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Genelec users, what sub do you use and do you miss the low end without it?

Blake Klondike

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I have a pair of Genelec 8020Bs that I bought for mixing and they sound absolutely great on jazz combos, rock bands, chamber groups, etc. Particularly the phantom center image-- really out of this world. But I could hear them struggling with the bass on Beethoven's 7th. It's got me thinking about a sub for them. Genelec recommends the 7050B. Does anyone have experience with different subs in this context?
 

pierre

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Hello, I would follow genelec recommendations. If you go bigger 7060 then when you increase the volume the sub will output more than your speakers. 7050 is also relatively flat, physical size increase significantly after the this sub. If you are in Europe you can find 7050 used relatively easily.
 
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Blake Klondike

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Should have gone for the 8030, the 8020 always seemed too small for anything to me.
Good advice, although I bought the 8020s used at a guitar store for $500 for the pair. It's always cool to find hi-fi gear at those places, because they don't place a very high $$ priority on anything that doesn't say Gibson, Fender or Martin in it.
 
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Blake Klondike

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Hello, I would follow genelec recommendations. If you go bigger 7060 then when you increase the volume the sub will output more than your speakers. 7050 is also relatively flat, physical size increase significantly after the this sub. If you are in Europe you can find 7050 used relatively easily.
Thanks for the advice-- any thoughts on how well the 7050 integrates with the 8020s? I have never used a sub.
 

LTig

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I have a pair of Genelec 8020Bs that I bought for mixing and they sound absolutely great on jazz combos, rock bands, chamber groups, etc. Particularly the phantom center image-- really out of this world. But I could hear them struggling with the bass on Beethoven's 7th. It's got me thinking about a sub for them. Genelec recommends the 7050B. Does anyone have experience with different subs in this context?
For mixing purpose you must get a sub IMHO, otherwise you cannot hear what's going on below 50-60 Hz (if something is missing or too loud).

If you want to hear as loud as possible with the Genelecs than stay with 7050B (or C) as recommended by Genelec. If unsure you can ask the Genelec support, as I did when I bought a sub to be used for my K&H O300D in 2006:

The O300D has similar SPL features as the Genelec 8050 and the recommended sub for the 8050 was the 7070 which was too big (and too expensive). I asked the support if the 7070 was really required for use in a 50 square meter living room as part of a home stereo system. The answer was that if I don't want to play at very high SPL the 7060B would suffice - and they were right. I've never had a aproblem with the sub, neither playing music nor movies with heavy sub effects. But although I like deep bass I'm no bass fanatic and prefer the bass to be neutral and not overblown.​
Therefore it could be possible that a sub smaller than the 7050 is sufficient, but it depends on your application.

OTOH is could also be possible that you need a bigger sub, maybe for a big multi channel system:

A colleague of mine uses a Genelec 7060B with 5 Genelec 8020 in a 5.1 multichannel system. He bought it after listening to my 2.1 system. He listened to this combination as well as Genelecs 8020 and JBL LSR2325P in place of the O300D and decided for the Genelecs (the JBLs were too hifi and the O300D much too expensive). He is very satisfied with his system.​

Another colleague also listened to my 2.1 system (both with O300D and Genelec 8020). He liked them both but preferred the O300D and finally bought a pair of Neumann KH420 (wow!) but no sub.​

To make the point: in both cases listening to the 8020 alone (without sub) in the big living room was quite a surprise for both colleagues, but increasing the volume made clear that the 8020s are not made for big rooms. Adding the sub changed that significantly and the sub integrated well with the sats (although they did not match the ease with which the O300D played). So I can recommend a 7060B as sub for the 8020 but I fear it might beis overkill.
 

LTig

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Thanks for the advice-- any thoughts on how well the 7050 integrates with the 8020s? I have never used a sub.
See my other post using a 7060B. In my experience the sound quality as such is consistent within the model range and differs in maximum SPL and the low frequency limit. The latter is no problem with the 7050 (25 Hz) using music only (except deepest organ or electronic music) . As long as you stay within the SPL limits a 7050 should be (almost) as good as a 7060B. But before you invest a lot of money into an oversized sub a better overall sound quality could be reached with bigger sats (Genelec 8030, Neumann KH120) and a matching sub.
 

digititus

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I have a pair of Genelec 8020Bs that I bought for mixing and they sound absolutely great on jazz combos, rock bands, chamber groups, etc. Particularly the phantom center image-- really out of this world. But I could hear them struggling with the bass on Beethoven's 7th. It's got me thinking about a sub for them. Genelec recommends the 7050B. Does anyone have experience with different subs in this context?
I have the 8020/7050 combo. Absolutely stellar combo in a small space.
 

soundwave76

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I would also recommend 7050 for 8020. I have owned those and worked great. I also tried the smaller 7040 which was also ok, but I would go for the 7050, which can be found used as well quite often.

However, once you opt in for the SAM models with room correction, the life with subwoofers gets A LOT better and easier. I currently have 8331 + 7350 and it's a stellar combo for ultra nearfield in small spaces.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Just got this message:
Genelec 8361A coaxial three-way monitor and W371A Adaptive Woofer System
genelec_the_ones_press-image2.jpg
 
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