Teufel is moving into pro audio with the STUDIO 5X, an active 3-way studio monitor with the midrange and tweeter on the same axis. It costs €499.99 a pair, about €250 per monitor, and the Bluetooth version, the STUDIO 5X BT, costs €549.99. It is the first monitor from the Berlin brand, best known so far for home cinema and hi-fi, and it is designed for writing, producing and mixing.
What makes it interesting is the layout. Monitors with a coaxial midrange and tweeter in a 3-way design usually cost a good deal more, and at this price nearly everything else is a 2-way.
What is inside the STUDIO 5X
Each monitor has three drivers, each with its own Class D amplifier channel, for 122 W RMS in total. The 135 mm (5.25-inch) woofer uses a paper cone and a long-throw design, and it only handles the bass. The other part is the coaxial unit, with a 75 mm midrange, also with a paper cone, and at its centre a 20 mm textile dome tweeter with a waveguide.
Putting the midrange and tweeter on one axis turns the mids and highs into a near point source. In a 2-way monitor, each driver reaches your ears from a slightly different spot, and you notice it when you move around the desk or lay the monitor on its side. That is why Teufel lets you use it upright or horizontally without the crossover region changing. And because the woofer no longer has to play the midrange, it produces less intermodulation distortion, the kind you get when one cone has to move for a kick drum and a vocal at the same time.
Processing is digital, with linear-phase FIR filters that keep the attack of a drum hit or a plucked guitar aligned in time. To tune it, Teufel used a Klippel Near-Field Scanner in its Berlin lab, a measurement system widely used in the industry that maps the speaker in three dimensions and separates its direct sound from the room’s reflections.
The rest of the details are aimed at everyday studio work:
- A front bass reflex port, so you can place it near a wall, and rounded edges to reduce diffraction.
- Rear placement filters for a wall, a corner or free-standing use, plus low- and high-shelf filters.
- A balanced XLR / 6.3 mm jack combo input and an RCA input.
- Two M6 threaded inserts for stands and wall or ceiling mounts, meant for multichannel setups such as Dolby Atmos, and a status LED you can dim or switch off.
STUDIO 5X specifications
| Feature | STUDIO 5X |
|---|---|
| Design | Active 3-way, coaxial midrange and tweeter, front bass reflex |
| Drivers | 135 mm woofer and 75 mm midrange, both with paper cones, and a 20 mm textile dome tweeter with waveguide |
| Amplification | Class D, 3 channels, 122 W RMS in total |
| Frequency response | 42 Hz – 20 kHz (-3 dB), 40 Hz – 22 kHz (-6 dB) and 37 Hz – 24 kHz (-10 dB) |
| Maximum SPL | 106 dB at 1 m |
| Inputs | Balanced XLR / 6.3 mm jack combo and RCA |
| Size and weight | 21.3 × 32.8 × 26 cm and 8 kg |
| Bluetooth (STUDIO 5X BT only) | 5.0, with AAC and aptX HD |
| Price | €499.99 a pair (STUDIO 5X BT, €549.99) |
The number you will see quoted most is the -10 dB figure, 37 Hz, but the -3 dB one tells you more. Reaching 42 Hz from a 5.25-inch woofer is a lot of bass. A classic 5-inch monitor like the Yamaha HS5 stops at 74 Hz at -3 dB.
How it compares with other monitors
| Monitor | Design | Bass extension | Price per monitor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teufel STUDIO 5X | 3-way, coaxial midrange and tweeter | 42 Hz (-3 dB) and 37 Hz (-10 dB) | €250 (€499.99 a pair) |
| Kali Audio IN-5 | 3-way, coaxial midrange and tweeter | 47 Hz (±3 dB) and 39 Hz (-10 dB) | €311 |
| Yamaha HS5 | 2-way | 74 Hz (-3 dB) and 54 Hz (-10 dB) | €159 |
| Genelec 8331A | 3-way coaxial, with optional microphone calibration (GLM) | 45 Hz (-6 dB) | €2,080 |
Its closest rival is the Kali IN-5, another affordable coaxial 3-way. The Kali has a bigger 4-inch midrange and more claimed power, 160 W and a 115 dB maximum SPL, but it costs about €60 more per monitor and does not go quite as deep. Above them sit Genelec’s coaxials, at roughly eight times the price. Below them are the familiar 2-way monitors, cheaper but without the point-source benefit of a coaxial and with noticeably less bass.
What we like and what could be better
On paper, the STUDIO 5X gets the important things right:
- A coaxial 3-way for about €250 per monitor, a format that barely existed at this price until now.
- Bass down to 42 Hz at -3 dB from a 5.25-inch woofer.
- It suits a desk well. It works upright or on its side, and the front port lets you place it near a wall.
- An eight-week home trial. With monitors the room has the final say, so you get to try them where they will actually play.
There is not much to ask for, but there are a few things:
- 106 dB at 1 m is plenty for mixing at a desk, but in a large room or with very loud electronic music, more headroom or a subwoofer would help.
- There is no automatic microphone calibration, only the placement filters. At this price that is normal.
- The STUDIO 5X BT uses lossy Bluetooth codecs, AAC and aptX HD. That is fine for playing a demo or a reference track, and the wired input is there for mixing.
Price and availability
The STUDIO 5X costs €499.99 a pair and the STUDIO 5X BT €549.99, both without stands. The desk stands Teufel designed with König & Meyer cost €124.99 a pair. Like everything from Teufel, they are sold direct, mainly through its own stores and website, where you will find the STUDIO 5X product page and BT version. As a launch offer, Teufel is announcing free shipping outside Germany.
