New Genelec 8380 main monitors

[thewas]

Nice to see Genelec moving to coaxial designs also in their more affordable main monitors, reducing the radiation/directivity issues their older conventional ones had.

Some more measurements from its owner manual which show its qualities:

 

[TNT]

Still on the cheap side for mains, even if smaller like that.

I wonder if the class AB choice for highs is to address hiss as the coaxial must be REALLY sensitive to hit such SPL with its modestly powered amps.

If so, why 200W?

+23 dBw 8-o

//

 

[TNT]

Post in thread 'New Genelec Main Monitor'

Oct 1, 2025

Why are you using Class AB for the tweeter instead of class D?

RAM-L2 amplifier topology is identical to the older RAM-L so the decision to use Class AB amplifier for the tweeter channel was made more than 10 years ago. Back then we were able to achieve better overall performance with it compared to Class D amplifiers. Still today the performance is extremely good so there was no reason to change it.

• Ilkka Rissanen

• 

//

 

[Duke]

I really like this design approach. Reminds me of Earl Geddes' designs, this is the Abbey (12" woofer, 12" Oblate Spheroid 90-degree waveguide):

If all goes well, image of an unfinished Summa (15" woofer, 15" wavegude) at this link; I was unable to copy and paste the image, but the 8380A looks even more like the Summa:

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.OM0Og2MwDqzVOhhB-McaFQHaI-?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3

View attachment 479737

Looks to me like the designed-for listening axis is 15 degrees. That makes total sense to me. The on-axis response of an axisymmetric waveguide typically has anomalies which disappear once you move off-axis somewhat.

I think the Genelec 8380A would be an excellent candidate for a time/intensity trading set-up.

 

[kendall]

I really like this design approach. Reminds me of Earl Geddes' designs, this is the Abbey (12" woofer, 12" Oblate Spheroid 90-degree waveguide):

View attachment 479847


If all goes well, image of an unfinished Summa (15" woofer, 15" wavegude) at this link; I was unable to copy and paste the image, but the 8380A looks even more like the Summa:

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.OM0Og2MwDqzVOhhB-McaFQHaI-?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3

Looks to me like the designed-for listening axis is 15 degrees. That makes total sense to me. The on-axis response of an axisymmetric waveguide typically has anomalies which disappear once you move off-axis somewhat.

I think this speaker would be an excellent candidate for a time/intensity trading set-up.

Duke!

Just posted this the other day to a different thread.

Should look familiar to you.

 

[Duke]

@kendall, oh WOW! Prismas!!

I hope you don't mind if I copy, rotate, and crop your image:

For anyone wondering about the relevance, I mentioned a "time/intensity trading" setup and this is an example of what one looks like. The front baffles are, by design, toed-in 45 degrees, and the speaker axes criss-cross in front of the listening position. I think the new Genelec 8380A's would work great toed-in like this.

 

[Duke]

View attachment 479570

Also, couldn't help but notice that the horizontal directivity down to about 100 Hz is pretty good. To a ballpark first approximation, looks to me like it's arguably competitive with a cardioid down to about 350 Hz; too bad we can't see beyond 90 degrees to either side, but it might even remain fairly competitive with a sub-cardioid for at least some of the region between 350 and 100 Hz.

And, you can see the benefit of the lower crossover frequency enabled by the coaxial unit in the vertical directivity. The vertical "glitch" is quite benign.

@Ilkka Rissanen, any comments? By the way, just eyeballing the physical design of the 8380A and the data, imo you guys did a fantastic job. To the best of my knowedge nobody has done a 15" woofer-plus-waveguide speaker since the GedLee Summa, and you guys did it with a smoothly-blended coaxial. I wanted to introduce the next 15" woofer-plus-waveguide speaker but ran into problems trying to produce the waveguide. So I HATE you, but in a GOOD way!!

@Pearljam5000, I would pick this over the 8381A. And price-wise it's not nearly so far out of reach. Save up for THIS one!!

 

[kendall]

@kendall, oh WOW! Prismas!!

I hope you don't mind if I copy, rotate, and crop your image:

View attachment 479867

For anyone wondering about the relevance, I mentioned a "time/intensity trading" setup and this is an example of what one looks like. The front baffles are, by design, toed-in 45 degrees, and the speaker axes criss-cross in front of the listening position. I think the new Genelec 8380A's would work great toed-in like this.

Thanks for sorting the photo. I’ve got LP too close likely, ie, not crossing in front but at my head. Image is still very good.

Only 1 of the 4 AK subs of the sub-array setup today and bass is commanding. Will report back on the full array. My room is massive with 25+ foot ceilings and back wall is 30+ feet away. I’d have no sidewalls except that I’ve got this niche.

Prismas as easy to tune for bass modes since they have 2 rear ports each and I’ve got plugs in all 4 since the sub-array means tons of bass and I like the sound of sealed bass better anyway.

 

[kevinh]

I really like this design approach. Reminds me of Earl Geddes' designs, this is the Abbey (12" woofer, 12" Oblate Spheroid 90-degree waveguide):

View attachment 479847


If all goes well, image of an unfinished Summa (15" woofer, 15" wavegude) at this link; I was unable to copy and paste the image, but the 8380A looks even more like the Summa:

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.OM0Og2MwDqzVOhhB-McaFQHaI-?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain&o=7&rm=3

Looks to me like the designed-for listening axis is 15 degrees. That makes total sense to me. The on-axis response of an axisymmetric waveguide typically has anomalies which disappear once you move off-axis somewhat.

I think the Genelec 8380A would be an excellent candidate for a time/intensity trading set-up.

That was my impression a 3 way Summa with built inn amp. Nice package.

 

[Waxx]

I was thinking the same thing.
But aren't hypex and other high quality digital amps nearly silent as well? The Genelec claims 0db self noise so that's... quite a high bar, ha.

class D amps distort in the highs more than class AB amps. It's very subtile (but measurable), probally not even hearable with most drivers. But with high sensitive drivers like used here for the tweeter you can hear it if you sit close and the amp is full open with no signal. And Genelec is prefectionist enough to care about that unlikely scenario i think...

 

[Soundspace]

I meant something like this View attachment 479563

It would be an 8381

It reminds me of people that want to transform their 911 S into a GT3, I just don't think its a smart idea?

 

[DearSX]

It reminds me of people that want to transform their 911 S into a GT3, I just don't think its a smart idea?

911 S is turbo vs NA, but nothing crazy about a more hard-core 911S, all companies do this, even Porsche to a degree.

 

[MDF]

 

[Pearljam5000]

Who's sending one to Amir

 

[Soundspace]

Who's sending one to Amir

Please don’t do that

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Duke!

Just posted this the other day to a different thread.

Should look familiar to you. View attachment 479857

Smashing picture kendall. What are your subs? And, what is all that junk on the table in the middle?

 

[Pearljam5000]

Please don’t do that

Do what?

 

[kendall]

Smashing picture kendall. What are your subs? And, what is all that junk on the table in the middle?

Thanks, David. Let’s see: a BlueCircle power pipe; various candles; some spare (mostly Fosi and Topping) components, etc.

Things are more sane today since I finished my Ncore mono amps build. Only took 12 years.

Oh, the subs are a 4 piece sub array from Duke, too. After he sold me these he became a big shot in pro audio, specifically making bass amps/cabs for bass players.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thanks, David. Let’s see: a BlueCircle power pipe; various candles; some spare (mostly Fosi and Topping) components, etc.

Things are more sane today since I finished my Ncore mono amps build. Only took 12 years.

Oh, the subs are a 4 piece sub array from Duke, too. After he sold me these he became a big shot in pro audio, specifically making bass amps/cabs for bass players.

12 years!!! Still, Rome wasn't built in a day.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

It's absolutely asinine to get audio impressions from a man with 81 year old ears, regardless of his resume.