Recording - October 2016 - 48

BY ALEX HAWLEY

Now in its third generation, the well-liked,
budget-friendly ROKIT Series from KRK features five monitors to choose from, ranging
from the tiny ROKIT 4 G3 (reviewed March
2016) all the way up to the midfield 3-way
flagship ROKIT 10-3 G3. Today we'll be
talking about the latter, which provides a
whole lot of speaker for your buck.
It's not very often that I have the opportunity to work with midfield monitors of this
size, so this kind of mixing experience took
some getting used to. I was happy to
arrange them in conjunction with a pair of
nearfields that I know very well. It's
funny-with monitors like the 10-3 set up
in the control room, often the very first
thing you hear from the artist or client
when you sit down for playback is, "Put it
on the big speakers!" When this happens,
it's essential that all of the surgical, detailed
mix decisions made on the nearfields translate to the midfield monitors. The 10-3
does just that, while adding an impressive
amount of energy into the room which
always seems to leave the artist wide-eyed.

nearfields, using them in conjunction
with a subwoofer, and using them for
5.1 systems. With all that being said, I
feel that the 10-3 may not be best suited
for nearfield use. It would take a careful
calibration and a very well-treated room
to pull it off without running into trouble.
In a nearfield application, speakers of
this size may not translate as intended
from that close of a distance, and I
would also be very concerned about
working at high SPL at that range.
On the back
The rear panel includes balanced XLR,
balanced 1/4" TRS, and unbalanced
RCA inputs. The on/off switch is located
next to the power socket, which accepts
a standard IEC 3-prong AC cord. A
rear-panel voltage selector can be set
from 110-120V or 220-240V.
The rear panel also has three user
control knobs, for volume, low-frequency
adjustment, and high-frequency adjustment. The slightly detented volume knob

KRK ROKIT 10-3 Generation 3 Powered Monitors
The ROKIT line's evolution continues with a new 3-way powerhouse
On the front
The 10-3 is a Class AB triamplified 3way monitor. The three drivers are a 1"
neodymium-magnet soft dome tweeter, a
4" aramid glass composite midrange
cone, and a 10" aramid glass composite woofer. The soft dome tweeter is driven by a 30 W amp, and operates
above a 3.5 kHz crossover frequency.
The midrange cone is driven by a 30 W
amp, and operates between the
crossover frequencies of 350 Hz and
3.5 kHz. The 10" woofer is driven by
an 80 W amp, and produces everything
below the crossover frequency of 350
Hz, also subject to a 30 Hz subsonic filter.
The physical dimensions come out to
21.5" x 12.8" x 14.4", weighing 46
pounds (Yes, that's one big heavy speaker!).
The cabinet features rounded edges to
minimize reflections, a waveguide around
the tweeter to maximize high-frequency
detail and imaging, and a curved baffle
to avoid diffraction distortion. The unit
also has a front-firing port.
48

RECORDING OCTOBER 2016

The 10-3's stated frequency response
ranges from 31 Hz to 20 kHz, with a
couple of peaks and valleys. According
to the frequency response chart shown
in the manual, from roughly 100 Hz to
250 Hz there is a notable bump, from
750 Hz to 3 kHz there is a dip, and
from around 6 kHz to 12 kHz there is a
slight bump. The maximum SPL is stated
as 113 dB at one meter, but I'll take
KRK's word for it on that one.
One of my favorite design features on
the 10-3 is the ability to reconfigure the
mid and high-frequency drivers for setting
the monitors horizontally. This is achieved
through a circular rotatable assembly,
consisting of the two upper drivers. Due
to the sheer size of these monitors,
arranging them horizontally can be very
practical. This allows a more manageable setup to ensure all of the drivers
remain at ear level, and the woofer does
not get obstructed by a meter bridge or
a pair of nearfield monitors.
KRK describes various applications for
the 10-3, such as setting them up as

has a generous range, from -30 dB to
+6 dB. The HF adjustment (3 kHz shelving) allows for moves from -2 dB to +1
dB, while the LF adjustment (500 Hz
shelving) allows for ±2 dB.
On the air
My first impression was of how effortlessly these monitors fill the room. I managed to set these guys up in an equilateral triangle of 8 feet (manual suggests
anywhere from 5 to 13 feet apart), and
that felt like a good distance for a cabinet of this size. When setting up speakers at that distance, the room acoustics
are bound to play more of a role in the
equation than you might be used to with
nearfields. That's something to keep in
mind if you are considering these as an
addition to an untreated or minimally
treated studio.
I found it very refreshing to mix on a
pair of 3-way monitors, as opposed to
my typical system of nearfield 2-ways
with a sub. When listening to my mixes
on multiple platforms after working with

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2016