Genelec 8010A Powered Studio Monitor Review

[LTig]

what would you say about 8020s? I have a pair that I really like but think they need a sub, which I haven't picked up yet.

They sound fine indeed, but only after listening to them with a sub you notice what you'd missed before.

I use a cheap Kef PSW2000 sub under my desk which I got for a pizza, in parallel to the 8020a which are set to 80 Hz highpass. Measurements with the Umik 1 revealed that I didn't need to apply any EQ. Nevertheless, although this sub certainly isn't the best, the resulting SQ is also certainly better than without sub. So IMV adding a cheap used sub for little money is worth to explore.

 

[denzel200219]

How do these compare to the Kali in5 in terms of tonality, timbre, clarity, etc, disregarding bass?

 

[Ellebob]

Kali for midrange, 8010 maybe a little better on the highs. 8010 has a wider soundstage. Obviously, Kali for micro-dynamics.
Without a sub definitely Kali with a sub I would still go Kali but much closer at moderate volume.

 

[denzel200219]

Why are these speakers seen as a joke or not capable of "real mastering"? Are they not as good as larger studio monitors when paired with a sub and used in nearfield?

 

[LTig]

Why are these speakers seen as a joke or not capable of "real mastering"? Are they not as good as larger studio monitors when paired with a sub and used in nearfield?

IMV they are not capable to deliver the clean SPL (even with sub) required for professional mastering in nearfield.

 

[Buzz Roll]

These speakers are definitely not a joke, but they are not designed for mastering.

 

[montyliam]

I have these and whilst they are very SPL limited, tonally they are very similar to the other higher Genelec models (I have 8030c and 8350a). With a subwoofer, crossed 120hz or above, they can get to comfortable levels in the nearfield, push them and they become very distorted, but this is to be expected from a speaker of this size. The 8030c is almost double the price here in the UK, but is a significant step-up in terms of SPL.

 

[JBL4345]

Hi Armir,

I agree this is a good loudspeaker for the intended application.

I’ve watched several of your YouTube interviews and l think l can see where you are combining from.

However l don’t believe you are offering a real service to your audience or manufacturers until you put some perspective and context around your review portfolio.

By this l mean developing a criteria for a standard that can be applied rationally to consumer loudspeaker systems test reporting.

The criteria might cover
Price
Size or type
Acoustic output
Bandwidth

In other works what is it you are testing?
Then apply it to a know baseline loudspeaker in that class or category.

The problem l see is that without any framework your test results could be taken out of context or the wrong loudspeaker purchased for the wrong reasons. Particularly of layman consumers who do not fully understand the test results.

A small dsp powered monitor might perform well at one metre with a reference output of 85 db with a peak output of 205 db. But at three to four metres the output will drop then to twelve db. How well the loudspeaker performs inter those conditions is an entirely different scenario.

My suggestion is therefore to pick out a best performing loudspeaker across different categories. Your measurements portfolio will then have more meaning to a consumer.

I would also sit down with some distinguishied loudspeaker designers, researchers and transducer engineers to get a more in depth understanding of where loudspeaker design and manufacturing is at.

Also have a questionnaire for consumers who send in the loudspeaker to get an understanding of why they bought it, if they like it ect?

A non dsp or self powered loudspeaker is challenged by the uncontrolled home listening environment. Some systems work better than others in certain ways. Your feedback allied to your tests would go a long way to profiling a well engineered home loudspeaker system.

Lastly, not all manufacturers have access to a Klippel scanner. You may therefore consider offering a professional service to manufacturers for prototype development. As you have said you don’t have a business case in monetary terms for the Klippel scanner. This in many cases is also true for many consumer loudspeaker manufacturers.

 

[AnalogSteph]

Why are these speakers seen as a joke or not capable of "real mastering"? Are they not as good as larger studio monitors when paired with a sub and used in nearfield?

Going by the measurements, you'd want to cross these as high as 150 or even 200 Hz, right where their midbass bump is, so crossing over to a sub properly could be bit tricky (not to mention the issue of placing that - the Kali IN-UNF system has a sub designed to go on the desk for a reason). The bass tilt might help a bit, not sure how much though.

Then there's also the rather annoying issue of input sensitivity, where you've got the choice between "very sensitive" (-10 dB on: 96 dB / 1 m @ 0 dBu) and "princess on a pea" (-10 dB off: 106 dB / 1 m @ 0 dBu), part of why hiss is difficult to avoid with them. The spec of <=5 dB SPL(A) @ 1 m anechoic may not seem that much until you realize that typical nearfield usage of speakers that size involves distances of 0.3-0.5 m or so, at which point we may be talking 11-15 dB(A). I think these were designed more as surround speakers in multichannel setups.

Not long ago I ran into a guy with 8010s on another forum who was desperately looking for another DAC as he was having all kinds of issues with power-on pop noise and such (he did already have an ADI-2 DAC and misc. other not-exactly-crap ones). I advised him to turn on the -10 dB DIP switch (which it seems he was unaware of previously) and to look for a passive monitor controller.

 

[changer]

I have the -10 dB switch engaged to mitigate hiss (it's inaudible this way from a desk position), and they play louder than I can bear. SPL is really not an issue. I have listened to a sound art performance with four 8010s arranged in a courtyard, positioned at windows of the sourrounding appartments, and I thought the very loud sound was from a full fledged PA system.

One should equalize the midbass hump and cross the speaker at the usual sub crossover frequencies, why would one want to match a frequency inaccuracy and limit the sub thus?

I listen to the speaker with -4 dB switch engaged, sometimes I even prever engaging both the switches for -2 dB and -4 dB to arrive at -6 dB bass tilt. I often wonder how @amirm is doing all of his reviews without bass management. I think the 8010s sound clumsy without the bass tilt engaged, muffled, tweeter brilliance on top of featureless bottom. I like the sound a lot with bass tilt engaged. Not nearly as beautiful as my other system, but very usable for casual listening.

 

[Weeb Labs]

I have to wonder as to the volume levels at which people are listening to these. My desktop LCRs (all 8010A) are placed apporoximately 65cm away and at this distance are capable of reaching very uncomfortable volume levels without audible distortion.

 

[AnalogSteph]

That's exactly what their stock tuning is supposed to achieve. The steep dropoff is limiting excursion (keep in mind that's ~1/f^4 if SPL were to be kept constant), and a bit of midbass bump was added so that the sound wouldn't become too thin subjectively. Obviously this is not going to work equally well on all music, and at least yours truly is quite averse to "papery" sounding low end. If you are running them fullrange and find they can go more than loud enough, a healthy boost in the mid-50s should do a lot to fill out the low end. (That's what I did with my EVE SC203s which sport a very similar tuning.)

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

(keep in mind that's ~1/f^4 if SPL were to be kept constant)

This may be a bit tangential, but can you explain what you mean by this?

 

[AnalogSteph]

Here's an example using simulated max SPL handling of an 8 cm midwoofer (Visaton SC8N) in 1.5 liters closed box (blue) vs. back-ported BR tuned to 100 Hz (red). Should be similar enough for our purposes. The slope below ~250 Hz is the result of excursion limiting. (I used Boxsim for this with some changes to display options. Ignore the black curve, I just put both into one box for simplicity's sake.)

You can see how bass reflex temporarily bumps things up to a useful level - which is very welcome - but then they drop a lot faster below tuning, which is the area in question. The speaker basically goes from hero to zero in an octave, dropping a good 40 dB.

Tuning an active speaker with a steep dropoff substantially below BR tuning frequency will thus help a lot in keeping it from losing its bearings when confronted with bass. In this example, if you are happy with a bass extension to 80-90 Hz you'll get plenty of output. If you want anything close to 50 Hz, you better don't expect too much in terms of level handling whenever deep bass is involved. The DSP in the iLoud Micros is basically doing that and adjusting the bass shelf on the fly, and I'm assuming this is a reasonably common things to do in BT speakers (though it can apparently lead to peculiar-sounding artifacts with music).

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

I understand the principles behind steep bass filters to limit excursion. I just thought "~1/f^4" might have been some actual relationship between frequency and excursion that I was unaware of.

 

[changer]

If you are running them fullrange and find they can go more than loud enough, a healthy boost in the mid-50s should do a lot to fill out the low end.

I cannot recommend this. I have done it and usually I strongly believe in EQ-ing bass response, but the 8010s just do not provide satisfactory deep bass when forced. Get a sub instead. And yes, compared to an f3=40 Hz anechoic / 30 Hz in-room system, they do sound papery. No elevated upper bass could help. A sub is needed.