Genelec 8050B Review (Studio Monitor)

[tktran303]

Probably an older 8” midwoofer.

State of the art 8” Mid-woofers can play louder and/cleaner between 50–100Hz.

Even some SOTA 6.5-7” mid-woofers are better between 50Hz-2KHz than older 8” midwoofers.

Beryllium domes have also made ultrasonic resonances a thing of the past...

 

[richard12511]

One of us with 8351Bs really needs to bite the bullet and send one in, but ugh I really don't want to deal with cross-border shipping one of these pricy things

I would expect 8351b review to go similarly, given that Amir doesn't use subs. They definitely run out of low bass juice if you try to run them full range.

 

[Sancus]

That bass distortion is really odd, if it was a common issue I guess we would have read about it years ago , could.be a defective unit? Or damaged in shipping?

I'm not sure there is really an issue, just output capability drops off very fast after 100hz and I'm guessing 96hz is a bit more than the speaker wants to play at 20 or 30hz, based on the S&R graph I posted above which only goes down to 50hz and already shows ~10% distortion at 99dB.

I should point out that the KH310, a comparable option, had more distortion than the 8050B below 60hz but perhaps it did not visibly complain about playback at that level.

I would expect 8351b review to go similarly, given that Amir doesn't use subs. They definitely run out of low bass juice if you try to run them full range.

Maybe, but it would be interesting to see. I'm not sure the 8351B drops off so fast as it is a newer design and the 8361A does not show that sharp slope behaviour(although of course it does have a lot more power).

 

[richard12511]

No, it is a rather compact package and as I noted, doesn't get extremely loud anyway.

How would you rate the speaker as a "w/sub" package? I've thought about getting these as front heights, and I really only care how they perform above 100Hz or so.

 

[richard12511]

Maybe, but it would be interesting to see. I'm not sure the 8351B drops off so fast as it is a newer design and the 8361A does not show that sharp slope behaviour(although of course it does have a lot more power).

That's true, but it's also a much more expensive speaker, and needs to be judged accordingly. I honestly think if you're a pure 2.0 channel guy, there are better speakers out there for the money. Mesanovic RTM10 is cheaper(at least in the US) and digs deeper(despite being sealed), and D&D 8C studio(also sealed) is only $1,000 more.

I do think it's the perfect speaker for those of us who use subs, though. I haven't heard better. Also, I suppose it's also SOTA if you don't listen to bass heavy music. They do fine running full range for music without deep bass, ime.

I think Amir is like me, in that he likes loud and deep bass.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Input sensitivity seems high.

Indeed. As shown, it would produce 100 dB SPL @ 1 m anechoic for -6 dBu input, i.e. 106 dB SPL for 0 dBu in. This should permit even a Behringer UMC202HD to make them go very loud. On a typical midrange audio interface of +16 dBu out, you'll probably want to turn them down to +6 dB, giving 94 dB SPL for 0 dBu in. IMHO Genelec would do well providing a bit more latitude here, an adjustment range of "normally sensitive" to "very sensitive" isn't exactly the very most flexible ever.

Looks like the default tuning is more geared towards nearfield(ish) use (~1.5 m should be a good distance), and if you need higher output including bass you would be well-advised to make use of the bass roll-off and bass tilt controls provided.

How would you rate the speaker as a "w/sub" package? I've thought about getting these as front heights, and I really only care how they perform above 100Hz or so.

They seem a bit oversized for that. I'd consider 8340s, which will go almost as loud if bass is not a concern; 8040 may do as well.

 

[ROOSKIE]

I should point out that the KH310, a comparable option, had more distortion than the 8050B below 60hz but perhaps it did not visibly complain about playback at that level.

The Neumann is sealed so I suppose much less port noise, over driven ports sound horrid. Could be that the drivers here make some mechanical noise as well and the perhaps the Neumann 8" doesn't. Would depend on the design.
Plus HD shown here and IMD are very different beasts. That 8 with a bunch of excursion and thus distortion and midrange duty, will likely sound bad before a 8" dedicated to lower notes.

Beryllium domes have also made ultrasonic resonances a thing of the past...

The ultrasonic ringing is moved further out of the Human hearing threshold on a number of contemporary tweets. Beryllium while usually excellent as far as affecting below 20khz, still has ringing/breakup it is just higher up. Several older beryllium designs I have seen measured had their breakup region below 20hrz so anyone at that material might want to double check if concerned for that region.
The tweeter used here seems pretty smooth in terms of high frequency ringing so not an issue.

 

[Sancus]

That's true, but it's also a much more expensive speaker, and needs to be judged accordingly. I honestly think if you're a pure 2.0 channel guy, there are better speakers out there for the money. Mesanovic RTM10 is cheaper(at least in the US) and digs deeper(despite being sealed), and D&D 8C studio(also sealed) is only $1,000 more.

I do think it's the perfect speaker for those of us who use subs, though. I haven't heard better. Also, I suppose it's also SOTA if you don't listen to bass heavy music. They do fine running full range for music without deep bass, ime.

I think Amir is like me, in that he likes loud and deep bass.

Yeah, I do actually agree with you, especially if you're subjected to US pricing. If my objective was 2-channel I think I would have actually gone even more expensive and got the D&D 8C But 5 channels at that price is out of my reach, and one also can't simply be rotated for use as a center channel. I bought Genelec primarily because I thought it was the best quality option for a multi-channel setup -- not stereo.

You are paying a definite premium for the brand, the history of reliability(long-term support!) and build quality. And that's totally fine -- they've earned the right to charge more for those things. If you're looking for the best (high-end) price/performance Genelec's not quite there.

 

[amirm]

How would you rate the speaker as a "w/sub" package? I've thought about getting these as front heights, and I really only care how they perform above 100Hz or so.

They should be very capable that way.

 

[richard12511]

I don't think the 8050b has a DSP performing digital crossover. AFAIK it has an analog crossover.

I wonder about the dip between 1.5 and 2 kHz and the deep bass trouble.

I think investing some $400 more for a KH310a gives you a better speaker without the (relatively minor) flaws of the 8050b. In the EU the price difference is only €200 so choosing the Neumann seems to be a no brainer.

Yeah the KH310 does seem to be the better value.

 

[richard12511]

They should be very capable that way.

Thanks.

The 2kHz PIR dip and treble distortion still seems a bit less "perfect" than I was expecting.

Anyone know the difference between this and the 8350. 8350 shows 2dB more output, and better extension. Is it using different parts?

 

[Sprint]

Yeah, I do actually agree with you, especially if you're subjected to US pricing. If my objective was 2-channel I think I would have actually gone even more expensive and got the D&D 8C But 5 channels at that price is out of my reach, and one also can't simply be rotated for use as a center channel. I bought Genelec primarily because I thought it was the best quality option for a multi-channel setup -- not stereo.

You are paying a definite premium for the brand, the history of reliability(long-term support!) and build quality. And that's totally fine -- they've earned the right to charge more for those things. If you're looking for the best (high-end) price/performance Genelec's not quite there.

I brought Genelec exactly for the same reason to set it up as multichannel. I was looking at JBL 708P and 705P combo. But the 705 is deep rectangle shape and somehow did not fit as a surround as my couch is pretty near to the back wall (80cm). I also wanted my LCR to place it vertically and they should be low height so that it doesn't block the screen.

 

[MZKM]

treble distortion still seems a bit less "perfect" than I was expecting.

Keep in mind that the distortion is not actually at ~13kHz, it is shown in prior posts that it is a breakup at ~27kHz.

Remember that the distortion plots don’t show resulting distortion, it shows distorting frequencies. Since the breakup is at ~27kHz, the software is incorrectly thinking it is a 2nd harmonic distortion of ~13kHz.

Even if you played 96kHz audio, since ~27kHz really won’t have much energy, the excitation of this breakup mode likely won’t be audible.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Thanks.

The 2kHz PIR dip and treble distortion still seems a bit less "perfect" than I was expecting.

Anyone know the difference between this and the 8350. 8350 shows 2dB more output, and better extension. Is it using different parts?

Different amps

 

[ROOSKIE]

Thanks.

The 2kHz PIR dip and treble distortion still seems a bit less "perfect" than I was expecting.

Anyone know the difference between this and the 8350. 8350 shows 2dB more output, and better extension. Is it using different parts?

Class D amps
SAM tech.
Maybe better DSP programing.
I don't know if the drivers are 100% identical.

 

[HooStat]

@amirm the review has "NHT C3 Measurements" in it. (just the text, not the actual measurements)

 

[HooStat]

Measurements are compliant with latest speaker research into what can predict the speaker preference and is standardized in CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI specifications. Likewise listening tests are performed per research that shows mono listening is much more revealing of differences between speakers than stereo or multichannel.

NHT C3 Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

Here is where it is, to make it easier to find.

 

[AnalogSteph]

The difference between 80x0 and 83x0 IMHO is more pronounced in the 6.5" models, where the 8340A has a 150 W amp like the 8050B (up from 90 W in the 8040B) and will go just about as loud as well, just not as deep obviously. Mind you, the difference is also reflected in relative pricing...

 

[LTig]

Probably an older 8” midwoofer.

State of the art 8” Mid-woofers can play louder and/cleaner between 50–100Hz.

I agree. Neumann somewhere wrote that the new developed 8" woofer in the KH310 can play 7 dB louder than the one in its predecessor (K&H O300D) at the same distortion level. I own the O300D but I use a Genelec sub to overcome this problem, that's why I have resisted to get the KH310.

 

[tktran303]

Several older beryllium designs I have seen measured had their breakup region below 20hrz so anyone at that material might want to double check if concerned for that region.

Which beryllium tweeters have a breakup below 20Khz?