The classic-looking “White Cone” CLA-10 studio monitors were originally launched in 2018, through a collaboration with famous mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge. Intended to create an accurate recreation of an iconic studio monitoring mainstay, the passive version was subsequently followed by its active CLA-10A counterpart. Now, Avantone Pro confirmed a return of this studio monitor as the active CLA-10A Limited Edition in an attractive North American black walnut veneer cabinet.
There’s a number or reasons why no one wants to mix again in the original Yamaha NS-10 Studio monitors. The original paper cones from the 1987 classics have rotten by now and even the very few specimens that survived are drowned in the haze of tobacco smoke that was standard in those days. The famous white-cone woofer has been exhaustively analyzed, emulated and improved, such as the Bold North Audio MS10-W replacement driver as proven. Everyone evolved to much better studio monitors these days, and even if – for any reason – we want it, we can easily emulate the NS10’s frequency response curve with a click of a button. Even Yamaha has retired the originals, and moved on to offer much improved studio monitors.
And yet, they could still be improved and relaunched if that makes sense. That is what Avantone did with the Avantone Pro’s CLA-10 as an accurate recreation using modern technology and evolved with the active CLA-10A counterpart. Also, no external power amp is required when working with the CLA-10A Limited Edition, which the company says doesn’t alter the revered reference tone that a recording engineer would expect.
What changes is that the Avantone Pro’s CLA-10A Limited Edition is presented in an attractive North American black walnut veneer that looks as classic as it sounds — instead of of matte black of the originals.
Why the CLA-10A Limited Edition sounds the way it does is a little more complicated, understandably. Ultimately, the supply of aftermarket components became increasingly expensive with reduced availability after the ‘white cone’ classic studio reference monitor was discontinued, which is why Avantone Pro created a near-exact recreation of the original drivers. Deploying their global resources and decade-long experience in driver construction, the affordable high-quality audio products producer succeeded in faithfully reproducing the components concerned, while updating the materials involved to comply with modern environmental standards.
Saying that, though, the AV10-MHF soft dome tweeter used in the CLA-10A Limited Edition design went through a difficult engineering process to get the exact phenolic resin doping to match the original performance curve, while the accompanying AV10-MLF 18cm cone woofer uses custom-tooled mechanical parts that mirror the original. Also, Avantone Pro worked closely with one of the original vendors of the original cone to get the exact same stiffness and weight, but upgraded the production process to create machine-pressed cones. Consequently, the CLA-10 marked the first time that a white cone-style speaker was made in matched sonic pairs, an achievement that clearly continued with the introduction of the active CLA-10A and, now, the CLA-10A Limited Edition, effectively representing a repeat return of the ‘white cone’ classic studio reference monitor in and of itself.
One of the most common questions asked about Avantone Pro’s accurate recreation of an iconic studio monitoring mainstay concerns which version of the originals they are based on, to which the answer is: all of them! The CLA-10A Limited Edition has a VTPC (Variable Tissue Paper Control) located on its rear panel, allowing users to simulate the high-frequency damping trick employed by pop and rock recording engineers back in the day — namely, covering the tweeters with tissue paper! Put it this way: with VTPC, CLA-10A Limited Edition users can simulate anything from the vertical ‘M’ model to the horizontal ‘Studio’ model, as well as everything in between. No need to worry about the best tissue paper to use since VTPC has effectively settled that debate once and for all — surely saving money on tissue paper purchasing in the process of doing so!
Staying traditional with a linear power supply implementing a massive, old-school toroidal transformer in order to maintain the legacy sound, the CLA-10A Limited Edition also uses a monolithic Class AB amplifier. At low power, THD is 0.005%; at rated load, it is 0.1%. A rock-solid 120W RMS per speaker and a full-range 60-20,000Hz response is the result of Avantone Pro’s design choices made in close collaboration with Chris Lord-Alge (to whom the CLA-10A Limited Edition and its elder siblings not only owe their shared ‘initials’ but also their very existence).
The CLA-10A Limited Edition is available at Avantone Pro’s US Dealers with a MAP of $999.00 USD per pair. System Sell Price in the European Union is €1,332.00 EUR per pair.
www.avantonepro.com
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