Genelec 8361A vs 8351B

[Pearljam5000]

Has anyone compared them?
Unfortunately there's seems to be very little info and reviews of the new 8361A.
Anyways there's a big difference in price but specs are really close, obviously the sound itself is the most important thing.
Interestingly the the discounted 8260A goes lower than the 8361A
8260A:

• Frequency response: 23Hz – 40kHz (-6 dB)
• 8361A:
• Frequency response 30 Hz – 43 kHz (-6dB)

 

[Hephaestus]

Has anyone compared them?
Unfortunately there's seems to be very little info and reviews of the new 8361A.
Anyways there's a big difference in price but specs are really close, obviously the sound itself is the most important thing.
Interestingly the the discounted 8260A goes lower than the 8361A
8260A:

• Frequency response: 23Hz – 40kHz (-6 dB)
• 8361A:
• Frequency response 30 Hz – 43 kHz (-6dB)

Hello,
I have compared 8361A vs 8351B. The main questions are: what is your listening distance and required SPL? 8361A is designed for longer listening distances and can play bass heavy material louder with lower distortion when compared to 8351B.

If you can afford W371A stands and monitors - my opinion is that 8351B is better choice as the midrange dispersion is "smoother" than in the bigger brother.

For listening distances below 2.5 meters in a smaller room I would go for 8351B.

Personally I have 8361A in my main setup. (Listening distance roughly 2.5m and room volume about 100m3)
My desktop system consists of 8341A + laptop. (Listening distance about meter. 50m3 room volume.)

Great monitors. I am very happy I found this forum and used the information available to get some properly engineered speakers

 

[q3cpma]

Hello,
I have compared 8361A vs 8351B. The main questions are: what is your listening distance and required SPL? 8361A is designed for longer listening distances and can play bass heavy material louder with lower distortion when compared to 8351B.

If you can afford W371A stands and monitors - my opinion is that 8351B is better choice as the midrange dispersion is "smoother" than in the bigger brother.

For listening distances below 2.5 meters in a smaller room I would go for 8351B.

Personally I have 8361A in my main setup. (Listening distance roughly 2.5m and room volume about 100m3)
My desktop system consists of 8341A + laptop. (Listening distance about meter. 50m3 room volume.)

Great monitors. I am very happy I found this forum and used the information available to get some properly engineered speakers

How will you pay for this envy you produced in me?

 

[Pearljam5000]

@Hephaestus
Thanks for the great info buddy.
Do you feel you can live with the 8351B without a sub?
I'm also glad I found this forum, I've been telling my audiophile friends for years that studio monitors are better than home hi-fi(for the most part) and I was only laughed at, now I feel I like found my new home

 

[Pearljam5000]

How much of a leap in SQ does the 8351B has over the old 8050? Does it justify the price difference?

 

[Hephaestus]

@Hephaestus
Thanks for the great info buddy.
Do you feel you can live with the 8351B without a sub?
I'm also glad I found this forum, I've been telling my audiophile friends for years that studio monitors are better than home hi-fi(for the most part) and I was only laughed at, now I feel I like found my new home

It depends. What kind of music you listen to? Some electronic genres have plenty of sub bass content and definitely will benefit from a sub.
Modal behavior of the room is very important factor here. Several subs will smoothen the bass response in difficult rooms. Do you listen loud? Then you may need a sub.

Luckily, Genelec has very useful charts on their website how to choose monitors.
Adding a sub or two later on is one possibility too - if you need them.
https://www.genelec.com/correct-monitors

How much of a leap in SQ does the 8351B has over the old 8050? Does it justify the price difference?

Very personal question, both are excellent monitors but the price difference is very large indeed. 8351B will be less affected by the room as its directivity is very well controlled. For some this justifies the price gap.

 

[q3cpma]

Very personal question, both are excellent monitors but the price difference is very large indeed. 8351B will be less affected by the room as its directivity is very well controlled. For some this justifies the price gap.

I think he indeed wants a personal answer. Basically, was your first reaction "good, but is that it?" or "wow, worth every penny and more" when comparing to other good speakers and did it stay that way?

 

[ferrellms]

For when the ship comes in...
https://www.genelec.com/high-end-listening/8351b-w371a-stereo-system
Mouth-watering.

 

[Pearljam5000]

It's a dream for sure, unfortunately it's above my budget.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Also would you consider the Focal Trio 11 on the same level as the 8361A?
I can get them for around the same price but there's isn't a lot of information about them so I'm not sure, I liked the Solo 6 but less than the Genelecs

 

[hmt]

Not nearly.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Monitors in the 'The Ones' range essentially trade the loss of a bit of low frequency handling and overall SPL for the improved directivity of a coaxial point source design.

Unless you're looking for ultimate authority and huge volume in the under 30 Hz range, anything 8x5x and up is probably going to satisfy most people in a small to medium sized room.

 

[pierre]

Also would you consider the Focal Trio 11 on the same level as the 8361A?
I can get them for around the same price but there's isn't a lot of information about them so I'm not sure, I liked the Solo 6 but less than the Genelecs

i have an opinion here. I have a pair of Trio 6 (the smaller version). They are really good for the price (at least in Europe). Directivity is less well controlled than the the 83X1A and you hear the difference in a reflective room. If you are not doing critical listening the Trio are excellents. If you want the best, 8361 are sligthly better. W371+8341A is definitively better but a lot more expensive. If you can snap a pair of 8260 at a discount price run for it. In the same spirit, Focal SM9 are heavily discounted and they are great.

Remember that all of them are designed for near field or mid field.

 

[q3cpma]

Also would you consider the Focal Trio 11 on the same level as the 8361A?
I can get them for around the same price but there's isn't a lot of information about them so I'm not sure, I liked the Solo 6 but less than the Genelecs

See https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/focal-trio11-be-−-midfield-monitor-im-test/
tl;dr less flat and worse directivity (as expected of a 10" -> 5" -> 1" without waveguides). The KH420 is a direct improvement of the same form factor and "technology class" (analogue active without coaxial drivers nor beam forming capabilities).

 

[infinitesymphony]

The KH420 is a direct improvement of the same form factor and "technology class" (analogue active without coaxial drivers nor beam forming capabilities).

Would so love to see KH310 or KH420 measured here at ASR. Neumann are the only true competitor to Genelec I can think of in terms of in-room FR and included calibration for the money. I suspect the KH750 DSP subwoofer + KH80, KH120, or KH310 would compete with a similar Genelec setup for half the cost or less.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I had the KH120
I guess it's subjective but the Neumann's Tweeter sounded less natural to me than the Genelecs(Or Focal's beryllium Tweeter)
I guess I like brighter sound

 

[Pearljam5000]

Has anyone compared the 8351/8361 to Dutch& Dutch 8c?

 

[Hephaestus]

Anselm Goertz has measured and reviewed 8361A for Sound & Recording. Review available here (Genelec website):
https://images.ctfassets.net/4zjnzn...elec_8361_testbericht_sound_and_recording.pdf

 

[q3cpma]

Anselm Goertz has measured and reviewed 8361A for Sound & Recording. Review available here (Genelec website):
https://images.ctfassets.net/4zjnzn...elec_8361_testbericht_sound_and_recording.pdf

Thanks a lot. Here are some similarly priced and/or sized monitors to appreciate the fact that the 8361A isn't gimped in LF:

Except the ~150 Hz (tiny) dip it compares favorably to the KH420 in bass! That tweeter doesn't seem to be that good, though. Just hope the 8351B follows its trend.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Some interesting information I received from Genelec regarding the difference between 8361A and 8260A
"@ Ilkka

Can you explain the differences between 8260A and 8361A?"
Thank you for asking, it would be much faster to answer what is similar between them because that list is very short; the Iso-Pod rubber and the spring which holds it in place, to be exact. Everything else is different.

• Acoustical design has been changed from asymmetrical single woofer + coaxial combination to symmetrical dual woofer + coaxial design which puts all drivers on the same acoustical axis resulting perfect point source. Waveguide size has been increased to allow excellent directivity and precise imaging. Cabinet design allows both horizontal and vertical orientation.
• Reflex port has been fully redesigned to allow much higher low frequency output without the issues commonly related to ported designs.
• Dual racetrack-shaped woofer as well as coaxial driver design is completely new and improved in all aspects. All drivers are fully custom designed and manufactured in-house. Please see my earlier message about the updated coaxial driver design here: Genelec announces 8351B and 8361A coaxial monitors and W371A Adaptive Woofer System
• Amplifiers have much more power and are more efficient at the same time. Modern Class D amplifiers and switched mode power supplies are used in all three output channels for low power consumption and long life.
• Digital signal processing has been updated to have more calculation power and to provide high dynamic range with very low self-generated noise.

Quote:
"And why does the 8260 goes much lower than 8361(in the specs anyways)"

One of the few complaints we received from 8260 was related to its maximum SPL capability. Some users in difficult acoustical spaces and at longer listening distances commented that they could lit up the red clipping LED too soon with bass heavy content. We took this as a challenge and set up ourselves a goal with the 8361 - its maximum SPL needed to be 6 dB higher. As the outside dimensions of the cabinet were kept identical, so was the inside volume, we needed to produce the gain by designing better drivers, having more amplifier power delivered to them and slightly retuning the Helmholz frequency of the enclosure to reduce the low frequency extension by a few Hertz but at the same time to have much more output capability above it. Datasheet -6 dB extension is now 30 Hz instead of 23 Hz (remember, this is anechoic so typical room extension is better) and the maximum SPL capability is 118 dB instead of 113 dB. Should you feel that the sub-30 Hz in-room extension of the 8361 is not enough, you can always add a subwoofer, for example our 7380 which -6 dB point is at 16 Hz, or the W371 adaptive woofer stand which typical in-room extension is approx. 20 Hz.