Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

[sleepy.sock]

Marcel is great!

 

[Dgob]

As said above, I am now experiencing the 8361's with the 7360's at a superb level. While the 73X0 series subs are not designed to go with the 8361's, they can produce music of a phenomenal beauty and accuracy once dialled in. That is not to say that they can ever achieve the performance of the 8361 and W371 combo, but that is the designed partnership at the top of Genelec's the Ones monitoring system. If you ever have the chance to audition that combo, I would very, very strongly recommend that you do so. From top to bottom, I believe that this is as good as stereo reproduction gets in the home listening environment!!

Anyway, on the torturous road to perfecting the performance of the 8361/7360 combo, Marcel's above webinar has proven invaluable and I would just like to share a couple of key lessons/tips learned in achieving this.

1. Start by finding the ideal position for the 8361's. This will invariably be near to the front wall and can also involve them being close to the side walls as well. I will post another clip that reinforces Marcel's point about the advantages of positioning your speakers there. This can be greatly aided by using the GLM to test them as a stereo pair. Here you just need to continually run the autocal and assess which position gives the best frequency response, removing troughs and flattening out the response. This can involve finding the ideal position for each monitor separately and will give you a much wider soundstage. It will also minimise room modes and make it all much easier to optimise the position of both monitors.

2. Once you've optimised the stereo performance of the 8361's, introduce the subs in a more central position with them now driving the monitors. Here you should set the cross over at a point that best covers the range of your key trough (for me that was cross over at 80Hz - to fully cover a 6dB trough at 76Hz). Here you run the GLM autocal and autophase for the new group consisting of the two monitors and two subs. This will provide performance of an amazing quality - just not at the ridiculous levels of the 8361/W371 combo.

So that is my strongest advice and I'll now share the promised clip that strongly supports Marcel's placement suggestions, which underpinned the above findings.

 

[HiMu]

As said above, I am now experiencing the 8361's with the 7360's at a superb level. While the 73X0 series subs are not designed to go with the 8361's, they can produce music of a phenomenal beauty and accuracy once dialled in. That is not to say that they can ever achieve the performance of the 8361 and W371 combo, but that is the designed partnership at the top of Genelec's the Ones monitoring system. If you ever have the chance to audition that combo, I would very, very strongly recommend that you do so. From top to bottom, I believe that this is as good as stereo reproduction gets in the home listening environment!!

Anyway, on the torturous road to perfecting the performance of the 8361/7360 combo, Marcel's above webinar has proven invaluable and I would just like to share a couple of key lessons/tips learned in achieving this.

1. Start by finding the ideal position for the 8361's. This will invariably be near to the front wall and can also involve them being close to the side walls as well. I will post another clip that reinforces Marcel's point about the advantages of positioning your speakers there. This can be greatly aided by using the GLM to test them as a stereo pair. Here you just need to continually run the autocal and assess which position gives the best frequency response, removing troughs and flattening out the response. This can involve finding the ideal position for each monitor separately and will give you a much wider soundstage. It will also minimise room modes and make it all much easier to optimise the position of both monitors.

2. Once you've optimised the stereo performance of the 8361's, introduce the subs in a more central position with them now driving the monitors. Here you should set the cross over at a point that best covers the range of your key trough (for me that was cross over at 80Hz - to fully cover a 6dB trough at 76Hz). Here you run the GLM autocal and autophase for the new group consisting of the two monitors and two subs. This will provide performance of an amazing quality - just not at the ridiculous levels of the 8361/W371 combo.

So that is my strongest advice and I'll now share the promised clip that strongly supports Marcel's placement suggestions, which underpinned the above findings.

Can you share some details about your room size, listening distance, your normal listening levels etc.?
I also have 7360 and have been eyeing for a bit larger speakers and would like to know is the sub struggling to keep up with the 8361 at reasonable and not so reasonable levels 80-95dB.

 

[Dgob]

Can you share some details about your room size, listening distance, your normal listening levels etc.?
I also have 7360 and have been eyeing for a bit larger speakers and would like to know is the sub struggling to keep up with the 8361 at reasonable and not so reasonable levels 80-95dB.

Of course.

The speakers are 10' apart and my listening position is 10' from each speaker. The listening room is approximately 14' x 12' x 8.5' (LvWxH). I generally have my Topping Pre90 set at -36dB, which gives me an average SPL of 75-85dB. I do of course have sessions where these levels are exceeded and health cares ignored. The first and second point reflections are treated with GIK absorbers.

On the sub and the 8361's, not really. Yet, imaging, timbre and dynamics are not the same as when they are partnered with the intended W371's. And yes, the 7360's are more than capable of running with the 8361's up to 95dB and beyond (109dB).

 

[HiMu]

Of course.

The speakers are 10' apart and my listening position is 10' from each speaker. The listening room is approximately 14' x 12' x 8.5' (LvWxH). I generally have my Topping Pre90 set at -36dB, which gives me an average SPL of 75-85dB. I do of course have sessions where these levels are exceeded and health cares ignored. The first and second point reflections are treated with GIK absorbers.

On the sub and the 8361's, not really. Yet, imaging, timbre and dynamics are not the same as when they are partnered with the intended W371's. And yes, the 7360's are more than capable of running with the 8361's up to 95dB and beyond (118dB),

Thanks! That is pretty much the same area as my room, this is a converted attic space so 1' lower ceiling that slopes towards the front.
Only one sub but I'm pretty satisfied how things sound currently.

 

[AudioJester]

Running my 8361a using analogue inputs at the moment. My dac does have an AES/EBU output - I would need to source appropriate cables.
Question - is digital input only a theoretical improvement (I get the adc-dac thing) with these speakers? I mean I can not find fault using analogue inputs?

 

[Esprit]

When I tested them I could hear the difference between the analog and digital inputs.

 

[BDWoody]

Running my 8361a using analogue inputs at the moment. My dac does have an AES/EBU output - I would need to source appropriate cables.
Question - is digital input only a theoretical improvement (I get the adc-dac thing) with these speakers? I mean I can not find fault using analogue inputs?

First question, is the AES output volume controlled? If not, that might be exciting the first time you turn it on.

In terms of sound quality, it's going to depend on the quality of your external DAC, and of the ADC and DAC in the speaker (which you've indicated reveal no clear faults). If you don't hear noise in the quiet parts, and aren't experiencing anything objectionable, there isn't a compelling reason to change.

My JBL708Ps have AES input that I have tried, but just use the analog inputs and haven't thought about it since.

You could try normal XLR cables if you don't have 110ohm digital spec cables to try it out.

 

[AudioJester]

Thanks guys - very useful, I might give it a try with my xlr analogue cables. Not sure if my Okto dac has volume control ovet AES/EBU output.

My next question is about GLM. Very easy to use and does have some effect. But I find generating linear phase convolution filters in Audiolense and plugging into Roon / HLC /HQP etc. much more effective. Anyone running convolution over the top of GLM? Any downsides?

 

[Esprit]

Trust GLM

 

[poopy]

Not sure if my Okto dac has volume control ovet AES/EBU output.

The okto dac8 pro does have volume control over the AES/EBU. What is outputted is a copy channel 1+2

 

[Esprit]

The volume can be controlled with GLM, with the wired control, with the remote control.
You don't necessarily need a DAC that controls the volume on the AES/EBU output.

 

[AMR78]

Dear fellow community members,

it’s been a while since I have received my 8361’s and am now set to approach room treatment. To this end and as a first shot, I have provided GIK acoustics my GRADE report and all other relevant details they requested to receive their proposal.

I am now looking to your feedback as to whether you consider their approach sensible and commensurate with the situation in my room based on the GRADE report, as well as what you consider as possible cut-back scenarios from GIK’s approach, i.e. whether less treatment (which?) or which minimal treatment may address the most prominent problems in the room.

Here is GIK’s proposed setup:

4x soffit bass traps in the rear corners,
1x monster bass trap on the rear wall,
2x B4 bass trap/absorber at the side walls, and
3x 242 absorbers on the ceiling

Some details from the GRADE reports:

If you require further input from the grade report (sorry the post is already long) let me know.

Thank you in advance for reading the post and your feedback, appreciate that.

Best,
AMR

 

[jhenderson0107]

I recommend that you move the speakers away from the front wall ~ 1m and add diffusers behind them. Move your couch and side absorbers closer towards the speakers, increasing the ratio of direct to reflected sound. This has dramatically improved my listening spaces.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I wonder What % of the 8361 owners on this thread bought them in white
Because to me that's the best color

 

[AudioJester]

I recommend that you move the speakers away from the front wall ~ 1m and add diffusers behind them. Move your couch and side absorbers closer towards the speakers, increasing the ratio of direct to reflected sound. This has dramatically improved my listening spaces.

This makes a lit of sense for a lot of speakers, I have been considering the same for my set. However, Genelec recommends 5-60cm placement from front wall, 5-110cm if also using sub.

 

[napfkuchen]

I recommend that you move the speakers away from the front wall ~ 1m and add diffusers behind them. Move your couch and side absorbers closer towards the speakers, increasing the ratio of direct to reflected sound. This has dramatically improved my listening spaces.

That's exactly what is NOT recommended by Genelec because of SBIR (cancellations), have a look here.
Instead, leave the speakers where they are and move the couch towards the middle of the room. Not exactly to the center because typically this area is dominated by cancellations, while at the back wall you will be sitting in a bass dominant area. Also by reducing the distance to the speakers the sound will be less influenced by the room (better early vs. late sound ratio, currently marked red in the report).
Regarding the absorbers this looks fine to me. I have placed several smaller absorbers and also GIK bass traps at the ceiling of the back wall in my small office and reduced RT60 a lot. I remember a quote by an acoustician who said better apply too much absorption than too little.

 

[AMR78]

That's exactly what is NOT recommended by Genelec because of SBIR (cancellations), have a look here.
Instead, leave the speakers where they are and move the couch towards the middle of the room. Not exactly to the center because typically this area is dominated by cancellations, while at the back wall you will be sitting in a bass dominant area. Also by reducing the distance to the speakers the sound will be less influenced by the room (better early vs. late sound ratio, currently marked red in the report).
Regarding the absorbers this looks fine to me. I have placed several smaller absorbers and also GIK bass traps at the ceiling of the back wall in my small office and reduced RT60 a lot. I remember a quote by an acoustician who said better apply too much absorption than too little.

Thank you for everyone‘s comments so far.
I tried various placements of the speakers up to 120 cm away from walls, but ended up with Genelecs recommendation of placing close to the wall, not the least because this sounded the best, in particular bass extension, but gave better GLM measurements. Now they are about 13 cm from the wall which is as close as possible due the feet of the stands not allowing closer positioning to the wall.
Any more comments as to GIKs approach? Too much bass absorption, not enough absorbers, placement only on the rear wall ok, etc.?
Again, thank you in advance for your feedback, I appreciate it.

 

[AMR78]

I wonder What % of the 8361 owners on this thread bought them in white
Because to me that's the best color

View attachment 401544

Agree with you - mine are white too. And my Gibson Les Paul Studio is similar as your guitar in the picture, if I am not mistaken: black and golden hardware.

 

[jhenderson0107]

Here's the guidance directly from Genelec. I previously stated ~1m from wall - I should have been more precise and recommended > 1.1m. Regardless, having Genelecs in three rooms in my own home and having experimented with on-front-wall vs away-from-front-wall placement, I stand by my earlier recommendations. However, each user should experiment and place according to preferences and measurements.