Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

[Impossible]

i am from italy too, the 8361 was my alternative choice, in the end i bought the kef blade2 meta used.

I got the 8361a and wasn't happy with it. Mainly midrange to hf was unnatural. But to be sure it wasn't anything else I got the kef reference at the same time. I the sold the 8361a as the kef was better. If I knew what I know now I would have got the blade 1 or 2.
It's a hobby for me so was a fun experiencing and experimenting with them both. But the kef are clearly better in my opinion. FYI a few reviewers have talked about the midrange of the 8361a.
Obviously the bass of the full tower blade is better but it also costs alot more.

 

[Esprit]

Mainly midrange to hf was unnatural

Based on what?
Measurements in the room or subjective opinion?

 

[Impossible]

Based on what?
Measurements in the room or subjective opinion?

Based on listening for weeks and comparing in the same room, same equipment. Also tried 8341a which were better.
For measurements it's hard, as there are some measurements but not everything is measured such as transient response so it's difficult to get an idea of exactly what is going on.

 

[Dgob]

I got the 8361a and wasn't happy with it. Mainly midrange to hf was unnatural. But to be sure it wasn't anything else I got the kef reference at the same time. I the sold the 8361a as the kef was better. If I knew what I know now I would have got the blade 1 or 2.
It's a hobby for me so was a fun experiencing and experimenting with them both. But the kef are clearly better in my opinion. FYI a few reviewers have talked about the midrange of the 8361a.
Obviously the bass of the full tower blade is better but it also costs alot more.

Your definition of "better" appears to remain open to analysis.

Incidentally, how did you set-up the 8361A's (system wise)?

 

[Impossible]

Your definition of "better" appears to remain open to analysis.

Incidentally, how did you set-up the 8361A's (system wise)?

The midrange and treble was unnatural. To be super clear it struggled with complex transients in the midrange to the treble. No such issue with the kef. I can't say for certain because I didn't measure the transient response but I felt there was a lot of overshoot and lack of control there.

FYI I'm not being biased as I purchased these with my own money hoping they would be everything I read about. I get this is the 8361a thread and it can be blasphemy to say anything negative due to owner bias or potential buyers that only want to read positive things to justify the purchase.
I still have genelec 8050b and I'd buy the 8341a or the s360.

 

[AudioJester]

That's one ugly in-room response:
View attachment 349484

No wonder they sound off with those massive holes in the mids.
Something ain't right.

@Impossible - i can see why you didnt like the 8361a. How did you set them up to measure like that? Why only 1speaker in your grade report?

 

[MAB]

The midrange and treble was unnatural. To be super clear it struggled with complex transients in the midrange to the treble. No such issue with the kef. I can't say for certain because I didn't measure the transient response but I felt there was a lot of overshoot and lack of control there.

FYI I'm not being biased as I purchased these with my own money hoping they would be everything I read about. I get this is the 8361a thread and it can be blasphemy to say anything negative due to owner bias or potential buyers that only want to read positive things to justify the purchase.
I still have genelec 8050b and I'd buy the 8341a or the s360.

I saw your in room response, you posted it some time ago. The mids and treble did indeed look unnatural.
Here is the response you got:

Here is typical:

I've never seen an 8361 measurement like yours. I'm not sure what to make of your impression of overshoot and lack of control, but the measurement result looks really bad, and it likely sounded really bad. Would have been good to share this with Genelec. I have to wonder if there was a defect, the midrange and treble really messed up in your plot.

 

[Esprit]

Based on listening for weeks and comparing in the same room, same equipment. Also tried 8341a which were better.

So we are talking about personal "pleasure", not objective data.
In your room one speaker was probably "brighter" than the other but, of course, without measurements we will never know.
It is your right to choose the product you like best, less to claim that a product has, or would have, unproven defects.
I advise you to read the name of this forum and not to support your theses based on "reviewers" unless they have also attached the measurements.
Good afternoon.

P.S. I see in the post above that you had measured them:
Defective speakers? Incorrect GLM settings? Other?

 

[Impossible]

No I don't think you are getting it and due to bias are not even entertaining that they may not be so good in the transients as I have described.
There is no standard measurement to measure transient response so no they were not measured and likely won't be.
This is why you can have 2 speakers that measure the same but still sound different, nothing wrong with the data, your likely not testing everything that would show the difference.

FYI I tried at my friends who has the 8361a with the tall matching subs and also the 8351a. (8351a's sold now) and it was the same there.

At a guess I think it maybe the fact that the midrange is has flex on the 8361a and its rigid on the kef. Maybe they crossover is too low 320hz, maybe 450 would have been better. I can't be sure here.

Here is a reviewer that has a similar experience.

Another reviewer who struggled with the midrange:

Genelec 8361A - Tested | Production Expert

In this extended On Test article Julian tries the flagship of the Genelec The Ones series of co-axial monitors - the 8361A. Find out why he thinks these unusual monitors are the perfect example of a focused design.

www.google.com

No agenda here, in fact the 8341a's are one of the best near field speakers I've ever heard. But they have different drivers.

 

[thewas]

What we mainly hear is the different radiation pattern / directivities and not transient behaviour which is part of the complex frequency response and problems there usually show up also as resonances and thus response irregularities.

 

[Impossible]

The radiation pattern is great on the 8361a.

We do hear transients, not sure why you are saying we don't.

Transient response and resonance are different things. You would need to measure the transient response of both speakers to see which performed better in this area.

 

[Esprit]

Another reviewer who struggled with the midrange

[…] While their modern equivalent the 1238A SAM can be tuned using GLM4 this isn’t an option here […]
This is wrong and not true.
Never base your opinion on that of others, especially if they don't even know the product.
I'll move on.
Good evening

 

[AudioJester]

@Impossible
Ok, i will try again. Why was your measurement so wrong??? How did you set it up/ position etc.?. Also, why only 1 speaker in your grade report?? Were you not using a stereo pair?

That has to be the worst measuring single 8361a on the internet! I completely get why you didnt like it, not many of us would. In fact, iam not sure why you did not try to troubleshoot it?
Its either a faulty speaker or some kind of user error?

 

[Impossible]

Like I said this is the wrong place to say anything negative about 8361a.

I did trouble shoot it with genelec and resolved that issue. This is not what I had a problem with, it was with complex transients. Again not only, in my set up but 2 others. And in the same setup comparing with other speakers over a long period.

This is my last post here as you can not conclude it unless you measure the transient response else your just saying what ever will make you feel right.

So help you guys sleep better: the 8361a's are the best speakers in the world and can not be improved upon. They are perfect.

 

[dagfinn]

[…] While their modern equivalent the 1238A SAM can be tuned using GLM4 this isn’t an option here […]
This is wrong and not true.
Never base your opinion on that of others, especially if they don't even know the product.
I'll move on.
Good evening

"The 1038As are old style “big Genelecs”. Though far from the biggest of that range they have the easy, room-filling character of soffit mounted mains but while they sounded really nice, they did feel like they were lacking some detail through the midrange (plenty of client-pleasing bass though, maybe leave that?). While their modern equivalent the 1238A SAM can be tuned using GLM4 this isn’t an option here so a third party solution might be in order. The 8361As were making a lot more sense now and I could hear what it was that had prompted several people whose opinions I trust to make very positive noises about these monitors."

Genelec 8361A - Tested | Production Expert

In this extended On Test article Julian tries the flagship of the Genelec The Ones series of co-axial monitors - the 8361A. Find out why he thinks these unusual monitors are the perfect example of a focused design.

www.production-expert.com

 

[Impossible]

His final comment and conclusion about the mids after trying them the final time "They probably are a little hot through the upper mids compared to many monitors".

OK this is the last post...

 

[Esprit]

 

[AudioJester]

@Impossible not sure why you are getting so emotional, relax - just discussing speakers. Lots of members here who I have great respect for prefer other speakers over Genelec - nothing incorrect about that. The reverse applies to. Personal preference plays a huge part even with equally well measuring speakers.

If you sorted out the frequency response issue, can you post the final measurement? What was the issue that caused the wonky curve?

One final time - why only 1 speaker??

Can you provide an example of the transient response measurement you repeatedly ask for? If it can be done with REW etc. , I might be able to do it.

 

[Impossible]

I am relaxed. But no point talking openly in a palce where people only want to hear 1 side. I'll just discuss my experience somewhere more neutral.

That was my centre channel. Which was a placement issue. After talking to genelec who were great, doing a near field measuments it was clear that it wasn't the speaker. Again not the same thing I'm talking about here.

It's very difficult to measure transient response hence why no one does it. But you would need to measure something like the overshoot and undershot, speed/time from rest to end and back to rest at different frequencys and spl. Way over my head.
There is a thread discussing how you could do it.

 

[MAB]

Like I said this is the wrong place to say anything negative about 8361a.

I did trouble shoot it with genelec and resolved that issue. This is not what I had a problem with, it was with complex transients. Again not only, in my set up but 2 others. And in the same setup comparing with other speakers over a long period.

This is my last post here as you can not conclude it unless you measure the transient response else your just saying what ever will make you feel right.

OK, I see. So you just making things up. You clearly have no idea what transient response is. This has nothing to do with Genelec, with fans of Genelec, or anything else. Or KEF. Or any other speaker people may or may not like. My personal preference, there are other speakers I like more. But I can say I don't care for nonsense.

So help you guys sleep better: the 8361a's are the best speakers in the world and can not be improved upon. They are perfect.

I doubt anybody is losing sleep over this. Your sarcasm is noted.