I’m thinking the same. I tried an A-B test with the iLouds today, and much prefer the Genelecs. They’re clearer, and vocals are way better. And if I do want some heavy bass for dancing around the room, I can just add it with EQ.
Yes, and they’re the dark grey ones. I wanted white, but they’re out of stock everywhere. I love the raw aluminum ones too. Such a shame neither are available.
A good pair of speakers should never colour the sound, they should sound neutral
If your mix is crap it will sound crap and if your mix is good they will reveal the mix quality
The 8030 do not go down much in low frequencies (8030A went down to 56hz the new 8030C goes down to 47hz) this is why you do not hear a lot the bass- the MTM goes down to 50hz, 40hz at -6db)
Because of the rear port, the Genelec will sound good only if you set them up correctly in your room (not too close to corners, not too close to walls etc)
I used to have the 8030A but i replaced them with the Neumann kh120 becasue they are more precise and goes down to 50-52hz which is quite good
Bass is omnidirectional. It doesn’t matter that much if you have rear or front bass port.
Genelec even recommends placing them close to the wall in certain situations. But it gives a 6db boost per wall it is placed close to.
I agree to disagree
Genelec does recommend putting them close to the wall though, then using the bass cut switch on the back.
I was using the MTMs with the bass cutoff set to 50Hz. 40Hz was a bit fluffy in my room.
They’re great though. I just prefer the Genelecs. Partly for mixing duties, but also because they sound better in the rest of the room, for general listening, or playing guitar.
Also, I can’t tell if the iLouds are turned up too high. It’s impossible for me to hear if they’re too loud. Sometimes they seem super loud, but I can still have a conversation.
With the Yamahas and Genelecs, it’s easy to tell. I wonder what causes this? Possibly something to do with the DSP processing it does?
I prefer the Genelec but maybe the series before 8000, the 10xx was the best genelec product ever made
I always found the 8000 series ( had 8030 and 8020) too boxy
Whereas with the Neumann i don’ t have the boxy sound and if my mix is crap they will sound crap
You probably need reduce the tilt bass by -6db close to a wall
Try, i did not like the result
Less fatiguing high frequencies?
So, relating back to your original post…
There are a set of affordable 8030B’s for sale locally and seriously thinking about picking them up. I’m not sure how well they’ll work in my bedroom corner space, with reflections etc. Also curious if they would really need a sub or not.
I sent the iLouds back, and I’m keeping the Genelecs. They’re great, now I have them dialed in via the dip switches.
I like the detail and the clarity. It’s way better, to me, than even the calibrated iLouds. Side-by-side, I found the iLouds more impressive on the bass, initially. But now I prefer the Genelecs. The sound doesn’t lack. And if I want to jack the bass for some fun when listening, I can do it with the mixer and it sounds great.
Not sure if you’ll need a sub. I do not.
Thanks for the insights. My iLouds are just the standard Micro ones, so might be an even bigger difference. If I can get them in time I will.
If you can afford a sub, i would try one. I love the deep bass i get from my 7350 sub with my 8330’s. It sounds a bit “wimpy” when i turn i off.
So I got the 8030’s, will test them out in the coming week. Built like tanks!
There are 3 models, A, B C
The C’s goes down in LF than the other 2
A and B are previous models, see Genelec’s list here.
For the 8030s, A ran from 2005-2013, B from 2013-2017, and C is the current model.
Mine are the “B” ones.
Yes i know but there are a lot of A and B on the second hand market
A and B’s were going down to 55hz in LF extension - i owned the A’s and i did not like them much, I since changed to Neumann KH120 and I noticed a big difference, I prefer the Neumann
C seems to be a better choice as they have improved a lot the bass extension
Notwithstanding the size, on paper the iLoud MM have better spec then the Genelec 8030b, meaning that you will hear much more bass from the iLoud despite the size
Let me know how you find the Genny’s