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Genelec 8351b vs 8361a

Ninrw

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Hello. I have a pair of Genelec G five (same as 8050) in my livingroom and looking to upgrade to either 8351b or 8361a. My room is 27m2 (290 sq feet). Listening distance is 2,5 meters (8,2 feet).
Im pretty happy with the G five’s but want to upgrade to what i see as my end-game. I have turned the bass and low bass down on the G fives because they are mounted on the wall and one of them is near a corner so i dont think i need the extra bass SPL of the 8361a. I listen mostly at low to moderate volume but sometimes i crank it up.
Have read many hours on forums about these two speakers but its hard to choose. The price difference dont bother me as this speakers will last a lifetime. Can the 8361a cause more problems in the bass region with to much bass or will they sound equal on the same volume due to the GLM? Anyone have experience with any of these speakers and want to share? :)
Im so happy to find this forum and Amir’s youtube channel, free of snakeoil and biased reviews. Thanks!
 
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Ninrw

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Okey, thanks! Yes i dont want to use subwoofers. So it is possible to ‘tame’ the bass of the 8361a as good as with the smaller 8351b to avoid too much bass with GLM? Im leaning a bit to the bigger model.
 

richard12511

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Okey, thanks! Yes i dont want to use subwoofers. So it is possible to ‘tame’ the bass of the 8361a as good as with the smaller 8351b to avoid too much bass with GLM? Im leaning a bit to the bigger model.

Neither model is truly full range, so I don't think you'll have an issue with "too much bass". The 8361 is lot bigger, and should handle full range duty better.
 

HooStat

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It depends on whether you mean "tame room modes" when you say "tame the bass". Many bass issues are room and placement issues. Bass peaks can be cut down with GLM (or other DSP approaches). Nulls are trickier. It is possible that by adding subs, you might get better sound from your speakers (by reducing their need to produce extreme bass) and from smoothing the bass in your room.
 
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Ninrw

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Thanks! Because of a not ideal placement near a wall and one speaker in a corner i have to turn the bass of the g fives down 4 and 6db. And still i have a lot of good bass down to 30-35 hz. If i have left the dip-switches on neutral the bass would be to much. Thats why im a bit concerned about to much bass. I have never used GLM so i dont know how much i can lower the low frequencies of the 8361a.
I know, not ideal placement.. But that is what i have to work with :)
 
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Ninrw

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It depends on whether you mean "tame room modes" when you say "tame the bass". Many bass issues are room and placement issues. Bass peaks can be cut down with GLM (or other DSP approaches). Nulls are trickier. It is possible that by adding subs, you might get better sound from your speakers (by reducing their need to produce extreme bass) and from smoothing the bass in your room.
Thanks :) i have a small null around 50hz. The main problem is to much bass, fortunately. Earlier they where in a very bad room with a lots of nulls, so im happy to have the problem the other way around now!
 

Pearljam5000

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Im tempted! Would love to see him test it
I think it will be a great service for the community as it's relatively rare.
Anyways i would get the 8361A there's something satisfying about knowing you have the flagship model and price difference is not that big from 8351B also will probably make subs redundant so i don't see any negatives.
 
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Ninrw

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I think it will be a great service for the community as it's relatively rare.
Anyways i would get the 8361A there's something satisfying about knowing you have the flagship model and price difference is not that big from 8351B also will probably make subs redundant so i don't see any negatives.
That is true. I think i have made up my mind. The only downside is that i might have to buy a smaller TV, but sound is more important :)
 

thewas

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That is true. I think i have made up my mind. The only downside is that i might have to buy a smaller TV, but sound is more important :)
Also a very good audio system from the 70s, 80s or 90s is still good today while you don't want to have today a TV from back then today, meaning Hifi is a better long term investment compared to almost all other consumer electronics. :cool:
 
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Ninrw

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Also a very good audio system from the 70s, 80s or 90s is still good today while you don't want to have today a TV from back then today, meaning Hifi is a better long term investment compared to almost all other consumer electronics. :cool:
Yeah, i know. My TV is close to breaking and i figured out it will cost 4-5k to buy a new top of the line TV. Im much more comfortable spending a lot of money on sound. 5000$ for a TV?!? Thats absurd
 

Pearljam5000

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They look awesome in white
Screenshot_20201025-012004.jpg
 
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Ninrw

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They are beautiful in white. The genelecs i have now is black, but the ones looks best in white i think. Will be nice to buy them and dont have to think about upgrading in decades.
 

echopraxia

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richard12511

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I am now a happy owner of a pair of Genelec 8361A’s, in addition to my Genelec 8351B’s

And unless plans change, I will likely order a third for a center channel in a month or so, but the third one will likely be taking a quick detour to Amir for testing (unless someone else beats me to it) :)

Some initial impressions:
  • The 8361A are MUCH bigger (and heavier… by about 2x) in-person than I expected. Just seeing them in photos, since all “The Ones” look very similar, it’s hard to get a tangible sense of scale. The 8361A look and feel about twice as big as the 8351’s. I love the size of them, though — just about at the upper limit of what a single average person can carry on their own (using the carry handle straps it is conveniently shipped with attached to the rear mounting bolt sockets).
  • In terms of sound quality at medium/low levels, I can’t really tell a difference — they sound exactly like the 8351B’s, and that’s a very good thing. If there is a difference, I probably need a better room to be able to judge (as mine is currently untreated and a bit too lively for my taste).
  • Most strikingly, the bass power these are capable of is amazing. Of course they don’t go as deep as my Salon2’s did (nor should they, given cabinet volume differences) but down to 30hz they can effortlessly deliver impact and energy that you can physically feel in our bones and every surface around you. Whether you like loud EDM, or reproducing powerful bass drums in an orchestra, or just explosions in movies — this is a great thing.
  • Another practical result of so much bass headroom is I can fearlessly apply a bit more of a deep bass favored tilt (which I prefer), without ever needing to worry about stressing this speaker’s limits.
To paint a picture of how hugely powerful the bass on the 8361’s is, consider this track suggested to me by a friend who really likes EDM music. This track is very bass-heavy. With or without my Genelec subwoofer (crossed at 60hz), I could turn this up to the point that my 8351B’s clipping/limiter light would flash orange, before it was unbearably painfully loud:


In contrast, playing this track via just the pair of 8361A’s alone (and no subwoofer), I am unable to find the 8361’s limit. Meaning, I could turn it up louder and louder to levels beyond anything I’d ever want to experience, and I was unable to get the clipping indicator to appear.

With my subwoofer, the subwoofer starts to give out very quickly (starts clipping), but that’s no big surprise since you’d essentially need JTR Captivators to match the midbass dynamics capability of the Genelec 8361A.

Yeah it's crazy how much bigger they are. Good to hear they sound essentially the same. Shows we probably obsess over perfect measurements a bit too much :). That's gonna be an awesome setup. For the short term, I would try to fill out the surround as cheaply as possible to get to 9.1, where Auro3D becomes available.
 

YSC

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Neither model is truly full range, so I don't think you'll have an issue with "too much bass". The 8361 is lot bigger, and should handle full range duty better.
hum~ true but 8361 goes down to 30hz at -6db, with wall and corner loading I am pretty sure it can go flat to approx 25hz which is basically practical full range (I don't see much if any music content that low anyway..)

The wall loading assumption was from my single 7040A used in a small room, with front wall loading the lowest it can be at same SPL as the mids and highs are 25hz, so with GLM I think the 8361 can be able to be pretty practically flat and full range in room putting really close to walls
 
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