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Geithein RL 906 vs Genelec 8030C

Eddy

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Apr 15, 2021
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I'm considering buying the Geithain RL 906 or the Genelec 8030C. To enjoy music, i.e. as a hi-fi speaker, not as a studio monitor.

I have very little space and sit at a distance of about 1.2 m. These speakers seem to suitable.

I have some room treatment und I plan to eq them via the 5 band parametric EQ of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS.

I had the possibility to hear the Genelec 8030C in a shop and I found them pretty good. (Better than the Neumann KH 120A
which might be better suited as studio monitors, but not for listening to music.)

Does anyone have any experience with Geithain RL 906 vs the Genelec 8030C? Which ones do you like more and why?
 
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Eddy

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I now had the opportunity to test the speakers
  • ME Geithain RL 906 (price per pair ~ 2500 EUR),
  • KS Digital C5 (~1600 EUR) , and
  • Genelec 8030C (~1100 EUR)
in direct comparison and I want to tell you about my impressions.

Listening distance was about 1,2 m. Distance between speakers about 1,0 m. Tweeters are placed on ear level und speakers are placed on speaker stands. The room conditions are not ideal (small, asymmetrical), but I have treated it with some broadband absorbers and bass traps from GIK Acoustics (242, 244). The speakers are driven by RME ADI-2 DAC FS as pre-amp.

I tested the speakers. Furthermore I did a blind test with a friend of mine: I switched the speakers when he was outside the room, and then he was led to the listening position with his eyes closed. He is a musician and a quite expericened listener. Furthermore my daughter and my wife did a test with open eyes but not knowing anything (price, reputation of the brand etc.) about the speakers.

All four listeners came to the same conclusion independently of one another.

Genelec 8030C
Without EQ: not exciting :confused:
With EQ (+2dB at 2500 Hz as @amirm recommended in his review): much better. Relaxed sound but not very detailed.

KS Digital C5
More detailed than the Genelecs. A litte bit harsh sometimes.

ME Geithain RL 906
Outstanding stereo image. Excellent separation of instruments/voices from one another. For example really mind blowing: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 2 - "Hallelujah" - YouTube :D
Crisp bass. Orchestral drums significantly more precise than the others.

Due to the relatively small size of all the speakers, they only come up to approx. 45 Hz. This should be enough for almost all non-electronic music (except e.g. recordings with organs etc.).

They are all good speakers but the Geithains are by far the best. Maybe they make it harder to enjoy bad recordings. But don't we all strive for the perfect sound? ;)

Another conclusion: All speakers have a smooth frequency response according to my research but sound significantly different under the same listening conditions. Measurements are certainly a valuable means of assessing loudspeakers. But I doubt that measurements can only be used to distinguish good speakers from very good speakers.

Another conclusion: I tried to optimize the sound via measuring the frequency response (Behringer ECM8000 microphone, Behringer UMC22 USB interface, REW measuring software) and flaten the frequency response usind the parametric EQ of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. It was very difficult to improve the sound doing so. This tended to make the sound sterile and less natural. Maybe I have to gain more experience in eq'ing, but what is certain is that a flater frequency response at the listening position does not automatically improve the sound.
 

richard12511

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I now had the opportunity to test the speakers
  • ME Geithain RL 906 (price per pair ~ 2500 EUR),
  • KS Digital C5 (~1600 EUR) , and
  • Genelec 8030C (~1100 EUR)
in direct comparison and I want to tell you about my impressions.

Listening distance was about 1,2 m. Distance between speakers about 1,0 m. Tweeters are placed on ear level und speakers are placed on speaker stands. The room conditions are not ideal (small, asymmetrical), but I have treated it with some broadband absorbers and bass traps from GIK Acoustics (242, 244). The speakers are driven by RME ADI-2 DAC FS as pre-amp.

I tested the speakers. Furthermore I did a blind test with a friend of mine: I switched the speakers when he was outside the room, and then he was led to the listening position with his eyes closed. He is a musician and a quite expericened listener. Furthermore my daughter and my wife did a test with open eyes but not knowing anything (price, reputation of the brand etc.) about the speakers.

All four listeners came to the same conclusion independently of one another.

Genelec 8030C
Without EQ: not exciting :confused:
With EQ (+2dB at 2500 Hz as @amirm recommended in his review): much better. Relaxed sound but not very detailed.

KS Digital C5
More detailed than the Genelecs. A litte bit harsh sometimes.

ME Geithain RL 906
Outstanding stereo image. Excellent separation of instruments/voices from one another. For example really mind blowing: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 2 - "Hallelujah" - YouTube:D
Crisp bass. Orchestral drums significantly more precise than the others.

Due to the relatively small size of all the speakers, they only come up to approx. 45 Hz. This should be enough for almost all non-electronic music (except e.g. recordings with organs etc.).

They are all good speakers but the Geithains are by far the best. Maybe they make it harder to enjoy bad recordings. But don't we all strive for the perfect sound? ;)

Another conclusion: All speakers have a smooth frequency response according to my research but sound significantly different under the same listening conditions. Measurements are certainly a valuable means of assessing loudspeakers. But I doubt that measurements can only be used to distinguish good speakers from very good speakers.

Another conclusion: I tried to optimize the sound via measuring the frequency response (Behringer ECM8000 microphone, Behringer UMC22 USB interface, REW measuring software) and flaten the frequency response usind the parametric EQ of my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. It was very difficult to improve the sound doing so. This tended to make the sound sterile and less natural. Maybe I have to gain more experience in eq'ing, but what is certain is that a flater frequency response at the listening position does not automatically improve the sound.

Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to the test blind. That should give you real confidence that you're truly picking the one that sounds best. Also much more useful for the rest of us.

I would love so much for a ME Geithain to be measured by one of our NFS reviewers. The subjective impressions are always incredible(from what I've read). Would you be willing to ship to Amir for measurement? Maybe we can even pay for shipment :).
 
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Eddy

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Apr 15, 2021
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Would you be willing to ship to Amir for measurement? Maybe we can even pay for shipment :).
I would really consider that if that would not be my only speaker system. So, maybe later when it fits better for me. :)
 

honjr

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Oct 2, 2021
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Hi - older post but thought I’d opine on my RL906’s. Agree, it’s an absolutely outstanding near-field monitor in imaging and clarity, and has fairly decent bass extension as well. Workmanship incredible as well. If you can get them at a good price, jump!
 
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test1223

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Hello,

yes all ME Geithain speakers are very good.

A good coax or wave guide provide a narrow beam in the higher frequencies. This is good in the crossover region but not so good for the frequencies above (if the mids didn't beam as much). So almost all these speakers sound kind of dull. And you won't get a feeling of being enveloped by the sound in the near field, which is hard to achieve none of the less.

The pseudo coax of the Geithain speaker combine the advantages of a coax and avoid the high beam in the higher frequencies. The disadvantage is a less smooth frequency response caused by early reflections.

If you ask me or a lot of other listeners the compromise of the Geithain speaker is one of the best you can get.

Best
Thomas
 

honjr

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Oct 2, 2021
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Hello,

yes all ME Geithain speakers are very good.

A good coax or wave guide provide a narrow beam in the higher frequencies. This is good in the crossover region but not so good for the frequencies above (if the mids didn't beam as much). So almost all these speakers sound kind of dull. And you won't get a feeling of being enveloped by the sound in the near field, which is hard to achieve none of the less.

The pseudo coax of the Geithain speaker combine the advantages of a coax and avoid the high beam in the higher frequencies. The disadvantage is a less smooth frequency response caused by early reflections.

If you ask me or a lot of other listeners the compromise of the Geithain speaker is one of the best you can get.

Best
Thomas
Interesting comments Thomas! Yes, the RL906's are not dull sounding - they are etched beautifully - but OTOH I personally would not buy them as my sole speakers for casual listening. Instead I use them for composing and nearfield mixing/recording, at which they absolutely excel. It is hard for me to imagine a much better speaker at their price for those purposes.
 

AM88

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For the 906 price I would also add the. PSI a 14 to the list. I heard them compared to the passive amphion one 15 and thought they were better. I have not heard any of the above monitor but these have the same woofer dimension and are also European made and same ball park for price.
 

test1223

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Interesting comments Thomas! Yes, the RL906's are not dull sounding - they are etched beautifully - but OTOH I personally would not buy them as my sole speakers for casual listening. Instead I use them for composing and nearfield mixing/recording, at which they absolutely excel. It is hard for me to imagine a much better speaker at their price for those purposes.

I think the Geithains are good for both casual and studio listening. A lot of the other studio monitors are to hot and annoying in the high frequencies. You could eq it away but you than get less details the dull sound. It is the disadvantage of a deeper wave guide. Therefore speakers like the Revels use a shallow wave guide. A shallow coax like the Cabasse, Devialet or new Elac should also be good in this regard.

What would you use for casual listening in the nearfield instead?
 

honjr

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Of the studio monitors I know, the Quested V2108, which also work for midfield…
 
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Eddy

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Yes, I have ended up with them. I'm quite happy with them.
I doubt that there are many alternatives that might sound better for my specific listening situation. I have only a very little space in our guest room and try to make the best out of it. The distance from the listening position to the speakers is limited to 1,1 m and there are not many speakers out there which are suitable for that. Maybe the Genelec 8331 would be an alternative.

The only drawback of the RL906: They distort at higher volumes at bass-heavy tracks, e.h. dub music... This is not so critical for me because I do not hear such music very often. To deal with that, I want to add a active cross-over so that I can switch to a cross-over relieving the RL906 from higher volume in bass and let the bass play by my sub REL HT/1003.
 
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