Genelec Home Series (G speakers and F subwoofers)

[tllw]

Hello guys,

The studio series of Genelec is frequently discussed over here and very well regarded with a reason. Yet I have searched the forum for any info on their home series with no luck.

What do you think of the G two and G three speakers? How do they compare to their 8*** models?

I am looking at G three + F two 2.1 system and I wonder how do they compare to let say Kef R3 + Kube 12 and to Genelec 8030 + 7050 combos.

Thanks in advance!

p.s. please excuse any errors in my posts as English is not my mother tongue

 

[Sprint]

Hello guys,

The studio series of Genelec is frequently discussed over here and very well regarded with a reason. Yet I have searched the forum for any info on their home series with no luck.

What do you think of the G two and G three speakers? How do they compare to their 8*** models?

I am looking at G three + F two 2.1 system and I wonder how do they compare to let say Kef R3 + Kube 12 and to Genelec 8030 + 7050 combos.

Thanks in advance!

p.s. please excuse any errors in my posts as English is not my mother tongue

Hi,

I was considering the G4 vs 8340 and finally brought 8340. Reason, the amp is 150w in 8340 compared to 90w. Plus the great GLM kit in 8340. I have listened to many hifi gears in expos. I am absolutely happy with how 8340 sound in my living room which is not treated. search for my recent forum post with "Genelec 8340". compared to my floor standers from Yamaha, the 8340 are very balanced, detailed and its fun how natural the instruments sound.

 

[echopraxia]

The G series looks virtually identical to the 80x0 series to me, not the 83xx or 82xx series. For example, the G Three vs the 8030C look almost exactly the same, amp power and all:

https://www.genelec.com/g-three#section-technical-specifications
https://www.genelec.com/8030c#section-technical-specifications

The only difference I see is the G Three has a frequency response spec of +-2.5db while the 8030C is +-2db. The G Three seems to accept RCA inputs. The published measurements are exactly the same.

What is weird is the G Three appears to cost more than the 8030C. I’d just get the 8030C if I were you.

That said, you should probably ask Genelec. They can probably give a more precise answer as to how they differ.

 

[Archsam]

Just out of curiosity I Googled the G series. They are nearly impossible to find in the UK - only one retailer sells them here. So at least from an UK availability POV it's not really an option, especially when the pro models are plentiful here.

Anyone know if they are widely available in other countries?

 

[q3cpma]

The G series looks virtually identical to the 80x0 series to me, not the 83xx or 82xx series. For example, the G Three vs the 8030C look almost exactly the same, amp power and all:

https://www.genelec.com/g-three#section-technical-specifications
https://www.genelec.com/8030c#section-technical-specifications

The only difference I see is the G Three has a frequency response spec of +-2.5db while the 8030C is +-2db. The G Three seems to accept RCA inputs. The published measurements are exactly the same.

What is weird is the G Three appears to cost more than the 8030C. I’d just get the 8030C if I were you.

That said, you should probably ask Genelec. They can probably give a more precise answer as to how they differ.

Pretty sure that +-2.5db is a typo, the domestic line is exactly the same with RCA inputs.

 

[edechamps]

Pretty sure that +-2.5db is a typo, the domestic line is exactly the same with RCA inputs.

Not necessarily. They might use different QC for the domestic line with relaxed tolerances, hence the different +/- dB rating. In fact, one could speculate it's the speakers that fail this QC criteria for the pro line that are sold in the domestic line. Similar to the "binning" process for some products (e.g. computer CPUs).

 

[q3cpma]

Not necessarily. They might use different QC for the domestic line with relaxed tolerances, hence the different +/- dB rating. In fact, one could speculate it's the speakers that fail this QC criteria for the pro line that are sold in the domestic line. Similar to the "binning" process for some products (e.g. computer CPUs).

Might have a point. I've just seen/reported multiple typos on their website already.

 

[mirceat]

I went on G Two as an entry point into the Genelec world, mainly because of the RCA connectors and the possible more home user friendly usage. I was kinda conservative considering my lack of experience at this level. It took 2 months to get them delivered on white color. I suppose there is little demand on the home series. Or on the white color?
My next setup might be based on the 8xxx family, depending on the specific requirements at that moments though. QC plays no role in the decision, I'm pretty sure Genelec follows the same procedures on both pro and home lines.

 

[Victoria]

Hey everyone!~

Haha this is a convenient thread, I’ve also been looking into the F Two Subwoofer along with a pair of G Three’s.

The G Two’s don’t seem bad at all and their small form factor is certainly enticing, but do note that they lack XLR inputs and their frequency response isn’t quite as flat as the G Three; so G Three it is for me.

Couple of questions though: the F Two Subwoofer has both analog and AES/EBU inputs; my understanding is that if the analog input is used there’s an ADC conversion followed by yet another DAC conversion, is this correct? Would it thus be preferable for me to feed the F Two Subwoofer with a digital rather than an analog signal? There will be volume control regardless, right?

Reason I’m asking is because I haven’t quite figured out how I want to handle the whole “sending audio from my PC” bit. If I’m going to have to send a digital signal through TOSLINK what’s a good USB to TOSLINK converter out there? While my PC does technically have a built in audio interface on the motherboard I have it very disabled because the drivers are crap, so if anyone has a USB to TOSLINK converter they can recommend that would be great (my only requirement is that due to work there must be signed Windows 7 USB drivers for it).

And finally: we don’t actually get any of Genelec’s smart room correction stuff with such a setup right? Seems to just be some dip switches to do some basic monitor and subwoofer placement configuration unlike Neumann subwoofers.

 

[echopraxia]

Hey everyone!~

Haha this is a convenient thread, I’ve also been looking into the F Two Subwoofer along with a pair of G Three’s.

The G Two’s don’t seem bad at all and their small form factor is certainly enticing, but do note that they lack XLR inputs and their frequency response isn’t quite as flat as the G Three; so G Three it is.

Couple of questions though: the F Two Subwoofer has both analog and AES/EBU inputs; my understanding is that if the analog input is used there’s an ADC conversion followed by yet another DAC conversion, is this correct? Would it thus be preferable for me to feed the F Two Subwoofer with a digital rather than an analog signal? There will be volume control regardless, right?

Reason I’m asking is because I haven’t quite figured out how I want to handle the whole “sending audio from my PC” bit. If I’m going to have to send a digital signal through TOSLINK what’s a good USB to TOSLINK converter out there? While my PC does technically have a built in audio interface on the motherboard I have it very disabled because the drivers are crap, so if anyone has a USB to TOSLINK converter they can recommend that would be great (my only requirement is that due to work there must be signed Windows 7 USB drivers for it).

And finally: we don’t actually get any of Genelec’s smart room correction stuff with such a setup right? Seems to just be some dip switches to do some basic monitor and subwoofer placement configuration unlike Neumann subwoofer.

Toslink optical isn’t necessary, and just complicates things anyway going from electrical to optical and back to electrical again. In that sense, coaxial SPDIF is easier.

I connect a Topping D10 my computer via USB, to get coaxial SPDIF output, from which you can just use a RCA to XLR converter cable to plug directly into the Genelec AES/EBU digital input, or so I’m told. I haven’t tried directly using a RCA to XLR conversion cable for digital inputs though; I ended up buying a proper impedance converter, which is the technically “correct” way to do it (but probably isn’t really necessary at the short cable lengths I‘m using). This, along with a RCA to BNC adapter, I can confirm works flawlessly.

Another nice thing about using the Topping D10 is it has a DAC as well, so I feed those outputs into my headphone amplifier and get simultaneous digital playback on my Genelecs along with my headphones, if I wanted. Not that it’s that useful, but it does make transitioning from speakers to headphones and vice versa very easy.

 

[_Bass]

I am also considering either the 8030C or the G three for a home theater setup. The differences are as already outlined, but let me paste what was said officially by Genelec in their forum:

Here are the differences.

G Three:
XLR and RCA input connectors
Home audio series input sensitivity (-10 dB)
White LED
Intelligent Signal Sensing
"Clean" front panel
Tabletop room EQ setting
LED off setting
All cables are colour matched
Mystic black and Polar white colour options

8030A:
XLR input connector
Professional series input sensitivity (+10 dB)
Green LED
No ISS
Volume control knob and power switch on the front panel
No tabletop room EQ
No LED off setting
Black power cables for all
Matt black colour option


I also like the 8030 and the fact that it can be found cheaper however the only thing that tilts it towards choosing the G three is:
- auto standby
- RCA input

I am not sure if getting the 8030 and having it on 24/7 would not be an issue. I would have to have to turn it on/off manually every time -- that's a deal breaker for me.

 

[q3cpma]

I am also considering either the 8030C or the G three for a home theater setup. The differences are as already outlined, but let me paste what was said officially by Genelec in their forum:

Here are the differences.

G Three:
XLR and RCA input connectors
Home audio series input sensitivity (-10 dB)
White LED
Intelligent Signal Sensing
"Clean" front panel
Tabletop room EQ setting
LED off setting
All cables are colour matched
Mystic black and Polar white colour options

8030A:
XLR input connector
Professional series input sensitivity (+10 dB)
Green LED
No ISS
Volume control knob and power switch on the front panel
No tabletop room EQ
No LED off setting
Black power cables for all
Matt black colour option


I also like the 8030 and the fact that it can be found cheaper however the only thing that tilts it towards choosing the G three is:
- auto standby
- RCA input

I am not sure if getting the 8030 and having it on 24/7 would not be an issue. I would have to have to turn it on/off manually every time -- that's a deal breaker for me.

The 8030C has ISS.

 

[_Bass]

The 8030C has ISS.

Oh, did not realize that. I guess they have added ISS for their latest gen of 8030. This is super. Then the only other thing to deal with is the XLR input. I am not sure if one can use a RCA to XLR cable from a pre out or special conversion needs to happen.

 

[q3cpma]

Oh, did not realize that. I guess they have added ISS for their latest gen of 8030. This is super. Then the only other thing to deal with is the XLR input. I am not sure if one can use a RCA to XLR cable from a pre out or special conversion needs to happen.

You can without any problem, you just won't benefit from the balanced advantages.

 

[soundwave76]

G-series are proper Genelecs and a good choice. SAM room correction is awesome though and I would recommend for example DSpeaker Antimode Dual-Core to go with the Genelec G-series.

 

[Victoria]

I would recommend for example DSpeaker Antimode Dual-Core to go with the Genelec G-series.

Ahh!!!

Thank you so much for this!! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I’ve always wanted a little box with room EQ with support for a calibration mic which I can just slot in between my PC and speakers.

I‘m going to look into this more in the near future, but from my quick glance through the spec sheet I can basically hook this baby up to my PC and have it behave as a USB audio interface and then use TOSLINK out to say the Genelec F Two subwoofer which in turn feeds the signal to a pair of G Three monitors, right? Is there anything else I need to know before I commit myself to this configuration? This looks exciting!~

 

[echopraxia]

Ahh!!!

Thank you so much for this!! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I’ve always wanted a little box with room EQ with support for a calibration mic which I can just slot in between my PC and speakers.

I‘m going to look into this more in the near future, but from my quick glance through the spec sheet I can basically hook this baby up to my PC and have it behave as a USB audio interface and then use TOSLINK out to say the Genelec F Two subwoofer which in turn feeds the signal to a pair of G Three monitors, right? Is there anything else I need to know before I commit myself to this configuration? This looks exciting!~

It looks like the G Three only takes analog inputs, so you probably wouldn’t be using TOSLINK or any other digital inputs to the speakers. There’s nothing wrong with that though.

If you did later get a Genelec or other speakers that takes AES/EBU, you’d have to use a TOSLINK to coaxial or BNC SPDIF converter, because Genelecs don’t directly take optical digital inputs.

But also, if you ever did upgrade to a digital Genelec, you might want to use Genelec’s room correction software instead (or maybe not, I dunno), which has their own proprietary mic and controller and PC software to program the speakers — which costs about $500-$600 IIRC.

So yeah, not a very bad deal overall on that Anti-Mode DSP box + analog Genelecs. Note: Just make sure the G Three costs less in your region than the 8030C. Here, the 8030C is cheaper so I would definitely go for that instead. XLR is definitely better than RCA, and that Anti-Mode product supports XLR outputs.

 

[Victoria]

It looks like the G Three only takes analog inputs, so you probably wouldn’t be using TOSLINK or any other digital inputs to the speakers. There’s nothing wrong with that though.

If you did later get a Genelec or other speakers that takes AES/EBU, you’d have to use a TOSLINK to coaxial or BNC SPDIF converter, because Genelecs don’t directly take optical digital inputs.

But also, if you ever did upgrade to a digital Genelec, you might want to use Genelec’s room correction software instead (or maybe not, I dunno), which has their own proprietary mic and controller and PC software to program the speakers — which costs about $500-$600 IIRC.

So yeah, not a very bad deal overall on that Anti-Mode DSP box + analog Genelecs. Note: Just make sure the G Three costs less in your region than the 8030C. Here, the 8030C is cheaper so I would definitely go for that instead. XLR is definitely better than RCA, and that Anti-Mode product supports XLR outputs.

Yeah but my plan is: PC -> DSPeaker -> Genelec F Two (Subwoofer) -> Genelec G Three.

The F Two has TOSLINK and RCA/XLR out to the G Three. I figured that since Genelec has good synergy between their subwoofers and monitors I’d go down this route since I’m kinda space-constrained with regards to how big my monitors can be on my table, so having a subwoofer which can optimize its crossover for the exact monitors I intend on using is extremely enticing. With this in mind do let me know what you think!

 

[echopraxia]

Yeah but my plan is: PC -> DSPeaker -> Genelec F Two (Subwoofer) -> Genelec G Three.

The F Two has TOSLINK and RCA/XLR out to the G Three. I figured that since Genelec has good synergy between their subwoofers and monitors I’d go down this route since I’m kinda space-constrained with regards to how big my monitors can be on my table, so having a subwoofer which can optimize its crossover for the exact monitors I intend on using is extremely enticing. With this in mind do let me know what you think!

Ah, this is for a PC setup. Why the external DSP box then? I've heard only good things about Dirac Live software, and I believe it just works on your PC with no need for extra external hardware. Your PC is more than capable of doing DSP processing likely far more sophisticated than most external DSP boxes, anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if Dirac is also capable of working with multi channel outputs so you could use it to perfectly calibrate any subwoofer you want, as well.

I wouldn't worry too much about subwoofer synergy. All subwoofers are pretty hard to integrate perfectly, without DSP active crossovers and EQ to tune them carefully to your room. Genelec's smart active subwoofers have a bit better value proposition here, since they have DSP and calibration software to do this for you. But while the G Two has active crossovers, it doesn't appear to do anything to calibrate to your room.

If you use something like Dirac to do active crossovers, you can integrate those speakers with pretty much any subwoofer you want. Just be aware that subwoofers exist that are far more capable than Genelec's for the same price; for example the F Two here costs about the same as the Rythmik F12. The F12 is a 900 Watt 12" subwoofer that extends down to 10hz, whereas the F Two is only a 150 Watt 8" subwoofer that doesn't even reach 20hz (it is -6db at 28hz). That's not really all that much deeper than the G Five main speakers, which extend to 32hz at -6db.

 

[soundwave76]

I had this DSpeaker with my 8040s in a living room TV setup. Worked very well. I upgraded to 8340 and sold the DSpeaker. The 8340 does sound better compared to 8040 + DSpeaker.

These are available used every once in a while in the Finnish hifi forum. Seems to be one available as we speak: https://www.hifiharrastajat.org/foo...peaker-Anti-Mode-2-0-Dual-Core-(Helsinki)-550