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Upgrade Focal Aria 906 to Genelec 8340 or Genelec G4 (and minidsp)?

Tangband

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A pair of Genelec 8030c is really good to, and much cheaper, and they have dip switches on the back to correct wall placement. They have dip switches on the back for wall placement, and you can then individually tune L and R loudspeaker.

With wall placement, a slightly better sound can be gained with a 2-5 cm thick acoustic material, about 100*80 cm right behind each of the loudspeaker. You then get rid of some of the diffraction above 500 Hz from the speakers arriving within 2 ms, which sounds bad for the ears.
 

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niesfisch

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A pair of Genelec 8030c is really good to, and much cheaper, and they have dip switches on the back to correct wall placement. They have dip switches on the back for wall placement, and you can then individually tune L and R loudspeaker.
thanks for your reply again. in my original post i was suggesting different options. there was also one with dip switches. one of the people suggested that dip switches are far inferior to the dsp approach and the dip switches won't be sufficient to correct the wrong placement . i think the LED light can't be switched of with 80* series. so we come back to the WAF ... LED needs to be switched off :) i was also considering the "home" version ... the G4 (with analog rca connects), but from most what i read it's just the studio version in a more home prove form factor which is not worth the price. someone else also mention to just get minidsp with diract and place this between the preamp and amp to have room correction this way. so as always in life .. too many options, pros and cons ... but all very luxurious problems :) do you by any chance have some links to technical explanations concerning "digital/active crossovers inside a genelec/active speaker vs. something like a minidsp" ... i understand that the active speaker can be tuned by the manufacturer as they have everything under their control. anyway thanks again, really appreciated.

about 100*80 cm right behind each of the loudspeaker
WAF :)
 

Rja4000

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Before getting into all that trouble, did you try to correct room response with your current speakers ?
Buy or borrow the miniDSP measurement mic, download REW and try to build a correction curve.
Then try it.
It might be that all you need is Roon and a tailor-made correction.
 

Trell

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thanks for your reply again. in my original post i was suggesting different options. there was also one with dip switches. one of the people suggested that dip switches are far inferior to the dsp approach and the dip switches won't be sufficient to correct the wrong placement . i think the LED light can't be switched of with 80* series. so we come back to the WAF ... LED needs to be switched off :) i was also considering the "home" version ... the G4 (with analog rca connects), but from most what i read it's just the studio version in a more home prove form factor which is not worth the price. someone else also mention to just get minidsp with diract and place this between the preamp and amp to have room correction this way. so as always in life .. too many options, pros and cons ... but all very luxurious problems :) do you by any chance have some links to technical explanations concerning "digital/active crossovers inside a genelec/active speaker vs. something like a minidsp" ... i understand that the active speaker can be tuned by the manufacturer as they have everything under their control. anyway thanks again, really appreciated.


WAF :)

The DIP switches to adjust for placement is inferior to GLM, but they can still help and that's why they've been around on monitors for a very long time.

Below are GLM frequency response for two of the 8330A I have for a desktop system in my home office as an example, though the use case different that yours as I sit between 60 cm to 100 cm from them. There is also a Genelec 7360A subwoofer but that is not in the graphs below.

You can get very good results with miniDSP and Dirac as well, but for my use case I did not want to have an additional external box on my desktop. GLM limits you to use Genelec subwoofers for room correction, though, so for use with non-Genelec subwoofers miniDSP is a good choice from what I've read. (I've never used Dirac myself).

1635583008908.png


1635583055190.png
 
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niesfisch

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Before getting into all that trouble, did you try to correct room response with your current speakers ?
Buy or borrow the miniDSP measurement mic, download REW and try to build a correction curve.
Then try it.
It might be that all you need is Roon and a tailor-made correction.
yeah, good point. i have a umik1 ... i should just set it up and do some measurements to get an idea what going on.
 

Rja4000

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sorry, but how? i do not have a minidsp/roon
Try Roon
There is a tutorial somewhere explaining how to convert a REW curve into a Roon filter.
Then, I think, the Yamaha can be used as an endpoint.
You'd need a Roon server though, but I think that could be a Raspberry.

My Aria 906 are connected to a Bluesound Power amp, that I use with Roon with such a correction.
Well, Roon interest is mainly multiroom, though.
 

Trell

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no, that is not possible. no place for stands, only wall mounts are an option.

Note that the Genelec have a minimum distance requirement of 5 cm to the wall behind. Genelec sells accessories for various mounting options, and even a VESA adapter so you have more third-party choices for wall mounting.
 
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niesfisch

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Note that the Genelec have a minimum distance requirement of 5 cm to the wall behind. Genelec sells accessories for various mounting options, and even a VESA adapter so you have more third-party choices for wall mounting.
yeah, i read that in the manual. i also had a look at the various mounting options which will add another 200 euro to the bill ;-)
 

Trell

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yeah, i read that in the manual. i also had a look at the various mounting options which will add another 200 euro to the bill ;-)

I feel your pain. :) I bought the Genelec 8000-323B desktop stands at 77 Euro each, and four of them in total. With them I can use the space below the monitors which is very useful on a cramped desktop, and I can also angle the monitors up a as well.

The 8340A weighs 8.4 kg and the 8040B weighs 9.4 kg, and mounting them at a distance of 5 cm will require proper secure wall mounting. Get ones where you can angle the speakers as wanted (up/down, sideways) to point at main listening position.
 
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niesfisch

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this is my favourite so far
1200x1200.jpg

when i have time (kids gone) i will try to measure with REW ...
 

Trell

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this is my favourite so far
1200x1200.jpg

when i have time (kids gone) i will try to measure with REW ...

You'll have to check that cable inputs and other needed controls are accessible when you have attached the wall mount. It could be that you have to connect the cables first as well as set any DIP switches and power. If you don't intend to have the GLM Kit connected after setup you might want to leave a short RJ45 patch cable for ease of reconnecting to GLM later on.
 

DSJR

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Ok, I understand.
Sometimes WAF gets in the way of correct loudspeaker placement, and you have to live with that. GLM can correct the wrong placement somewhat, and 8340 can be put on a wall. And no need to buy a better streamer.:)
All I can respectfully add here is that domestic stereo's are not usually used for monitoring a commercial recording and that many other factors take precedent when there's a partner and kids to factor in - been there, done that and nearly had ATC centre domes and tweeters ruined by a three year old's deliberately inquisitive fingers back in the day (no grilles on these particular speakers and yes, I did forgive him :) ). We're often forced to have speakers in odd positions and THAT's why the likes of Genelec put the dip switches as a minimum to help tune the bass and top balance as best as possible. I've seen many pics of smaller Genelecs on work-station desktops quite close to a back wall and some owners use little isolation stands to lift them a bit.

I wish the OP well :)
 
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Head_Unit

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no place for stands, only wall mounts are an option.
It happens. Can you fit CC900 on their side? Sigh, I suppose the sides are not flat, nor are they cheap. If stands are out of the question, maybe you could hang 936 by chains from the ceiling? o_O Anyway that's a different subject. I like Genelec but I don't think that will sound amazingly better than your Focal, nor fix your response problems.

I agree you need room correction. We have the same open + corner placement problem. Audyssey really flattened out the response. You could clearly hear peaks and dips before with a sweep tone. After, greatly reduced, it was impressive. That's not to say Dirac or miniDSP are incapable, however, I don't think the DIP switch settings will fix your problem.

If you can fit a subwoofer, or better two, that could help flatten response as well...IF you have the patience to experiment with the placement and the room correction. Audysseys Sub EQ HT handles two subwoofers independently; I'm not sure about Dirac or miniDSP.
 
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niesfisch

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It happens. Can you fit CC900 on their side? Sigh, I suppose the sides are not flat, nor are they cheap. If stands are out of the question, maybe you could hang 936 by chains from the ceiling? o_O Anyway that's a different subject. I like Genelec but I don't think that will sound amazingly better than your Focal, nor fix your response problems.

I agree you need room correction. We have the same open + corner placement problem. Audyssey really flattened out the response. You could clearly hear peaks and dips before with a sweep tone. After, greatly reduced, it was impressive. That's not to say Dirac or miniDSP are incapable, however, I don't think the DIP switch settings will fix your problem.

If you can fit a subwoofer, or better two, that could help flatten response as well...IF you have the patience to experiment with the placement and the room correction. Audysseys Sub EQ HT handles two subwoofers independently; I'm not sure about Dirac or miniDSP.
my package with the genelec 8340 + glm kit arrived yesterday ... if i find the time i will hook them up on monday.

20211218_092618.jpg
 

daftcombo

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I own 906 and 8030C.
The Focal have a larger, more immersive sound. The Genelec sound smoother.
Personnally I would go for 8350A for an upgrade of any of them.
 

Tangband

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my package with the genelec 8340 + glm kit arrived yesterday ... if i find the time i will hook them up on monday.

View attachment 173188
Nice .:)
Feeding 8340 with a digital signal from the Yamaha spdif-out in preamp mode can regulate the volume digitaly. Much better sound this way than analog out from wxc50. The spdif signal from wxc50 to one of the Genelecs. Then use a dmx 110 Ohm cable from that speaker to the other Genelec.

The first thing you should do when hooking up GLM is to lower the digital output internaly in 8340 with - 20 dB and save it into the loudspeaker. That way you can put away GLM when you have done your room correction finnished, and use wxc50 as volume regulator.
You gonna need some shelving manually in GLM after the room correction from 125 Hz and below, at about + 6 dB.
Good luck experimenting.
 

cata02

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I have the same room asymmetry problem, but i can place stands and can ensure some space against the back wall, few tens of cm.
Though i find the 8340 budget impossible to stomach for my needs: movies and music.

I also run a Focal now; but a soundbar, the Dimension one.
 
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