Genelec 8030C Studio Monitor Review

[Miguelón]

do genuine 8030c has sort of a sparkle on the dark grey model?

Yes, it makes part of the finishing of all dark studio monitors in Genelec. They had made a black anniversary edition to Thomann, but usually are grey with some salt-like particles or white (more expensive in general). In some other models have also raw aluminum without any finishing, it looks industrial and a little bit post- apocalyptic speakers to my eyes

 

[unpluggged]

last question, can you tell me if the sparkle is normal?

Are you suspecting that someone set up a factory to cast aluminum enclosures to make fake Genelecs?

Why does it matter to you at all? Sparkle or no sparkle, both would be normal and within spec.

 

[Head_Unit]

Here is the individual driver responses:

Upon re-reading this, why is the tweeter running down to 100 Hz? Is that just bleed from the woofer?

 

[staticV3]

Upon re-reading this, why is the tweeter running down to 100 Hz? Is that just bleed from the woofer?

Just bleed from the woofer.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I like the finish on this one

 

[Miguelón]

Just bleed from the woofer.

Bleed? The sense of the sentence is confuse to me, does mean that the tweeter invades the woofer?
“Very near field response” I suppose the mic is sticked to the drivers, so each one overlaps a lot over the other, at usual listening position should be negligible. Am I correct?

 

[staticV3]

Bleed? The sense of the sentence is confuse to me, does mean that the tweeter invades the woofer?
“Very near field response” I suppose the mic is sticked to the drivers, so each one overlaps a lot over the other, at usual listening position should be negligible. Am I correct?

Amir's Nearfield measurement methodology is imperfect. When he measures the tweeter, the resulting graph still contains the response of the woofer, only attenuated by ~10dB.

It's supposed to indicate the individual driver response and crossover points, not precisely measure them.

 

[Miguelón]

Amir's Nearfield measurement methodology is imperfect. When he measures the tweeter, the resulting graph still contains the response of the woofer, only attenuated by ~10dB.

It's supposed to indicate the individual driver response and crossover points, not precisely measure them.

Ah, I understood, even placing mic very close to the tweeter the woofer response will be recorded at those decibels also.

I imagine the only way to measure them separately will be acceding to the internals of the speaker and cancel one of the amps.

 

[ferobosi]

The 8030C is a better loudspeaker than former 8030B. The sound is better, the distortion is lower. The Genelec 8030C has tpa3118 inside - its a better sounding chip than class A/B chip amps like 3886. I have two 3886 chip amp A/B amplifiers at home but they are collecting dust right now.

I have played around with many tpa 3116 and done modifications and so on... its really good. Noone of my klass A/B amps is sounding better. The opposite in fact.
Tpa 3251 is even better and the sound from that chip can rival high end amplifiers in class A/B.
I think the upcoming Genelec 8040C will be a killer.

Are you sure the 8030c use TPA3118? I have a pair of 8030A with damaged LM4780s on them. we try to find new 4780s but we didn't so my electronic guy suggest to replace two 3118s and we conncet 4780 input pins to 3118 module and 3118s output to the drivers. but ... sound was weak and distorted. do you have any pictures of 8030c circuit? Do you have any solution? (other parts of circuits are working well)

 

[staticV3]

Are you sure the 8030c use TPA3118? I have a pair of 8030A with damaged LM4780s on them. we try to find new 4780s but we didn't so my electronic guy suggest to replace two 3118s and we conncet 4780 input pins to 3118 module and 3118s output to the drivers. but ... sound was weak and distorted. do you have any pictures of 8030c circuit? Do you have any solution? (other parts of circuits are working well)

I'd try to replace the LM4780 and keep the PCB original.

There's a guy in Germany who still has stock: https://www.ebay.de/itm/286257639425

 

[Jake C]

According to MZKM's vertical directivity measurements, tilting the monitor back 10 degrees actually flattens the dip in the crossover region. Very good to know.

 

[Miguelón]

According to MZKM's vertical directivity measurements, tilting the monitor back 10 degrees actually flattens the dip in the crossover region. Very good to know.

Interesting, I will try at home. Is quite noticeable, even with the iPhone microphone and the WiiM Ultra one can watch it on the graphics.

In Genelec 8020 appears less prominent and over 3 kHz, at least in my room.

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

While these are marketed as near-field monitoring speakers, a number of people, and reviews (e.g Steve Gutenberg, Stereophile), seem to indicate that they can perform well in a living room setup as well.

I'm in an apartment, so lots of bass, and loud listening volumes are not at the top of the list for requirements.

Looking at the review, the Klippel charts are for distance listening, and it appears that it should work well.

The living room is about 12feet x 16feet, with one side opening to an open kitchen. I've attached a picture of the layout, ignore the measurements on the picture they are sneaky including a small corner that don't add any space to the room, but makes the measurements appear bigger.

I'd likely have the speakers on the inner short wall, and listening position would be ~8ft.

Would these speakers provide very very good sound for my application?

 

[Miguelón]

While these are marketed as near-field monitoring speakers, a number of people, and reviews (e.g Steve Gutenberg, Stereophile), seem to indicate that they can perform well in a living room setup as well.

I'm in an apartment, so lots of bass, and loud listening volumes are not at the top of the list for requirements.

Looking at the review, the Klippel charts are for distance listening, and it appears that it should work well.

The living room is about 12feet x 16feet, with one side opening to an open kitchen. I've attached a picture of the layout, ignore the measurements on the picture they are sneaky including a small corner that don't add any space to the room, but makes the measurements appear bigger.

I'd likely have the speakers on the inner short wall, and listening position would be ~8ft.

Would these speakers provide very very good sound for my application?

Is like a copy of mine

Don't worry about 8030C, will fit well in your room, just have to correct some modes (standing waves due to the size and proportions of the room).

IMHO apart from the coincidence, Steve is not a guru of audio and his opinions as subjective as any other ones...

I listen to them between 60-70 dB at meters (that's aprox 66 to 77 dB at one meter) and no issues.

Little rooms tend to have modes at higher frequencies, so probably a smaller driver will show the same modes and will be less even in response.

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

Thank you @Miguelón for your response. It looks like a number was cut off, at how many meters do you listen? 2 or 3 (6-9 ft)?

Also, with the included pods/feet, how much vibration is transferred to the surface that they sit on? While not ideal, for space reasons, I may have a turntable on the same table.

I'll be connecting them via a MiniDSP SHD so should be able to take care of room modes with Dirac.

 

[Miguelón]

Thank you @Miguelón for your response. It looks like a number was cut off, at how many meters do you listen? 2 or 3 (6-9 ft)?

Also, with the included pods/feet, how much vibration is transferred to the surface that they sit on? While not ideal, for space reasons, I may have a turntable on the same table.

I'll be connecting them via a MiniDSP SHD so should be able to take care of room modes with Dirac.

If I was you I will take the Genelec stands to desktop (around 75 € each) or any of the K&H stands to decouple the monitors from the table, isopods are not enough.

My listening distance varies from 2 to 3 meters depending on the listening, my dB meter shows that I usually go between 60 to 70 dB average. I can reach without cracking the Genelecs in any distance of my home, even with one of them switched and the other disabled.

K&M 23310 Table Stand

Soporte para escritorio Base fonoabsorbente de hierro fundido con varilla roscada con recubrimiento de polvo negro, Rosca de 3/8", Altura: 170 mm desde la parte inferior hasta la rosca, Diámetro de la base: 180 mm

www.thomann.de

Genelec Z8030-408

Adaptador de Soporte Adaptador de soporte para Genelec 8030

www.thomann.de

This 2 will give you a nice support for isopods and you can turn up or down the speakers

 

[Mort]

I use them, actually the G three, both near and distance (3M). While I like them nearfield a bit better, they are perfectly good at filling a room. Directivity isn't very wide of course. SPL was fine. I was at 85db avg with the Wiim Ultra at 75% and it was nice and clear. No, you won't get a lot of bass out of these. I pair them with a subwoofer.

Turntables can be pretty sensitive. The isopods are good but at volume, it's gonna shake a little.

 

[Miguelón]

I use them, actually the G three, both near and distance (3M). While I like them nearfield a bit better, they are perfectly good at filling a room. Directivity isn't very wide of course. SPL was fine. I was at 85db avg with the Wiim Ultra at 75% and it was nice and clear. No, you won't get a lot of bass out of these. I pair them with a subwoofer.

Turntables can be pretty sensitive. The isopods are good but at volume, it's gonna shake a little.

This one are wonderful to prevent vibrations, I didn’t thought at that parameter when answering @BadAudioAdvice. Though perhaps the two pieces I suggested can isolate even more because using isopods.

Aesthetically this are the best, can be a point…

Genelec 8000-333B Table Stand BK

Table Stand for Studio Monitors Suitable for Genelec 4030, 4430, 8030, 8330, 8331 and G Three, L-shaped table stand for vertical and horizontal positioning, Tilt angle: 0º - 20º (upwards), Weight: 2.7 kg, Colour: Black

www.thomann.co.uk

 

[BadAudioAdvice]

I couldn't find any measurements for the stands to show how much vibrations are reduced or eliminated with the options.

It does mention that lifting them off the surface helps reduce certain reflections, but its hard to see how the metal stand would reduce vibrations...

 

[Miguelón]

I couldn't find any measurements for the stands to show how much vibrations are reduced or eliminated with the options.

It does mention that lifting them off the surface helps reduce certain reflections, but its hard to see how the metal stand would reduce vibrations...

I had the two first, the K&M stand and the plate, no turntable but was quite worried about vibrations (a little mania from the epoch induced by an audiophile article on the topic), at least with hand posed on the table I can tell the difference was huge.

Not a measurement of course, but in general both Genelec stands and K&M have good feedback from customers in Thomann. Genelec of course present very often their home G series over their own model, maybe also some flexibility on the stand can help with vibrations.

I suggest you to call Genelec tech support, they are really gentle and can help you with the stands