"Pro" Active Speaker Aesthestics

[Pearljam5000]

I'm not the Genelec owner here

This is ASR not Fashion Fi
We don't care about how speakers look

 

[nerdoldnerdith]

People are conditioned to prefer what they are used to seeing. I used to think Genelec was ugly until I understood why they were designed the way they were. Gradually I began to appreciate the aesthetics of good speaker design and now a lot of speakers make me cringe because of their obvious design flaws.

 

[Ron Texas]

For a science based forum this is an incredibly subjective topic. Odds and ends: Genelec monitors don't look like any of the other active pro studio monitors. The closest looking in the passive hi fi world is the LS50 as it also has an exposed coaxial driver and the current paint finish is similar to Genelec. Either you like it or you don't. A lot of the active pro studio monitors have an industrial look as in JBL and Neumann. Some people really go for that. Maybe these are OK in the living room if they mounted out of the way and the rest of the furnishings are on the stark side. Often active studio monitors have very useful mounting options unavailable in the consumer Hi-Fi realm. Fancy wood veneers are disappearing on passive hi-fi speakers due to ESG concerns. The replacement is paint, or even so called sustainable materials like bamboo. In the end, it's all what you like and what you can slip pass the Mrs.

 

[nerdoldnerdith]

I remember thinking the iPhone was ugly when it was released because I thought smartphones were supposed to have keyboards.

 

[DMill]

Take the most polarizing design like B&W Nautilus and put it in your Italian mansion with a giant space and it’s

People are conditioned to prefer what they are used to seeing. I used to think Genelec was ugly until I understood why they were designed the way they were. Gradually I began to appreciate the aesthetics of good speaker design and now a lot of speakers make me cringe because of their obvious design flaws.

They have no “flaws” per se. They have a look you may like or not. It is indeed polarizing, but they were designed by a noted artist. In modern rooms they can be beautiful, even to those who have no stake in being an audiophile. To me, I think they look pretty similar to a KEF LS50 which I consider a lifestyle speaker. I don’t own them, they don’t fit my house, but i really don’t understand haters of the Genelec look.

 

[rogu3]

This is ASR not Fashion Fi
We don't care about how speakers look

This forum is called "Speaker Reviews, Measurements, and Discussion". Pretty sure aesthetics fall under the latter, and there are plenty of other threads about looks.

 

[Ron Texas]

Anything which looks cheap is to be avoided. To me that means stuck on vinyl like on the lower priced Elac's and the shiny plastic horns on the JBL 3 series. I suspect a trip to Guitar center would reveal lots of cheap looking active pro studio monitors which are purchased every day by amateur musicians. (No inference intended about the sound quality of the JBL 3 series. I used to have a pair of 305 MkII's and they are incredible for the price. However the shiny plastic picks up scratches too easily.)

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

This is ASR not Fashion Fi
We don't care about how speakers look

I cares about how speaker looks, because these HiFi/Pro speakers are not 199$, all of them are crazy expensive.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I cares about how speaker looks, because these HiFi/Pro speakers are not 199$, all of them are crazy expensive.

Yeah but he's talking about Genelecs like they're some plastic piece of junk
And in reality it's the exact opposite

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Yeah but he's talking about Genelecs like they're some plastic piece of junk
And in reality it's the exact opposite

The problem of genelecs to me are their foot... not the looking from the speaker

Is hard to make them great with the stand, but something like this looks fine

The second picture looks great, but the spikes are not that great looking, but it has the potential of being the better looking 8361 I ever seen

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Yeah but he's talking about Genelecs like they're some plastic piece of junk
And in reality it's the exact opposite

Talking about plastic, the Kef blades meta are made of... plastic XDD

 

[Pearljam5000]

Talking about plastic, the Kef blades meta are made of... plastic XDD

Lol
Exactly

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Lol
Exactly

But, keep in mind.. the blades one meta is better than any Genelec. In fact is the most better measurements speaker out there

 

[Ron Texas]

Talking about plastic, the Kef blades meta are made of... plastic XDD

Fiberglass. There's all kinds of plastic. That's like saying the wings of a 787 are made out of plastic.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

Fiberglass. There's all kinds of plastic. That's like saying the wings of a 787 are made out of plastic.

To be honest if i remember correctly if was a kind of a weird polymerer, but in the end i read it was plastic anyway



I don't know man, i admire so bad the blades but i don't like the looking, i don't have any problem with the cabinet form.. but the foot are a crime... the foot screaming plastic

 

[Ron Texas]

@BrokenEnglishGuy I love Blades and Blade 2's. They are a design statement that also works. However, I'm not about to drop that kind of money on a pair of speakers, even great ones.

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

@BrokenEnglishGuy I love Blades and Blade 2's. They are a design statement that also works. However, I'm not about to drop that kind of money on a pair of speakers, even great ones.

x2, the max i would pay is something around 8000$ for a pair who also do a nice 20hz, i will not feed the industry buy these kind of stuff.

 

[Pearljam5000]

But, keep in mind.. the blades one meta is better than any Genelec. In fact is the most better measurements speaker out there

I'd take the 8381 over any Blade rig regardless of the measurements

 

[BrokenEnglishGuy]

I'd take the 8381 over any Blade rig regardless of the measurements

That's nice! But I'd take any corvette 2023 over the 8381

Pd: Let's don't forget the Kef muon... i mean nobody have that kind of money but that speaker also exist and is also cardiod lol

 

[Pearljam5000]

That's nice! But I'd take any corvette 2023 over the 8381

Pd: Let's don't forget the Kef muon... i mean nobody have that kind of money but that speaker also exist and is also cardiod lol

It's drivers are old by now
So the Blade is way better