Genelec S360 Review (Studio Monitor)

[Pearljam5000]

First of all, fantastic that genelec supplies amir with this unit. Shows great confidence in their products.

Which one would you prefer, this S360 or the Neumann KH420?

Would also like to know

 

[Thomas savage]

Good WAF, plenty room for a plant on top

(just kidding)

Divorce papers would also fit nicely on top there

 

[respice finem]

Divorce papers would also fit nicely on top there

Yeah... but it's even smarter sometimes to buy after... May save you from buying twice

 

[soundwave76]

Oh, please, do they hiss?
osscar and I would love to know...

 

[kipman725]

I would argue the tweeter should have more output beyond the 106dB sweep:

THD is hitting 4% but this is 2nd harmonic mostly beyond 5kHz so will not be particularly audible. It's totally normal for a compression driver operating at this level and is caused by the high SPL in the throat and phase plug channels. The only way to reduce it is to use a larger throat driver but this reduces dispersion at high frequencies. Here are some measurements I took of a small diaphragm 1" throat compression driver, you can see it gets to ~120dB: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/desktop-meh-with-slot-loaded-bass-drivers.383653/ I didn't hear anything unusual when running this sweep (from another room wearing hearing protection).

 

[uwotm8]

Coaxial Genelecs look way better to my eye. These are OK except odd (and cheap dated furniture-like) legs. I'd prefer Dynaudio anyway for sure

 

[Hipster Doofus]

WOW….someday I will pull the trigger on a speaker in this price class. But now I am wrestling with buying roon…is it worth it from an Equalization point of view. I own RTA mic and software( but do not use it much)

I have no library of music to worry about I only stream tidal,

so my question is…Will I get a Big Bang for the buck equalizing my 3 rooms. Or will the set up of roon only frustrate this non techy? A ZEN vs QUALITY issue.

 

[Toxmarz]

Aluminium enclosure probably would weigh 70kg, easy.

Might also account for some of the $2000/pair price difference with 8361

 

[F1308]

View attachment 221921

Oh, please, do they hiss?
osscar, soundwave76 and I would love to know...
A whisper will do, since nobody else seems interested...

 

[Robbo99999]

(not read any people's comments yet, just the review)
Yep, this doesn't seem quite as good as the 8361A based on the measurements, but then again this S360 is $1000 less than the 8361A. 8361A has better bass extension & better vertical directivity, and an overall flatter frequency response (perfect) whereas there's that slight dip at around 1400Hz on the S360. I think if I was gonna bother spending so much money on a speaker, then I don't think I'd be deterred by the $1000 price difference & I'd go with the 8361A. Lots of money regardless of which one you go for, but then I hear that there are speakers that cost even more than these!

 

[Robbo99999]

Hi,

Here is my take on the EQ.

Please report your findings, positive or negative!

The following EQs are “anechoic” EQs to get the speaker right before room integration. If you able to implement these EQs you must add EQ at LF for room integration, that is usually not optional… see hints there: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...helf-speaker-review.11144/page-26#post-800725

The raw data with corrected ER and PIR:

Score no EQ: 6.2
With Sub: 7.9

Spinorama with no EQ:

• rather flat
• Probably does not need anechoic EQ (but will need in-room EQ for bass)
• Some port remanent resonances ("only" 20dB down at 800Hz)
• Xover region not perfect but with a large waveguide that a very difficult task
• The HF looks shelved down similarly to many of the Score EQ optimized on speakers with waveguides

View attachment 221832

Directivity:

Better stay at tweeter height
Horizontally, superb! Better toe-in the speakers by up to 20deg and have the axis crossing in front of the listening location, might help dosing the upper range.
When the cardioid down to 150Hz version coming?

View attachment 221837
View attachment 221841



EQ design:

I have generated two EQs. The APO config files are attached.

• The first one, labelled, LW is targeted at making the LW flat
• The second, labelled Score, starts with the first one and adds the score as an optimization variable.
• The EQs are designed in the context of regular stereo use i.e. domestic environment, no warranty is provided for a near field use in a studio environment although the LW might be better suited for this purpose.

Score EQ LW: 6.5
with sub: 8.2

Score EQ Score: 6.6
with sub: 8.4

Score EQ Score Slope: 6.7
with sub: 8.5

Genelec S360 APO EQ LW 96000Hz
August022022-121205

Preamp: -2.4 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 175.46,    0.92,    2.55
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 300.00,    -0.54,    2.37
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 610.82,    0.72,    2.80
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 917.72,    -0.64,    3.15
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1560.30,    2.15,    1.30
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 5427.82,    1.43,    0.95
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6396.29,    -1.68,    2.49
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 14485.11,    2.02,    0.38

Genelec S360 APO EQ Score 96000Hz
August022022-121040

Preamp: -2.3 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 174.46,    0.72,    2.24
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 314.98,    -0.78,    3.55
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 608.82,    0.63,    4.07
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 910.51,    -0.73,    3.15
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1523.26,    2.15,    1.57
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 5635.43,    1.42,    0.95
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6403.29,    -1.70,    2.49
Filter : ON PK Fc 15642.13,    1.37,    0.38

View attachment 221836

Spinorama EQ LW
View attachment 221833

Spinorama EQ Score
View attachment 221834

Zoom PIR-LW-ON
View attachment 221831

Regression - Tonal
View attachment 221830

Radar no EQ vs EQ score
Improvements?
View attachment 221835
Bonus:

I forced the Optimizer to have more Slope on the PIR, to be closer to the initial tuning and because the Score PIR regression looked a bit shallow.
It comes down to a compromise between the LW/ON and PIR slope.

Genelec S360 APO EQ Score Slope 96000Hz
August022022-121313

Preamp: -2.1 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 171.05,    0.65,    2.45
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 318.57,    -0.95,    4.52
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 601.65,    0.48,    6.09
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 917.16,    -0.80,    3.29
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1479.36,    2.01,    2.03
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 6148.62,    1.07,    1.35
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6603.61,    -2.09,    3.04
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 14598.96,    0.92,    0.29

View attachment 221827
View attachment 221826

The rest of the plots is attached.

Hi Maiky, this is not necessarily a post for you to reply to (but you can if you want), just I'm quoting your post because your work shows how different the overall tonality slopes are between the anechoic EQ's vs the stock speaker. I'll just copy one of your graphs here that illustrate it:

Those kind of slope differences vs the stock slope of the speaker would be noticeable in my experience when I've messed about with linear tilt EQ's on speakers & headphones, and it can make the difference between a speaker sounding too bright or too dull. I'm wondering if this speaker could sound a bit dull when used without EQ.

 

[oldsysop]

I must be the only one to whom all Genelec seem aesthetically horrible.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Only one Genelec flagship left to review

 

[voodooless]

Only one Genelec flagship left to review
View attachment 221950

No way, there are many more! I’d love to see this one tested:

1236A SAM™ Studio Monitor - Genelec.com

www.genelec.com

… Anyway, this shows how good a simple 2-way concept can be! A DIY version of this could be made for quite a nice budget and could have about the similar or better performance depending on driver selection and budget (and obviously skill level and access to decent measurement gear).

 

[Pearljam5000]

No way, there are many more! I’d love to see this one tested:

1236A SAM™ Studio Monitor - Genelec.com

www.genelec.com

… Anyway, this shows how good a simple 2-way concept can be! A DIY version of this could be made for quite a nice budget and could have about the similar or better performance depending on driver selection and budget.

Well it's the most *realistically priced* flagship that costs a bit more than 8361A so would be interesting to see.
Obviously 1236A is amazing but I doubt a lot can afford it or even have a big enough room for it.

 

[voodooless]

Obviously 1236A is amazing but I doubt a lot can afford it or even have a big enough room for it.

That the whole point of a flagship isn’t it

 

[Orion76]

Nice!

• 250W woofer amp and 100W tweeter amp (all Class-D)

 

[PeteL]

That the whole point of a flagship isn’t it

Even if Genelec felt extremely dedicated and decide to ship that to Amir... I can only imagine the challenge of setting it up for measurments. A 4 people job right?

 

[Pearljam5000]

White Genelecs always look better than the black ones

 

[sprellemannen]

A demo pair of 1236A can (could) be yours for $42000/pair plus shipping: see here.
Its weight is 182 kg/each.
Have you ever seen such a speaker as a stand speaker?
Now you have:

Here you see a photo including many Genelec speakers:

Time to go back on topic! Here are photos of S360 (I like them best in black):

I think the S360 looks good in black finish!

A lot of more photos of speakers from the stunning Genelec brand can be found here.