Volts and Scanspeak custom monitors to KRK Rokit Gen 4 Model 5 to Genlec 8030C. A story of a complete system chosen on measurements.

[Waxx]

Glad you like them. And they measure very good, but i got an issue i can't find in the measurements that bothers me. It's more with older models than with the last models, but after a while ear fatigue is making me stop the music on them. I hear that 8030C every week in the radio studio i do broadcast my weekly show, and in that hour and a half i'm in the studio it's not an issue and they do a great job. But when i listen a few hours at once to those speakers i need to stop because it hurts to my ears. I did not find out from measurements (here and others) why that is and that bothers me.

I don't have that with many other neutral and far less neutral speakers (altough some others like Adam, KRK or Yamaha also have it). But for instance Kii audio, ATC or K&H/Neumann monitors (all fairly neutral on measurements) don't have that effect. So i'm searching for years what is the difference and may cause that but don't find it in any measurements...

 

[Shadrach]

…what do you mean level match with a multimeter? There is every chance that you didn’t have the SPL level matched, if you measured a voltage going into the speakers and not the acoustic pressure coming out of them. And in that case, the mis-match in SPL will be a problem for the comparison.

It was the best I could do at the time. I used to have a sound pressure level meter but like a lot of the things I had when I was interested in building loudspeakers it got sold when I found I had more important things to do.

Look here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...equivalent-sinad-discussion.10818/post-302047

Thank you. MZKM directed me to this on another thread.

I will have the opportunity to make a better comparison between the two makes of loudspeaker next week when my daughter goes on holiday and I can borrow the KRKs.
If I was to make the response of the genelecs more like the KRKs with an equaliser then in theory they should then sound more similar. I doubt I could get the response exactly the same even with a parametric equaliser but it should be good enough, say + and - a couple of db throughout the range I can hear.
What has surprised me is just how much difference what are fairly small deviations from the Harman make to the listening experience.
There are of course other parameters such as directivity, construction materials and methods to name just two that I can't alter but it might be an interesting experiment. A bit like Bob Carvers I can make any amplifier sound like any other amplifier challenge.

 

[Shadrach]

Glad you like them. And they measure very good, but i got an issue i can't find in the measurements that bothers me. It's more with older models than with the last models, but after a while ear fatigue is making me stop the music on them. I hear that 8030C every week in the radio studio i do broadcast my weekly show, and in that hour and a half i'm in the studio it's not an issue and they do a great job. But when i listen a few hours at once to those speakers i need to stop because it hurts to my ears. I did not find out from measurements (here and others) why that is and that bothers me.

I don't have that with many other neutral and far less neutral speakers (altough some others like Adam, KRK or Yamaha also have it). But for instance Kii audio, ATC or K&H/Neumann monitors (all fairly neutral on measurements) don't have that effect. So i'm searching for years what is the difference and may cause that but don't find it in any measurements...

I don't know the answer.
I too find some loudspeakers are more comfortable to listen to over extended periods of time. In general though just concentrating on recordings for much over an hour leaves me tired and this effects my perception of the sound.
There are a few things I've found that have a bearing on how long I can concentrate on recorded sound for.
The listening volume. Anything much past the decibel level of ordinary speech becomes tiring quite quickly.
The dynamic range of the recording. The higher the dynamic range the easier I find the recording to listen to.
My state of mind. This has a huge influence on my perception of sound.
The type of music. I like classical music but I can't tolerate it on a stereo system. It just sounds wrong. I go to concerts instead.
My feeling is humans and probably all other species are not designed to be subjected to long periods of exposure to noise.

So far the 8030c provide me with the best listening experience I can recal. My Volts sounded wonderful in a large volume but to me they needed to be played at a volume level that my current living space can't cope with.