Genelec 8030C Studio Monitor Review

[AnalogSteph]

It's the same source. 8341A is <= 3 dB. Like I said, this is just a nit pick not a deal breaker. Maybe my gaming room is just really quiet. New construction, thick insulation, no main roads nearby, etc.

Still, this should not be happening. My old O110s have hiss detectable at maybe 0.5 m but not much beyond that, that's about the level I would expect. Up to 5' = 1.5 m would be a deal-breaker for a lot of folks using these in (real) nearfield. It is not entirely uncommon for 5" class nearfields to be used at less than 2'. It's about 0.4 m for me right now.

Spec wise, the 8030C (<= 5 dB(A) @ 1 m) is actually an upgrade from its predecessors (<=10 dB(A)).

 

[hyperplanar]

Wow, that's such a strong showing for these little monitors! The THD and especially the IMD graphs are adding an invaluable dimension to these recent reviews too! Thank you so much Amir for your work in this area.

Now we just need a KH120 reviewed and this decade-long rivalry can be settled once and for all!

(and knowing ASR, by "settled", I mean it'll spawn another ten-page-long debate on which is better! I'm gonna guess the KH120s do better in distortion but worse in PIR.)

 

[Ron Texas]

This review makes me wonder how an 8040C would rock. It has a 6.5" LF unit, specs 10db higher maximum output and costs a not unreasonable $1175 a piece.

 

[matt3421]

i think the 8x40 design hasnt been updated since 2004(?) so it probably performs worse

 

[MZKM]

Wow, that's such a strong showing for these little monitors! The THD and especially the IMD graphs are adding an invaluable dimension to these recent reviews too! Thank you so much Amir for your work in this area.

Now we just need a KH120 reviewed and this decade-long rivalry can be settled once and for all!

(and knowing ASR, by "settled", I mean it'll spawn another ten-page-long debate on which is better! I'm gonna guess the KH120s do better in distortion but worse in PIR.)

It’s horizontal polar looks pretty good:

It is odd how at 4000Hz the negative (left?) side has a bump that isn’t on the positive side.

And on that note, for my horizontal graphs I just use the positive side, and luckily we haven’t measured any non-symmetrical speakers yet (unless I‘m mistaken). So, maybe instead I should average both sides so that is better represents performance.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Five feet away? Yikes - that's a deal-breaker IMHO. @amirm , did you hear tweeter hiss like that from the unit you tested?

Tells you something about the SINAD of the amps right there.

 

[pozz]

@amirm is it possible to create a polar plot of distortion alone?

 

[Senior NEET Engineer]

How do you think they would fair in a living room for music? How do you think they would fair in a living room for movies?

Do you think a living room is a demanding scenario? In my 3000 cu ft room, once I sit further than a couple meters there is not much change in volume. Against the rear wall 20 ft away I get higher SPL than 7 ft away.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

They will just redirect to you to the spec sheet in the manual, which states: "Amplifier system distortion at nominal output: THD < 0.05 %" (= 66+ dB SINAD).

Not that this information is useful in any way, mind you. There's no point in looking into specs of internal components when you already have the numbers for the finished, end-to-end product.

I kind of disagree with that. The question that comes to mind with a lot of these active designs is the quality of the Class D amplification they employ. The Dutch and Dutch 8Cs, for example, employ a variatiion of the Pascal Pro 2s which are also employed on the Rowland 535. If anyone remembers, the Rowland had a Sinad of 77db which was considered poor for a $5000 amp.

Yet when such modules are employed by companie like D&D or GGNTKT, I'm sure most people agree the results are superior . Nonetheless, I think there is a question of whether most users would be better off going with a great passive design and employing superior electronics from Hypex, Purifi or Benchmark.

I don't think we've ever done a deep dive on whether the advantages of using an active (especially one with mediocre electronics) outweigh going with a superior passive design (Revel or Kef, anyone) and using the superior electronics from companies like Benchmark, Matrix, Octo Research, and even Schiit.

Would be interesting to see comparisions which model these options with hard data, rather than matter of fact assertions of the superiority of one approach over the other.

 

[amirm]

I think one klippel module can measure the BI curve of speaker, do you have it?

I don't think so but I will look.

 

[amirm]

@amirm is it possible to create a polar plot of distortion alone?

I can't wrap my mind around what that would look like.

 

[MZKM]

Do you think a living room is a demanding scenario? In my 3000 cu ft room, once I sit further than a couple meters there is not much change in volume. Against the rear wall 20 ft away I get higher SPL than 7 ft away.

Compared to a desk.

My living room is probably like 2300ft^3, but it’s open concept so the volume as far as bass goes is much larger (also, no right wall, so no optimal sound ).

 

[oldsysop]

All the Genelecs and Revels have been very well designed.

1236A SAM vs Revel Salon 2. Who would win ?

 

[amirm]

1236A SAM vs Revel Salon 2. Who would win ?

I have the latter. You buy the former and send it to me and I will compare.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Well, but it cannot be or should I say I myself cannot understand the fact of many products getting a NOT RECOMMENDED to be included in a chain, without knowing the final result after being mixed with other separates while other products get a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED with just a test that does not take into account its own chain...
I am just trying to understand...sorry for that.
Could you NOT RECOMMEND an amplifier having a SINAD of 67 [because if <85dB it is to be avoided if you take any interest in audio performance] just to discover it is being used twice in a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED powered loudspeaker...? Is it fair...?
Am I to get AHB2 or Behringer A800 will do...?
The answer will come from the woofers I plug them to, then...?

Because in the end the speakers sound fantastic. The chain is only a chain when you you can make decisions about each component yourself. These speakers are essentially a lock.
They are finished. Either you accept the sound is good or you will have to use passives.
My understanding is that actives rarely (if ever) use very high end amplification. Most of the amps are specific to each driver and the reality is that high end amplification is simply not needed to actually get great sound.
We demand that kind of performance from separates because of the costs we pay at the counter and the they need to function well with many different other components. Not to mention the fact that we are market to. You could see the Genelecs as fantastic speakers with a free amp that does the job if that helps.
In any case I really get the feeling you will happier with passives. Just my intuition.

 

[restorer-john]

I have the latter. You buy the former and send it to me and I will compare.

Make sure he sends you a forklift too.

https://reverb.com/au/item/29322479-genelec-1236a-studio-monitors-open-box-pair?locale=en-AU

 

[amirm]

Make sure he sends you a forklift too.

Ouch!!!

 

[Maiky76]

Hi,

For those who are trying to EQ these speakers here are the predicted scores (corrected Spin data):

- No EQ: 6.31
- @amirm EQ score 6.44
PEQ 2500.0Hz, 2.00dB, 3.00:
- @amirm Optimized EQ score 6.50
PEQ 2655.0Hz, 2.00dB, 2.00:

- Full EQ Score: 6.83
PEQ 273.7Hz, 1.17dB, 0.94,...
PEQ 1720.0Hz, -2.27dB, 2.52,...
PEQ 2250.0Hz, 2.25dB, 0.88,...
PEQ 4630.0Hz, -0.97dB, 7.30,...
PEQ 6785.0Hz, -0.73dB, 4.44,...

Cheers
M

 

[bigjacko]

I don't think so but I will look.

I am not sure what is used in this review, but the graph does say klippel analyser. Here is the link to the review I am talking about. https://audioxpress.com/article/test-bench-the-punktkilde-augwl0016-jn02-6-5-midbass-driver

Here is the plot and the paragraph.

Klippel analysis for the AUGWL0016-JN02 produced the Bl(X), Kms(X), and Bl and Kms symmetry range plots given in Figures 5-8. (Our analyzer is provided courtesy of Klippel GmbH and the analysis is performed by Pat Turnmire, owner of Redrock Acoustics and author of the SpeaD and RevSpeaD software.) The Bl(X) curve for the AUGWL0016-JN02 (see Figure 5) is moderately broad, with a rather small amount of asymmetry, and with a small amount of coil-out offset as well as trivial amount of tilt. Looking at the Bl symmetry plot (see Figure 6), the displacement is a meaningless 0.37 mm at 5 mm, which is this driver’s physical Xmax.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Sorry Genelec, I used to call you overpriced

Anyone notice the dispersion behavior vs frequency of this and Neumann, at woofer frequencies the reflections and sound power reduces with frequency, but at tweeter frequencies it suddenly stops changing vs frequency. So the in-room response changes slope halfway i.e. from sloping downwards to become flat. So when we want to use a straight line approximation there will be a dip.

Makes me wonder which region is actually better - the downwards sloping one or the straight (but still reducing amplitude vs angle)

Add: ELAC DBR-62 and 305P also

While Uni-fi, KEF, 8341A don't have this problem just to name a few I checked

Coaxial vs TM,MT