Genelec 8050B Studio Monitors

David B · 2023-09-24T17:16:50+00:00

My GAS has gotten the better of me once again. In my pursuit to get the best sound at the piano with my sample libraries I ended up with some very nice but expensive speakers. Switching to the FP90X required me to use studio monitors exclusively for my piano sounds. I wanted to update my outdated Gen 3 KRK monitors. With no success I decided to experiment with the expensive Genelecs. First the 8040s with the 6.5" bass driver. Pretty good. Best so far. If they are so good I wonder what the 8050s sound like with the 8" bass driver. Why did I have to try them out? 🙂 What I like about these monitors. Flat frequency response. I like to start out as flat as possible and add EQ if I want to color the sound to my taste. I want to avoid inherent coloring of the sound baked into the design. Genelec provides a flat response. Clarity at low volumes. This was the biggest difference between the budget monitors and the Genelec. Even compared to the 8040 the 8050 larger bass driver is better. The crossover frequency is lower on the 8050 which I think adds clarity to the sound by alleviating some of the workload on the bass driver. The bass roll-off is lower on the 8050 which meas I don't have to play loud to hear the lower frequencies. The difference between playing through the 8050s and my Sennheiser headphones is almost non-existent (except for the sound stage). Good headphones usually sound better than speakers. However, not when you have awesome speakers. Build construction. Most monitors on the market are made with MDF/particle board. Not good for someone who moves regularly. If I live longer I'll probably move a few more times in my career. Genelec are made out of cast aluminum and will probably survive the apocalypse. What I don't like about them. The price. The monitors cost more than my FP90X. 😳 The color. I don't care for the dark gray sparkly finish. I've got an email into Genelec to see if I could paint them and still maintain my warranty. Some miscellaneous thoughts. Genelec has been an industry leader for a long time. They still service models from decades ago. These are built to last and I'll probably keep them until Jesus comes. I also like the way the inputs on the back are orientated. Very sleek. I also like the way the ISS (Intelligent Signal Sensing) works. After an hour of no signal they go into a power saving mode. LED turn off and they use less than .5 watts. So I can keep them on all the time. What I like is that they wake up immediately when a signal is present. The KRK would take some cajoling to wake up. One speaker would usually wake up before the other and it would usually take several seconds for both to be responsive. Genelecs are instantaneous (maybe a half a second). Finally, the monitors rock when it comes to listening to music while I workout or whatever. I can add some EQ if I need and the speakers really fill my space with a HiFi sound. I was hoping I wouldn't like these and could save some money with less expensive monitors. As usual my wife is right, my taste often exceeds my station in life. 😎 God Bless, David

David B

QuasiUnaFantasia Would I be inspired to ever do something similar? No, not in a million years.

I was a little nervous since these speakers are so expensive. Although, as soon as I got the go ahead from Genelec HQ I knew it had to be done. 😀

God Bless,
David

MacMacMac

QuasiUnaFantasia Would I be inspired to ever do something similar? No, not in a million years.

As for me ... I'm mixed. I might have tried to do this when I was younger. But this old man doesn't do many of the things he used to. Aging sux.

QuasiUnaFantasia

MacMacMac I once heard Victor Borge in a show, (allegedly) recalling an interview he had earlier participated in:

Journalist: "Mr. Borge, how does it feel to get old?"
V. Borge: "Better than the alternative!"

David Lai

I showed the video to my dad and he said that he also enjoys looking at the original, and comments on the interesting shape the Genelecs are -- shaped like an egg of sorts, instead of a big box. I'm sure the enclosure also contributes to the physicality of the sound you hear.

Khuja Wangtishvili

David Lai I'm sure the enclosure also contributes to the physicality of the sound you hear.

Indeed, box shape is one of the most ceitical aspect of speaker design, and very minor changed in few place can make speakers sound ver different.

David B

Khuja Wangtishvili Indeed, box shape is one of the most ceitical aspect of speaker design, and very minor changed in few place can make speakers sound ver different.

Genelec's research indicates that a spherical cabinet shape has the least interaction with drivers resulting in the flattest frequency response. Genelec calls their cabinet shape a Minimum Diffraction Enclosure because it uses curves to eliminate all edges and flatten the response of the monitor. I thought their monitors looked kind of weird at first because I was used to seeing rectangular shaped cabinets. Now that I've been looking at my Genelecs every other monitor looks weird. 😀

Genelec seems to have put a lot of thought and research over the decades into the design of their monitors. Every single 8000 series monitor is tested and calibrated at their facility in Finland where the monitors are manufactured.

God Bless,
David

MacMacMac

Is it the INTERIOR shape that matters? Or the EXTERIOR shape?
Or both?

HZPiano

MacMacMac

Very much both!

Cheers and happy cabinetry,

Khuja Wangtishvili

HZPiano Very much both!

Cheers and happy cabinetry,

HZ

Indeed both. And indeed Genelec is right here - rounded/spherical boxes have indeed much lower impact on unwanted resonances and general sound production.

So why then most speakers have squared edges and shapes? Mostly due to aesthetics in our homes 😉

Jose EB5AGV

@David B good job, really!

Now perhaps you have modified the sound by adding that extra layer… for better or for worse, you will never know 😉

RIP

HZPiano

Very much both!

Citation needed. I would speculate internal only

navindra

David B Very nice! This is just a whole other level. Thanks so much for documenting and sharing this!

David Lai

David B Genelec's research indicates that a spherical cabinet shape has the least interaction with drivers resulting in the flattest frequency response. Genelec calls their cabinet shape a Minimum Diffraction Enclosure

Interesting, David. I've heard an egg-shaped speaker before, from HiVi / Swan. I have such a pair in China, it's amazing that a 4-inch woofer could produce low frequencies comparable to that of a 5-and-a-quarter-inch driver unit. The only problem was, I thought they sounded a tad warm. But I do have to say, round shapes are indeed good for sound.

Khuja Wangtishvili

RIP Citation needed. I would speculate internal only

Actually external shape is far more important than internal. Cabinet shape will determinate aldo your crossover design (so length from center of the driver to another driver, and lengs from the edge of the driver basket to the enclosure edge). There are a lot of variables here, and cabinet shape is also determined by its bass section design (closed, bass reflex, transmission line). It all has an effect for how wide will be speaker sound dispersion, how big and where distortions will happen and and speaker frequency response, which afterwards is being made with appropriate filters (crossover).
In the shortest words I could explain.

There are a lot of diy sites and best forum is speaker section on diyaudio.com , if you want to more know.

David B

Jose EB5AGV Now perhaps you have modified the sound by adding that extra layer… for better or for worse, you will never know 😉

Yeah. I wondered the same thing. Genelec said that painting would only impact the aesthetics and not the performance. The aluminum cabinets are lightweight, stiff, and easy to damp to yield a "dead" structure. Their G series (home consumer line) has a slightly different coating and yields the same frequency response as their professional 8000 series. They even offer a "Raw" aluminum cabinet in the 8000 line with no coating that also has the same frequency response.

Consistency is one of the things I like about Genelec. You don't have to buy them in a pair because each one leaves the factory sounding the same.

God Bless,
David

David B

I'm trying to get the lighting more consistent so one speaker doesn't look a lot darker than the other one.

Here is a before/After. My wife likes the original color better and says I shouldn't have painted them. 🤦‍♂️
How many of you prefer the original color better? You won't hurt my feelings. I can take it. 💪

God Bless,
David

HZPiano

RIP Citation needed

Ok, so I'll cite:

Khuja Wangtishvili 😄.

There are a ton of variables at play. And indeed, the internal shape/design is of high importance too, and to complicate matters further: through bass ports and the like, internal/external design decisions relate and influence one another.

It tires me to even think about the complexity of all of this…

Cheers and happy compromises,

HZPiano

David B How many of you prefer the original color better?

Well, I usually consider the larger picture and given the combination with your piano and other elements, I'd prefer a matte/eggshell black. In other contexts, who knows, maybe the original color.

What disturbes me most -- aesthetically -- with these and many other monitors is the shape and bare-driver fronts. They would (visually) draw too much of my attention.

My sweet little affordable Wharfedale 11.1s (of which I own three*) pairs) have a very cool design when the magnet-mounted fabric panels are left off, which I quite like, yet for the above reason (and for dust protection!) I leave them on still.

Cheers and happy… personal preferences,

*) Two pairs in black are used to form my piano sound; one pair in white (with black fabric panels) are in use with my hifi+TV setup).

MacMacMac

I pay no heed to the speakers.

I see the sheet music.
I see the keys.
I hear the sound.

The speakers are practically invisible.

jdg78

David B How many of you prefer the original color better? You won't hurt my feelings

I don’t really mind the original color so much, though would I prefer black if given a choice. However, I think I prefer the matte finish of the original better - there are so many reflection points on the speakers due to the unconventional shape that the sheen of the black paint makes them stand out a bit.

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