Billy Woodman, leading loudspeaker designer and owner of ATC, has long argued that there is no convincing reason why a proficient studio monitor should in principle differ from a skillfully conceived hifi speaker. We all want our music delivered with as little mechanical editorializing as possible. The primary goals should be the same, right? Ergo, any self-appointed audiophile pasha best attempt to listen without prejudice regardless of the equipment's provenance. And Billy practices what he preaches too, because the differences between his company's domestic and pro offerings are slight indeed.


But as the boundaries between both sectors continue to blur, an analysis of the wider picture still leaves room for debate. I have lost count of the many pairs of Genelec I've heard over the years. From miniature pick-up-with-one-hand designs nestled in cozy home studios to the main monitoring rigs installed in the walls of some of the largest and most famous London recording studios, I… well, this is where things start to get messy. Never once did I catch myself fantasizing about this venerable Finnish make making the leap into my own listening room. Why? Because the Genelec sound (something of an oxymoron, admittedly) often struck me as being unremittingly focused. Despite the total absence of cabinet signature, iron-fisted bass control and a midband free of any additive blemish, the overall effect rarely seemed to conjure up anything quite as nebulous as listener involvement. But of course you could still justifiably argue they were simply doing the job they were intended for.


Time-pressed sound engineers approach recording and mixing with the result-driven focus of the racing driver - get from A-B with as little drama as possible. However, when it comes to playing back the fruits of their labour I, and most likely you as well, are more likely to dream of lowering the top on our favourite sports car, finding the most involving road and punching the accelerator as the sun sets just so in the rear view mirror. Because for us, this hobby has never been solely about the raw ingredients. We know that the seasoning can be crucial, too. Synergistically matched hifi systems are assembled to precisely capture the many aspects of a recording which we audiophiles typically get excited about: the radiant bloom of a string quartet, the specific cushion of air elicited by a particular drum strike or the harmonically complex overtones that help to differentiate one renowned marque of piano from another.