Granada TV and Coronation Street are British institutions. The UK's longest-running soap opera is still filmed and produced at the famous studios, now renamed The Manchester Studios and operating under the title 3sixtymedia, which have been its home since the show began in 1960. The Manchester Studios remains the Northwest's busiest television studio and currently produces many programmes for ITV, BBC and independents, including shows like University Challenge, The Jeremy Kyle Show, A Question of Sport, Mastermind and Brainbox.

The Manchester Studios has recently upgraded the audio monitoring in all five of its multi-camera studios by purchasing a wide range of loudspeakers from Klein + Hummel. The studios now boast five pairs of O 300D active studio monitors, six pairs of O 110 near field monitors and three O 800 subs. The task of upgrading the post-production facilities has started with the introduction of an O 500C / O 110 system in Audio Dub 3, while O 110 nearfields have been introduced in the track lay suite.

Mike Hayes is the Operations Manager for the Audio Department at 3sixtymedia. "At the moment all the Studio audio galleries have O 300D/O 110 systems with O 800 subs and Audio Dub 3 boasts the O 500Cs with O 110 near field," he explains. "The aim is to upgrade to 5.1 throughout, firstly in audio post, with the addition of extra O 300Ds and a O 900 sub system, followed by the TV studio installations."

The decision to make every reference monitor in the studios Klein + Hummel came after months of research from the 3sixtymedia team. "We did a lot of AB testing," continues Hayes. "When we decided to upgrade from the original Rogers LS5/9 systems we took the opportunity to test a number of manufacturers' products. Given that we didn't have the budget to completely redesign the control rooms, we needed to find a family of monitors that allowed us to create a confident, solid, listening environment across all studios. None of the products tested came up to the standard or gave the absolute value for money of Klein + Hummel. What came out across the board from mix engineers were the solid imaging, detail and clarity they encountered when listening to them. Also the ability to hear small, but critical EQ changes. The monitors give a true, consistent image and the engineers aren't fatigued after a long day in the studio. When the audio is passed on to post-production it isn't changing, so everyone has confidence in the monitoring. The key things are clarity, imaging, detail, accuracy and integrity.

"Audio tracks are being passed around the building from suite to suite. We have found that the room's not the most important thing; it's the monitors and their positioning within the room. It should sound the same whatever environment you're in. That¹s what Klein + Hummel gives us. The image quality that's created gives us confidence in all areas. The family sound is the same throughout the whole range. It's detailed. The clarity is all there, especially with music. We've heard instruments we didn't hear before! It allows for a really confident balance. The detailed mid-range and the lack of muddiness in the bottom end give a defined image."

Martyn Whitley is Dubbing Mixer for Coronation Street and has welcomed the arrival of the Klein + Hummel monitors. In particular, the O 500s in his audio dub suite. "I'm very much enjoying having the Klein + Hummel 500s," he confirms.

"They're very different to the Rogers we were previously using. They have proper detail, are more accurate at the bottom end and produce a better image. And a more stable image, which wasn't the case previously. They're easy to listen to all day. They're not tiring at all. The difference now is that you can hear very small amounts of EQ being applied. It's a lot more precise."