Event Opal Monitor Review
Event’s flagship monitor is designed from the ground up with bespoke components and drive units. Huw Price listens in.
Price: £1,276.00
Manufacturer: Event
Website: http://www.event1.com
Opal
Manufacturer Event
Price £1,276 each
Contact Source Distribution 020 8962 5080
Web www.event1.com
Event is making some extravagant claims about the Opal being the most accurate studio monitor in the world, with no other monitor out there to match its ultra-low distortion, real midrange clarity or peak reproduction capabilities.
A cast aluminium chassis was the starting point for Event’s Opal. This decision avoids many of the problems associated with wood cabinets, such as square edges and internal reflections between parallel surfaces. And to achieve equivalent rigidity, a wood cabinet would have to be made from much thicker material, so the cabinet itself would have to be either much larger on the outside or much smaller internally – which would compromise bass performance.
To facilitate good bass extension, Event opted for two front ports that run along the curved side edges of the cabinet. The company was keen to avoid the wide low-frequency boom and chuffing sounds that can plague cabinet designs that are over-reliant on ports. Røde has applied for a patent on this design and it’s called variable impedance porting. So, although the ports are designed to provide bass extension down to 35Hz, almost all of the mid- and low-frequency work is done by the woofer itself.
Designated drivers
The new EX8 woofer has some very interesting features that make it quite different from industry-standard woofers. The cones are made from a blend of long-strand carbon fibre mixed with paper. The midrange output has also enabled Event to eschew a dedicated midrange driver and issues caused by two crossover points.
XBL is the name given to Event’s method that enables the voice coil and cone to move an incredible 36mm without straying from the controlling magnetic field. The other innovation is X Coil, which is described as a ‘supercharger’ for the driver. A static and entirely separate wire coil is wired in parallel and out-of-phase with the voice coil to provide extra force and maximise response speed.
The ULD1 (Ultra-Low Distortion) tweeter features a dome made from beryllium copper. It’s ultra-light and rigid, with resonance characteristics way outside its operating band. Event claims that under normal operating conditions the ULD1 is merely idling.
The tweeter and waveguide were designed as one to match the dispersal characteristic of the woofer. This is vital if you want to achieve the effect of a single sound source and a wide sweet spot. Notice that the elliptical waveguide is the same width as the woofer.
If you prefer to place your monitors on their sides, the waveguide can be rotated 90 degrees to maintain this relationship. Even the name badge moves, but remember that the cabinets should be arranged with the tweeters on the inside rather than the outside.
More than 1,000 watts of peak power are available from two onboard amps rated at 387 watts (LF) and 112 watts (HF) continuous power. Concealed behind removable rubber panels there’s a full complement of front-mounted controls. Level sets input sensitivity (+6dB), Space enables Full, Half and Quarter settings to cope with various speaker placements, and Q, Freq and Depth combine for frequency-selectable filtering between 40Hz and 280Hz. There’s also an LF shelf at 200Hz and an HF shelf at 5kHz, plus a room-calibration system is on its way.
No favours
Bad mixes will be ruthlessly exposed, so if you’re used to hyped bass and the overblown midrange characteristics of some well-known studio monitors, you might be in for a shock. The Opals are brutally honest and will not gloss over the high-frequency failings of cheap Chinese condensers, heavy-handed compression or over-cooked EQ.
Every frequency seems to occupy its own space in a faultless frequency balance, yet it all sounds joined up, too. The bass is deep, extremely well-controlled and utterly effortless. Even in our moderately treated room we experienced no boominess and kick drum dynamics and harmonic content came over superbly. Percussion sounds incredibly realistic and the sweet spot is as wide as promised; imaging is as crisp as we’ve ever experienced. These monitors could change your life – frankly, we can’t really fault them.
WHY BUY
Superb bass
Non-fatiguing
Front-mounted controls
Superb imaging
WALK ON BY
Quite heavy
Very slight amp hiss
Rear power switch
VERDICT
Studio monitors of the very highest quality, plus a microphone/room measurement package will soon be free to all owners.
★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)
SEE ALSO
Monitor Reviews
Choosing & Using Monitors
Score: 9
This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 83
Filed under
Event Monitor Reviews,
PA Equipment,
Reviews,
Studio Monitors
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