Recording - October 2015 - 47

a subwoofer. What low end there is comes
across nicely defined and clear; you hear
higher harmonics in bass guitar and kick
drum snap that lets your mind fill in the
lower details.
The mids are notably forward and
detailed; there's no weirdness at the 2.4
kHz crossover frequency that I could
hear, and the LP4 speaks with authority
on rock material with electric guitars and
in-your-face vocals. This is a great little
speaker for listening to potential problems
in the critical midrange.
The broad and smooth dispersion of
the waveguide combines with a very fast
transient response in the tweeter itself to
give a nicely extended treble that's free of
shrillness or spittiness but has plenty of
detail. Edit clicks and digital conversion
artifacts have nowhere to hide, but if your
audio's well-recorded in the highs, the
LP4 will let you hear it properly.
The Les Paul 6
At a nicely-manageable 18.5 lbs. each,
the Les Paul 6 is a solid monitor for smaller listening spaces that would be overpowered by an 8" woofer.
I set them up in my studio
at the Recording offices,
in an equilateral triangle
roughly 48" on a side,
angled for proper alignment on IsoAcoustics
stands. Like the LP4s, they
had a little bit of midrange
harshness that went away
after a 48-hour burn-in
period.
The extra oomph from
the larger woofer in the
LP6 makes listening a
markedly different experience than with the LP4; the LP6 delivers
solid, powerful bass. I didn't find myself
missing the really low lows that a subwoofer delivers on any material other
than the very bassiest dance music.
The LP6's woofer is also recessed into
the cabinet for increased directionality,
but in this case it matches up very well
with the dispersion of the tweeter waveguide. The result is a sweet spot that is not
only very wide but also exceptionally wellbehaved as you move to its limits and
beyond. This is a great monitor for situations where the engineer may have the
artist sitting next to him or her and listening along; you don't have to worry about
things getting strange if you're not perfectly situated with respect to the speakers.
The LP6 has a crossover frequency of
2.7 kHz. As with the LP4, there are no
obviously audible artifacts in the vicinity of
the crossover. Here, the beautifully clear
and defined highs blend with the powerful
mids and lows to produce a frequency
response that's notably mid-forward,
again great for working with rock mixes.

If you feel that too many monitors these
days have scooped mids in contrast to
overemphasized highs and lows, then
you're really going to like the way the LP6
presents your music.
Final thoughts
The Les Paul speakers feature a plethora of nice touches. I did most of my listening with the rear-panel tone controls set
flat, but tiny boosts and cuts to account for
placement near boundaries worked well
for me. The illuminated Gibson logo under
the woofer flashes slowly when the speakers go into Standby mode, and they wake
up in a matter of a second or two with no
nasty pops or clicks.
I worked with a variety of material and
did a lot of listening to my own tracks and
mixes, especially through the LP6, which
very handily replaced my usual studio
speakers for the review period and quickly became a trusted part of my monitoring
environment. One particularly critical
task-auditioning a recently rediscovered
live concert recording for potential
release, picking out digital artifacts and
edit points for a future
mix session in a larger
studio-was accomplished swiftly and satisfyingly with the LP6,
and a crosscheck on
the LP4 was nicely
consistent with my
results on the larger
speakers.
The Les Paul 4 provides a high-quality
listening experience
for the desktop rig
that needs accuracy in
a very small space.
You'll need to check your work on larger
monitors and/or add a subwoofer to fill
in the lows, but the LP4 provides a great
sonic picture within its tiny frame.
The Les Paul 6 is a beautiful choice for
a serious studio's primary monitor. It's got
plenty of clear lows, a forward but
detailed midrange, and a smoothly
extended high end that's non-fatiguing
and microscopically clear. If you're doing
music that's very heavy on the kick drum
and low bass rumble, a subwoofer would
be an appropriate addition, but for most
genres of music the LP6 will give you
what you need without help.
Gibson Pro Audio's first entries into the
reference monitor market are impressive
all around. I can just see Les now, listening
to them with that gleam in his eye...
Prices: Les Paul 4, $599 each; Les Paul
6, $799 each
More from: Gibson Pro Audio,
www.gibson.com/Products/
Pro-Audio/2015.aspx
RECORDING October 2015

http://www.mojaveaudio.com http://www.mojaveaudio.com http://www.gibson.com/Products/

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