A tale of two speakers - The Behringer B2031A and Genelec 8030c.
What follows is a subjective review & comparison of these two speakers based on my own audition at home. I have had the Behringer B2031A speakers from long before ASR started, the Genelec 8030cs I bought on the basis on Amir's review.
B2031A
Pros:
- Balanced sound across the spectrum. Too much treble as is, but this can be modified to -2db or -4db with back panel. Mine at -2db.
- Bass goes relatively low (or at least roll off doesn't seem severe) and does so at quite high volumes
- Sound of instruments has depth and "correctness" to them (piano, cello, violin, voice, kick drum)
- Doesn't sound like it is struggling to produce sound until quite high volumes are reached, even then I imagine it is amongst the best in its size/price class. Scales up well
- Low noise from drivers (Similar hiss levels to Genelec. Minimal, noticeable only in dead quiet room or putting ear very close to tweeter)
Cons:
- Can occasionally sound dull and perhaps somewhat lifeless in a dynamic sense. This character seems to go away provided you use good quality source material, so is perhaps more telling of the source than the speaker itself.
- Speakers pop on powering on (power button to rear) with clipping light coming on and bass driver making notable excursion (I leave the speakers on for this reason. I may experiment with turning them on via energy saving plug). Pop doesn't happen when switching on from rear panel rather than top power switch
- Tend to pick up a little radio noise/squealing at low levels. This can be improved and mostly removed with attention to cable run. Perhaps only an issue with PC usage
- Seemed to be a cabinet resonance around 50hz when running sweep
8030c
Pros:
- Generally a balanced sound, as per the Behringer, somewhat more lively/dynamic or "hi-fi" sounding. Certainly doesn't tend towards the dull. This could be good or bad depending on your view/tastes (For me there was too much treble and even the -2db dip switch did not cure this excess excitability).
- The cabinet seems more inert than on the Behringer. On running a frequency sweep there was a point around 50hz where I was getting some resonance from the Behringer, not so with the Genelec (however, bass frequency response generally seems much diminished compared to Behringer. Steeper rolloff from higher, I believe - so this may give the cabinet a helping hand regarding resonance).
- Imaging seems to be better than with the Behringer, but I cannot tell whether this is a product of the more lively character. Imaging is better, but the excess treble also tends to pull you out of the illusion somewhat.
Cons:
- The bass...oh dear, where has it gone. It is perfectly good down to a certain frequency, but then disappears of a cliff. There are basslines that I know contain more notes, but I struggle to hear them with the 8030c. The effect is akin to listening to an old 78rpm shellac record of a violinist as they hit a really high note and the note seems to disappear. I want to emphasize this is not a case of electronic music not being bassy enough or me preferring a smiley face type EQ. The lack of lower frequency response is present on voice, piano, cello, even the violin, as much as it is on a techno track. I feel like the extended bass frequency response of the Behringer is part of the "correct" sound.
- The speaker is tiny compared to the Behringer and seems to sound like it is struggling at rather lower volumes than the Behringer. The little woofer on the Genelec is already going back and forth a fair bit at moderate levels and with concerto recordings at a correct volume to hear the soloist, when the orchestra comes crashing back in, things sadly tend to sound as if the Genelecs are losing control
- Referring back to the "correctness" of the Behringer sound. I am starting to think that part of the dynamism many have noticed with large & efficient speakers may be the size of speaker that the image is coming from. Although I have said the Genelec seems to provide something of better imaging, it does so with a caveat, the caveat being that I cannot, even with eyes closed, get away from the fact I am listening to (or rather hearing) a tiny speaker. A very good speaker, but a tiny one. The piano is tiny, the cello is tiny, voice is tiny. I don't just think this is a case of distortion or lack of bass frequencies, but the area in space that the sound itself is emanating from. In nature deep sounds only ever come from large objects and I think the ear/brain cannot for whatever reason be convinced that the sound you are hearing is real, when it comes from too small a source. The same pertains to the Behringer, but much less so. It is still a small speaker, but the quality of the sound emanating from it is more like that of a piano/cello/voice and so on. Whether this would be such a problem if the Genelec had a bass response similar to the Behringer, I don't know, but I suspect that a small speaker will always sound small (and therefore unconvincing to the ear) and a larger one (all else being relatively equal) is more convincing, because the bass radiates from a more natural sized object.
I sent the Genelecs back in the end. They were fine, but to me they were not a complete speaker, given the lack of low frequency response and other problems noted. It is possible I would feel the same about the Behringer, if I had to compare them to something like a JBL 4349 or M2, but they are significantly more expensive (than the Genelecs), rather than significantly cheaper (as the Behringer).
I am willing to go out on a limb and say that out of any 10 people who hear both speakers, 7 or 8 would choose the Behringer. Bass response is such an important part of music reproduction, that even if the Behringer speaker turns out to be more distorted in the bass region than the Genelec, perhaps what matters more is that the bass is there in the first place (by which I mean a slow rolloff to lower frequencies, not a sharp fall below a relatively high tuned port).
Measurements are fine and I encourage them, but if the Behringer measures worse (I believe Amir is testing one soon), but sounds better to most people (granted, speculation on my part, but see my reasoning above), then there needs to be a way for a layman to evaluate the measurements to understand what is important to them. A 5" driver is not a bass driver, even an 8.75" driver is not really a bass driver (maybe to 80hz, but not 40hz, let alone 20hz).
The Behringer bass driver has three times the area of the Genelec, the cabinet is twice the size and for a cost similar to the pair of 8030cs, you can have the Behringers and two SVS subwoofers or perhaps even three JBL subwoofers. If the Genelecs need a subwoofer or two (in my opinion they do), then you are looking at a system 2 or 3 times as expensive as with Behringer + subwoofers.
I thought the Genelecs would be streets ahead, but in the end, I think you cannot fool physics with respect to the bass and it is difficult to evaluate a speaker if you feel it is missing frequencies - you can't evaluate mid range or highs in isolation. I feel like I am now firmly in the camp of there is no replacement for displacement and when upgrading would either add subwoofers and/or seek speakers with higher driver surface area.
P.S I did not start this thread purely to upset the applecart, but just to present my experience and examine whether some of my (admittedly subjective) thoughts about larger speakers vs smaller speakers are shared by others on the forum.
P.P.S I thought the thread name would be funny, but it seems a few people have got in there with that one already....