Need advice for monitors/sub choice and placement

[Akiat]

Hi everyone,

First of all I would like to thanks you all for all the amazing contributions you have made to this community

I am in the process of setting up a small home studio, which is intended for both creation and listening. So I'm looking for monitors that are also pleasant to listen to.
The dimensions of my room are:

• In meters: 3,5 x 2,8 x 2,5 (height)
• In feet: 11,5 x 9 x 8,2 (height)

My listening distance is about 90cm (2,9 ft)

After having tested a few of them (only in stores, in conditions which were not optimal, unfortunately), I falled in love with the Genelec 8040.

Considering the size of my room, I wonder if the 8040 are not "too much". Moreover, I saw that some of you on this forum did not like them because of their class A/B amplifier (the problem with that is that it creates a slight background noise, right?).

But what I loved about these speakers was their balance and nice bass, and I'm afraid I'll lose that with the 8030s.

To keep the bass aspect, I thought of taking the 8030 (which may be more proportionate for the size of my room and which has a class D amplifier), with a 7040A sub. But I'm not sure where I could place it, and it seems difficult to adjust a sub correctly (I'm not an expert, but I like to learn). If you check my room plan which is attached, I'm particulary afraid of the alcove for reverberations.

I will add bass traps behind my monitors/sub, and at least a bit of acoustic treatment at the first reflection points (is it a good start ?)

To sum up, I have 4 questions:

• The problem with class A/B is a slight background noise, is that right?
• For the size of my room, which ones would you recommend?
• Where could be placed my sub if I take the 8030 and 7040?
• And in general, what are your recommendations?

Sorry for this looong post, but you seems really well informed and your advice will be invaluable.

Thanks in advance and have a good day

 

[levimax]

Hi everyone,

First of all I would like to thanks you all for all the amazing contributions you have made to this community

I am in the process of setting up a small home studio, which is intended for both creation and listening. So I'm looking for monitors that are also pleasant to listen to.
The dimensions of my room are:

• In meters: 3,5 x 2,8 x 2,5 (height)
• In feet: 11,5 x 9 x 8,2 (height)

My listening distance is about 90cm (2,9 ft)

After having tested a few of them (only in stores, in conditions which were not optimal, unfortunately), I falled in love with the Genelec 8040.

Considering the size of my room, I wonder if the 8040 are not "too much". Moreover, I saw that some of you on this forum did not like them because of their class A/B amplifier (the problem with that is that it creates a slight background noise, right?).

But what I loved about these speakers was their balance and nice bass, and I'm afraid I'll lose that with the 8030s.

To keep the bass aspect, I thought of taking the 8030 (which may be more proportionate for the size of my room and which has a class D amplifier), with a 7040A sub. But I'm not sure where I could place it, and it seems difficult to adjust a sub correctly (I'm not an expert, but I like to learn). If you check my room plan which is attached, I'm particulary afraid of the alcove for reverberations.

I will add bass traps behind my monitors/sub, and at least a bit of acoustic treatment at the first reflection points (is it a good start ?)

To sum up, I have 4 questions:

• The problem with class A/B is a slight background noise, is that right?
• For the size of my room, which ones would you recommend?
• Where could be placed my sub if I take the 8030 and 7040?
• And in general, what are your recommendations?

Sorry for this looong post, but you seems really well informed and your advice will be invaluable.

Thanks in advance and have a good day

Hello:

See attached, I got this from a post by member here and it has both theory and practical examples for sub placement and it was very helpful for me when I added 2 subs to a full range system. No cut and dry one size fits all answer, hope this helps.

 

[Akiat]

Thank you very much it's very instructive!

If you have some advice about the monitor/sub choices, don't hesitate

 

[Akiat]

Does someone knows if it's possible to calibrate the 8330 with GLM if I have also a 7040A sub (which is not compatible with GLM) ?

 

[Recluse-Animator]

you can buy better subs for the money than a Genelec.

 

[Akiat]

I choose it mostly for 2 reasons:
- It's size (I don't want a big one, I have a small room)
- The ease of use with the genelec monitors (85Hz crossover). Is it difficult to setup a sub without this?

In the price range of the 7040A (650 euros) what are the better options ? (a small one)

Thanks

 

[dominikz]

I choose it mostly for 2 reasons:
- It's size (I don't want a big one, I have a small room)
- The ease of use with the genelec monitors (85Hz crossover). Is it difficult to setup a sub without this?

In the price range of the 7040A (650 euros) what are the better options ? (a small one)

Thanks

For nearfield (and not too loud) listening I'm pretty happy with my combination of Neumann KH120A + Adam Sub7 (also 85Hz crossover).
See my thread with some measurements of the setup.

Such a small sub doesn't normally add a lot of additional low bass extension, but it can help make the low bass much more even because you can place the sub differently than the monitors.

In any case I'd recommend to use a measurement mic and REW to integrate the sub, and to later use PEQ to pull down the room resonance peaks. Together that makes a very big positive difference.
I shared some instructions on the use of REW and MMM here, in case that helps.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[anotherhobby]

With both of my systems, I was not satisfied with my dual sub integration for music until I had them placed L/R with the mains. When I had a single sub with each system, I wasn't satisfied unless the sub was in the middle of the mains. It doesn't matter if the measured frequency response is improved by moving one or both out of symmetry, because the lack of symmetry doesn't sound good to my ears. With movies I don't notice at all, but with music, I can always locate the sub if it's not symmetrical with the mains and it bugs me.

This is just to say, be prepared to move things around and test out different placements.

 

[Akiat]

For nearfield (and not too loud) listening I'm pretty happy with my combination of Neumann KH120A + Adam Sub7 (also 85Hz crossover).
See my thread with some measurements of the setup.

Such a small sub doesn't normally add a lot of additional low bass extension, but it can help make the low bass much more even because you can place the sub differently than the monitors.

In any case I'd recommend to use a measurement mic and REW to integrate the sub, and to later use PEQ to pull down the room resonance peaks. Together that makes a very big positive difference.
I shared some instructions on the use of REW and MMM here, in case that helps.

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you very much for all your tips, really precious!

 

[Akiat]

With both of my systems, I was not satisfied with my dual sub integration for music until I had them placed L/R with the mains. When I had a single sub with each system, I wasn't satisfied unless the sub was in the middle of the mains. It doesn't matter if the measured frequency response is improved by moving one or both out of symmetry, because the lack of symmetry doesn't sound good to my ears. With movies I don't notice at all, but with music, I can always locate the sub if it's not symmetrical with the mains and it bugs me.

This is just to say, be prepared to move things around and test out different placements.

Maybe I should begin with the 8030 only, and then, after a room treatment applied, try with a sub...