Genelec M040 Review (Studio Monitor)

[dfuller]

Try listening then

Hey, I wasn't the one who said the measurements were "visibly better" on the LS50.

 

[Postlan]

Port resonance from back can be reduced a lot very easily just attaching a box filled with absorption material to the back side of the speaker. The box can even be an Amazon cardboard box. It definitely works. You'll clearly hear the difference and the difference is measurable. It also makes the speaker slightly more cardioid at low frequency.

Manufactures can't do it, because the speaker will be way too deep just to reduce port resonance.

 

[Tangband]

Port resonance from back can be reduced a lot very easily just attaching a box filled with absorption material to the back side of the speaker. The box can even be an Amazon cardboard box. It definitely works. You'll clearly hear the difference and the difference is measurable. It also makes the speaker slightly more cardioid at low frequency.

Manufactures can't do it, because the speaker will be way too deep just to reduce port resonance.

Just a point : Its not clear that its a port resonance in this speaker . Amirm writes it might be a port/cabinet resonance .

The smaller G3 ( 8030c ) tested in Stereophile dont have any audible portresonances , and the cabinet is dead quiet. The G3 cabinet is different made than this loudspeaker , that makes me believe that it might be a resonance from the cabinet walls.

My vote regarding this loudspeaker is that we dont really know if its a port or cabinet resonance. It might be both.

 

[Habbe]

I don't know if this comment is relevant here, but the M040 has a down firing port, not back firing.

 

[Tangband]

Here is another extensive review of this speaker with measurements :

Genelec M040 Review

 

[DeathMeister]

It isn't. I think it came out in 2013 or 2014. I see a lot of reviews from that era. And as late as 2018 they were saying they are still available.

Out of curiosity not judgment, why take the resources and time to test an out-of-production device? Virtually no one is able to buy a new one.
And how many times must we test and prove that power and USB cables are all about the same in the proper application? How many nails does it take to nail boutique cable manufacturers' coffins shut? (And is this a valuable use of expensive test gear and expertise?)

I like finding info on my old speakers on sites like this. I was quite happy to discover the impressive Spin-o-rama plots for my good old HR824’s for example. i like buying used gear that compares well to current, much more expensive stuff, or realizing that years ago I bought a classic!

 

[nathan]

Yep, craigslist, audiomart, Ebay, facebook, garage sales, audiogon, etc etc are a veritable cornucopia of audio gear history -- and access -- often for pennies on the dollar compared the original prices. A review like this can really help those on a budget buy or sell this older gear that in many cases handily outperforms the latest "darlings" of the subjective YouTube reviewers that seem to dominate the discussion a lot of time.

 

[nathan]

@amirm I’ve noticed in many reviews you call out narrow beam width as a detractor in speakers. Is this a personal preference or do you think that wider dispersion is inherently better?

In the Genelec monitors specifically I think they seek to keep direct vs reflect sound over 50% at the intended working distance. So the larger speakers actually beam more to achieve this over longer distances and they are intentionally designing to achieve narrow beam width.

Is this something where optimal design for enjoyment might be different from optimal for audio production?

IIRC, "narrow beam width" does not mean "narrow sound". The speaker is still sending audio out in a wide direction, even with a narrow beam width -- it is just "inaccurate" or "different" from the on axis sound.

Since rooms reflect sound to some extent, the more consistent those off axis response curves are with the on axis curve (wide beam = consistency between on and off axis sound) the better the experience of listening.

It gets a little less critical with near field monitoring in a well damped room, but it still matters.