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Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

Rate this speaker:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 6 0.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 4 0.6%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 28 4.1%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 638 94.4%

  • Total voters
    676

AudioJester

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Maybe put a wrap on it like for cars?

Might be less value reducing than painting.

I wish speakers were like cars in terms of pricing. I mean, I found it cheaper to buy a white car and wrap it in the unique colour I wanted than paying and waiting for metallic paint options.
 

jam

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Wonderful review as always Amir. I also very much enjoyed the YouTube video. Thank you on both counts.

TLDR, anybody know what class D amp technology these puppies use? Or is it a Genelec in-house design?
 

stevenswall

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The first Genelec to compete with the 8260 and its 10" woofer.

Glad to see this getting attention, and to hear how much Amir loved it even with some small ragged areas that don't seem to be in other Genelec measurements.
 

RichB

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Don't forget true deep bass and to those three you are about to receive add a couple of Gotham-V2...
19 - 112 Hz (±1.5dB)
–3 dB at 17.5 Hz / 120 Hz
–10 at 14 Hz / 150 Hz


For 1/4 the price, there is the Rythmik FV25HP:

12 - 90 Hz (-4db@12hz) with LINE IN input
Multi-tune12.5hz (3 port)

- Rich
 

ahofer

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Are you certain? Can you name some of the halls you've attended?

Also, would you consider all of the shaping architectural techniques used in halls to redistribute sound to be that different from hidden mics and speakers?

Anyway, if there's any reference for music, I'd argue that it's not anchored to some particular event or experience.
Famously, Carnegie Hall didn't even know that they had cement under the floor. It wasn't in the original design, but the construction firm put it in by mistake. Some 'golden ears' kept complaining, and Jim Polshek (architect) would show them the design. But then one day they took up a section of the stage floor and there it was.


I'm pretty sure neither Carnegie nor Alice Tully, nor David Geffen Hall (the renovation of which my son is working on), nor the smaller venues at Carnegie and Lincoln Center/Juilliard, where I attend a lot of concerts, have anything other than passive acoustic sound reinforcement for classical concerts.
 

tktran303

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I recently had the 8361's on a home demo.

Currently I'm using a pair of ATC SCM25a and, whilst the 8361s are clearly superior, there is something about their presentation that some may not find agreeable. As Amir mentioned the image created is limited in size (particularly compared to other (floorstanding) speakers) and, I felt, somehow feels fired at you through a narrow opening.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the 8361s (and I suspect I will be ordering some) but once my demo was over and I switched back to my ATCs, I was struck but the (comparatively) open soundstage. Given that the speakers are a similar size I was puzzled by this.

This got me wondering, what creates a sense of 'openness' in a speaker? Is it that many simply spray their sound all over the place?

Doug

Jump in at 1 hour 4 mins if you want to hear what Sean Olive found on preference for wide dispersion…

 

Jimshoe

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Other than the soundstage what were the other differences between them?
I'd say the primary difference is the bass i.e. its deeper and better controlled than my ATCs.
The dynamics of the Genelec are also truly impressive (startling even) and showed my speakers a clean pair of heels.
Imaging with the 8361s is also exceptionally good - much easier to hear the acoustic space of a recording and the placement of sounds within it.
As above, I did feel something was lost though, maybe it was hearing familiar music without a lot of additional reflected sound (that I've grown used to). It's hard to express but the 8361s are an intense listen. On reflection I suspect this is really more to do with me only having them for a short while and not just relaxing and enoying them but (over) analysing every aspect of their sound.
I bought my ATCs as I loved the sound of the mid-range dome. I know several here have questioned its accuracy, but I do find it very listenable. In contrast the 8361s mid just felt unremarkable somehow.

I realise my comments are all highly subjective and likely born of the unfamiliarity of the Genelecs. Suffice to say I am planning on buying them; as, on balance, they just do so much right.

Finally, I should add I did calibrate the 8361 with GLM and dialled-in a mild bass lift with Roon. I suspect given a little more time I might have tweaked this further and perhaps ironed out some of my perceived niggles.
 

Jimshoe

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Jump in at 1 hour 4 mins if you want to hear what Sean Olive found on preference for wide dispersion…

This is really interesting and matches my experience exactly.
 

tktran303

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It can go up to 10, just pretty close to impossible.
In the Olive’s patent document it shows the ~70 speakers and the measured vs actual scores, the max actual score was an ~8.2, which I assume is the Salon2.

I know Matthew Poes is working with a company for their own formula, but would be cool if ASR members could do their own as well. Matthew has told me though that he was (at the time) unsatisfied with the repeatability of testing the same person on different days as they scored speakers decently different on each occasions.

Unfortunately it can’t go to 10; based on Sean Olive’s model…

Reference: Jump to 1 hour 6 mins and listen for about 3 mins

 

Pearljam5000

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I'd say the primary difference is the bass i.e. its deeper and better controlled than my ATCs.
The dynamics of the Genelec are also truly impressive (startling even) and showed my speakers a clean pair of heels.
Imaging with the 8361s is also exceptionally good - much easier to hear the acoustic space of a recording and the placement of sounds within it.
As above, I did feel something was lost though, maybe it was hearing familiar music without a lot of additional reflected sound (that I've grown used to). It's hard to express but the 8361s are an intense listen. On reflection I suspect this is really more to do with me only having them for a short while and not just relaxing and enoying them but (over) analysing every aspect of their sound.
I bought my ATCs as I loved the sound of the mid-range dome. I know several here have questioned its accuracy, but I do find it very listenable. In contrast the 8361s mid just felt unremarkable somehow.

I realise my comments are all highly subjective and likely born of the unfamiliarity of the Genelecs. Suffice to say I am planning on buying them; as, on balance, they just do so much right.

Finally, I should add I did calibrate the 8361 with GLM and dialled-in a mild bass lift with Roon. I suspect given a little more time I might have tweaked this further and perhaps ironed out some of my perceived niggles.
Thanks, on Gearslutz the SCM25 are probably the most praised monitors of them all so I was wondering about the differences
Did you feel the Genelecs were also brighter in comparison?
 

Jimshoe

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Thanks, on Gearslutz the SCM25 are probably the most praised monitors of them all so I was wondering about the differences
Did you feel the Genelecs were also brighter in comparison?
That's a difficult question. I'd say both are pretty unforgiving at higher frequencies (as you would expect given their intended purpose) but I'm not sure the Genelecs were brighter.
 

MZKM

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Unfortunately it can’t go to 10; based on Sean Olive’s model…

Reference: Jump to 1 hour 6 mins and listen for about 3 mins

Well, the formula can go to a 10. What Sean is saying is to remap the scores, as right now the best sounding speaker used in the trials (Salon2?) didn’t even break 9.0. This is what he meant by saying people have a range & bias to scoring.
 

sarumbear

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abdo123

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There’s hardly anything below 30Hz in recorded music.
What about the controlled directivity from 20Hz to 20KHz?

Because of the size of the 8631A baffle it has controlled directivity down to 500Hz, which is exactly the crossover frequency for the cardioid W371.
 
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