Ten Of The Best: Studio Monitors 2019

HEDD AUDIO TYPE 20

Price (pair): $1999
Design: 3-way ported
Woofer: 7.2″ UHC cone (Ultra Honeycomb Composite)
Midrange 4.7″ UHC cone
Tweeter: 2″ HEDD AMT (HEDD Air Motion Transformer)
Frequency response: 32Hz – 50kHz

HEDD Type 20

A relative newcomer to the studio monitoring game, there is much to like about HEDD (Heinz Electrodynamic Designs) and its Audio Type 20 speakers. Founded by Klaus Heinz, yet another alumnus of ADAM Audio, HEDD is mixing things up with the Audio Type 20. Instead of a two-way system, it’s a full three-way system; which means that it has low-, mid- and high-frequency drivers in one box.

What this means for home studio musicians and producers is that less real estate has to be dedicated to monitoring. This arrangement isn’t completely revolutionary, as Neumann’s KH310A, ATC’s SCM25A and SCM4A, and Dynaudio Lyd 48 have similar designs. Packaging the monitors in this fashion, with the woofer next to the mid-drive and tweeter, is better suited—in some mathematically complex ways—for nearfield monitoring. It’s just not all that typical.

Given that ADAM Audio’s monitors are commonly said to be bright and detailed, one might think that Heinz and his son imbued the Audio Type 20 with a similar frequency response. But Heinz obtained a special material for the the design and manufacture of the monitor’s woofer, and this is perhaps why it has good low end and overall warmth (A little bit of engineering mystery never hurts product marketing!)