Dispersion in Assymetrical Room (Revel vs Genelec...)

[jjb]

Hello! First post, been enjoying reading this forum and the Floyd Toole book, good fun.

Planning the setup for the living room I'm soon to move into. Wondering if you all can help decide between Genelec and Revel.... or something else!

Floor plan is below.

-There's a wall with a window pretty close to the right (about 3-4' from the speaker).
-I can treat the wall just to the right of the speakers, behind the listening position, and put some heavy curtains over the window.
-Off to the left is an open concept dining room / kitchen which I'm thinking I'll fill with a coupe Sonos Fives with zone control.
-Because of the shallow space (13.7' from the top wall to the bottom wall) I need to keep the speakers pretty close to the wall, ideally sitting on the TV console rather than stands (partner preference).

I'm looking at Genelec 8030s, or Revel M106. I've listened to my friends 8341 setup and liked it, and like Amir's review of the Revels. With either speaker I'll plan to use some EQ (MiniDSP I think, or perhaps GLM).

If I'm reading Amir's info right (am I???) the Genelec have a 60deg beam, and the Revels have a 100deg beam . I'm thinking in this instance the narrower beam of the Genelec is preferable, because it covers the couch adequately and perhaps will reflect less off the right wall. They also tolerate being positioned close to the rear wall (I think?) which is necessary in my space, being only 13.7' from top to bottom wall pictured.

I prefer the look of the Genelecs (raw) and like the simplicity of an active setup, so that pushes me in that direction as well.

I'm unsure if I'll go with a sub - it's a semi-detached house and I'm concerned about the neighbours.

Any thoughts on comparing these two speakrs, the acoustics of this room in general, or any other gear I should be considering? I am about to start touring hi fi shops listening to stuff, and can be convinced to spend more, but based on my small room size and volume limitations these seem to fit the brief. I won't be able to listen to the two speakers at the same time, and the shop that has the Revels is a little out of the way...

Thank you!

 

[GD Fan]

Sounds like a fun project to be tackling. If you have the ability to listen to both the Revels and the Gens make sure you do it. Tough to go wrong with either one but I tend to agree with your leaning towards Genelec (I have 8320s for my desktop rig). Their website has a guide to positioning in proximity to a wall that would be helpful.

You should also consider budgeting for a subwoofer. It makes a huge difference. My main system uses an SVS SB1000 and I've received no noise complaints despite being in an apartment in an old pre-war brownstone with neighbors both above and below (and on both sides, but those are different buildings and therefore not my problem!). Of course I did factor that when dialing it in to the system.

 

[fineMen]

If I'm reading Amir's info right (am I???) the Genelec have a 60deg beam, and the Revels have a 100deg beam

There's not much of a difference. It is 120 v/s 100 actually. Reassess the total sound power or the in-room frequency response. A significant difference would be made with a horn loaded speaker at +/-45° (h) x +/-20° (v). If well made they have a sharp cut-off beyond that angles also.

 

[Duke]

My inclination would be to minimize the effects of the sidewall asymmetry.

One way of doing so is to use narrow-pattern speakers and strong toe-in, possibly with the speaker axes criss-crossing in front of the central sweet spot in a "time/intensity trading" configuration. This would minimize the first-reflection sidewall interactions on both sides and therefore minimize the net effects of the sidewall asymmetry. Depending on the specifics, this could result in better-than-normal imaging for off-centerline listeners. If everyone in your household has good hearing in both ears, you might even be able to get away with not having a center channel speaker.

 

[ferrellms]

Hello! First post, been enjoying reading this forum and the Floyd Toole book, good fun.

Planning the setup for the living room I'm soon to move into. Wondering if you all can help decide between Genelec and Revel.... or something else!

Floor plan is below.
View attachment 289256
-There's a wall with a window pretty close to the right (about 3-4' from the speaker).
-I can treat the wall just to the right of the speakers, behind the listening position, and put some heavy curtains over the window.
-Off to the left is an open concept dining room / kitchen which I'm thinking I'll fill with a coupe Sonos Fives with zone control.
-Because of the shallow space (13.7' from the top wall to the bottom wall) I need to keep the speakers pretty close to the wall, ideally sitting on the TV console rather than stands (partner preference).

I'm looking at Genelec 8030s, or Revel M106. I've listened to my friends 8341 setup and liked it, and like Amir's review of the Revels. With either speaker I'll plan to use some EQ (MiniDSP I think, or perhaps GLM).

If I'm reading Amir's info right (am I???) the Genelec have a 60deg beam, and the Revels have a 100deg beam . I'm thinking in this instance the narrower beam of the Genelec is preferable, because it covers the couch adequately and perhaps will reflect less off the right wall. They also tolerate being positioned close to the rear wall (I think?) which is necessary in my space, being only 13.7' from top to bottom wall pictured.

I prefer the look of the Genelecs (raw) and like the simplicity of an active setup, so that pushes me in that direction as well.

I'm unsure if I'll go with a sub - it's a semi-detached house and I'm concerned about the neighbours.

Any thoughts on comparing these two speakrs, the acoustics of this room in general, or any other gear I should be considering? I am about to start touring hi fi shops listening to stuff, and can be convinced to spend more, but based on my small room size and volume limitations these seem to fit the brief. I won't be able to listen to the two speakers at the same time, and the shop that has the Revels is a little out of the way...

Thank you!

Honestly, you will likely very happy with any choice of these fine components; cost, appearance, compatibility with living space?

 

[rynberg]

I think you are overly concerned about asymmetry, especially since you can put absorption on the right wall to "acoustically mirror" the missing left wall. I actually have a very similar layout to yours and greatly preferred Revel Performas to KEF R-series (which I believe are narrower than the Genelecs, but not 100% on that) -- important to note that I prefer a wider soundstage to a more precise/deeper soundstage. My recommendation though would be to get F206 instead of the M106; the true 3-way F206 is more cohesive and dynamic than the M106.

Note these comments are based on actual in-home auditions, not conjecture -- although my opinions based on the in-home audition ended up being in substantial agreement with what the data would imply.

 

[Reed]

I have the same asymmetrical layout in a room with over 20’ of glass sliders along the right side. Slightly greater distance from LP to speakers. Right speaker 3’ from sidewall. And I have Revel M105 with one of their centers and an SVS sealed sub. I also have a pair of Genelec 8930c in another room. The speakers are very similar. Sidewall reflection no issue for me - I was worried about the same thing. I think Audyssey in my 7 year old 50 watt Marantz is helping. Make sure you get a sub in either case. Use some sort of digital room control. Get the speakers and LP in an equilateral triangle. Your biggest question is how loud you need it in the room. Volume can get intolerable (to me) with either setup. The sub helps here more than you can imagine. If pressed, I slightly prefer the Genelec but that difference might go away if I ran a better AVR with Dirac. Both image like crazy and present a defined center image in stereo. You’ll be happy.