Genelec 8050A Studio Monitor Review

We recently tested the Genelec 8050A speakers at our client, Károly Széki’s home studio. The room was acoustically treated by our company a few months earlier: as a result of an acoustic measurement we mounted sound-absorbing and diffuser panels on the walls and ceiling, placed printed bass traps in the corners and a densely woven acoustic carpet on the floor. The room offered perfect acoustic conditions for testing the Genelec speakers. Károly mainly uses his studio for sound recordings and sound mixing, but as we wanted to get a full picture of the performance of the speakers, we also tried them for movies.

Let’s see what the Finnish studio speakers have under the hood!

The Genelec brand was founded by two family friends in 1978, and the Finnish company has since been continuously developing its products taking into account primarily opinions from users and focusing on their needs.

Genelec speakers

The Genelec 8050A speakers combine old and the new technologies. The cast aluminium speaker housing — responsible for rigidity — represent the tradition, while the amplifiers and crossovers are the novelty inside. The MDE (Minimum Diffraction Enclosure) housing improves the frequency, and the 8050A’s rugged, satin housing and acoustically optimised metal grille resist physical challenges.

The minimalist, modern look and strongly rounded shape meet the taste of many. In terms of the electronics the device consists of three parts: the power supply, the output module and the filters. All 8050A controllers are located on the back of the box. The input sensitivity can be set between -6 and +6 pcs. Another novelty is the low frequency control. The speakers can be placed on a stand or console using the included Iso-Pod system, which prevents sound distortion and separates the speakers from the surface where they stand.

Genelec review

The speakers were pre-drilled with holes for easy mounting on ceiling or walls. They can be fixed and rotated easily in several directions. The Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW) solution provides a soft, fine axial and off-axis frequency response. It won the TEC “Studio Monitor Technology” award in 2005 and the MIPA “Best Studio Monitor (Nearfield)” category award in 2006.

Some useful information about the speakers:

-Free frequency response: 38 Hz – 20 kHz (± 2 dB)

-Amplifier power / channel: Bass: 150 W, Medium: -, Treble: 120 W

-Speaker dimensions (L x W x D): 433 x 286 x 278 mm (height Iso-Pod 452 mm)

-Speaker weight: 12.7 kg

Let’s see how these speakers performed during the audio tests!

Genelec 8050A

We stood up the Genelec 8050A speakers in the small home studio and started listening to music. The first “performer” was the band Queen, we listened to their legendary hit Bohemian Rhapsody. The 6-minute song explores multiple musical styles, making it an ideal choice for a speaker test. All you can say about the 8050A speakers is that they are simply amazing! They produced perfect sounds in the deep, medium and high frequency ranges as well. The different styles of music sounded beautiful, clear and genuine. We experienced a detailed, spacious sound. Although, the owner, Károly bought the speakers for sound recording and sound mixing, we didn’t forget to test them for movies. The audio, sound effects and soundtracks of movies can only be enjoyed to the maximum if listened to them by way of good quality speakers.

We screened – in Blue-ray quality, of course – the 2020 action movie Bad Boys for Life. The exciting action comedy starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence features plenty of sound effects and awesome soundtracks what the Genelec speakers rendered flawlessly. There were no trace of distortions or confused sounds, dialogues, noise of guns, roaring engines of sport cars, and fantastic soundtracks authentic and clear sounding made our day. (It should also be mentioned here that studio monitors are primarily made for professionals to be used in studios where surround sound has been improved with sound-absorbing and diffusor panels.)

Who do we recommend the Genelec 8050A speakers for?

Genelec studio speakers

Definitely an excellent choice for recording studios, professional purposes, sound mixing. This model truly delivers flawless performance at all frequencies and volumes. These speakers are also terrific for post-production, and perform well in home movie theatres, so they won’t disappoint movie amateurs either. The acoustic characteristics of the given room are very important, we definitely recommend everyone to perform an acoustic measuring in order to accurately determine the ideal place for the acoustic panels.

The near-field studio speakers are designed for smaller studios to deliver proximity sound of quality to the professional sitting right in front of them, and reflections or interference of sounds are not an issue as studios presumably went through acoustic treatment from walls to ceiling anyway. If we take all these aspects into account, we will be satisfied with the sound quality delivered by the speakers.

G.H.

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