My main system comprising an Esoteric RZ-1 and PMC DB1i speakers wasn't getting much use and I'd kind of grown tired of the sound. Even for quite a compact setup it still took up a bit more room than ideal (Chebby syndrome?) so I decided to sell them and use the money for a set of small actives I could put back in the living room.
So, I replaced a set of cheap Fostex PM0.4n actives in my living room with the Genelecs. Ideally I would've liked white, but the Genelec G Two actives speakers were considerably more expensive. I like the slightly blobby rounded design of the Genelecs and I think it looks good in a domestic environment. The line I'm pushing is that these Finnish speakers are a great match for our Artek furniture. I love the aluminium cabinets and the sound gives the impression of having very little colouration from the cabinet. The drivers have grills in front of them which is a bonus seeing as I have two little kids. This has been one of my major issues with using professional monitors - the fact that they almost never have grills or anything to discourage the inquisitive fingers of toddlers.
The 8020Cs are actually slightly smaller than my Fostex's, but boy are they powerful. Although the wattage rates at only about 40 watts per channel these tiny speakers put out volume and bass far greater than I'd expect or even thought possible. I've used actives before, but I thought it impossible to get so much bass from such a small enclosure. They don't go that deep, but certainly deep enough for my small living room and much deeper than anything that size should be able to. Luckily the bass tilt/shelving is very effective and gives me much better bass management options than I had with my old setup where bass modes and nulls in my living room were the biggest issue.
Overall the sound is very natural, clean and balanced with plenty of detail without it being intrusive. So currently my living room setup is the Genelecs, a cheap FiiO DAC being fed by an Apple TV and music being streamed from my computer or now using Apple Music directly from my phone. Just using the volume control in the Apple software (I realize this actually impacts the sound quality, but at low volumes this isn't really an issue anyway). I have to say it sounds wonderful. I will probably get a better DAC in the not too distant future, or maybe even a compact DAC/preamp/headphone amp. to allow better control of the volume and more connectivity, but the whole thing is very elegant now that I have a streaming service I can run from my phone (or iPod touch or iPad, etc.) without even turning on my computer.
The Genelecs image beautifully amd have a great soundstage. I have them on a wooden cabinet at the moment, but considering the power with which they can play I can hear the negative effect this has on the soundstage. Despite their diminutive size, I think they would work much better on some sturdy stands, so I will experiment and see what the best compromise is.
To be honest, if I'd been more aware when buying my initial setup I probably would've gone for some bigger Genelecs combined with a DAC/pre like the Luxman DA-200 or maybe something like an M-DAC which would've given me a remote.
Even though both my officer and living room setups utilize active speakers (Adam A7X in my office), this isn't to say that the active route is for everybody (if I had more room I probably would've traded my RZ-1 for a meaty Luxman amplifier), but it's certainly a wonderful alternative that can provide great bang for your buck (pound, yen or preferred currency).
So, I replaced a set of cheap Fostex PM0.4n actives in my living room with the Genelecs. Ideally I would've liked white, but the Genelec G Two actives speakers were considerably more expensive. I like the slightly blobby rounded design of the Genelecs and I think it looks good in a domestic environment. The line I'm pushing is that these Finnish speakers are a great match for our Artek furniture. I love the aluminium cabinets and the sound gives the impression of having very little colouration from the cabinet. The drivers have grills in front of them which is a bonus seeing as I have two little kids. This has been one of my major issues with using professional monitors - the fact that they almost never have grills or anything to discourage the inquisitive fingers of toddlers.
The 8020Cs are actually slightly smaller than my Fostex's, but boy are they powerful. Although the wattage rates at only about 40 watts per channel these tiny speakers put out volume and bass far greater than I'd expect or even thought possible. I've used actives before, but I thought it impossible to get so much bass from such a small enclosure. They don't go that deep, but certainly deep enough for my small living room and much deeper than anything that size should be able to. Luckily the bass tilt/shelving is very effective and gives me much better bass management options than I had with my old setup where bass modes and nulls in my living room were the biggest issue.
Overall the sound is very natural, clean and balanced with plenty of detail without it being intrusive. So currently my living room setup is the Genelecs, a cheap FiiO DAC being fed by an Apple TV and music being streamed from my computer or now using Apple Music directly from my phone. Just using the volume control in the Apple software (I realize this actually impacts the sound quality, but at low volumes this isn't really an issue anyway). I have to say it sounds wonderful. I will probably get a better DAC in the not too distant future, or maybe even a compact DAC/preamp/headphone amp. to allow better control of the volume and more connectivity, but the whole thing is very elegant now that I have a streaming service I can run from my phone (or iPod touch or iPad, etc.) without even turning on my computer.
The Genelecs image beautifully amd have a great soundstage. I have them on a wooden cabinet at the moment, but considering the power with which they can play I can hear the negative effect this has on the soundstage. Despite their diminutive size, I think they would work much better on some sturdy stands, so I will experiment and see what the best compromise is.
To be honest, if I'd been more aware when buying my initial setup I probably would've gone for some bigger Genelecs combined with a DAC/pre like the Luxman DA-200 or maybe something like an M-DAC which would've given me a remote.
Even though both my officer and living room setups utilize active speakers (Adam A7X in my office), this isn't to say that the active route is for everybody (if I had more room I probably would've traded my RZ-1 for a meaty Luxman amplifier), but it's certainly a wonderful alternative that can provide great bang for your buck (pound, yen or preferred currency).
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