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 I wanted to update my outdated Gen 3 KRK monitors.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

Genelec does offer custom colors.

God Bless,
David

QuasiUnaFantasia

If they could do one which looked like peeking through a small window, looking over a tranquil lake, then that would be interesting. Especially if there were some swans floating, poised and elegant, amongst water lily's.

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