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Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 0.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 4 0.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 28 4.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 638 94.4%

  • Total voters
    676

CMB

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How would the 8361 compare to something like the Kanta 2 SPL wise and bass output wise?
They cost about the same.
They cost about the same, but the 8361 comes also with the amps, the Dac and room correction.

My cousin has a Devialet expert 220 with Sopra 2s as to compare.
(We actually, always have a kind of kind competition)
No direct comparison because of the distance; He were however very impressed by the quality of the "sound" but also by the SPL of the 8361, which he did not think to be able to achieve or to dare with his set-up.
When at his place, I also enjoy his set-up; but am happy to find my 8361 back.
:) So far, for my subjective story telling :).
 

Pearljam5000

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They cost about the same, but the 8361 comes also with the amps, the Dac and room correction.

My cousin has a Devialet expert 220 with Sopra 2s as to compare.
(We actually, always have a kind of kind competition)
No direct comparison because of the distance; He were however very impressed by the quality of the "sound" but also by the SPL of the 8361, which he did not think to be able to achieve or to dare with his set-up.
When at his place, I also enjoy his set-up; but am happy to find my 8361 back.
:) So far, for my subjective story telling :).
SQ wise which is better Sopra or 8361?
can you describe the difference in how They sound? Do you feel the Sopra has a superior tweeter because of beryllium?
Sorry for the Many questions ;)
 
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CMB

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SQ wise which is better Sopra or 8361?
can you describe the difference in how They sound? Do you feel the Sopra has a superior tweeter because of beryllium?
Sorry for the Many questions ;)
"SQ wise which is better Sopra or 8361?"
Sorry - I cannot really say. It would not be a fair comparison, different rooms, different time and no direct A/B comparison.
The Sopra's are nice to listen (and also nice to look to), but the 8361 are not short either.
My subjective impression is, the Sopras move a bit more air and the 8361 are more true.
But that is very very subjective.

"Do you feel the Sopra has a superior tweeter because of beryllium?"
Could not say either. I imagine to notice the tweeters (very detailed) when listening to them, but this could be simply psychological issue.

Would be nice to have the Sopra's measured here :).
 

Pearljam5000

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"SQ wise which is better Sopra or 8361?"
Sorry - I cannot really say. It would not be a fair comparison, different rooms, different time and no direct A/B comparison.
The Sopra's are nice to listen (and also nice to look to), but the 8361 are not short either.
My subjective impression is, the Sopras move a bit more air and the 8361 are more true.
But that is very very subjective.

"Do you feel the Sopra has a superior tweeter because of beryllium?"
Could not say either. I imagine to notice the tweeters (very detailed) when listening to them, but this could be simply psychological issue.

Would be nice to have the Sopra's measured here :)
And also the Trio 11:cool:
Focal_Trio11_BE-2.jpg
 
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AudioJester

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Hmm. I really enjoyed the sound of Focal - Kanta and Sopra. Only heard the Utopia briefly at a show a few years ago. I would probably pick them over the Genelecs if shopping in that price range as I much prefer the looks of Focal. Love the French flair.
Value for money in my typical home listening space? - demoed dd8c ( my personal favourate, Genelecs and ended up with Kali (moved to desk) and Nuemann monitors with a DIY 18inch dayton/hypex sub. Cant say Iam really missing much at 2-2.5m listening distance.
 

fredoamigo

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The only thing I missed listening to the D&D8C is a larger listening format and the fact that I like listening at realistic volume...but if I had a small room and neighbors I would have taken the 8361 or 8C without hesitation .
 

A-Tech

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Here’s part of my guess about what’s going on big picture. Almost nobody listens to classical or other acoustic music any more. Electronic, highly processed music has no real sound to compare the sound coming from speakers to. So, in designing new speakers, designers focus on the virtues of electronic rather than acoustic music. That’s what they listen to as well. There is no one paying attention to making speakers sound like acoustic instruments. That’s why the some of the older speaker designs, flawed as they are, sound better for classical music than newer ones; they were designed for listeners who mostly no longer exist.
You've guessed wrong.
 
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A-Tech

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I had that exact same idea too! So I put money where my mouth was, forked over $8k for the 8351B's, ran GLM, and spent hours measuring with REW and EQ'ing in Roon. Guess what - the set up STILL didn't sound as good as the B&W floorstanders sitting in my living room with no EQ or tweaking required.
If you don't know the difference between a monitor and a speaker you are in deep waters.
 

yuyu

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According to the principle of genelec, there must be a and B! Buying a means that it is not the final finalized product.
 

lherrm

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According to the principle of genelec, there must be a and B! Buying a means that it is not the final finalized product.
Doesn't every brand renew/refresh their products as time goes by ?
 

CMB

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According to the principle of genelec, there must be a and B! Buying a means that it is not the final finalized product.
?
There are also C and D version products at Genelec.
How would you apply your logic to that?
"None are final finalized products until Y"?
(Z being banned for the moment :))

You always have the risk of evolution.
I understand that :
8351a had been launched in 2014
8351b had been announced in late 2019 - 5 years later

8361a had been announced in late 2019
So, the 8361a is still a recent product, and I don't think that there would be any urgency to up-dated the model pretty soon.

Seems to be younger than the DD8C (?).
And, much younger than the Neumann 420 ;-)
 

Pearljam5000

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?
There are also C and D version products at Genelec.
How would you apply your logic to that?
"None are final finalized products until Y"?
(Z being banned for the moment :))

You always have the risk of evolution.
I understand that :
8351a had been launched in 2014
8351b had been announced in late 2019 - 5 years later

8361a had been announced in late 2019
So, the 8361a is still a recent product, and I don't think that there would be any urgency to up-dated the model pretty soon.

Seems to be younger than the DD8C (?).
And, much younger than the Neumann 420 ;-)
The weird thing is that the only models they don't update for years are 8040B and 8050B
 
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