Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

[Mort]

I was always of the understanding that you can’t use GLM and the dip switches at the same time anyway.

Correct, they are disabled with GLM, with the exception of the 'stored' switch.

So indeed the effect would be very subtle.

 

[Dgob]

Your admiration for Genelec drives you too far.
No, bigger isn't always better. It all depends on the size and characteristics of your room, and your needs and listening habits for SPL max.

Precisely.

 

[Behrelec 37]

I disagree somewhat, but I also agree.My reasoning is that if you are listening in a small room, smaller Genelec speakers are more suitable, However, having seen so many hobbyists with these small ones series speakers, smaller than the 8361a, in their large living rooms, I often wonder if the owners are aware that larger speakers would provide an even more enjoyable listening experience in that room, because the listening distances from the speakers are often quite long when considering the size of these rooms. Of course, every home may have a female mediator who determines the interior design, which means that many men may be victims of audio restrictions from an interior design perspective.

 

[Dgob]

Has anyone seen Erin's recent review of the 8361A's - that is now available on YouTube ? Granted, he does note some of the limitations in his approach here, but I was still surprised that many of his comments regarding setup and performance seem to have neglected the obvious assistance that could have been gained from this site or from the many relevant Genelec videos. Also granted, he does reach the shared conclusion of their being objectively/subjectively excellent.

I'm just sharing this for information and to indicate an alternative review for those who enjoy his views.

 

[Behrelec 37]

Too lazy to use the GLM app, which is basically the brain behind these top-of-the-line products. I don't like people like that as testers of any kind. The switches on the back of the speakers are almost useless for normal use, only suitable for panic situations. They are already antiquated and very crude for modifying sound behavior.

 

[Exprymer]

Too lazy to use the GLM app, which is basically the brain behind these top-of-the-line products. I don't like people like that as testers of any kind. The switches on the back of the speakers are almost useless for normal use, only suitable for panic situations. They are already antiquated and very crude for modifying sound behavior.

I personally prefer the measurement without the use of any calibration, to be honest. I think we need to expect optimal response from a high end studio monitor when measured in an NFS without the aid of external hardware.

 

[Esprit]

without the aid of external hardware

Apart from measuring with a microphone and uploading the data with a Mac/PC there is nothing "external" and speakers equipped with DSP are very welcome.

 

[totti1965]

Erin´s video is out one hour ago.

Erin describes the sound of the Genelec 8361A (now US $11,000 /pair [EUR 10.692 /pair in Germany]) using both, his subjective listening impressions and objective data. He also provides you with sound clips for a better understanding of what he heard and how it relates to the data.

Timestamps:
1. 0:00 - Intro
2. 3:38 - Subjective & Objective
3. 11:41 - Wrap-Up

 

[Behrelec 37]

Genelec products are generally very unusual; they are far ahead of their time (tomorrow's technology). In other words, you, me, and all of us ordinary people use and waste our money on antique hi-fi speakers. The products mentioned above have been designed and developed with much greater depth to optimize the disadvantages of our rooms into advantages, so that the potential power efficiency of the speakers corresponds to their intended use.

POWER EFFICIENCY IS THE BEE AND THE BOO of everything a person does in the buying/selling market, it corresponds to the assumption of whether it has a future or not.You can't listen to such high-quality speakers with any damn sweaty thumb switches, or place them in a room as if they somehow fit there without room measurement correction, which is integrated into the speakers themselves. Glm is much more than just a single/group measurement, but even that goes unnoticed by many.

 

[Goldhamster916]

For a speaker that measured so well the review was surprisingly unenthusiastic.

 

[napfkuchen]

The 8XXX series is intentionally designed to be very compact, unlike conventional loudspeakers. Certain shortcomings of this approach have to be adressed by DSP and room correction. Therefore, in addition to the "zero setting," the sound should also be tested using GLM calibration.

After all, you wouldn't disable torque vectoring in a modern electric (sports-)car and complain about understeer on corner exit.

 

[Pearljam5000]

For a speaker that measured so well the review was surprisingly unenthusiastic.

Yeah he could have made it more interesting like by comparing the 8361 to the Blade 2 Meta or adding more subjective listening impressions

 

[Jimshoe]

The 8XXX series is intentionally designed to be very compact, unlike conventional loudspeakers. Certain shortcomings of this approach have to be adressed by DSP and room correction. Therefore, in addition to the "zero setting," the sound should also be tested using GLM calibration.

After all, you wouldn't disable torque vectoring in a modern electric (sports-)car and complain about understeer on corner exit.

I agree. My 8361s came with GLM included as the dealer said (rightly) Genelec see it as essential.

Definitely test them on the Klippel with no calibration applied (dip switches at zero) to understand how they actually perform, but to make them work in a room GLM is vital.

Looking at the start of the video I also immediately thought 'put them closer to the wall' (as Genelec advise) and then smooth out the bass with GLM.

For me the joy of the 8361s is their flexibility - set them up, calibrate flat with GLM and then add your house curve on top. Simple and effective.

 

[Blockader]

When I first listened to the 8361s, they didn’t immediately make me go “wow.” In my room, they came across as a bit bright. After running GLM, though, things changed dramatically. Its unit matching feature aligned both speakers perfectly in level and phase, and once I applied a HS filter to follow a –1.2 db per octave tilt, the speakers transformed... they sounded genuinely amazing. Unit matching especially, changed the sound for me significantly.

 

[poopy]

For a speaker that measured so well the review was surprisingly unenthusiastic.

Poor as well.

I guess after having measured so many speakers it's kinda boring even for himself

 

[Pearljam5000]

He sounds much more excited about the 8380

Poor as well.

I guess after having measured so many speakers it's kinda boring even for himself

 

[tmtomh]

I get the "unenthusiastic" point, but at the very beginning of when he gets into his impressions of the sound, he says that the whole video review is going to be fairly short because usually he spends time focusing on problems or negatives, even if they are very minor - but here he has no negatives to report. So he's saying the review is unusually short and straightforward because he literally has nothing bad to say about them, not even a nitpick.

What surprised me most is that he said their dispersion is exactly perfect for what he likes. For some reason, I've always been under the impression that Genelec Ones dispersion is on the moderate side (not overly narrow, not exceptionally wide), while Erin tends to prefer wider dispersion speakers. But I also noted that he characterized their horizontal beamwidth as +/-60 degrees, whereas Amir's review shows an almost identical measurement but Amir characterized it as +/-50 degrees and called it slightly narrow.

As to the GLM question, I have to agree with Erin here. I would never use my Genelecs without GLM, and personally I agree it's silly for anyone who drops the money on them NOT to use GLM. But all the other speakers Erin reviews, he evaluates without any room correction (or phase correction). So for consistency it makes sense that he did the same here.

Finally, I found it fascinating that he mentioned a very slight directivity increase around 2-3kHz, which has little to no effect in the near field but which shows up as a slight elevation in the estimated far field in-room response. He's not the first to observe something like this, but nevertheless I found it interesting because it explains that mysterious "zinginess" that some folks sometimes say they hear in that range with Genelec Ones.

 

[voodooless]

But all the other speakers Erin reviews, he evaluates without any room correction (or phase correction). So for consistency it makes sense that he did the same here.

It’s like comparing two PCs in the 90, and one has a turbo button, but you choose not to enable it because of apparent “consistency”

 

[Descartes]

Yeah he could have made it more interesting like by comparing the 8361 to the Blade 2 Meta or adding more subjective listening impressions

The Blade 2 meta are phenomenal

 

[tmtomh]

It’s like comparing two PCs in the 90, and one has a turbo button, but you choose not to enable it because of apparent “consistency”

I don't think that analogy necessarily works. GLM is a separate product that costs extra - the fact that it's a Genelec-branded product whereas, say, Dirac is not a product created or offered by speaker manufacturer, is not in my view of any relevance to this question (although I certainly agree it's very relevant to an end-user of Genelec speakers!).

If GLM were included with, and as part of the price of, every pair of Genelec 8361a's (or whatever Genelec model might be under review), and if GLM were required in order to maximize the speakers' inherent/anechoic linearity, then in that case I would 100% say Yes, reviewing Genelecs without GLM is like reviewing Bose 901s without the Bose EQ unit that came with the speakers.

But the specs of the 8361a (like all Genelec speakers) outline its capabilities without GLM, and the speakers' on-axis linearity and dispersion characteristics have been designed "inside the box" with no need for GLM. So for consistency it makes sense for Erin to unpack them, stick them on the Klippel, and then listen to them uncorrected in his room, just like he does with other speakers. I'd be sympathetic to an argument saying that he should be listening to all the speakers he reviews with basic room correction DSP applied in order to minimize the impact of his particular room on his subjective impressions. But that ship sailed long ago.