Nearfields for audiophile listening?

I'm curious (from a historical perspective) which products come from which side of the family tree. All the monitors in the Neumann lineup have KH in front, so that part is obvious. Did K&H make microphones too? or was Neumann strictly on that side?

 

Neumann - microphones
Klein & Hummell - monitors

Sennheiser has some interesting microphones as well. See MKH-20, MKH-40, MD441U etc. I own a pair of the 441. They are incredible on wind instruments in SR settings.

 

Alas, I've never played with the fancier mics. Just a dozen SM57/58's for me.

 

I had the KEF LS50s setup in near field for a couple of months, didn't like the sound, felt like the highs are too shrill. Could be because my amp (First Watt J2) doesn't have enough juice to drive them properly. I didn't wanna sell the amp as I use it to drive HE6, so sold the speakers and got Omega Super 7 mk2s instead, These are full range 7" drivers. This is my first full range, was apprehensive getting them. So far loving the near field performance, they are not broken in yet so I expect the low end to open up a little. I do have a 12" sub to assist them.



Not the most ideal setup, gotta move stuff around and give them a little breathing room...but they sound sweet. Playing around with Dirac Live to tune the sound a little more.

 

I always liked the Omega sound, but I'm surprised at how small they've gotten. Your Omega 7's are the size of the Omega 3 Monitor's. (And the 5's would have touwered over your monitor, much less the 7).

 

Oh are they? I have no idea about the older iterations.

Yeah most of them are meant for standmount I think (the XRS series, Alnico drivers etc.). Even the 7s are meant for standmounting, I barely have enough space on the table, went for the biggest driver I could fit lol.

Those "feet" are sharp! I got a couple of cuts from them lol. Don't mess with my speakers or they will cut you.

 

XRS are floor standers, but the Alnico series has a special sound that you should try even though it'll be too large for your desk.

 

KEF's have crunchy, stiff aluminum tweeters. They are shrill.

 

And awesome

;D

 

Important news to anyone currently considering a Genelec 8020 or 8030 setup!

Finland´s largest electronics store just leaked the upcoming new 8020/8030 models. But first some backstory...

I´ve been looking into getting a pair of 8020´s for my desktop setup for several weeks now. The problem? They seem to be sold out everyone and new stock seems to take a lot longer to arrive than usual. Normally Genelecs are always in stock here in Finland. Yesterday while checking for availability I noticed that Verkkokauppa.com has put up placeholder pages for the updated 8020/8030 models.The specifications are identical to the old ones so it´s just a placeholder text, but the model numbers are clear: for example 8020D (not C!)

For those not versed in Genelec product updates: they happen very, very rarely. The analog versions are basically updated every 5+ years or so. If you time your purchase right these will keep up to 80% of their value in the second hand market for years and years to come.

That being said, there is zero information on these new 8020/8030 models on the Genelec website. They haven´t been announced yet.

Anyways... Sent an email to Genelec and asked if this is actually true and if these new models will be switching to class D amplification (all of their new models are based on some new custom class D amps). Didn´t really expect a reply to be honest, especially since there isn´t even a press release out yet, but they actually just replied: yes, new 8020 and 8030 models are incoming and yes, they will be moving to class D. There are other improvements as well, but that´s all he can say for now. I was given an estimate of 4-5 weeks until the new 8020D is available.

You can verify the placeholder sites with the new model numbers here: https://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/55519/hrtgm/Genelec-8020D-aktiivinen-2-tiekaiutin-tummanharmaa-1-kpl

Long story short: if you are thinking about getting a 8020/8030 setup, wait a month and buy the new upgraded class D versions. This company rarely updates their products: time your purchase right and you´ll get a second hand value (for years and years) that most audio gear can only dream of. There will obviously be some performance upgrades in store as well.

 

Ah, that was a close call for me. Was planning on getting my pair tomorrow!
Kiitos!

 

Np! I was about to go buy a pair next weekend

It´s going to be interesting to see how much power they can pack in the new models. The latest update to the analog range, the class D powered 8010A has 25+25W. That´s actually more than the current class AB powered 8020C has: 20+20W.

The 8020 enclosure is twice as heavy so my guess is that the new version will have something closer to 50+50W. 8030 will go even higher.

 

Class D? I'll reserve judgement, but my gut says I'm glad I got in before the cut.

 

I'm curious if they outsourced their class D modules or if they developed them in house. Those Hypex guys are nearby, and I imagine Ncore modules might make a good selling point (wild guessing on my part here)

 

I am running XTZ 99.26 MKii for my desktop setup, powered by a D-Sonic M3-800S amplifier and using a Schiit Sys for volume control.

Note: that giant ass 4K TV was too big, and it was messing up my audio - a more reasonable 43" is there now.

 

Good question... By the way they have one paper from 2013 about class D vs AB: http://www.genelec.com/sites/default/files/media/About Us/Academic_Papers/2013_rose.pdf

Haven´t browsed through it yet, but they do state that class D is the most complex to implement well.

 

Nice investigation and result

 

Consider that at the high end of class D solutions there's only ICEPOWER, Hypex and...
(and if it's neither, chances are Bruno Putzeys (Hypex designer) is doing it. Mola Mola etc)

 

Don't forget Pascal, who make the best module by far. That's the module being used in some 5 figure gear.

 

More info on Genelec's move to class D:
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-...me/1100933-genelec-8340-class-d-amp-idea.html