SynthTemple brings vintage synthesis to life with immersive Genelec monitoring

In the heart of Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Kew, SynthTemple — a hybrid facility combining a fully operational recording studio with a museum of electronic instruments — has quickly become a haven for musicians, producers and synth aficionados across the globe. Central to its vision is an immersive monitoring environment built entirely on Genelec’s Smart Active Monitoring technology.

Founded by passionate collector Tony Osmond, SynthTemple houses one of the most comprehensive collections of vintage synths in the Southern Hemisphere — including rarities like the EMS model used on Dark Side of the Moon.

SynthTemple is a living, breathing creative space designed to reconnect artists with the tactile power of hardware synthesis.

“From the start, I wanted SynthTemple to come to life with a Genelec speaker system,” Osmond explained. “We weren’t building a commercial facility — we were creating a space where sound and creativity could thrive.”

To bring his vision to life, Osmond collaborated with Genelec’s Australian distributor, Studio Connections.

“Tony came to us with an incredibly detailed plan,” says Steve Spurrier, Genelec product specialist at Studio Connections. “His passion and attention to detail were instantly clear — and immersive audio quickly became central to the concept.”

Inspired by a visit to a Dolby Atmos mastering suite, Osmond and technician Steve Jones knew that SynthTemple had to deliver not just stereo playback, but full spatial immersion. 

Working closely with Studio Connections, they designed two fully networked audio spaces: the 200m² Synth Hall and a dedicated Atmos control room — both optimised with Genelec monitoring and tuned using Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) software.

In the Synth Hall, nine artist workstations — or “pods” — are integrated into a 9.1.6 Genelec system. This includes nine S360A high-SPL monitors for surround channels and six 8350As for overheads, with deep low-end support from one 7382A and two 7380A subwoofers.

Three 9301B multichannel AES interfaces allow the system to dynamically route between full immersive playback and multiple independent stereo zones, while each pod is equipped with compact 8330A nearfield monitors for detailed local monitoring. At the centre of the space, a Genelec 9320A Reference Controller offers intuitive system control.

Next door, the control room is equipped with a 7.1.4 Atmos mixing array built around Genelec’s ‘The Ones’ three-way coaxial monitors. Three 8361As provide LCR coverage, supported by two W371A adaptive woofer systems, four 8351Bs for surrounds, four 8341As for overheads, and dual 7370A subwoofers.

The rooms are interconnected via a 128-channel Metric Halo interface network, enabling seamless collaboration and immersive mixing.

“The combination of S360s, 8350s and 8330s delivers incredible clarity and a beautifully extended frequency response,” Osmond said. “When paired with the larger subwoofers, the sound is not just powerful — it’s breathtakingly precise.”

The infrastructure behind SynthTemple is just as forward-thinking. Custom steel floor boxes, future-ready routing and full network integration allow users to access instruments and control the system directly from their laptops via CAT5 — with 128 channels of analogue I/O and full master clock synchronisation via Metric Halo’s MH Link protocol.

“This was a deceptively complex install,” Spurrier added. “We had to design for both current functionality and future scalability — and with Genelec’s Smart Active Monitoring platform, we had the flexibility to fine-tune every element for optimal performance.”

SynthTemple is a project built on passion, not profit. It’s a gift to the music community — a space where historic instruments are not just preserved but celebrated and played. “It’s rare to work on a project with this much heart,” said Spurrier. “With Tony’s vision and Genelec’s technology, we’ve created something truly special — a place where history, innovation and sound excellence converge.”