Auratone Super Sound Cubes | Mix Cubes | Do You NEED Them In 2021? 

"The marketing will tell you that these are essential in helping your mixes translate to a wide variety of systems... And that's bollocks!" My Sunday morning hangover disappeared right after hearing that. Where else I can get Derek and Clive style comedy while learning seriously deep stuff? Thanks for doing it!

It’s always the people who’ve been working in professional studios for decades that can’t stand these. I love my mono Mixcube. It has sped up my workflow hugely, and improved the overall sound and cohesiveness of my productions. They’re not a magic bullet, but for us home studio plebs working in less than perfect rooms they’re a really useful tool.

My Auratones are indispensable to me. Once you get to know them you can even get a very accurate sense of the bass weight as they distort in a particular way when things are too heavy down there. All the adjustments I make on them for balance translate accurately to the various media you mention whereas if I mixed on earbuds I doubt the mix would translate - I’d be mixing FOR earbuds only. There are no perfect monitors but there are better or worse perspectives and I wouldn’t ever be without them in an array.

A lot of mix engineers have gotten really accustomed to their own studios, so they don't even need to check their mixes on different playback systems. But for us mere mortals, it's the only go to to check every device known to man. :P

That’s precisely what I do, listen to a mix on a single Bluetooth portable speaker, AirPods, and of course in the car. I’ve found that if it sounds good on the little Bluetooth speaker, it sounds good everywhere.

Mix Cubes maybe yesteryear technology but I still use mine for reference otherwise, I have no idea where the balance sits. These have helped my mixes translate very well across other platforms

Used Mix Cubes when I was doing mixes for TV commercials. Went to Costco and bought a cheap flat screen and realized the stock Vizio speakers had way more range than my Mix Cubes. Now they just sit next to my mains and look cool like retro artwork....... the coating of dust adds to the visual ambiance.

Good advice, but I do find my pair excellent for quickly flipping over to to check mono as a lot of the nasty phasing happens in the low mid range. It just gives your ears a bit of a reset so once you go back to your mains you can pick out problems easier.

Wise words from wiseman. Appreciate that.

My mixes got 200% better since I check my mixes on those (Behringer C5A). I can't believe they are so revealing. Best money ever spent.

Great video. I love when someone much more eloquent than my self explains the opinion I have in my head. I was thinking about these for a while, and for the reasons you mentioned in the video I decided that I don't really need them. This just confirms my opinion.

Not gonna lie, I kind of want to buy a pair of Fishyungtek TuBlooth Speakers now.

You are the man. Thanks for this review. I already had it in the cart to purchase and than decided to do more research 🧐 and found this great review. You just earned a subscriber 💪

I have one Mix Cube (mono) which I switch between my stereo nearfields. When I first heard it I was like 'yep...I see what they mean about horror-tones'. I bought it last summer and for me its a useful tool esp as it allows me to focus on those tight mids without the low end effecting my decisions. I am a better producer than I am a mix engineer for sure but It def has helped me get my vocals sitting right as I have factored in that volume differences in mono. Eg vocal appearing louder in mono by a few dB. However, I do agree that saving up for the best pair of monitors you can afford and really knowing how they translate helps. Treating my room within a budget made the biggest difference for me. I always wanted the K&H 0300's until I heard the Meyer Sound HD1's next to them in at mix school. Maybe a second hand set of PMC TB2Sa's or ATC's one day. But then it will take me months to learn how they translate. Def a great point to listen to the mediums that the consumers will be using. Last summer I worked all the way though Mike Senior's 'Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio v.2' and used the superb accompanying online resources. I need to buy in physical form as its a studio Bible (not to offend anyone) I have a long way to go as a mix engineer as all the radio work takes my time away from mixing. Well done guys, amazing videos as ever. You made a miserable Indian man laugh

That commercial is awesome! Spot on

I am an amateur producer with overblown Barefoot footprint monitors -which have DSP settings for NS10 and auratone response. As I learn everything- I'm finding myself using these settings FREQUENTLY. the NS10 midrange "telescope" really helps dial in all the instrument and vocal volumes so that the core frequencies don't overlap. The auratone setting really helps me dial in bass drum/clap/snare/etc, as the mushy transient detail in the auratone midrange, again, seems to really help me quickly identify volume levels, as well as hearing the mushiness that happens when you have too many busy sounds playing at once.

Great fun and very informative :-)

I've had a set of Auratones since the 1970's. They still work just fine for what they are. The NS10's always sounded like "crap" to me even with the kleenex tweeter fix. My studio primaries are still JBL4310's with secondary use a pair of (sadly discontinued) self powered HHB Circle 5's. My pleasure listening room is set with a pair of Boston A400's which still sound fantastic and were re-coned about ten years ago.

I was fortunate to have had a pro audio spectrum external cd rom unit growing up.. it housed the rom, soundblaster pro soundcard and twin speakers all mounted in a heavy metal box that your CRT could stand on.. I was amazed after some years after opening it up.. to find out that the speaker sound secret was that both speakers 4" had hard plastic cylindrical case sealed footlong back enclosures filled with cotton.. That system could easily be a decent monitor today... it shaped alot of love for sound at an early age and they could not be turned up too loud.. just to make you want more.. glancing at some monitor prospects in the second hand store.. I can see they have that weight to them and you pay per gram.. ultra low buget.. 4-5" one foot sealed enclosure.. filled with cotton and wear a heavy iron plate hidden somewhere with rubber soles.. they can make the table vibrate for extra sense.. so the weight helps with transfer... I always loved explosions in games.. musically, the vibrations are still something I picked up.. they were there.. to be felt by my palms while using the computer.. install an amp that underpowers the volume by 10% below the typical spec.. and the aim here is stability.. they should last a long time.

a lot of young people use their laptop, ipad or celphone to listen to music. . . . and the avantone sounds pretty much like those very small speakers, and although some laptops have stereo.... their distance is so close that practically is just mono. And for the midrange (where "the magic" is....) they are very good as a reference. I have just one for the Mono-MidRange quick check...... But I preffer my BareFoots 👍 👍 👍 🤓 🔊

As with Hector from earlier in the comments, I have also been lusting after the Auratones for a bit now. But it’s funny how much we overcomplicate this stuff. Our audiences for the most part, at best, are listening to our music on a decent car stereo system or a good set of headphones. So why make this more than it is? As usual, you’ve given the “pull your head out of your ass” style of information. Thank you guys.

What is the différents between auratone and avantone.

Okay... so am I the only one here who now desperately wants the Fishyungtek Lobster Bluetooth Speaker? C’mon... admit it. You know you want one. 🤣🤣

Common sense. Thank you for saving me from diving into a rabbit hole!

best story ever on ns10.

Inspire Your Create !!

Would love to see a video on the acoustic properties of your 'mix cat'. Do you recommend a particular breed, or coat type, for specific genres of music and does your cat absorb bass frequencies below 100Hz? Thanks so very much for always creating fun AND helpful videos for all of us who can learn so much from your experience. By the way, I just got a pair of Reftones and now have to go look for the receipt to see if I can still return them within the 30-day trial period... *sigh*

What I want is to find those full range 4" drivers and make my own little boxes. Those drivers can't cost more than about $30 each.

I almost bought them until just now lmfao. I thought I might be able to tighten up my already good midrange even more... oh well... hahaha

WOW,, I love the brutal honesty angle of this video. Subscribed ;)

I have B&Ws 602 and simple, cheap but new Yamaha amp (s201?) ...planning to buy any popular pc 2.1 set so I will have a subwoofer. Now I check my mixes on an iPhone SE with one broken speaker... uploading mixes to SoundCloud and anywhere I go I can check my sound...at friends home for example. Checking on my iPhone helped me to learn where B&Ws are lacking in sound. ...or where my perception is lacking critical listening. If I had enough money I’d buy Adam, Genelec or Focal ...got Yamaha hs50m and hs80m...5’’ was a complete waste of money...8” is optimal and hs80 do sound very similar to my B&W 602.

Thank you. This was good.

The precipitation of midrange detail In the Auratone cubes are in part due to a small point source driver with no crossover in the signal path. If you want to take things to another level build your own system using a pair of Fostex fe103 4" full range drivers. Audiophiles have known about these for years and they will embarrass many high end monitors within the limits of their intended frequency range.

Entertaining video,but can't agree. I produce since 30 years and bought an original pair of auratones recently. My mix levels and eq decisions just sound right. Listen to a snare on the auratones! And sorry about Mike Senior: I have his book. He might be a good teacher, but he is not in the music industry. So I don't value his opinion to much. Teaching and mixing some indie stuff for students and evaluation has nothing to do with mixing for the music industry and the radio.

Lets agree to disagree. Devices that consumers listen on today are at their core pairs of single woofer-speakers (no crossovers and point source). Therefore I highly recommend everyone to buy single woofer-speakers like the Auratones. Since the surface of the Auratone´s woofer is much bigger than the surface of a mobile phone or laptop speaker, you can hear much more detail (a bigger window into the music). Coming with a sealed enclosure is a huge plus since it is crucial to have tight lower frequencies.

Fishyungtek Tu Blooth 🤣😂🤣 GOLD

Where can i get a pair of those Fishyungtek speakers bro?!!!! They look amazing!!!! 🤣😎

What you think about Fostex 6301B small monitors? I found to buy them cheap. Do they can do auratones job?

I've been using Mitsusushi Pyramids mounted on gimbals for the last 35 years.

This is so true!!!

Gosh.... finally

Is it more common to use them in one speaker or in a pair?

You'll notice that when a skein of geese fly overhead, one side of the V formation is longer. That is because there are more geese on that side. There's another dad joke you're welcome to use.

It’s really astonishing a professional engineer would offer this take. It’s not a ‘magical window into the midrange’ - it’s a band limited speaker. All playback systems have mids, some brighter, some darker, but they all have midrange. All instruments have midrange elements. A single auratone is indispensable for balancing the midrange, bringing things forward and back - that’s what mixing is?! They also highlight mixing errors, bad mixes sound awful on them. You don’t need to reference on dozens of playback systems if you get things right on a mono cube.

Which one would you recommend for a main set of monitors a pair of ATC SCM7+Art SLA1, or a pair of genelec 8030. I mainly mix rock and metal music. Can they be good enough with a subwoofer?

Even though people don’t listen to ‘AM radio’ anymore doesn’t mean a single full range driver monitor isn’t useful because most radio, cars and alexia’s still have a single driver inside them

What's better to listen to AM radio or a cell phone

Ps love you add brake! 😂

🤔

“..or do you try and find a middle ground and get your mix sounding just average on both..” No. you make them sound great on both speakers. If you have 3 pairs, you make them sound great on the 3 pairs. This is a very silly, “wanna be smart about it’ video.

hahaha this is great!

So true, its like the -6db mastering fallacy.

Just go buy 2 car door speakers cube and openback

I mix entirely on ath-m50xbts.

I have a pair of Dali Concept 1 mkII's (bookshelf speakers), and what's great about them is that I don't have to take the mix to the car that much. I also have a JBL bluetooth speaker that has AUX in hooked up - all because then I don't have to mixdown and move to the car / some other place. Works nicely. But NS10's for "main audio work"? Never! The other speakers are just there to check the mix on "normal" setups quickly - I seldomly have to change anything, but it's quick and easy.

I’m glad more people lately have been realizing how shit NS-10s are. Why would you want to hear your wonderful music on such awful speakers?

Counterpoint: literally hundreds of big-name mix engineers who use the speakers poo-pooed in this video. Yes, the main point stands: spend as much as you can afford on full-range monitors. Yes, small cube monitors continue to be very useful for those who gel with them. Will you? Maybe, maybe not. But, as ever, reviews won't tell you that...

I sold my Fishyungteks and bought a pair of Earwig Sensodynes and now my mixes smell so much better!

AM radio in 1982 ? seriously ? most engineers don't mix on big or " best " speakers even today , they are meant for clients not for mixing . NS10s and Auratones have been used on countless records for mixing and not for " checking " mixes , the modern soundbars or earbuds still can't reproduce the low end like big monitors with subwoofers can... Full range big speakers are used at the mastering stage in a different type of treated room without a console or racks of gear to f up the sound , nearfield speakers with a limited freq range are essential in a pro studio and even more in a home studio environment ( even with a lot of room treatment ) . Great mixes modern or not sound great everywhere including on auratones , bad mixes can sound decent on better speakers in the environment where the mix has been done but awful on auratones and might require countless car or bluetooth speakers / earbuds checks to be adjusted , a waste of time . I think that the nickname horrortone come from bad engineers incapable of pulling off a mix that truly translates well everywhere .

OK... have to disagree. I thought I'd hate the MixCubes but any level tweaks I do on them always improves the midrange balance on the mains... and everything from cellphone to the car. It's made sitting a vocal "just right" so easy it feels like cheating. I've got all the new "crappy" speakers... bluetooth, earbuds etc. and as much as it's good to check on them, they are all still trying to produce bass and high end by whatever means - that is, they don't focus on the all important midrange which is where 80% of the music is. A newbie with limited funds would be better off with a good pair of studio headphones (HD650) and a pair of MixCubes because room treatment becomes less crucial.

I love my mix cube (mono). Truthfully, its another reference, but its useful to know "where everything sits": vocals, bass presence, and kick. Its just good to have a "check" for all my self-doubts during mixing. You'll feel better once you hear it translate, or adjust accordingly.

I couldn't have put it better myself. Since the 80s when I first started I have had it all. All the gear, the good and the bad. Fallen for the hype in the magazines (that's how we found out about stuff in the last century). Until about 5 years ago I was stuck in the past. I had to have all the best retro stuff. Etc etc. It is actually quite embarrassing now, to think of it. I sold it all. All of it. I am now 100% in the box with a pair of Genelec 8020s, a laptop, and a pair of Audeze LCD-Xs, and get more work now and have a happier client base than I have ever had in 35 years as a mastering engineer. It was a moment of enlightenment. I moved into the present and looked to the future. Thank you for the video. Well said.

I drank the Kool-Aid and got a pair of Auratone Mix Cubes about a year ago. I came up with your same conclusion, listening to my mixes on ear buds, Ipads and in my car was far better, cheaper and more realistic way of checking my mixes. Time to put the AuraTones on Reverb. Love your channel and thank you.

I have a pair of 4" speakers that i installed into vintage Kodak slides boxes. They sound terrible, and they look even worse. I'd be happy to sell them to anyone that want to hear how their mix sounds through terrible speakers. The midrange is incredible, at least compared to lows and highs which are pretty much inexistent.

I just ordered a pair of Auratones, NOT for referencing, but for getting the balances right and getting my mix in the right ballpark much faster. These excel on that purpose! They also have an advantage over the NS-10s, and that is that they don't have a crossover frequency because they are one-way speakers. I think that should have been mentioned.

“Precisely calculated labyrinth of magical voodoo” 🤣 for a moment I thought it was a serious thing lol 😂

I use a single avantone mixcube and it's a very useful tool to get clear midrange and depth.

I think the point of this video was not to say they are useless but that you can have ANY other reference speakers that sound "shit" and you don't have to buy these expensive in particular. So anyone got any cheaper alternatives?

I have the behritone. One. It does the job: i check the mix for vocals. I wanted a shitty speaker, got the behritone and avantone. Avantone sounds better. Sold avantone. I wanted shitty, remember :)

Have been perving at auratones for a while and this really helped reset the priorities. Thank you gents

Thanks for the healthy dose of scepticism re these, or in general, anything "Vintage" (just about my most hated word), or anything that is "flavour of the month" with (insert name of..) whoever is the current darling of the producer world. The reason you see these people féted in the press and online, is because they are often being paid to push expensive "vintage" hardware/software/plugins/etc. etc. All part of the "I need all the plugins because if i don't have them my music/mixes won't sound "PROFESSIONAL". All part of the instant fix that you get from plugin presets, whether they be Magic compressors, Magic Synths, Magic Valve/Tube Unicorn boxes (all available at eye-watering prices, of course. Whether it's guitarists and their "TONE", or keyboardists and their "ANALOGUE synths" etc. sadly too many people in this world believe all this hype. Case in point. A friend, who has written some good songs, was told that her favourite producer used cassette recorders, to mix to, to add "warmth and distortion" so she bought a second (or third or fourth) hand Tascam 4 track cassette recorder. Mixed stuff from her Logic songs onto it. the idea was to then add to this in Logic, to build the final tracks. Needless to say, because of all that analogue wow and flutter and timing instability, it became impossible to resync to the DAW again, and the whole project ended up as a mess. If people simply learned to use whatever resources they have properly, like actually using all the resources in their DAW, they might A) learn something, and B) save a lot of money in the process. Keep up the great work, guys. Your channel is a breath of fresh air of reason in the murky world of music production, and the accompanying hype.

Hahaha @ the faux infomercial in the middle. Brilliant video again.

We need more videos about BS audio myths that circulate in audio production and musician circles :D I'm electronics designer, musician and sound tech and I just hate the amount of tall unscientific myths going around that everyone believes and passes forward, but nobody understands the mechanics of how things work so they never realize to question them :D

Respectfully disagree… SOS mag already collected it’s main pros. - [ ] no crossover artifacts - [ ] fewer inter‑driver phasing issues if you move around the monitoring room - [ ] no inter‑speaker phasing if a dedicated mono mixcube is used, a real image for all instruments - [ ] unbeatable balancing ability as their sound is less affected by time‑domain smearing (infinite‑baffle cabinet design has fewer resonances than most ported designs, and because its limited frequency range interacts very little with low‑frequency room modes) These are all true, proven; do not compare them to earbud or car test, and don’t call them crappy or horror. These have been and remain in studios for reasons above. If you learn these, you can create a well balanced mix and fine tune them on your mains.

Hey Mark! Just dropping by three months after having purchased my first pair of Auratones. I've been mixing on these daily and man, they can sound GOOD! Saying that these are grotboxes made solely for "checking how your mix will sound on shitty speakers" is absolute BS. Thinking that way is missing the point completely. Sorry, I felt like someone had to say this.

Definitely disagree, paired with ssl six these things are phenomenal. From setting levels, compression, to dialing in reverb these speakers allow me to hear it all. I use to only use one, to mix in mono, the secret is to use both and collapse them to mono on your monitor controller, not from your daw or audio interface. Now in all my references mixes I can pin point where the vocals sit, and the amount of reverb compared to other elements in a commercial mix. How long have you had that mix cube? If your room acoustics suck you definitely need these even more or a quality pair of headphones.

I recommend the avantone powered clone. You don’t need it in stereo. That would be silly. It is very useful speaker, even if you just use it as a speaker to give your ears a rest from your main monitor. But you could probably use any small speaker for that. The Bob story is hilarious

I use a single auratone sometimes (the behringer c5a active variant), but not because it "reveals" anything to me, quite the opposite. I use it if I want a sound that doesn't rip my ears being waaay softer and less direct when im editing or arranging etc., which helps with ear fatigue IMHO.

Same thing with Pro Tools 🙈

Everytime I eye a piece of gear and start looking for reviews I just assume that an algorithm is going to present a video or link that tells me to go buy that thing, thus it's pretty hard for me to trust RU-vidrs to be objective, and if they have a link where you can buy the item, forget it! I found this to be very objective and I really appreciated the back history on how these monitors became so popular. Great video! Thanks for the wisdom.

I JUST WANT TO INSPIRE MY CREATE. I built a set of Linkwitz Pluto speakers years ago. I use them for everything because I KNOW them.

Fishyungtek speakers 😁😄😂...Loved that

Was thinking about adding these to my main monitors, thank you for saving me cash.

For me it's all about translation. Anyone who has owned high end monitors for a few years knows that unfortunately, no speaker is perfect. It's no good having expensive monitors if that is the only speakers your mix sounds good on. People often say things like; "it doesn't matter what speakers you use it's all about knowing your monitors" In practice however it just isn't that simple. All speakers have their blind spots to one degree or another. The famous soul destroying car test is a great example of this! Referencing on different speakers is really the only way to cover all the bases. It's the only way to check that your mix is actually doing what you think it is, based on what your speakers are telling you. A lot of top mix engineers utilise these kinds of speakers as just another perspective, to see that it is translating for the 'small speaker' out in the real world. If you get your mix singing across 2 or 3 sets of different speakers then there is a good chance your mix will translate well in the world. I personally have found the more speakers to check on the better. Spike Stent is known for checking on LOTS of speakers in his studio. Many years into the game now I really understand why!

Couldn't agree more. Absolutely 1 set of the best monitors you can afford + proper room treatment (NOT foam) All those amateur/pro studios you see with 4 sets of monitors? What a joke. You can't compensate for everything. I've the Dynaudio LYD48 (3 way) monitors and the S9 sub. Sounds good through those it'll be good through anything. I have a system that switches to a domestic amp running passive speakers as a final check for any low-end booming etc. NS10s'? Awful.

I was inspired by the late great Phillip Zdar to buy a single Aurotone to mix in mono. In his Mix With The Masters video series he did the most mind blowing mix you'll ever hear in your life of Pheonix's song Liztomania (that sounded 10Xs better than the version they actually released.) Zdar raved about the Aurotones and said he even EQed the bass on them. The also had NS10 Studios and other monitors he checked on but would mix a great deal just on the single Auratone.

Cat: please turn off the light! :)

quick question I mix blues, rock, and metal, what monitors do you suggest, in a medium /small room. I do not like my mix to sound dry on common devices.

Inspire your create.

"and that's bollocks" wise words, Mark, wise words...🤣🤣 . Also, thanks for debunking the 'must have' NS10 myth.

Actually, I DO enjoy my new Reftones. Yes, you can check mixes on whatever speakers are around (iPhone, Laptop, car, etc.) but the convenience of having such a sound right on my desktop, where I can switch to them with one button push of my RME Fireface UFX+ remote (having leveled the volume between them and my PSI A21m) makes them very useful. The PSI are $6500/pr, so definitely a fairly accurate speaker and I LOVE them, but I find that certain aspects of the midrange sound balanced on them while sounding somewhat squelched on the Reftones. I don't really EQ using the little guys, but they are very helpful for pointing out that my electric guitar track is too loud against my soprano sax (lead) track and needs to be reigned in a bit, whereas on the PSI monitors I could hear both clearly and didn't know there was a problem. It's useful to me to have speakers that are 'congested' sounding to point out where midrange masking may be going on but the 'big' speakers didn't tell me about it since all the parts are so well defined, and I love that I can 'check' this just by tapping one button to hear the sound 'open' or 'constricted'. They are also useful for checking bass believe it or not. If I switch to the baby speakers and the bass is gone, I don't have enough going on in the bass harmonics. When it's right, I can still hear the bass 'part' in the little guys, even though I don't have any 'bass' frequencies. Since I can ALWAYS hear the bass clearly in the big boys, I might miss this aspect of the mix. I believe ANY engineer would be adamant about the need to reference mixes on other speaker systems. The question is whether you need Auratone-types to do that. Of course you don't. But I love the convenience of being able to instantly switch between systems at a button push all through the mixing process. Yes, you have to learn them, but you had to 'learn' your earbuds and car systems, too. My two cents. :-)

Never wanted a mixcube, heard ns-10s ages ago and hated them. I'm using 23 years old Wharfdale satellites plus a decent woofer and maybe the setup sucks, but it sounds familiar. I check everything with my AKG 501 headphones and on some consumer gear. I give a crap how it sounds on a phone speaker and I'm not willing to make an effort for people who clearly make none. ...phone speakers... Your jingles are priceless!

Brilliant. Yes, I have my Barefoot Monitors but I test on various other hi-fi systems including a Bose Bluetooth speaker which is super useful for checking bass and clarity.

I have used sets of multiple speakers, or multiple headphones for mixing and what I learn was that they are like different points of view, that can show me something that I was not seeing ( or listening ) and can correct with some fine tuning. In this pandemic I'm working from home with 2 headphones, a cirurgical Srh940 and a civilian Edifier wb820bt and had great results so I advocate for the multiple sets of monitoring but you have made me thinking about future investments. I was thinking of buying new speakers and was budgeting the ideia of 2 sets, with avantones being one of them, but now I thinking of using all the money in 1 pair......or buying some lobster....idk.

You make great videos and I find myself agreeing with almost EVERYTHING you say. I could never understand the NS10 thing even back then in the 90's. I went for the Alesis monitor ones at the time. Still have them, don't use them anymore but at the time I loved them. Now one of my kids uses them and loves them.

The advertisement killed me :D :D Hilarious

thank you very much, i still have to tell people that NS10 is trash and especially for electronic music it makes zero sense

I respectfully disagree, I think the mixcubes simulate frequency response of phones and laptops fairly decently. It’s way quicker and easier to reference through them than bouncing and playing back after the fact in other devices. I also find them useful to neutralize my ears to keep objective decisions while I mix. Take my opinion with a grain of salt as I’m not a pro mixer.

I appreciate all of your points... however, my real world experience with the single mixcube in mono is that my mixes have improved 1000%. I don't know if 2 mix cubes in stereo would improve my mixes 2000% but I use that single speaker for about 90% of my completed projects and the difference has been nothing short of amazing.