Genelec 8020D + subwoofer 7040 or Genelec 8030

[Miguelón]

Hello, hello!

Recently we decided to buy a pair of active monitors to improve a digital piano (Kawai ES 920) and for ambient music.

I went to Neumann KH 80 DSP but after a week we find it unusually boring and not so clean in highs.

From many speakers we tried, Genelec 8030 was the best in sound, but little problematic with room acoustics and perhaps so “big sound” for ambient music when we read or home tasks. But very good for the piano.

We thought on another possibility: Genelec 8020 which has not enough bass for the piano but quite good to casual listening, adding the Genelec 7040 sub when playing serious pieces (romantic or rock, baroque and neoclassical usually don’t go under 70 Hz or even higher).

So our doubt is between 8030 with no sub, or 8020 with 7040 sub as we believe we’ll have more control of the frequency range and acoustics.

Are we thinking right, does 4 inch speakers plus a 6,5 subwoofer sound better than 5 inch monitors alone?

 

[EAXAE]

My vote goes for the configuration with the subwoofer. It suits a casual listening better, sound will be more full and engaging. Don't thing you'll experience any problems using it with piano either.

 

[Miguelón]

My vote goes for the configuration with the subwoofer. It suits a casual listening better, sound will be more full and engaging. Don't thing you'll experience any problems using it with piano either.

Thanks for your advice and opinion!

We love the sound of the Genelec 8030, is quite natural and musical, and flatter than 8020 but in our room this last one sound better and more articulated: we can leave the music on for hours and is not fatiguing nor resonating but we can perceive well the instruments.

For a serious musical session (a live concert, an opera, or specially well recorded music) none of the two speakers will be complete enough, so we thought that with the 7040 sub we can just plug and enjoy for a while the fuller spectrum. Perhaps also for a film.

I also red on other threads than often a sub improves the sound of the monitors, as the drivers moves better out of the low boundary, so hope will love the 2.1 configuration

 

[kemmler3D]

To clean up the bass and integrate the sub, you will want to use EQ to correct the room - but otherwise I think both are good options.

I recently picked up some 4030s (8030 with different connectors) and I'm pretty happy.

 

[Miguelón]

To clean up the bass and integrate the sub, you will want to use EQ to correct the room - but otherwise I think both are good options.

I recently picked up some 4030s (8030 with different connectors) and I'm pretty happy.

Do you think the dip switches wont be enough for room corrections?

Actually we use Wiim Pro Plus as streamer and DAC, have some graphic and parametric EQs but for subjective reasons I prefer to keep digital signal as unaltered as possible

 

[Miguelón]

I recently picked up some 4030s (8030 with different connectors) and I'm pretty happy

Nice variant, I saw the specs on the Genelec website: I like the +2 Treble boost for improve distant listening

 

[kemmler3D]

Do you think the dip switches wont be enough for room corrections?

They give you different roll-offs but they don't deal with room modes, because those vary with every room. So either way you would benefit from EQ / DRC.

 

[Miguelón]

They give you different roll-offs but they don't deal with room modes, because those vary with every room. So either way you would benefit from EQ / DRC.

Thanks for the advice, I prefer not using filtres on the digital stage of the path.

If is just for reaching the 35-60 Hz that the 8020 lacks when playing piano or on some selected auditions, I can tolerate some irregularities. The problem may be the floor as we don’t have any carpet so should resonate quite strong…

 

[Shadrach]

Genelec 8030C and at least one 7050 sub.
I tried 8030Cs without a sub and eventually bought one and then another 7050 sub.
It's not what the subs do for the sub bass (below 85Hz with this combination). it's the load they take off the 8030C bass drive unit that made the most noticable improvement.

 

[Miguelón]

Genelec 8030C and at least one 7050 sub.
I tried 8030Cs without a sub and eventually bought one and then another 7050 sub.
It's not what the subs do for the sub base (below 85Hz with this combination). it's the load they take off the 8030C bass drive unit that made the most noticable improvement.

Of course that combination will provide the wider frequency range and SPL.

But also more energy on the lows which is the more problematic section, the 4 inch monitor goes enough loud and deep for our listening taste.

The advantage of 8020 plus 7040 is the versatility of having a pair of monitors that fit well with the room and music preferences (that fact is verified at home) with an additional extra bass for some occasions.

Most of the time, the subwoofer will stay unplugged…

 

[Shadrach]

Of course that combination will provide the wider frequency range and SPL.

But also more energy on the lows which is the more problematic section, the 4 inch monitor goes enough loud and deep for our listening taste.

The advantage of 8020 plus 7040 is the versatility of having a pair of monitors that fit well with the room and music preferences (that fact is verified at home) with an additional extra bass for some occasions.

Most of the time, the subwoofer will stay unplugged…

I found getting the subs off the floor took the annoyance away.
I don't listen loud in my 4m x 3m x 2.2m living room, but I do like a tunefull bass and to hear the pedal hit the skin on the bass drum.

 

[Miguelón]

I found getting the subs off the floor took the annoyance away.
I don't listen loud in my 4m x 3m x 2.2m living room, but I do like a tunefull bass and to hear the pedal hit the skin on the bass drum.

I love a well tuned bass also, but maybe is my skin what will be hit (not the drum) if my neighbor downstairs hear the sub so loud.

I will try the relatively contented 7040 over some rubbers to experiment with it, never had a 2.1 system and surely will open some new possibilities with the piano and music

 

[Miguelón]

I found getting the subs off the floor took the annoyance away.
I don't listen loud in my 4m x 3m x 2.2m living room, but I do like a tunefull bass and to hear the pedal hit the skin on the bass drum.

Genelec 8030C and at least one 7050 sub.
I tried 8030Cs without a sub and eventually bought one and then another 7050 sub.
It's not what the subs do for the sub bass (below 85Hz with this combination). it's the load they take off the 8030C bass drive unit that made the most noticable improvement.

Humm, perhaps you’re right, I love so much Genelec 8030 sound: never get tired listening.

After my last response I re-listened carefully to both speakers (8020 and 8030) and applied the -4 dB low shelving on both speakers (I was using only -2 dB filter).

The “humm” that distributed me sometimes on the 8030 disappeared and sounded perfect, whereas the 8020 showed more irregularities on mids an highs resonances that surely we could regret over time.

For instance I will keep my 8030, return the 8020 and buy a floor stand for my monitor to listening without desktop reflexions (actually is over a marble table decoupled with my medicine textbooks below )

Thanks for your advices; surely is not a matter of the size of speaker in this case (room is like yours: 4x3 m aprox) but better adapting monitor and setup.

I don’t know if with the 8030 will need a sub, was a thought when considering the 8020s, but 7040 or 7050 can be good options to try. Genelec recommends 7050 for 8030 and 8040 but don’t know if 7040 will equally works well as I don’t need high SPL for my music