Genelec 8351B Review (Studio Monitor)

[outfaced]

You can tune the frequency curve of the 8351 to closely match what you prefer via GLM's acoustic editor - there's nothing magical about any system beyond its room response curve. As long as you know what you like or dislike, you can set your Genelecs to always match your preference in any room ultimately, sounding like the Sonus Faber. What you describe as "delicacy" could be a slight dip at 4K (I'm just making this up obviously) but if you memorize your personal preference curve then you're already half way there!

The house curve for Genelec is neutrality for monitoring and mixing which is not necessarily what an audiophile might want - but you can make them "warm" or "lively" or "Harman" however you wish.

The "delicacy" on the sonos faber or the most of the home hifi gear is related more to the impulse characteristics in combination with phase. You cant match this without very sophisticated DPS. But after all, that's also not the goal. Was just interesting comparison.

Now i hope my 8351BW will be on the way to me next week
Only time will say then, how home-hi-fi-sutable are they form me.

 

[Pearljam5000]

The "delicacy" on the sonos faber or the most of the home hifi gear is related more to the impulse characteristics in combination with phase. You cant match this without very sophisticated DPS. But after all, that's also not the goal. Was just interesting comparison.

Now i hope my 8351BW will be in the way to me next week
Only time will say then, how home-hi-fi-sutable are they form me.

Can't wait for your impressions

 

[Trell]

Can't wait for your impressions

You're still mulling over which Genelec monitors to buy?

 

[EchoChamber]

I was at the Berlin Experience Centre yesterday ... quite an interesting Experience indeed.
My focus was 8351, I also listened to 8361 and 8341. The 8341 definitely sounded more tense and squashed and with less detail. The 8351 and 8361 as you might expect have a similar signature, with the 8361 a bit lacking focus and sounding too wide and big, at least for my taste. The 8351 drew me into the music more.
The most impressive thing though, for me at least, was that the sound was unlike any home hifi system I've listened to. I wouldn't immediately say better or worse in any absolute sense, because I can think of at least a few reasons why this sound wouldn't appeal to many people for home listening. The main one that I'm still pondering is that these speakers don't sound relaxing ... and at home, sometimes that's exactly what one needs. A few hours later I was listening to a system with a hegel H5xx amp and sonus faber sonetto 5 speakers ... similarly priced, which had no less details and dynamic but presented it in a much more delicate way. In any case, it should be noted that genelec sounded much truer and closer to reality, with a much more audible presence. The resolution in the mids is just a smashing relistic. On the other hand, many people would describe the sound as slightly edgy or aggressive. However, it became quite clear to me what tone engineers appreciate in these speakers - no hidden detail remains in the record.
Perhaps the only thing I can point out as a definite minus is the resolution in the bass section. I've definitely heard better there (from ATC for example). They go low ... but just not so clear. And the other thing is that they doesn't have that depth and layering in the bass that big floorstanders give. We attached also subs in tha audition, but still is not the same.

I’ve had my 8351B for 2 years now and the associated gear and how you feed a signal to them make a subjective difference IMO. Not sure how their show setup and room acoustics were…, e.g., after much trial and error, I found Mogami W3173 cables with Neutrik EMC XLR to give me the best digital connection (less fatiguing). And that I was able to extract a hair more detail with my Topping U90 with upgraded (modded) pulse transformer as a USB to AES bridge from my computer running Roon. Digital is the optimum purist set up for digital sources, that gave me a slight edge on transparency compared to my DAC feeding the Gens an analog signal. My point is that, as close to perfect as the 8351B’s are, there’s some room for optimizing the set up for home listening. But 70’s recordings with plenty of EQ and SS amplification will not sound better, just what they my are. But a well crafted modern recording and performance can be magical.

 

[Curvature]

The "delicacy" on the sonos faber or the most of the home hifi gear is related more to the impulse characteristics in combination with phase.

You're wrong.

Impulse response is the time domain representation of frequency response. This is the same information represented in two different ways.

Loudspeakers are minimum phase systems, but when placed in rooms what arrives at your ears is far from that because of reflections.

 

[Trell]

"

after much trial and error, I found Mogami W3173 cables with Neutrik EMC XLR to give me the best digital connection (less fatiguing).

The Mogami cables and Neutrik connectors are of excellent quality as well as reasonably priced, but being less fatiguing than other properly made digital interconnects? I don't think so.

Edit: Grammar, spelling

 

[Pearljam5000]

You're still mulling over which Genelec monitors to buy?

Unfortunately yes

 

[YSC]

Unfortunately yes

Sounds like you will never really buy one, years passed by and you still don’t hv any to enjoy music man

 

[EchoChamber]

The Mogami cables and Neutrik connectors are of excellent quality as well as reasonably priced, but being less fatiguing than other properly made digital interconnects? I don't think so.

A controversial subject for sure. It is a relatively inexpensive experiment though, I definitely encourage those curious about it to compare 2 or more AES cables and see if you subjectively notice any difference between them. If you buy them terminated from a reputable source, you can always return those you like less, or the ones more expensive if you don’t notice anything different. Stick with pro brands, Canare, Mogami, Belden, etc… (the Belden 1800F was my second favorite)

I suspect, in my case, the EMC filtering of the Neutrik XLR termination is the most significant variant. I haven’t gone back and re-terminated all my other (pro) cables to validate that assumption yet.

PS: it is easy to level match with GLM or a DAC/Pre with a precise volume.

 

[outfaced]

Interesting ...
In my case I will try pure digital chain first with miniDSP SHD and Mogami W3080 cable.
W3173 is a little bit difficult to find here. Have also a DAC to experiment with.

 

[EchoChamber]

Interesting ...
In my case I will try pure digital chain first with miniDSP SHD and Mogami W3080 cable.
W3173 is a little bit difficult to find here. Have also a DAC to experiment with.

I only focused on the digital link between computer and speakers. That also includes USB PCI card, USB cable and USB to AES bridge.

 

[outfaced]

In my case the miniDSP SHD is a network streamer, so no wired connection to PC

Another question - are the iso-pads good enough or did anybody experimented with other type of isolating "feet" ?

 

[EchoChamber]

In my case the miniDSP SHD is a network streamer, so no wired connection to PC

Another question - are the iso-pads good enough or did anybody experimented with other type of isolating "feet" ?

I have the Genelec design stands, speakers hang from behind. But on my office system with 8330a’s, I tried some soft feet I had from previous eras below the iso pads and don’t remember noticing a difference, maybe it worsened the sound a bit. IMO, Genelec already figured out the isolation properly.

 

[LTig]

A controversial subject for sure. It is a relatively inexpensive experiment though, I definitely encourage those curious about it to compare 2 or more AES cables and see if you subjectively notice any difference between them.

If people do it correctly (blind/double blind) and multiple repeats show statisticly significant differences we have something to talk/explore. Otherwise we're just chasing ghosts as it is so easy (actually inevitable) to fool ones self ... (Been there, done that )

 

[Ra1zel]

Loudspeakers are minimum phase systems

Definitely not, perfect loudspeaker would be minimum phase, add any typical crossover and they are no longer minimum phase

 

[Purité Audio]

Contemporary active designs are phase coherent at the crossover.
Keith

 

[Hmast]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy 8351s + GLM as desktop speakers in a treated room.
I'm currently using PSI A17 monitoring speakers.

As my PSIs are analog speakers I have no trouble connecting them to a USB DAC with XLR outputs. It makes volume control quite easy by the way.

However, the Genelecs require a digital XLR AES input and this where I'm lost.
I'm using an SSL 2 audio interface for the PSIs and it does not provide a digital output.

I only need to feed the Genelecs with my PC audio and an easy way to control the volume. What would be my options?
Or is it ok to feed the Genelecs with my SSL 2 analog output? I understand the audio feed will be converted from analog to digital, treated by the DSP, then converted back to analog from digital, which seems not the best scenario.

Thanks

 

[Tailwagger]

All the ones have both AES and XLR analog inputs, so you're fine feeding analog (assuming you can support native or conversion to balanced analog)

 

[Nehi]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy 8351s + GLM as desktop speakers in a treated room.
I'm currently using PSI A17 monitoring speakers.

As my PSIs are analog speakers I have no trouble connecting them to a USB DAC with XLR outputs. It makes volume control quite easy by the way.

However, the Genelecs require a digital XLR AES input and this where I'm lost.
I'm using an SSL 2 audio interface for the PSIs and it does not provide a digital output.

I only need to feed the Genelecs with my PC audio and an easy way to control the volume. What would be my options?
Or is it ok to feed the Genelecs with my SSL 2 analog output? I understand the audio feed will be converted from analog to digital, treated by the DSP, then converted back to analog from digital, which seems not the best scenario.

Thanks

I would say firstly, if you are planning on investing that much on the Genelecs, you may want to upgrade your existing interface. The SSL is good but you can get better performance. You might like the Neve 88M.

Answering your question, you can go analog into the SSL as it is connected via USB directly to your computer if I’m not mistaken.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy 8351s + GLM as desktop speakers in a treated room.
I'm currently using PSI A17 monitoring speakers.

As my PSIs are analog speakers I have no trouble connecting them to a USB DAC with XLR outputs. It makes volume control quite easy by the way.

However, the Genelecs require a digital XLR AES input and this where I'm lost.
I'm using an SSL 2 audio interface for the PSIs and it does not provide a digital output.

I only need to feed the Genelecs with my PC audio and an easy way to control the volume. What would be my options?
Or is it ok to feed the Genelecs with my SSL 2 analog output? I understand the audio feed will be converted from analog to digital, treated by the DSP, then converted back to analog from digital, which seems not the best scenario.

Thanks

Would be interesting to read your comparison as the PSIs and Genelecs are the extreme opposites design wise but both Should be accurate and both are loved /hated on Gearspace