Yamaha NS10 are the industry standard not because is a good monitor but precisely for the opposite reason: NS10 represent the average domestic speaker that everyone can have in their living room. That type of monitor become (in the end of 70’s) the reference for this exact reason. One of the most famous sound engineer of that era, Bob Clearmountain, use to carry with him from studio to studio so that he had a consistent reference and he wanted something that he felt was representative of typical hi-fi speakers. A legend tells that he used to stick toilet paper on the tweeter in order to dull their over-bright balance.
For the same reason, Auratone also were famous: it was the reference to emulate the sound of little transistor radio that everyone used at that time.
info:
Love or hate the Yamaha NS10, this unassuming little speaker has found a place in the studios of many of the world's top producers. We trace its history, and investigate why a monitor whose sound has been described as "horrible" became an industry standard.
www.soundonsound.com
epiphany.law
Different story fo Adam or Hedd monitors: they are certainly used in recording studios, we are not talking about the A7V, but in models that cost 20x more. Never seen instead, a professional recording studio using KRK, those are used only by DJ's and bedroom producers. Basically, all the so-called $200 "studio monitors", even those made by prestigious manufacturers are actually wannabe studio monitors, which have nothing to do with the real thing.