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Genelec S360 Review (Studio Monitor)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 5 1.6%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 9 2.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 111 35.9%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 184 59.5%

  • Total voters
    309

tknx

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The review compares to the 8361a, but isn’t the 8351b the better comparison at the same price point? Which is the better speaker then?
 
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nerdoldnerdith

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Have you seen that specified somewhere or you see something my old eyes can’t see as clearly as you? I am also a bit surprised by that from Genelec speakers.
Yeah it's in the specs

Screenshot_20220802-232452_Chrome.jpg
 

Eetu

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The review compares to the 8361a, but isn’t the 8351b the better comparison at the same price point? Which is the better speaker then?
The S360 and 8361A are roughly the same size externally. The 8351B is a smaller speaker.

But yes, personally I think the 8351B is near-perfect. Digs a bit deeper than the S360 while a smaller enclosure, better vertical directivity, 3-way coaxial in alu enclosure vs traditional 2-way in MDF. The S360 is if you need the SPL (long listening distances).
 

Cars-N-Cans

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IMV metal housings only make sense if they have no flat parts (side/front/back/top/bottom walls). Metal is prone to ringing and I think the 8xxx style housing is designed specifically to reduce ringing and having no flat parts helps a lot.
I was thinking more along the lines of durability. These also seem to lack any protective grills, which seems odd for a product intended for studio monitoring and such, but maybe they are trying to make some more inroads into the audiophile market where there isn't much of a need for the speaker to endure insults and aesthetics matter more.

As far as the metal goes, its not inherently as lossy as MDF is, so care is needed. These can be controlled with things like modal and vibration analysis along with internal structural bracing. I have designed fixturing and mounting platforms for things like vibration and shock test setups and if you are careful they can be reasonably "inert" with respect to unwanted noise. Much like tweeters, there will be inherent resonances, but these can be put in places where they are not bothersome. There is even the option of coatings and differing alloy compositions to help with damping vibrations. I'm not sure if they have gone that far, but it can be solved in the design phase regardless of the external form factor, for what its worth. In pro audio where stuff may be abused a metal enclosure would go a long way towards durability. The MDF enclosure with an exposed woofer kind of makes me fear in some installations they could end up looking like old suitcases after a while.:p
 

Cars-N-Cans

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A demo pair of 1236A can (could) be yours for $42000/pair plus shipping: see here.
Its' weight is 182 kg/each.
Have you ever seen such a speaker as a stand speaker?
Now you have:
View attachment 221957
Christ that thing makes the piano look like a toy. Pair of them probably weighs as much as a piano as well. As far as moving and mounting them goes, if whatever you are using doesn't have a back-up beeper than you are probably out of luck.
 

Awsmone

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I waS wanting to know @Amir what the doll, and teddy thought of the off axis response , and if they didn’t like it do you think they have “cloth” ears ? ;)
1659505895213.jpeg
 
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Awsmone

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Christ that thing makes the piano look like a toy. Pair of them probably weighs as much as a piano as well. As far as moving and mounting them goes, if whatever you are using doesn't have a back-up beeper than you are probably out of luck.
A concert grand weights approximately 500kgs, I believe the size difference relates to perspective :)

A concert grand piano weighs up to 1,200 lbs. (544 kg), while an average (upright and vertical) piano weighs between 200 lbs. (91 kg) and 1,000 lbs. (545 kg). An average professional grand piano weighs about 700 lbs. (317 kg), and an average baby grand piano weighs between 500 lbs. (227 kg) and 600 lbs. (272 kg)
 

DanielT

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I said earlier (#107) Genelec seems to be good at matching the appropriate amp power to their drivers. That in and of itself I still believe BUT 100 amp W to the tweeter, when it's a compression driver.?! A driver that maybe has 109 dB sensitivity? Isn't that overkill?

Also, don't you risk problems with noise then? 100 amp W in combination with such a sensitive driver?

Genelec probably knows what they're doing, but I'm still curious.:)
 

Draki

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It is usually a good practice to put a capacitor and a L-pad network when using a hi-eff CD driver ( 100...110 dB+ ) with a cone unit, with typically 10-15 dB lower sensitivity. This, together with the active filter/EQ/amp for the "way" works nicely to reduce the hiss/noise, and protects the driver.
I don't know if this is the case here though.
 

Cars-N-Cans

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A concert grand weights approximately 500kgs, I believe the size difference relates to perspective :)

A concert grand piano weighs up to 1,200 lbs. (544 kg), while an average (upright and vertical) piano weighs between 200 lbs. (91 kg) and 1,000 lbs. (545 kg). An average professional grand piano weighs about 700 lbs. (317 kg), and an average baby grand piano weighs between 500 lbs. (227 kg) and 600 lbs. (272 kg)
Well obviously it would ;) I have no doubt that it was intentional on their part when they set up the shot. Still, a pair of these checks in close to 400 kg. Its not that far off.
 

Pearljam5000

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It is odd that only the S360A and the gigantic 1236A use the compression tweeter
Maybe in the future all Genelecs would use them
Screenshot_20220803-111158_Chrome.jpg
 

Blockader

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For that price , I’d cast my eye toward a KEF LS60.
S360s have like x4/x8 times higher max SPL output than LS60 if not more. They have different use cases. There are only 2 choices in the market right now for those who are looking for speakers with good directivity and 110db+(also in upper treble) output: JBL M2 and Genelec S360. Imagine how rare high SPL, smooth directivity speakers are.

Even Genelec 8361's tweeter can't swing 106db output(probably heat limited), the limiter kicks in and drops it back to 95db.
Genelec 8361A Measurements 106 dB THD Distortion Powered Studio Monitor Speaker.png


Despite its relatively smaller size S360 has more than twice max output of 8361 in upper treble.

As for distortion, as the fundamental gets louder, low order distortion products become less and less audible. Compression drivers have second order dominated HD profile. According to Geddes Lee's research, participants of the research couldn't hear even %20 distortion of compression drivers while they are playing loud.
 
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hege

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It is odd that only the S360A and the gigantic 1236A use the compression tweeter
Maybe in the future all Genelecs would use them

1235A has too. But why would you want to use a compression driver if there is no need for it? Tweeter is not the bottleneck for smaller models.
 

Blockader

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It is odd that only the S360A and the gigantic 1236A use the compression tweeter
Maybe in the future all Genelecs would use them View attachment 222051
The efficiency of a dome tweeter with 90db~ sensitivity is about %1. That means whatever power is fed into that tweeter, it can only utilize %1 of it and the rest is converted to heat. Heat buildup is a serious problem in dome tweeters hence ''1 tweeters can't go beyond 95-99db~ max SPL. Compression drivers can have up to %35 efficiency(pro audio models especially) and naturally +100db upper treble is a compression driver territory.

Advantages of compression drivers,

High SPL
High Efficiency
Flat Wavefront(arguably better for waveguide designing)
They can be crossed lower if the waveguide/horn allows for it.

Disadvantages,

Expensive
Usually higher second order distortion compared to a driver which has same max SPL output as the comp. driver.

The driver inside Genelec 1236a is a TAD 4001. It is one of the most expensive drivers in the market and costs 5000$ each.
 

PeteL

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1235A has too. But why would you want to use a compression driver if there is no need for it? Tweeter is not the bottleneck for smaller models.
Not the bottleneck on what metric? And how do you judge that there is no need for it? Is it not true that you could get more output and more throw from a compression driver? Not fully sure, I am genuinely asking but it's what stated as the design goal.
 

voodooless

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The driver inside Genelec 1236a is a TAD 4001.
Is it? Specs say a 50mm driver in 25mm throat. The TAD is a 3 inch driver. Something does not add up here. And why would they use such a driver anyway? Crossover is beyond 2 KHz. Why use a driver capable of playing down to below 1 KHz?
 

Zaireeka

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S360s have like x4/x8 times higher max SPL output than LS60 if not more. They have different use cases. There are only 2 choices in the market right now for those who are looking for speakers with good directivity and 110db+(also in upper treble) output: JBL M2 and Genelec S360. Imagine how rare high SPL, smooth directivity speakers are.
Don't forget my favorite contender, the GGNTKT M1 which is capable of outputting 115dB/119dB peak...
 
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