously more expensive. Make these your your mains and I guarantee satisfaction.

Easily the best monitor in this price range.

I took a very long time to choose monitors and was indeed skeptical of the claims made by Event. Peter Friedman is a very convincing salesman after all. Not to mention, there are a few other slightly higher priced monitors in a three way configuration that are getting great press everywhere. I must say though, the Opals are excellent.

My initial impression was that the Opals had a subdued mid-range compared to others. After a few days of listening I realized it wasn't that the mid range was subdued, but rather just that clean. Others are either honky (in varying degrees of course) giving the impression of good mids or scooped in a "smiley face" fashion. The mixes I made on the Opals simply translated consistently. I am lucky enough to have access to a very nice mastering suite in the local area and mixes on the Opals sounded the same over there as they did in my mixing room.

The fact that the lows and low mids are so very well defined made it a breeze to get the entire spectrum sitting well. No wrestling with mud in the low mids or guessing at kicks versus bass guitar levels. EQ adjustments were obvious and ultimately able to be precise.

The rest is obvious from the ad copy. The bass is indeed enormous. You would think you are using a sub with these. Power is of absolutely no concern. I haven't even pushed them full tilt. They went ridiculously loud while not even really trying... I saw no reason to bother pushing any further as I would never run them as loud as they can go. The cabinets are indeed build like a bank safe.

One caveat I did find... while the sweet spot is very big, you do have to be careful in the speaker height a bit. I found I initially had them too high. Lowering them 2" made a huge difference.

the best speakers i've ever heard

These speakers have blown me away for sure!!! I was a genelec believer until these speakers converted me over. I haven't had the chance to purchase these yet but once the money is in, these are being ordered asap. Besides the clarity of these speakers from lows to hi's, the listening sweet spot is very very wide. Where you pan stuff in the mix is exactly where it is heard in these speakers. It's simply unbelievable. It's hard to explain. You have to just try it out for yourself!!!

Excellent Frequency Response IMO

I compared these side-by side with the Genelec 8050s and overall I'm happy with my purchase. The only thing that might bother some people is that there is a very slight hiss/humm that's inherently present without any input. Overall the bass is held tight but doesn't seem over compensated. The mids sound great compared to the genelecs. Stereo imaging is pretty solid. I made a few friends jealous of these bad boys, but I imagine they weren't jealous of the price. My mixes translate well to other speakers but I often use Yamaha NS10s as reference monitors to make sure.

Engineer/Producer/Songwriter

These monitors are definitely pro monitors. They are not to be compared to the Event Precision 8 (ASP8) monitors. The ASP8 monitors were very imperfect in a lot of areas (poor stereo image, muddy, no true mids), but the Opals are the real deal. Once they were properly positioned and tuned in my control room, the beauty started to show. They produce beautiful detail across a wide frequency range, with natural articulation (punchy kicks, musical lows, great stereo image, nice transient clarity). My only drawback was the limiter that kicks in automatically at higher volumes. I wish that would have been left up to the engineer's judgement but I can live with it. They also generate some heat. I find the best listening position to be the horizontal position, which also seems to be the most stable position. These puppies are heavy. The monitor pads that ship with these speakers are not very stable for vertical positioning. All said, I believe these monitors hold up well along side other pro monitors like Adams, Dynaudio, Focal and Genelec. I'll let you decide which one is best for your needs...