Genelec 8361A Review (Powered Monitor)

[sarumbear]

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.

Too little gained for too big a speaker, which brings other issues in a domestic environment. For a properly treated studio such a sub will be beneficial, but not in a living room.

 

[Sancus]

which is exactly the crossover frequency for the cardioid W371.

The W371A crossover is 150-250hz by default, autoconfigured by GLM, and I believe can be manually set as high as 300hz but not 500hz.

 

[abdo123]

The W371A crossover is 150-250hz by default, autoconfigured by GLM, and I believe can be manually set as high as 300hz but not 500hz.

Sorry, my bad.

I know the W371A has controlled directivity till 500Hz, must have mixed them up.

Just wanted to say that the the 8361A ‘integrates the smoothest’ with the directivity of the W371A because of the increased baffle size.

 

[tktran303]

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.

Suppose you could artificially create some data to get it a 10.

What does it take? And What would the spinorama look like?

This is a serious question not a hypothetical because from what I understand Sean to say is that the formula actually doesn’t make it to 10 (or 11 haha Spinal tap)

He would need to go back in time and do it all again; it’s more than recalibrate the scale from 0-10.

On another note he also says that a difference or 0.5 or 1 is NOT significant (related to confidence levels (Statistics 101).

 

[Pearljam5000]

Honestly id rather have this sub than the W371

 

[Thunder22]

If I had a dedicated listening space, and a spare $10,000 (lol), I would jump all over these puppies and set them up mid field by themselves. It would probably be for the best that I never get to hear them.

 

[tktran303]

Honestly id rather have this sub than the W371View attachment 165182

Haha.

Apart from the price tag nothing interesting about that. Care you share your past measurements that you posted on Hometheatershack?

@Ilkka Rissanen

A history lesson
;-)

 

[sweetchaos]

Haha.

Apart from the price tag nothing interesting about that. Care you share your past measurements that you posted on Hometheatershack?

@Ilkka Rissanen

A history lesson
;-)

Ilkka Rissanen shared with me the previously tested Genelec subwoofers and i've already added them to my spreadsheet.

They were:
Genelec 7050B
Genelec 7060B
Genelec 7070A
Genelec 7071A
Genelec HTS3B
Genelec HTS4B

Are you sure 7382A was tested using CEA-2010 protocol?

 

[MeZoX]

Nooooo!! The stands need to be white too sorry, I suffer from design OCD

you can buy a pair of these matching W371A in white double function as a stand and a subwoofer for just 18k

 

[tktran303]

Ilkka Rissanen shared with me the previously tested Genelec subwoofers and i've already added them to my spreadsheet.

They were:
Genelec 7050B
Genelec 7060B
Genelec 7070A
Genelec 7071A
Genelec HTS3B
Genelec HTS4B

Are you sure 7382A was tested using CEA-2010 protocol?

It hasn’t as far as I’m aware.

Nice spreadsheet by the way. Great Work. Bit data heavy for’my iPhone.

What’s the loudest and cleanest divided by smallest?
(CEA 2010 / cu ft or litre)

 

[richard12511]

The next question would be whether there is a trade off on imaging. Is it the case that one is a more pinpoint imager with a smaller soundstage while the other has a larger soundstage but with more diffuse images within it ?

I'd say it depends on what kind of image you prefer.

If you prefer a more diffuse image, which it seems that some do, then there is no trade off. Wider dispersion is a win win, at least for stereo. Multichannel probably has a narrower "ideal" dispersion width, but that's a guess on my part.

If you are like me, and prefer a tighter image but wider soundstage, then there are indeed tradeoffs between soundstage width and imaging.

If you prefer both a tighter image and soundstage, then going for a narrower dispersion is win win.

I'd guess that in all cases, flat direct sound is probably going to be most preferred.

 

[richard12511]

They are ATC fans from Gearslutz

I'd actually be curious of their reasoning. Is it a joke? Mis-click? Price? Some beef with the performance?

Perhaps they could reveal themselves and explain their reasoning.

 

[richard12511]

What’s your pick for music enjoyment 8351+W371 as stereo or 3x8361+2x8351 in a multichannel setup?

Would depend on what percentage of what I listen to is multi-channel. For me, it's 95% 2 channel upmixed to Auro3D, and 5 channels isn't enough to get Auro3D, so I'd go with 8351 or 8361+W371a. Without subs to handle below 50Hz, 8361 + W371A in complimentary mode is probably the closest thing that exists to well done multi-sub configurations.

 

[richard12511]

Post a headphone review, get 3k views, post a Genelec review, get over 35k views in a few days.

I hope the guys running the show over at Genelec don't leave or change their view on progress. This is an amazing achievement. If I had a recording studio, these would kick out at least two pairs of other speakers, especially if you're one of those guys hanging onto an NS10, just because.

I think all of us love seeing the SOTA in loudspeaker design. Budget bookshelf reviews are more the norm. No doubt budget reviews are more useful to more people, but less fun to read about and discuss .

I'm really excited to see the KH420 review now. Same price, and also SOTA, but with different tradeoffs.

 

[richard12511]

why would you opt out of the W371?

Aesthetics? Price?

 

[richard12511]

There’s hardly anything below 30Hz in recorded music.

The main advantage of the W371 has nothing to do with the extra 7hz extension it gives. It's about how much smoother the bass from 30-300Hz becomes, and/or the much lower directivity control it offers.

It's not a normal sub. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a sub at all, as 8361 + W371 it's still technically 2.0(just 4 or 5 way now, instead of 3 way), and doesn't even reach 20Hz.

 

[sarumbear]

The main advantage of the W371 has nothing to do with the extra 7hz extension it gives. It's about how much smoother the bass from 30-300Hz becomes, and/or the much lower directivity control it offers.

It's not a normal sub. In fact, I wouldn't even call it a sub at all, as 8361 + W371 it's still technically 2.0(just 4 or 5 way now, instead of 3 way), and doesn't even reach 20Hz.

The standing waves of the room will cause much more affect on the FR below 200Hz. If you are worried about smoothness in that range you need to use EQ anyway. Besides, can you show us what is not smooth?

The bass directivity control requires a well behaved acoustic space and controlled speaker placement. A living room normally offers neither.

Horses for courses…

 

[richard12511]

Too little gained for too big a speaker,

I agree with this criticism. Aesthetically, the 8361 on their own are nicer to look at.

For a properly treated studio such a sub will be beneficial, but not in a living room.

I disagree with this one. As mentioned, it's not a sub(still 2.0), but rather a tower module extension. It's more like choosing between the bookshelf 8361A vs tower 8361T than it is between the 8361 vs 8361 + sub. Also, I think a less treated room(like a living room) is where the W371 really shines, as those rooms typically have more(and worse) bass issues from 80-300Hz, which is what the W371 fixes.

I'd add another criticism of the W371, which is the price. Where I am, the 8361 is $10,000/pair, while the 8361w/W371 is $28,000/pair. No doubt the tower version is the better 2.0 setup, but is it really that much better? From what I've seen tower models are often 2x the price of the bookshelf in the same series. This is almost 3 times the price.

Having seen this review, if one is looking for a SOTA full range 2.0 setup, the 8361A is among the best values that exist.

 

[thewas]

The easy answer - KEF is consumer facing, and the consumer high end market is incredibly bias for certain technologies. Perception is reality. If consumers believe Class A is the bees knees, guess what? You get Class A because it's simply not worth it to "educate" the consumer. I guarantee that if consumers suddenly believed Class D is where it's at, then KEF will suddenly have marketing material pushing the superiority of Class D. We live in a world where marketing rides on confirmation bias aka the shortest distance between to points is a straight line, so don't fight the consumer just accept that they are right and give them what they want.

Also Class D was till recently not easy to get well implemented with very low hiss and distortions in an affordable price range (see also the complaints of some Genelec 8030C owners) and audiophiles are often "allergic" to any kind of hiss, especially since passive loudspeakers don't have such problems, while most audio pros are used to active loudspeakers and use the monitors as tools to mix and master music and not silence.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Almost the same price as 8361+W371