Genelec 8030C Studio Monitor Review

[ernestcarl]

Got this text yesterday from my son. He just bought a house in Bellingham WA, moving out of a small Seattle apartment. He asked for advice on sound system upgrades and I sent him here. Result:

View attachment 89336

Not quite complete nirvana, though... there's still the other missing half: one's acoustic playback environment -- arguably the more difficult task yet to hurdle -- where perfection may very well be an impossibility even in pro studios.

 

[OnAironaut]

Very interesting loudspeaker. Now I want to know if its a bass-driver from HDS or SDS series from Peerless in the new 8030c ?
Ofcourse, it is propably a custom-made drive unit, and as long as I know, the older 8030 models where using drivers with cast frames- from the HDS Line. Is it the same in the new model ?

I also want to know what class D chip is used ? Can someone confirm its tpa 3251 or maybe tpa 3116 ? They sound very good with the right powersupply.

8030C uses the TPA3118 chip.

 

[YSC]

Very interesting loudspeaker. Now I want to know if its a bass-driver from HDS or SDS series from Peerless in the new 8030c ?
Ofcourse, it is propably a custom-made drive unit, and as long as I know, the older 8030 models where using drivers with cast frames- from the HDS Line. Is it the same in the new model ?

I also want to know what class D chip is used ? Can someone confirm its tpa 3251 or maybe tpa 3116 ? They sound very good with the right powersupply.

I think not, I remember Genelec said they have polypropylene drivers, which is neither the HDS or SDS

 

[ElNino]

8030C uses the TPA3118 chip.

I wonder if the very large distortion peak between 6-10kHz on the TPA3118 is audible? It might be related to some of the subjective comments people sometimes make about the top couple of octaves on these that aren’t reflected in the spin.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what part Genelec uses on their higher end Ones?

 

[daftcombo]

I wonder if the very large distortion peak between 6-10kHz on the TPA3118 is audible? It might be related to some of the subjective comments people sometimes make about the top couple of octaves on these that aren’t reflected in the spin.

Just out of curiosity, do you know what part Genelec uses on their higher end Ones?

No distortion peak of that sort can be seen on the distortion graphs producted by Amir.
The amp is in use though.

 

[q3cpma]

I think not, I remember Genelec said they have polypropylene drivers, which is neither the HDS or SDS

https://www.parts-express.com/peerless-by-tymphany-830860-5-1-4-ppb-cone-hds-woofer--264-1080

8030C uses the TPA3118 chip.

Source?

 

[ElNino]

No distortion peak of that sort can be seen on the distortion graphs producted by Amir.
The amp is in use though.

It’ll be buried in the driver distortion in the THD graphs, but it may be an explanation for the IMD rise in Amir’s second multitone graph. Though that could be the drivers too.

 

[daftcombo]

It’ll be buried in the driver distortion in the THD graphs, but it may be an explanation for the IMD rise in Amir’s second multitone graph. Though that could be the drivers too.

That's exactly why I'd like Amir to test more amplifiers subjectively ;-)

 

[YSC]

That's exactly why I'd like Amir to test more amplifiers subjectively ;-)

But why care about it when purchasing an active speaker where you can’t see a peak in overall distortion?

 

[daftcombo]

But why care about it when purchasing an active speaker where you can’t see a peak in overall distortion?

I had passive speakers in mind, but yes it would probably end up beng useless.

 

[Zvu]

Source?

5:45

 

[Chromatischism]

Yes, and it is very obvious by just clapping hands in that room... Listening at low volumes, the reflection are tolerable, but louder and it smears and colors the sound... I need to find a practical and discreet solution.

Put the speakers on the short wall?

 

[q3cpma]

5:45

Thanks, very interesting video, too bad I don't speak Russian and there's no subtitles.

 

[ElNino]

Looking closely at Amir’s 96dB measurement and the data sheet for the TPA3118, I think it’s quite possible that part of the 8030c’s rise in distortion above 7kHz is from the amp rather than the driver.

 

[OnAironaut]

Thanks, very interesting video, too bad I don't speak Russian and there's no subtitles.

They're basically having a laugh about Genelecs sporting the "AliExpress tier" TPA3118 amplifier and the "Dead Sound" TL072C opamp on the input.

 

[EchoChamber]

5:45

It's interesting to see the subjective rating from each reviewer:

 

[EchoChamber]

Looking closely at Amir’s 96dB measurement and the data sheet for the TPA3118, I think it’s quite possible that part of the 8030c’s rise in distortion above 7kHz is from the amp rather than the driver.

Could be... They don't sound as smooth as my One's, but as a secondary speaker set, they do other things very well. I might go for a second pair of ones if I'm feeling rich next year... I wonder how different the 8330 sound compared to the 8030...

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[Senior NEET Engineer]

He is mistaking detail with elevated treble. No surprise that he recommends LS50 as speaker with similar detail to HD800 lol.

 

[YSC]

My 8030C finally arrived after almost a month after purchasing (Cursing the pandemic) with simply placing it 5cm from the back wall in my 40 sq ft room and less than ideal tilting (10 degrees rather than 30 degrees pointing to my listening position, limited by horizontal space available and obstruction by computer monitor) and setting the dip switches with desktop mode and bass tilt -4db the sound is already amazing! a lot cleaner than my old KEF X300A (now retired to living room TV speaker for movies where the Uni-Q helped for family movie watching).