Alesis MONITORII User Manual

MONITOR TWO

STUDIO REFERENCE MONITOR

Reference Manual

© 1995 Alesis Corporation

INTRODUCTION

Your new Alesis Monitor Two™ Studio Reference Monitors will deliver
accurate mixes in near and mid-field digital and analog studio monitoring
applications. The Monitor Two offers wide frequency response, accurate
transient reproduction, clear musical detail and imaging and high power
handling capability. These monitors were designed by experts with decades of
experience in professional audio system design including the award winning
Monitor One™ Studio Reference Monitors and the Alesis Matica™ Power
Amplifiers.

This three-way speaker system uses proprietary 10” and 5 ¼” high power low
and midrange drivers with special mineral filled polypropylene cones, a highly
damped linear rubber surround and large diameter voice coils wound on high
temperature Kapton formers. The 1” high frequency driver employed has a soft
natural silk dome and is ferrofluid cooled. The system’s crossover network uses
unique asymmetrical crossover filters for excellent amplitude and phase
response. Rear panel connections are made via 5-way binding posts suited to
large diameter wires as well as banana plugs.

The cabinet design uses Alesis’ exclusive SuperPort’ speaker venting
technology. Most speakers used for near and mid-field monitoring give
disappointing results in their lowest frequency range. They are either sealed,
which limits the amount of air the driver can move, or have an undersized vent
whose function at low frequencies and high acoustic output is nullified by the
effect of turbulence in the restricted port tube. The Monitor Two’s large
SuperPort overcomes this limitation by minimizing vent turbulence at high air
velocities thereby insuring that the enclosure tuning remains stable, the acoustic
output remains linear during heavy low frequency attack transients, and that the
reactive load above and below box resonance seen by the driving amplifier does
not dynamically shift in frequency. This all translates to tighter bass with higher
definition, a signature of Alesis monitors.

The Monitor Two’s 4 ohm load impedance takes advantage of today’s modern
professional amplifiers which are generally capable of a 1-3 dB increase in
output power with 4 ohm loads over their 8 ohm ratings. The result is a similar
increase in the Monitor Two’s acoustic output over conventional 8 ohm
monitors. This a rugged speaker system designed for serious professional use.

Covered with a non-slip rubber textured laminate for stable mounting, the
Monitor Twos come in a mirror image A/B pair for symmetrical horizontal or
vertical mounting.

INSTALLATION

Like any speaker system, your Monitor Twos will work best when properly
positioned in a suitable acoustic environment. Achieving proper speaker
placement is usually straightforward, but even with near and mid-field monitors,
speaker placement and the acoustics of the listening room itself are too often
overlooked and can become significant contributors to an inaccurate and
uninspiring monitoring environment.

Please take a moment to read this information carefully. It will help you to get
the most use and enjoyment from your new Alesis monitors.

A Little History

In the early days of studio recording, big monitor speakers were almost
exclusively used. Unfortunately, they also required high powered amplifiers and
expensive acoustic treatments (often poorly done) to the entire control room.
Still, a well constructed big monitoring system really was impressive to listen to,
a fact not overlooked by the studio owners who wanted to impress the record
company executives who paid for the big studio’s time.

Fortunately, recording engineers and producers eventually learned that this was
not always the best way to accurately mix music because it wasn’t the way most
people listened to their radios, cassette and CD players. Also, big monitor
systems and the costs for the required control room acoustic treatments were
going through the roof (no pun intended), particularly beyond the budget limits
of smaller project and home studios which were growing in numbers. A new
way of accurate monitoring was needed; near and mid-field monitoring.

Near and mid-field monitors, by their definition, are intended for close-in
monitoring. The idea here is to improve the direct acoustic path between the
speaker and the listener by making it shorter, thereby giving less opportunity for
the always present indirect (reflected) sounds to get back in and muddle things
up. With near-field monitoring, the surrounding acoustic environment becomes
a much less significant factor in establishing the monitor system’s sound
character. The same holds true for mid-field monitoring except there’s a little
more distance placed between the speakers and the listening position. The result
can be a larger sound field along with something closer to that “big monitor
sound”.

A good set of monitors properly located in a reasonably non-reverberate room
and powered by a 100-200 watt amplifier will yield surprisingly accurate results
at budget prices. Even the big studios use smaller speakers to augment their big
monitoring systems today as near and mid-field monitors have become proven
tools in the recording business.