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Genelec 8361a vs 8351B with Sub?

johnhopfensperger

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Hey Guys I just wanted to report back. I've decided to send the 8351B's back and get the bigger Ones 8361's! I didn't had the Chance to compare those two Models Side by Side in the same room in the same Position. I've had those two models here in the same room on the same Position but seperately. So I can compare them only by my memories subjective.

To me the 8351B and the 8361a really don't sound the same! It is really strange but the 51B had more Bass with more Punch to me while the 61a had a better Detail Resolution, Transient Response and better Stereo Image.

I've expected the 61a because of it's bigger Size has more Bass but it is the exact opposite to me. Sure they play a bit lower 2Hz and have more Headroom with more powerful Amps but the Bass is a bit thin to me after GLM 4.1 Calibration and even +3dB Gain on 100Hz didn't fixed it for my Needs. In my Room there are mainly Peaks from 30-300Hz and minimal Dips. The Peaks has solved fine with GLM. I’ll gues this is linear listening experience how it sounds now.

But I’m just really wondering if I get more bass or a bigger bass with more punch if I’m adding one or two 7370 or just one 7380 Genelec Sub??
Did somebody noticed the same here with The Ones Series the bass sounds a little bit thin? And can you fix that by adding a Sub?
Did you listen without glm? Maybe you’re just used to the bass peaks, and taking them out makes it sound thin.
 

richard12511

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Hey Guys I just wanted to report back. I've decided to send the 8351B's back and get the bigger Ones 8361's! I didn't had the Chance to compare those two Models Side by Side in the same room in the same Position. I've had those two models here in the same room on the same Position but seperately. So I can compare them only by my memories subjective.

To me the 8351B and the 8361a really don't sound the same! It is really strange but the 51B had more Bass with more Punch to me while the 61a had a better Detail Resolution, Transient Response and better Stereo Image.

I've expected the 61a because of it's bigger Size has more Bass but it is the exact opposite to me. Sure they play a bit lower 2Hz and have more Headroom with more powerful Amps but the Bass is a bit thin to me after GLM 4.1 Calibration and even +3dB Gain on 100Hz didn't fixed it for my Needs. In my Room there are mainly Peaks from 30-300Hz and minimal Dips. The Peaks has solved fine with GLM. I’ll gues this is linear listening experience how it sounds now.

But I’m just really wondering if I get more bass or a bigger bass with more punch if I’m adding one or two 7370 or just one 7380 Genelec Sub??
Did somebody noticed the same here with The Ones Series the bass sounds a little bit thin? And can you fix that by adding a Sub?

Any chance you could send one to Amir to measure?
 
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vocalisto

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I have 61s and feel they don't lack bass at all. Are you using GLM?

yea I've got GLM and could tweak it a little bit. It's better now but I don't get a heavy huge, punchy Bass Club Feeling out of them lol. I guess I'll need one or two 7370 Subs for that
 
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vocalisto

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That's some pretty expensive set of speakers. Did you not get some REW measurements of both sets to compare? I hope you are not just relying on your memory to compare and make a decision.

No unfortunatelly I didn't had enough time for measurements because of work. But I've all ready decided and bought the 61's so there's no refund anymore
 

Tonygeno

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yea I've got GLM and could tweak it a little bit. It's better now but I don't get a heavy huge, punchy Bass Club Feeling out of them lol. I guess I'll need one or two 7370 Subs for that
That doesn’t sound like an issue with the 61s. They play bass naturally, not punchy Bass Club.
 

richard12511

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where's he located? And by the way.. who's Amir?

Seattle, WA USA. Amir is the guy that runs this site that gives us all these awesome reviews :p. He's already reviewed the 8341 and 8351, but I'm thinking(based on his preferences) he'd probably like 8361 the best.

Would be awesome to have extensive measurements for the 8361 as well. If you are willing to ship, I can help some with shipping, and others might do the same.
 
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vocalisto

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That doesn’t sound like an issue with the 61s. They play bass naturally, not punchy Bass Club.

Would you say if I want punchy Bass Club I would get it only by adding Genelec Subs?
 
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vocalisto

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Seattle, WA USA. Amir is the guy that runs this site that gives us all these awesome reviews :p. He's already reviewed the 8341 and 8351, but I'm thinking(based on his preferences) he'd probably like 8361 the best.

Would be awesome to have extensive measurements for the 8361 as well. If you are willing to ship, I can help some with shipping, and others might do the same.

unfortunatelly I can't ship them to USA. I'm in Germany and as an Audio Mixing Engineer I need them mainly for work.
 

srrxr71

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Wasn’t it said that the USP of the 8361 was high SPL? They were made for people who NEED higher SPL and at the expense of bass extension.
The assumption being someone who opts for this model needs the extra SPL enough to opt for this bigger and more expensive model for that purpose and also would be able to add a big sub or two to fill out the bass and get their SPL with bass extension.

I suppose one could argue all the ones need a sub but the 8361 especially needs one to keep up with its extra SPL output. That was the reason for its existence. Extra SPL output.
 

johnhopfensperger

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Wasn’t it said that the USP of the 8361 was high SPL? They were made for people who NEED higher SPL and at the expense of bass extension.
The assumption being someone who opts for this model needs the extra SPL enough to opt for this bigger and more expensive model for that purpose and also would be able to add a big sub or two to fill out the bass and get their SPL with bass extension.

I suppose one could argue all the ones need a sub but the 8361 especially needs one to keep up with its extra SPL output. That was the reason for its existence. Extra SPL output.
In my room, the 8361 is flat down to 30hz, and test tones at 20hz are audible. For most genres of music, this is good enough.
 

srrxr71

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In my room, the 8361 is flat down to 30hz, and test tones at 20hz are audible. For most genres of music, this is good enough.
Should be fine and I suppose an option in smaller rooms to go without a sub. However its purpose in the lineup I suppose is for people with larger rooms and to have a product for that purpose and in which case a sub would still be necessary.

I guess 8361 vs 8351 + sub is a personal preference for a smaller room. Or perhaps the ability to grow the system in case you will be moving to a larger space in the future.
 

srrxr71

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Is it really that hard? Would not sweetwater send a pair to try if paid in full? Or are they all “special order and non returnable?”
 

Sancus

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Is it really that hard? Would not sweetwater send a pair to try if paid in full? Or are they all “special order and non returnable?”

They'd probably take a return but the attitude around here in general is that ordering things for testing with the intention of returning them even if they are good is rather rude. It costs the vendor quite a lot on a pair of $10k speakers since they cannot sell them new afterwards.

Maybe if they had a useddemo unit available. But they might still be rather unhappy with you for doing this and could reasonably charge a restocking fee.
 

srrxr71

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They'd probably take a return but the attitude around here in general is that ordering things for testing with the intention of returning them even if they are good is rather rude. It costs the vendor quite a lot on a pair of $10k speakers since they cannot sell them new afterwards.

Maybe if they had a useddemo unit available. But they might still be rather unhappy with you for doing this and could reasonably charge a restocking fee.
I don’t personally do it rather spend time researching before I buy.

The reason here is educational that would actually help sell the product more than likely in the long term and that retailer gets a % of the orders. People want numbers before they buy. It aids the sales process.

But I suppose if you are honest with your rep about your intentions they may facilitate a buy back price that is fair to them also. Or just ship a demo.
 
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