Anything more than the Genelec 8030c is pissing money away.

[Pancreas]

In the Genelec family, that is.

Just do your own EQ corrections, and although the Genelec 8330a is a better speaker, is also $600 more expensive for the pair.

Then, you have The Ones, the equivalent, if we go by the 3 family, which is the happy medium size, is Genelec 8331a, which is almost $5000 for the pair.

That's a huge leap in price, there is no in-between? Unless you're a pro making good dough off your music, can you justify $5000 speakers?

So the 8030c seems to be the best bang for the buck all-around speaker, even at that price is kinda overpriced.

At $1400 for the pair, you get no option to turn off the light, no option to adjust the sleeping mode time, you don't get a TRS input, which even cheap monitors like Yamaha HS5 include.

It's a great speaker, but the price should be lower. I personally got mine for $900 cash off a local dude who bought them 3 months before that, with receipts to prove it. Otherwise, I would've never bought these speakers. At $1400 is kinda expensive for an average Joe who makes no money out of music. Considering they're literally barebone speakers that don't even have TRS, they should be $1000 max

Now, they are charging people for the Grade report for the smart monitors, something that used to be free. It’s pretty sad if you spend thousands of dollars for a system and then get charged for data that’s gathered regardless. Why not keep it free and rather develop another software that’s paid for? Very disappointing…

 

[kemmler3D]

Certainly not cheap for the average Joe, but consider how much the luxury brands charge for speakers that don't perform as well...

I guess if Genelec is too steep, Kali is holding up their end pretty well.

 

[Rednaxela]

People who feel Genelec is overpriced are not part of Genelec's target market.

 

[auricom]

If we believe the scoring system here, 8330A is much worse than 8030C.
And Kali is just plain bad, the IN-series at least.

Active Speaker Recommendations for USA (by @sweetchaos)

I'm constantly asked which speakers to purchase...so, here you go! :D This guide is for ACTIVE speakers. For PASSIVE speakers go here. Click on the "Spoiler" buttons below to expand each section. Readme: Legend: Active Speakers (aka Studio Monitors): Bookshelf speakers (when turned 90deg)...

www.audiosciencereview.com

What else to believe if not numbers? Everything else are personal opinions.

 

[Karu]

GRADE report continues to be free. And they have said that it remain so for most consumer features.

 

[Dimifoot]

The 8030c is a nearfield monitor (up to 1.5-1.8m) , just like 8330a.
So if the thread title was "Anything more than the Genelec 8030c (for nearfield listening), is pissing money away." it would be closer to reality.

Buying more Listening Distance is very expensive.

 

[TonyJZX]

i dunno

5" is a bit... hmmm.... ok for a desktop type setup

but you'd want 6-7-8 for more filling bass

 

[bodhi]

I had the 8330 before 8350, listening from 1m. I do find the upgrade worth the money, the bass just isn't there with the smaller ones.

Then again 8351 would have been better if not that much. If my disposable income would be for example 2x what it is now then 8351 would have been an easy choice nevertheless.

Most of the things middle class people buy are actually "pissing money away" as there are cheaper alternatives that are functionally the same. You can buy all your clothes second hand for example or only buy food that is about to expire etc.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

If we believe the scoring system here, 8330A is much worse than 8030C.
And Kali is just plain bad, the IN-series at least.

Active Speaker Recommendations for USA (by @sweetchaos)

I'm constantly asked which speakers to purchase...so, here you go! :D This guide is for ACTIVE speakers. For PASSIVE speakers go here. Click on the "Spoiler" buttons below to expand each section. Readme: Legend: Active Speakers (aka Studio Monitors): Bookshelf speakers (when turned 90deg)...

www.audiosciencereview.com

What else to believe if not numbers? Everything else are personal opinions.

The numbers are not something that we "believe". Scores, tests, measurements .... they're all tools that we use to evaluate speakers for our own uses. The amateur studio, the professional studio, the home listener with a reverberant room, the home listener with a dead room .... these are all different. The scores are quick and easy guidelines to point us in the right direction, not to finalize our choice.

It's like buying a pickup. A homeowner, or a contractor, or a municipality may all need a pickup. They probably all look at specs arranged on a comparison sheet. That gives them quick and easy guidelines. But in the end, they choose according to the specialized needs that they know they have, not the needs someone else has.

Jim

edit:
People who look for quick and easy answers to complex problems use the information to make quick and easy mistakes.

 

[auricom]

I had the 8330 before 8350, listening from 1m. I do find the upgrade worth the money, the bass just isn't there with the smaller ones.

Then again 8351 would have been better if not that much. If my disposable income would be for example 2x what it is now then 8351 would have been an easy choice nevertheless.

Most of the things middle class people buy are actually "pissing money away" as there are cheaper alternatives that are functionally the same. You can buy all your clothes second hand for example or only buy food that is about to expire etc.

But wouldn't 8030/8330 + subwoofer be better than 8050/8350 (for desktop use)?
Again, if we look at those scores, any decent speaker with a subwoofer is better than the best speaker without one.

Anyway, I want mid driver too, for my next setup. Right now i have Adam A8X pair, 2-way 8.5". I would like to hear some mids too.

 

[Zensō]

Since I wanted the largest Genelec that comfortably fits a small desk, with a listening distance of under 1 meter, and I prefer to do room correction in the computer, the 8030C was a no-brainer. I feel the price/performance ratio is very good even at full retail.

 

[pablolie]

Love the performance, hate the looks.

 

[Pancreas]

How is the 8030c a better speaker than the more expensive 8330a?

I read a guide here that put the 8030c above it, but Genelec says the 8330a is a better speaker

Then is a huge jump to the 8331a at $5000

Assuming you’re going in the 3s direction which seems to be the best size for desk setups

 

[Zensō]

How is the 8030c a better speaker than the more expensive 8330a?

I read a guide here that put the 8030c above it, but Genelec says the 8330a is a better speaker

Then is a huge jump to the 8331a at $5000

Assuming you’re going in the 3s direction which seems to be the best size for desk setups

The 8030C has a cleaner frequency response if you don’t need the built-in DSP of the 8330A. I use Sonarworks so the 8030C made more sense for my use case.

I like the size of these speakers for near field on a desk, others may prefer larger or smaller depending upon their listening distance, room size, desk size, etc.

 

[Pancreas]

The 8030C has a cleaner frequency response if you don’t need the built-in DSP of the 8330A. I use Sonarworks so the 8030C made more sense for my use case.

I like the size of these speakers for near field on a desk, others may prefer larger or smaller depending upon their listening distance, room size, desk size, etc.

What's the benefit of Sonarworks? Is it EQ calibration? Do you need a microphone?

 

[auricom]

Genelec's GLM is excellent. and that's what you pay for. Also the DSP enables 8330a to go a few hz lower? Based on Genelec. Or is that room correction? Still nowhere as low as Neumann. But 8030C (+ other room correction method) has better value.

I wouldn't want anything smaller than 5" (maybe KH80 is an exception, but still no). xx40" Genelec doesn't bring much value on desktop use (compared to xx30 + sub), and those have outdated design with too small tweeter compared to woofer (3/4"). Then xx50 is missing mid driver, and is just worse combined with a subwoofer compared to smaller ones in desk use. My opinion of course.

 

[Zensō]

What's the benefit of Sonarworks? Is it EQ calibration? Do you need a microphone?

Yes and yes. Calibration for speakers and headphones in one piece of software with speaker sims and a number of other features.

SoundID Reference - Speaker & Headphone Calibration

Create with full confidence in sound with speaker & headphone calibration software SoundID Reference. Already trusted by over 140'000 studios globally.

www.sonarworks.com

 

[Pancreas]

Yes and yes. Calibration for speakers and headphones in one piece of software with speaker sims and a number of other features.

SoundID Reference - Speaker & Headphone Calibration

Create with full confidence in sound with speaker & headphone calibration software SoundID Reference. Already trusted by over 140'000 studios globally.

www.sonarworks.com

Do you have their microphone? Whats the benefit of using their microphone?

Did it improve your sound considerably to be worth the cost?

They have a 21 day trial figure i could buy the microphone and test it out

 

[Zensō]

Do you have their microphone? Whats the benefit of using their microphone?

Did it improve your sound considerably to be worth the cost?

They have a 21 day trial figure i could buy the microphone and test it out

Yes, I have their mic. It’s a calibrated mic that is simple to use with their software. I believe other calibrated mics can be used but I haven’t done that. The software walks you through the calibration process which takes around 15-20 minutes. It’s simple and works well.

It was worth it for me. I’ve been using their software for years with various monitors. The amount of improvement is going to depend upon the acoustics of your room, and of course how much correction your monitors need. With monitors like Genelecs that are close to flat, the improvements are likely to be fairly subtle.

I feel Sonarworks is particularly advantageous for home music producers who want to calibrate their monitors and headphones to minimize issues when switching from one to the other. The speaker sims are also very useful for checking mixes and the zero latency mode is great for tracking. These features may not be important if you’re not producing music.

Hope that helps…

 

[bodhi]

But wouldn't 8030/8330 + subwoofer be better than 8050/8350 (for desktop use)?
Again, if we look at those scores, any decent speaker with a subwoofer is better than the best speaker without one.

In my experience, no. I had a 7350 with the 8330s (and demoed 7360).

I'm not completely discounting placebo effect of course, I didn't do controlled blind testing, but I felt like the improvement was well worth the upgrade.