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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

lherrm

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Nov 1, 2020
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Yeah but if you buy the 8361A for $10K and 3 months later there's a B version you'll be very bummed
Same for every kind of product, all the time.
But then you never buy anything, except if it was just refreshed.
And the previous model isn't necessarly obsolete (at least for Genelec) anyway.

Some people are waiting for a Revel Salon3. I hope they still enjoy music decently in the meantime.
 
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A-Tech

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Apr 3, 2022
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True. People tend to want "the same but better", and won't or can't break out of a closed loop.

This part I disagree with. I'll take a wild guess and say you've never tried it. With decent mike technique the results can be spookily real.
It will never be as good as the performance in a musical hall with controlled reverberation in which all instruments sing freely . A recording is just a recreation. You need both close and ambient mic and artificial reverb two recreate what truly happened when musicians unite in a hall. I'm impressed with good recordings coming from a 2 point sound system, but I'm humbled by the majestic sound(s) in a concert hall.
 

Pearljam5000

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It will never be as good as the performance in a musical hall with controlled reverberation in which all instruments sing freely . A recording is just a recreation. You need both close and ambient mic and artificial reverb two recreate what truly happened when musicians unite in a hall. I'm impressed with good recordings coming from a 2 point sound system, but I'm humbled by the majestic sound(s) in a concert hall.
A lot of the times recorded music sounds better than "real life"
Obviously live music in a perfect music hall will sound better but in most cases live music doesn't sound good, not to mention rock concerts
 

A-Tech

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Agree, it is difficult to manage sound in an open air podium. But than again, have you ever heard a band in a fairly small room without a PA? Rock artist can create a massive cohesive sound just with guitar and bass amps and a drummer creating shockwaves just by listening to the room. Same applies to big salsa bands. Those dynamics are not reproducible on a record.
 

Koo

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Aug 23, 2021
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A lot of the times recorded music sounds better than "real life"
Obviously live music in a perfect music hall will sound better but in most cases live music doesn't sound good, not to mention rock concerts

I'm glad I get to hear best of both worlds here https://www.genelec.com/-/g-livelab-the-future-of-live-music-in-tampere-relies-on-genelec
It's so overwhelmingly awesome to hear music at concert level SPLs while still sounding incredibly punchy, accurate and clean. Genelec is also using all of the almost 90 speakers to implement virtual acoustics which results into very uniform sound throughout the venue.

During the covid difficulties they actually allowed people to book sessions to listen to their own music or play their instruments there. It was around 250 euros for an hour if I remember correctly. I'm kinda regretting I didn't have time to try that..

“The sound and the acoustic environment can be tailored for every performance,” Mondo•DR pointed out. “The system is a completely no compromise approach to offer the highest-quality audio reproduction. It is simply the highest-quality live performance audio system in the world.”
 

Sancus

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Cost-no-object dynamic range is limited by the mastering choices of the engineers long, long before it's limited by either any limit of recording technology or any limit of speakers. Because commercial recordings are not mastered for cost-no-object systems or environments. Such recordings would be unlistenable on typical systems(domestic noise floors too high, SPL output too limited).

If you make your *own* recordings, then yeah, you can have true to life dynamic range out of speakers, why not?
 

A-Tech

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Cost-no-object dynamic range is limited by the mastering choices of the engineers long, long before it's limited by either any limit of recording technology or any limit of speakers. Because commercial recordings are not mastered for cost-no-object systems or environments. Such recordings would be unlistenable on typical systems(domestic noise floors too high, SPL output too limited).

If you make your *own* recordings, then yeah, you can have true to life dynamic range out of speakers, why not?
In a search for new monitors, I’ve encountered a thread in which I saw a discussion with Waldo2 which caught my attention. I’ve soon discovered how most of all discussion ends in frequency response charts, dynamics range, dispersion patterns etc. and more SPL blah. Speaker talk. Sound is much more than a couple of high-end transducers trying to reproduce natural occurring sounds of instruments as accurate as possible. Its funny how we as humans developed sound chambers as the Philharmonic de Paris, Opera City Concert Hall in Tokyo, Musikverein in Vienna and many others to listen to unamplified acoustic orchestral instruments. Those are the best amps we have to date.

An audio recording engineer knows how to translate an acoustic or electronic performance to an electronic platform with the least amount concessions. During this translation we lose most of all-natural occurring acoustic phenomenon and properties of sound. Especially of acoustic instruments.

If you talk to musicians with their endless tuning talk of their acoustic instruments, you soon realize it's all about one thing. How the instrument excites the air. This knowledge is frequently so detailed, it’s astonishing. From string gauge to materials used on their specific instruments and the best temperature and location for their instruments. You soon realize It’s all about acoustic resonance. I still wonder what’s the role of quantum and psycho acoustics when we perceive sound. How the smallest of birds generate sound at enormous sound pressure levels while weighing less than 1000 grams, and better yet why?! How elephants manipulate low frequencies for omni directional communication. There is still so much to discover in the audio realm. I’m still amazed how we instantly detect live from recorded music just by passing by. We now can even resonate hearable sound frequency in liquid to light emitting frequencies in controlled environments. Insane amplification levels. In natural disasters they are still civilizations that now how and when to follow animals in earthquakes. Meaning some species have capable senses to echolocate very low frequencies and avoid danger.

I didn’t want to be dragged in endless 2.1 discussions. I’m just fascinated by sound and not primarily speakers.

To each their own.

Panta Rhei.
 
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Dgob

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Mar 29, 2021
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Genelecs sound better than Focal IMO. They even sound better than the $50,000 Utopias.

I know what you mean. I simply cannot find a limit to the potential performance of the 8361A's. An interesting approach that I have adopted with setting them up using the GLM is to do a single point and individual calibration (which is not the flattest across both speakers but gives the most solid stereo imaging) and then do a multipoint and individual calibration (which gives a very flat frequency response for both monitors)but does not provide the quality of imaging that I got from the single point. I then adjusted my 'time-of-flight' and the 'level compensation' on the flatter, multipoint group to mirror those settings for both monitors on the single point group. This allowed for a flat frequency response and excellent imaging. I should note that Marcel Schechter of Genelec played a big part in my establishing this, but it has provided me with a eureka moment! Fabulous!!

This is all driving a series of unplanned-for system upgrades. I'm now moving to Holo Audio DAC and preamp and introducing new parts to my analogue/vinyl set-up. I have also just ordered a 7360A subwoofer. I actually think I am nearing my absolute end-point while meeting my two criteria of a small footprint, space saving set-up and truly high fidelity.
 

Dgob

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Mar 29, 2021
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Oh yes,

I did start out with a third criteria, which was to meet the above two criteria with a (low) budget system. However, the likes of Amir and WolfX-700 have long since put paid to that ambition. :):)
 
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