A hi-fi fave enters the world
of professional monitoring

By Steve La Cerra

Ambiance Acoustics is a new name to many studio mavens. The subject of this audition, the California Cube, is their first monitor intended for studio use (though the company has already established itself in hi-fi circles). The California Cube defies conventional studio-monitor design in several manners, probably the most obvious being that all of the drivers are identical (there are no "woofers" and "tweeters") and that the enclosure is actually cube-shaped. All four of the drivers used in the California Cube are 4.5-inch full-range with treated paper cones and rubber surrounds. Designer Robert Salvi used one type of driver to minimize phase shift due to driver time-misalignment.

Provided with the loudspeakers is an active equalization box, the EQC-1, which allowed Salvi to lower distortion by eliminating a traditional internal (passive) crossover. Our California Cubes came finished in a slick-looking granite mica covering, but Cubes can also be ordered with a variety of veneer or laminated finishes.

Installing the California Cubes requires placing the EQC-1 inline with a console's monitor outputs. Monitor out from our console was connected to "line input" on the EQC-1, and the EQC-1's line out was connected to the power amp input. The EQC-l's front panel has several buttons, including, bypass, a subsonic filter (18 dB per octave slope at 53 Hz), and a tape monitor loop (the latter a remnant from the system's hi-fi heritage, no doubt).

Parts and construction of the EQC-1 were first-rate (toroidal transformer, 1 percent metal film resistors, premium ICs), but the input connectors were of the gold-plated RCA variety, and we are inherently suspicious of such connectors. Perhaps Ambiance Acoustics should give us balanced 1/4-inch I/O connectors. Literature accompanying this system cautions against use of the EQC-1 with other loudspeakers, and suggests locating the processor at least 12 inches away from any other equipment. Our audition confirmed this: put the EQC-1 too close to another studio unit with a rude transformer and you'll have an increase in noise. Insetting the EQC-1 into the monitor chain raised the noise floor ever-so-slightly. (Towards the end of our review, Ambiance Acoustics sent us a revised version of the EQC-1 that provided a subtle change in the high-frequency response and the noise floor - this updated version seemed to be a bit smoother in the high frequencies and a touch more quiet.)

Connection to the speakers is via gold-plated, five-way binding posts. Cabinet construction was clean and tight, with the four drivers flush-mounted on the baffle with a removable grille, which we removed for listening tests.

We used the California Cubes in a variety of mixing and tracking situations. The Cubes easily handled a wide variety of sound sources, including kick drums played way too loud and overzealous bass synths, and there's no question that "these speakers are ballsy." Frequency response of the Cubes was extended at both ends, and they easily played loud and clean enough for our uncommon sense. At the other end of the extreme, these speakers were adept at reproducing more subtle sounds from percussion instruments such as shakers and triangle.

When it came to mixing, we discovered what we felt was the California Cube's main weakness: the sweet spot is very narrow. If you are listening off-axis, you could easily misjudge hihat and cymbal levels by several dB. Ambiance Acoustics’ literature says you should be directly on-axis to the center of the front baffle - and they mean it. This may or may not be a problem depending on your studio application and habits. Rooms where three or four people need to simultaneously be in the sweet spot will find a problem with the California Cube's dispersion, but where only one or maybe two people need to hear the mix on-axis (as is the case in most project rooms), they can squeeze into the window.

If you tend to move around the control room a lot while working, this is an important consideration. Move your head around while mixing on the California Cubes, and you'll notice this immediately. You can hear when you have arrived into "The Spot" - all of a sudden, the top end will dramatically open up. Of course, this factor can also be a strength in certain control rooms, particularly those where acoustic planning was nil - the directionality of the California Cube can help reduce the adverse effects of an acoustically untuned room.

California Cubes aren't the answer to every listening situation, but in smaller rooms where controlled dispersion, wide dynamic range, and a full frequency response range is desired, the California Cubes are worth an audition.