Genelec nearfield options

[sharock]

I'm dreaming/fantisising about changing my computer setup at some point (need to save up) and wondered what people thought about the following Genelec options for nearfield music listening. Listening distance would be ~1m and I can use REW to correct things where necessary rather than GLM. Initially, these would be fed from PC > USB > Atom DAC > Analog Out > RCA to XLR > Speakers.

1. Genelec 8351b, no sub, £6600

Pros: No need to integrate sub, best solo preference rating, coaxial
Cons: Very expensive, not full range

2. Genelec 8341a with sub, £4666 + sub < £1000

Pros: Cheaper, full range, less imposing on desk, top rating with sub, available in black, coaxial
Cons: Integrating sub faff

3. Genelec 8030c with sub, £900 + sub < £1000 (probably wouldn't get dual subs)

Pro: Considerably cheaper, full range, top rating with sub
Cons: Not coaxial, sub integration faff

I've left the 8331a + sub out, but I suppose that could be another option. I'm not sure it offers much compared to the 8341a.

Cheers for any insights/comments!

 

[YSC]

I'm dreaming/fantisising about changing my computer setup at some point (need to save up) and wondered what people thought about the following Genelec options for nearfield music listening. Listening distance would be ~1m and I can use REW to correct things where necessary rather than GLM. Initially, these would be fed from PC > USB > Atom DAC > Analog Out > RCA to XLR > Speakers.

1. Genelec 8351b, no sub, £6600

Pros: No need to integrate sub, best solo preference rating, coaxial
Cons: Very expensive, not full range

2. Genelec 8341a with sub, £4666 + sub < £1000

Pros: Cheaper, full range, less imposing on desk, top rating with sub, available in black, coaxial
Cons: Integrating sub faff

3. Genelec 8030c with sub, £900 + sub < £1000 (probably wouldn't get dual subs)

Pro: Considerably cheaper, full range, top rating with sub
Cons: Not coaxial, sub integration faff

I've left the 8331a + sub out, but I suppose that could be another option. I'm not sure it offers much compared to the 8341a.

Cheers for any insights/comments!

Just wanna ask about how large your room is? for easiest use the 8351 with GLM would likely make you more than happy, even 8341a without sub should do well as it goes anechoically flat till something like 45hz, with wall boost likely the usable bass will go to 35hz or so IRL if your placement is nearfield with the speaker very close to the wall. if you go with a sub you likely would be better off investing in the Genelec SAM series ones as that can keep you out of a lot of troubles for sub integration, at least in crossover and calibrating the sub.

Personally I am using the 8030C with 7040A combo in my tiny room with pretty good result and not bothering to upgrade with an arm and a leg, setting up and integration maybe due to sheer luck, I did all that within 30min from the point of unboxing

 

[daftcombo]

If you don't have the DAC yet, I would get one with XLR out to stay fully balanced and minimize risks of noise/hiss.

 

[sharock]

Just wanna ask about how large your room is?

It's pretty small, 3x5m and my desk is in one of the corners back against the long edge. The 7040 is actually a lot cheaper than I thought! That doesn't support GLM though right?

If you don't have the DAC yet, I would get one with XLR out to stay fully balanced and minimize risks of noise/hiss.

Is this likely to be an issue over such a short distance? Initially I want to just use the cheap but performant Atom DAC because all these devices to feed digital into the Ones look expensive.

EDIT: I re-read what you said and you're not suggesting AES but balanced. What cheap options are there for a good DAC with balanced out? The Atom is like £140.

 

[YSC]

It's pretty small, 3x5m and my desk is in one of the corners back against the long edge. The 7040 is actually a lot cheaper than I thought! That doesn't support GLM though right?



Is this likely to be an issue over such a short distance? Initially I want to just use the cheap but performant Atom DAC because all these devices to feed digital into the Ones look expensive.

EDIT: I re-read what you said and you're not suggesting AES but balanced. What cheap options are there for a good DAC with balanced out? The Atom is like £140.

No, it doesn't support GLM and I used it because my room is 3x2m, my desk on the 3m side and there's a window platform at my right channel side, since I use it as computer speaker I sat real close to it thus I opt for the 7040 for it's sheer size where I can still have some leg room under my desk. Turned out the in room response with only using genelec dip switches preset is much better than expected.

 

[sharock]

No, it doesn't support GLM and I used it because my room is 3x2m, my desk on the 3m side and there's a window platform at my right channel side, since I use it as computer speaker I sat real close to it thus I opt for the 7040 for it's sheer size where I can still have some leg room under my desk. Turned out the in room response with only using genelec dip switches preset is much better than expected.

So how are you connecting this? Using a high pass filter on the 7040a and then outputting to the 8030C? You're not applying any kind of DSP?

I kind of have my heart set on a pair of Ones so maybe I can add a 7040a later if the bass feels lacking.

 

[daftcombo]

EDIT: I re-read what you said and you're not suggesting AES but balanced. What cheap options are there for a good DAC with balanced out? The Atom is like £140.

You could go with a Focusrite Scarlett Solo or a Motu M2. Not XLR out but TLR, so balanced. Even cheaper than the Atom but not state-of-the-art.

 

[YSC]

So how are you connecting this? Using a high pass filter on the 7040a and then outputting to the 8030C? You're not applying any kind of DSP?

I kind of have my heart set on a pair of Ones so maybe I can add a 7040a later if the bass feels lacking.

I didn’t use any dsp, just use high pass of 7040 and play around the 8030C and 7040’s dip switches and this is the result

but if you’re using the ones the bass extension gain by the 7040 is way too small IMO and you might not get desired flat bass, so if you’re spending on the ones I suggests you at least try buy the svs sb3000 micro, it extends to 20hz, isn’t a lot larger and have an app to fine tune the PEQ to integrate with the ones

 

[sharock]

Looking at the specs, it seems the SVS SB1000 Pro or 3000 Micro only have a low-pass filter.

Forgive my ignorance, but this would still achieve the same thing as the 7040's HPF right but in a slightly different way?

 

[YSC]

Looking at the specs, it seems the SVS SB1000 Pro or 3000 Micro only have a low-pass filter.

Forgive my ignorance, but this would still achieve the same thing as the 7040's HPF right but in a slightly different way?

The 7040 high pass the input signal and fed to the 8030, and the signal was internally low passed for itself to make a proper cross over in a sort of fool proof config. with the SVS you need to use adjust it's low pass frequency in app to make it blends with the main monitors and then EQ it to the desired in room response. if you want to be more trouble free, just get the 7350 and use with the ones, the GLM kit will easily guide you through and calibrate

 

[Trell]

I'm dreaming/fantisising about changing my computer setup at some point (need to save up) and wondered what people thought about the following Genelec options for nearfield music listening. Listening distance would be ~1m and I can use REW to correct things where necessary rather than GLM. Initially, these would be fed from PC > USB > Atom DAC > Analog Out > RCA to XLR > Speakers.

1. Genelec 8351b, no sub, £6600

Pros: No need to integrate sub, best solo preference rating, coaxial
Cons: Very expensive, not full range

2. Genelec 8341a with sub, £4666 + sub < £1000

Pros: Cheaper, full range, less imposing on desk, top rating with sub, available in black, coaxial
Cons: Integrating sub faff

3. Genelec 8030c with sub, £900 + sub < £1000 (probably wouldn't get dual subs)

Pro: Considerably cheaper, full range, top rating with sub
Cons: Not coaxial, sub integration faff

I've left the 8331a + sub out, but I suppose that could be another option. I'm not sure it offers much compared to the 8341a.

Cheers for any insights/comments!

The option I went with in my small office is a pair of 8330A, a single 7360A subwoofer, the GLM Kit for calibration, nice L-stands and cables for less than the price of a pair of 8331A on www.thomann.de . For me this was the better value. I sit less 1m from the speakers.

I even bought a second pair of 8330A for my wife in the same office and it sounds very good, especially after using the GLM Kit for calibration to knock down those pesky tall bass mountains.

 

[sharock]

The more I think about it, the less sense the Ones make financially. That being said, there is something irresistible about their aesthetic, coaxial design and superlative performance.

 

[tusing]

IMO any well rounded system will have a sub, so you shouldn't list integrating with it as a con, just like you wouldn't call integrating wheels onto a car a con. There is simply too much auditory information in that region to ignore.

 

[GD Fan]

Having a sub is probably more important and cost efficient than the GLM if you're proficient with REW.

 

[sharock]

Just an update to this thread. I ended up going for the following kit: Genelec 8030c, SVS SB1000 Pro and miniDSP DDRC-24.

By going for the SVS 1000 Pro over Micro 3000, I sacrificed a bit of floor space but saved enough cash to get the DDRC-24. This allows me to use Dirac Live to integrate the sub and correct the bass. I've only applied Dirac below 500Hz and applied PEQ to the 8030c to correct the anechoic response based on Amir's measurements.

Here is the in-room response before Dirac correction but after PEQ. Is it worth correcting above 500Hz?