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Genelec G home series vs professional

Steveysteve

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I’m considering getting some Genelecs for home use, and am wondering if their ‘G’ series would be more appropriate than their studio monitors. Specifically, would the G Three be better for medium to far field listening than the 8030C, or are they pretty much the same speaker in different clothing (I ask because the G Three is $200 more expensive than the 8030C)?
 

JustJones

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The specs and features look the same on the website except for the XLR as mentioned.
 
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Steveysteve

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Thanks for the info.

Would the 8030Cs work well for listening at a distance of 6-8 feet, or are they optimized for near field listening?
 

daftcombo

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Thanks for the info.

Would the 8030Cs work well for listening at a distance of 6-8 feet, or are they optimized for near field listening?
With a subwoofer it should be ok. Without, I doubt it (see Amir's review & comment on deep bass tracks). Except if you want to stay at low volumes.

I'm a bit in the same situations: I plan to get a pair of 8030C for a listening distance of 5-6 feet and am wondering if it is a good idea without sub.
 

q3cpma

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With a subwoofer it should be ok. Without, I doubt it (see Amir's review & comment on deep bass tracks). Except if you want to stay at low volumes.

I'm a bit in the same situations: I plan to get a pair of 8030C for a listening distance of 5-6 feet and am wondering if it is a good idea without sub.
Really depends on the volume and room size. They can go quite loud, especially with proper boundary gain helping them.
Engaging the bass roll-off switch might give you more horsepower, though I don't know how this kind of filter interacts with port tuning.
 

daftcombo

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Really depends on the volume and room size. They can go quite loud, especially with proper boundary gain helping them.
Engaging the bass roll-off switch might give you more horsepower, though I don't know how this kind of filter interacts with port tuning.
Room size is 7 m^2 and 2m60 under ceiling. Small office / bedroom used as multimedia room. But I often listen to electronic music.
 

q3cpma

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Room size is 7 m^2 and 2m60 under ceiling. Small office / bedroom used as multimedia room. But I often listen to electronic music.
Doubt you'll have any problem if you use them in half or quarter space and use room correction or engage the respective -4 or -6 dB bass tilt switch.
 

daftcombo

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Doubt you'll have any problem if you use them in half or quarter space and use room correction or engage the respective -4 or -6 dB bass tilt switch.
They would be along the 3m wall and me next to the opposite wall.
 

q3cpma

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They would be along the 3m wall and me next to the opposite wall.
Honestly, I can't choose for you, but I personally have no volume problem with them in such a situation: nearfield (80 cm) to midfield (170 cm) use on a desk stuck to the longest (6 m) wall in a 26~30 m² kitchen/living room combo. I also listen to "challenging" music like very bass heavy stuff (Kraftwerk, eurobeat, Swans, Godflesh) or dynamic orchestral work (mostly recent performances of romantic symphonies and tone poems under labels like BIS I recently started buying from).

If you do use said room correction with a "behaved" room curve like B&K's, I wager you'd get even more headroom than using the dip switches.
 
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Ellebob

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That's quite a price difference. I think the Pro side is typically discounted and not so much on the home side. Beside the connector difference between home and pro versions the home version also has the ability to turn off the LED on the front if you find the LED distracting. The pro version doesn't have that feature.
 

radio3

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They have charts on web site that show optimal distances. Check out their documentation it’s very thorough.
 

VintageFlanker

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I've been told they are the same but with RCA inputs and a lot more expensive.
Also, Gs have white LED that can be turned off, Vs fixed green for 80X0s. Input sensitivity is lower to better match domestic devices... All these are the only differences Genelec communicate about.

Hard to justify the price difference between both range in my book.
 
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Steveysteve

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Most studio monitors are designed to work in near field. In this placement scenario, direct sound emitted by the speakers reaches the ears much sooner than the reflections from walls, secondary sound emitted by speaker boxes etc. They are also designed to be pointed more or less exactly at listener's ears at head level.
In home listening, speakers are usually placed relatively far from the listener, and reflections have a chance of reaching the ears at approximately same time as directly radiated sound. Also when listening at home, people seldom sit still, with ears exactly aligned with speaker's tweeters. Most listening takes place off-axis from the speaker.
Hi-Fi speaker designers often optimize for off-axis dispersion and try to minimize secondary sound radiation from the speaker boxes and panels. For near field monitor, these parameters are just not on the design brief.

So I’m wondering if the Genelec 8030C would work for far-field off-axis listening, or whether they really only work as desk-top speakers. Note, this has nothing to do with whether they need a sub, rather the issue is whether the design is suitable for non-proximate listening.
 

q3cpma

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Most studio monitors are designed to work in near field. In this placement scenario, direct sound emitted by the speakers reaches the ears much sooner than the reflections from walls, secondary sound emitted by speaker boxes etc. They are also designed to be pointed more or less exactly at listener's ears at head level.
In home listening, speakers are usually placed relatively far from the listener, and reflections have a chance of reaching the ears at approximately same time as directly radiated sound. Also when listening at home, people seldom sit still, with ears exactly aligned with speaker's tweeters. Most listening takes place off-axis from the speaker.
Hi-Fi speaker designers often optimize for off-axis dispersion and try to minimize secondary sound radiation from the speaker boxes and panels. For near field monitor, these parameters are just not on the design brief.

So I’m wondering if the Genelec 8030C would work for far-field off-axis listening, or whether they really only work as desk-top speakers. Note, this has nothing to do with whether they need a sub, rather the issue is whether the design is suitable for non-proximate listening.
Their off-axis behavious is exemplary, so "yes", I guess. Still, it won't hurt to point out that 3-way speakers really are better for the far field: better vertical dispersion, smoother power response and less distorsion.
 

thewas

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Most studio monitors are designed to work in near field. In this placement scenario, direct sound emitted by the speakers reaches the ears much sooner than the reflections from walls, secondary sound emitted by speaker boxes etc. They are also designed to be pointed more or less exactly at listener's ears at head level.
In home listening, speakers are usually placed relatively far from the listener, and reflections have a chance of reaching the ears at approximately same time as directly radiated sound. Also when listening at home, people seldom sit still, with ears exactly aligned with speaker's tweeters. Most listening takes place off-axis from the speaker.
Hi-Fi speaker designers often optimize for off-axis dispersion and try to minimize secondary sound radiation from the speaker boxes and panels. For near field monitor, these parameters are just not on the design brief.

So I’m wondering if the Genelec 8030C would work for far-field off-axis listening, or whether they really only work as desk-top speakers. Note, this has nothing to do with whether they need a sub, rather the issue is whether the design is suitable for non-proximate listening.
Actually my experience is that decent studio monitors with controlled and higher directivity work better at high hifi-ish listening distances than typical classic hifi loudspeakers without waveguides as the more dominant reflected sound and sound power are smoother, once you have experienced it you usually don't want to turn back. So if I would have just one pair of each, I would rather use the classic hifi bookshelf for my near field listening and the monitor for the typical living room listening. Although nowadays thankfully there exist also many hifi loudspeakers with controlled directivity.
 
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Steveysteve

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Actually my experience is that decent studio monitors with controlled and higher directivity work better at high hifi-ish listening distances than typical classic hifi loudspeakers without waveguides as the more dominant reflected sound and sound power are smoother, once you have experienced it you usually don't want to turn back. So if I would have just one pair of each, I would rather use the classic hifi bookshelf for my near fiend listening and the monitor for the typical living room listening. Although nowadays thankfully there exist also many hifi loudspeakers with controlled directivity.


But is the directivity of monitors designed with near field listening in mind? Wave guides make sense, but presumably how they are designed depends on where the designer thinks the listenier will be positioned. Surely a wave guide for a high speaker will be designed with a more distant listening position in mind than a wave guide for a studio monitor?
 

Sprint

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Most studio monitors are designed to work in near field. In this placement scenario, direct sound emitted by the speakers reaches the ears much sooner than the reflections from walls, secondary sound emitted by speaker boxes etc. They are also designed to be pointed more or less exactly at listener's ears at head level.
In home listening, speakers are usually placed relatively far from the listener, and reflections have a chance of reaching the ears at approximately same time as directly radiated sound. Also when listening at home, people seldom sit still, with ears exactly aligned with speaker's tweeters. Most listening takes place off-axis from the speaker.
Hi-Fi speaker designers often optimize for off-axis dispersion and try to minimize secondary sound radiation from the speaker boxes and panels. For near field monitor, these parameters are just not on the design brief.

So I’m wondering if the Genelec 8030C would work for far-field off-axis listening, or whether they really only work as desk-top speakers. Note, this has nothing to do with whether they need a sub, rather the issue is whether the design is suitable for non-proximate listening.

@Steveysteve: I am using Genelec 8340 as LCR with a listening distance of 3,5 meters. Due to WAF, I could not go for bigger monitors as it is living room. However I am super happy with how 8340 sounds in my living room. I cannot have a better speaker in my non-treated living room than these Genelecs.
 

thewas

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But is the directivity of monitors designed with near field listening in mind? Wave guides make sense, but presumably how they are designed depends on where the designer thinks the listenier will be positioned. Surely a wave guide for a high speaker will be designed with a more distant listening position in mind than a wave guide for a studio monitor?
The directivity of monitors are usually designed with the target that at the recommended listening distances the direct sound dominates.
Most common hifi loudspeakers have no waveguides at all and usually also no smooth directivity and the most ones with waveguides rather shallow ones for wide dispersion which is even preferred by many listeners when listening just for entertainment, depending also on the recordings and room acoustics. In the end all theory is theory, important is what each individual prefers, so I recommend people to experiment and find out their personal preferences.
 

ririt

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@Steveysteve: I am using Genelec 8340 as LCR with a listening distance of 3,5 meters. Due to WAF, I could not go for bigger monitors as it is living room. However I am super happy with how 8340 sounds in my living room. I cannot have a better speaker in my non-treated living room than these Genelecs.
If you decide to play really loud, is the sound level really loud in your living room? Are you using a subwoofer in your system?
 
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