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Genelec 8030C Studio Monitor Review

changer

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That’s all futile. If I had not invested myself into a long-stretched DiY project, before I had learned about the ability of those speakers (at my day job, I could listen to 8030A's for an extended time), I was happy now, with just a set of those speakers combined with one or two SVS 12" subs. For home listening, with room correction, this is a near perfect solution. No doubts at all.
 

captainspork

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Hello. I'm considering buying either the 8030C or the 8320A to replace the monitors in my current PC audio setup which is Topping D10B -> Singxer SA-1 -> JBL LSR310S -> JBL LSR305, and had two questions:

1. At a similar price, would you favor the larger driver of the 8030C or the room EQ feature of the 8320A?
2. Should the size of the driver be dictated by the size of the room, or the listening distance? I'm at a close listening distance, but am in a fairly spacious finished basement.

Thanks for any input!
 

changer

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If PC is the only source you can use Equalizer APO/PEACE for room correction. Yes, bigger driver.
 

dshreter

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Hello. I'm considering buying either the 8030C or the 8320A to replace the monitors in my current PC audio setup which is Topping D10B -> Singxer SA-1 -> JBL LSR310S -> JBL LSR305, and had two questions:

1. At a similar price, would you favor the larger driver of the 8030C or the room EQ feature of the 8320A?
2. Should the size of the driver be dictated by the size of the room, or the listening distance? I'm at a close listening distance, but am in a fairly spacious finished basement. In near field the size of the room is secondary to listening distance.

Thanks for any input!
1. If you’re listening for enjoyment, I would get the 8030C. Either one will be extremely accurate in a near field setup, so the extra bass response and output definitely gives 8030C the advantage.

2. Driver size should be dictated by output requirements which relates to both to size of room and listening distance. Bass frequency response is also a big difference.
 

captainspork

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Thanks for the help guys, I bought a pair of the 8030C!

I almost wondered if my room size would normally dictate an even bigger driver, as it's 25+ feet from the speakers to the opposing wall, but the larger versions were out of my price range anyway. Also my listening distance is fairly close as I will be using these on stands that are mounted on the back corners of my desk.
 

YSC

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Thanks for the help guys, I bought a pair of the 8030C!

I almost wondered if my room size would normally dictate an even bigger driver, as it's 25+ feet from the speakers to the opposing wall, but the larger versions were out of my price range anyway. Also my listening distance is fairly close as I will be using these on stands that are mounted on the back corners of my desk.
Imo only the listening distance makes the difference, the further from the back wall the less comb filtering you will have
 

captainspork

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Pearljam, look at this! One day, and captainspork had his speakers ordered ... :D
Ha, believe me, I know what it's like to go down a weeks-long rabbit hole carefully considering every possible option. In this case however, the combination of the positive review from Amir, and the 8030C topping MZKM's preference rating (w/ subwoofer) gave me a really strong indication that these were either the best speakers in my price-range, or at least close enough as to make little difference. I also know someone who lives in the same region as Genelec's factory, so it felt like destiny :)

As one might expect, I'm massively excited for my shipment to arrive. I hope I'm not setting the bar too high, but I expect these speakers to be the best audio equipment I've ever listened to, as I've never been to a convention or other place where I can audition a bunch of high end gear; everything I've heard so far I've purchased myself. Regardless, I'm sure they're a noticeable step up from the JBL LSR305 Mass Drop specials they'll be replacing!
 

changer

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Ha, believe me, I know what it's like to go down a weeks-long rabbit hole carefully considering every possible option.
Who doesn't?

I hope I'm not setting the bar too high, but I expect these speakers to be the best audio equipment I've ever listened to (...).
They do sound very good for being speakers. Do not forget room correction, consider placement within the constraints you have, and maybe even add room treatment if you like the idea.
 

captainspork

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Just started listening to these right out of the box without any room EQ or other tweaking and am pretty blown away. There's an immediately noticeable sense of richness all throughout the frequency range that was lacking on my old JBL's, and the level of detail is fantastic. Each part of the music is extremely well represented, and there's so much texture around everything. A real joy to listen to.

Does anyone have tips on how to set the input sensitivity on the 8030C and my LSR310S subwoofer? Am a little lost as to how I should approach that, as my signal is coming out of a Singxer SA-1 preamp, so I'm not sure if that means I should avoid using the lowest setting. The subwoofer has a switch for -10/+4, and the 8030s have -6/-3/0/+2/+4/+6. Thanks for any help on that.
 

captainspork

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Did a bit of tinkering and am finding the lack of a volume knob on the 8030s to be a bit of an issue when paired with my LSR310S subwoofer. Compared to my JBL 305, I'm needing to run the 8030s at a much lower level on my preamp. With the JBLs at 50% volume, it was pretty typical to run my preamp at around 50%, with the 8030s it's more like 10% on -6 sensitivity, and still under 25% at +6 sensitivity.

The issue with the low preamp volume is that I don't get enough bass from the subwoofer. With the 8030s at -6 sensitivity if I set the subwoofer to its loudest setting at -10 input sensitivity and 100% volume, I don't have quite enough bass. I can improve that slightly by cranking the 8030 sensitivity to +6 and increasing the preamp volume accordingly, but I feel like the speakers don't sound quite as good at the higher sensitivity with some perceived detail loss. Could changing the sensitivity really have this effect, or is it in my head?

EDIT - Maybe getting a couple of these is the solution? https://www.genelec.com/9001a-mono-volume-controller
 
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YSC

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Did a bit of tinkering and am finding the lack of a volume knob on the 8030s to be a bit of an issue when paired with my LSR310S subwoofer. Compared to my JBL 305, I'm needing to run the 8030s at a much lower level on my preamp. With the JBLs at 50% volume, it was pretty typical to run my preamp at around 50%, with the 8030s it's more like 10% on -6 sensitivity, and still under 25% at +6 sensitivity.

The issue with the low preamp volume is that I don't get enough bass from the subwoofer. With the 8030s at -6 sensitivity if I set the subwoofer to its loudest setting at -10 input sensitivity and 100% volume, I don't have quite enough bass. I can improve that slightly by cranking the 8030 sensitivity to +6 and increasing the preamp volume accordingly, but I feel like the speakers don't sound quite as good at the higher sensitivity with some perceived detail loss. Could changing the sensitivity really have this effect, or is it in my head?

EDIT - Maybe getting a couple of these is the solution? https://www.genelec.com/9001a-mono-volume-controller
I made the same mistake back then, the -6db is actually the highest sensitivity on Genelecs, turn it to +6 and u get 12db of headroom.

But since my source don’t have any volume control, I ended up adding a khozmo passive preamp to do the volume control
 

captainspork

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If I set the sensitivity to +6 then I'm able to get enough bass out of the sub with the sub near 100%. Isn't sensitivity not exactly the same as volume though? I thought the idea was the match the sensitivity setting to the input voltage, rather than using it as a volume knob.
 

YSC

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If I set the sensitivity to +6 then I'm able to get enough bass out of the sub with the sub near 100%. Isn't sensitivity not exactly the same as volume though? I thought the idea was the match the sensitivity setting to the input voltage, rather than using it as a volume knob.
For genelec the marking is the signal strength to achieve the reference SPL, so actually +6db is you need 6db more signal to achieve the reference SPL hence the same as normal speakers -6db sensitivity…
 

captainspork

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For genelec the marking is the signal strength to achieve the reference SPL, so actually +6db is you need 6db more signal to achieve the reference SPL hence the same as normal speakers -6db sensitivity…
I think we're on the same page. I turn the speakers to +6 so that I then have to turn my preamp up more, and then I end up with more bass than at an equivalent listening volume at -6.

For reference, I ended up finding that +2 on the 8030C and my LSR310S one click below 100% volume was about right for my ear. Now to do some additional tweaking and room EQ :)
 
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Alexium

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I am amazed by the even and wide dispersion of these non-coaxial speakers, how did they do it?? Why aren't other MT speakers so good? Is it the horn-like indentation for the tweeter? Is it the choice of the crossover frequency?
(I'm referring to the measurements, I have not actually listened to any Genelecs, but this is currently my #1 choice for upgrading).
 
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captainspork

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Have a miniDSP measurement mic on the way. Looking forward to playing around with REW and seeing how I can further improve things.

4 days after setting the 8030Cs up and I'm still blown away by them every time I listen to them. What's crazy is that EVERYTHING sounds amazing, not just music. Even speech in a lecture video for example has a richness to it that makes it all the more captivating. Sound in games too is on another level from before. Massive upgrade to my PC using experience all around!
 

LTig

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4 days after setting the 8030Cs up and I'm still blown away by them every time I listen to them. What's crazy is that EVERYTHING sounds amazing, not just music. Even speech in a lecture video for example has a richness to it that makes it all the more captivating. Sound in games too is on another level from before. Massive upgrade to my PC using experience all around!
Well, it just shows that science works. :)
 

Alexium

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Is there a way to hook up an external amp to the 8030C without hacking them apart? Not what 99.99999% people who bought this speaker have in mind, I Know :)
 
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YSC

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Is there a way to hook up an external amp to the 8030C without hacking them apart? Not what 99.99999% people who bought this speaker have in mind, I Know :)
Why would you like to do so? Adding external amp still pass through the internal amp which will just degrade its performance and can potentially blown up the 8030 with input current way higher than its designed to take
 
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