Genelec 8030C Studio Monitor Review

[tmtomh]

Its the correction, not the measurements: unfortunately WiiM doesn’t record the results.

You have to reverse what you see: they are spikes, not dips

That makes sense - although in that case one would wonder about those high-Q EQ boosts at around 110Hz and 200Hz - not as great in amplitude as the 70Hz adjustment would have been, but still I wonder what response issue the software is seeing to prescribe those kinds of boosts.

 

[Miguelón]

OK, understood. Most 'smart' equalization cuts resonant peaks, not boosts acoustic interference dips - unless it is a broadband spectral effect. This does not look like a smart EQ - a 10 dB narrow band boost at 70 Hz looks suspicious.

Absolutely, the automatic correction is a messy. I tries to correct everything even comb effects. Perhaps with time they will improve the algorithm, personally I prefer doing by hand.

I did again the room measurements and WiiM automatic correction. There you can see in white the measurement and in pink the EQ suggested.

Take into account that is captured by an iPhone’s onboard mic, not a proper one.

 

[Floyd Toole]

The evidence I am aware of indicates that dips, in general. are hard to hear. In room acoustics dips are destructive acoustical interference - they want to go to minus infinity, so boosting is a high risk venture. But, more importantly, they are very location dependent so boosting to fill a dip in one location simply adds a narrow-band boost - a high-Q resonance - to the sound radiated into the rest of the room. Not a great idea.

 

[Miguelón]

The evidence I am aware of indicates that dips, in general. are hard to hear. In room acoustics dips are destructive acoustical interference - they want to go to minus infinity, so boosting is a high risk venture. But, more importantly, they are very location dependent so boosting to fill a dip in one location simply adds a narrow-band boost - a high-Q resonance - to the sound radiated into the rest of the room. Not a great idea.

I use the graphic as a reference and suppress all the boosts, except the ones that matches the Genelec measurements.

As soon as I can, I will purchase a mic and perform proper measurements with REW; then play with EQ. Very fun to me, since I can connect my piano to the monitors and listen my own perceptions note by note

 

[Todd68]

Sometimes after initial setup, moving the speakers around in small increments can improve a dip. I did this to help a 200 to almost 400hz dip. Basically I ended up with the speakers about 12 inches closer together. I’d rather try to maximize the response with positioning first before messing with EQ. Also I made very small movements tweaking the toe in and positioning after I improved the response. I did this by ear to improve the subjective quality of soundstage and high frequency response.

 

[Miguelón]

Sometimes after initial setup, moving the speakers around in small increments can improve a dip. I did this to help a 200 to almost 400hz dip. Basically I ended up with the speakers about 12 inches closer together. I’d rather try to maximize the response with positioning first before messing with EQ. Also I made very small movements tweaking the toe in and positioning after I improved the response. I did this by ear to improve the subjective quality of soundstage and high frequency response.

You will finally end by giving a massage to the speakers

I enjoy playing with the EQ, once I become bored I will disconnect it. I love the Genelec sound as it is, and since I’m not a professional don’t need to perfect flat response…

 

[Todd68]

You will finally end by giving a massage to the speakers

I enjoy playing with the EQ, once I become bored I will disconnect it. I love the Genelec sound as it is, and since I’m not a professional don’t need to perfect flat response…

I’m just pointing out (at least in my experience) the importance of speaker positioning. REW makes it much easier because you can see and confirm the affect of the changes. This will give a better balanced sound.

But then I assume your speakers are less sensitive to placement so not as important.

 

[Miguelón]

I’m just pointing out (at least in my experience) the importance of speaker positioning. REW makes it much easier because you can see and confirm the affect of the changes. This will give a better balanced sound.

But then I assume your speakers are less sensitive to placement so not as important.

Not at displacement, but tilt them five degrees and you will obtain a huge difference: vertical directivity is not the best in Genelecs

 

[mrmojo]

I have a pair of 8030c's sitting on my desk. They're just for listening to music. They're about 1.5 ft -2 ft from the wall and on 0.75 ft tall stands.

How should I set up the dip switches (and any other settings) for an optimal experience?

 

[Killingbeans]

How is it that the Genelecs sound so good with relatively not such expensive drivers?

Because it's a bit like cooking a meal.

A lousy chef using the most fancy ingredients in the world will still make dog food, while a great chef using modest ingredients will make a meal that blows your mind.

 

[Miguelón]

I have a pair of 8030c's sitting on my desk. They're just for listening to music. They're about 1.5 ft -2 ft from the wall and on 0.75 ft tall stands.

How should I set up the dip switches (and any other settings) for an optimal experience?

First set gain input to its minimum: +6 dB. Even with this adjustment, is too sensitive. At home I use RCA to XLR connection to low the voltage and keep the digital volume high.

Second try to adjust the low shelving filter to the wall, -4 dB is the recommended gain but maybe -2 or -6 fit better.

Third you can try the desktop setting to low horizontal reflections, but to me didn’t improve so much the setup: I finally get floor stands.

The most efficient solution will be to measure the room response and correct it for your listening position, desks are complicated to predict because various materials, screens and keyboard…

 

[AnalogSteph]

I have a pair of 8030c's sitting on my desk. They're just for listening to music. They're about 1.5 ft -2 ft from the wall and on 0.75 ft tall stands.

How should I set up the dip switches (and any other settings) for an optimal experience?

Input +6 dB (unless the output driving them is wimptastic and things don't go loud enough)
Treble tilt -2 dB enable
Bass tilt may need -2 dB, but you should really measure what's going on acoustically.
The rest can stay off.

 

[staticV3]

Treble tilt -2 dB enable

Why roll off the treble even more than stock?

 

[pehu63]

Great, thanks. Did you make a comparison with both speakers eqed and with a sub?

Wich other sub would you get? Can I do it via PC?

I looked at a used SVS, but the not pro. Already got rid of the 305's long ago.

Still need to do a REW measurement with the sub connected, and correction with the DSP in my el-cheapo arylic streamer....
The ADAM T10s has a footswitch to disable it, and pass through. Would be beneficial for a comparison.
Again, the 8030 are very good, even without sub. The adam goes deeper, and much louder.

 

[pehu63]

There are so many technically superior speakers from Genelec, Neumann, KEF, Kii, D&D, Asci, JBL, ...

For the price though, the 8030C is hard to beat.

I doubt that are "many superior speakers", I would guess that the 8030 is in the top 2%. And for the price, yes, real hard to beat.

 

[pehu63]

How is it that the Genelecs sound so good with relatively not such expensive drivers?

As far as I know, the genelec 8030 uses fairly high end drivers, and a not so cheap enclosure. The woofer seems to be a customized peerless chassis, based on peerless SDS series. The tweeter is genelec's own design and make. Somewhere I read on that tweeter, from a genelec engineer. Not sure if my memory serves me well, here goes. A properly designed aluminum dome does not have break-up below 25khz or so. No need for the expensive beryllium (also very expense to manufacture within margins, and health hazards). Big benefit of aluminum is that it is cheap, cheap to produce within required tolerances, and heat handling is very good. All in all, difficult to beat below 115 db, on price, spl, as well as quality. BTW, check out the expensive Piega speakers, I guess those also use peerless SDS.

For the price, the 8030 is exceptionally well built. Personally, I replaced my JBL305 by the genelec for two reasons, (1) the looks, and (2) the size, assuming it would sound at least as good. Boy, was I surprised, the sound quality of the 8030 is so much better.

(No, no, no shares in genelec, no family, no bribes ;-) just a very very happy user here, 35m2)

 

[Miguelón]

As far as I know, the genelec 8030 uses fairly high end drivers, and a not so cheap enclosure. The woofer seems to be a customized peerless chassis, based on peerless SDS series. The tweeter is genelec's own design and make. Somewhere I read on that tweeter, from a genelec engineer. Not sure if my memory serves me well, here goes. A properly designed aluminum dome does not have break-up below 25khz or so. No need for the expensive beryllium (also very expense to manufacture within margins, and health hazards). Big benefit of aluminum is that it is cheap, cheap to produce within required tolerances, and heat handling is very good. All in all, difficult to beat below 115 db, on price, spl, as well as quality. BTW, check out the expensive Piega speakers, I guess those also use peerless SDS.

For the price, the 8030 is exceptionally well built. Personally, I replaced my JBL305 by the genelec for two reasons, (1) the looks, and (2) the size, assuming it would sound at least as good. Boy, was I surprised, the sound quality of the 8030 is so much better.

(No, no, no shares in genelec, no family, no bribes ;-) just a very very happy user here, 35m2)

I have the curiosity about how to improve the excessive sensitivity of the 8030. Even at +6 dB is simply too much, 94 dB at 1m @ 1V.

The home version, G Three, curiously sounds even better by offering a 86 dB low sensitivity option: one can reach 100 dB SPL with balanced input and 94 with unbalanced.

I honestly recommend G Three over 8030C since they are the same speakers but 8030C goes from 106 dB to 94 dB gain, whereas G Three is in the 96-86.

It exists some trick to low the gain of an active monitor? I think not, but one never knows…

 

[pehu63]

I personally put the Genelec to +6 dB (the quietest) which gets rid of all idle hum for me. Then I turn the volume down on my DAC and my pre by just a little. My DAC is at about -10 dB and usually my preamp is about -15 dB. This lets my DAC operate at ~100 dB SINAD, and like I said my 8030c don’t hum at this volume.

I experienced hum as well. Providing proper earth (or ground, how is it called) to the mains power solved this, as I did not use XLR symmetrical input. I use cinch connected to the XLR.

 

[Miguelón]

I applied the same EQ to genelec 8020D because same crossover issue in room response founded on Genelec website spinorama, and it shows nicer mid-highs.

Hope you can measure and review the 8020D monitors, they are widely used as desktop setups or even in small rooms as principal monitors.

They aren’t as noticeable flat as 8030C but they sound really well and combined with a sub I hope they will cover nicely a wide frequency range

 

[Miguelón]

I experienced hum as well. Providing proper earth (or ground, how is it called) to the mains power solved this, as I did not use XLR symmetrical input. I use cinch connected to the XLR.

I tried that, know the theory but by balanced signal connection both my 8020 and 8030 sound way more clean.

Or maybe my power strip is not so good…