My Genelec Music and Movie Speaker System

Recently I have had a number of readers enquire about the speaker systems and acoustic performance of my music and HT room. As I result I have put together this brief overview. I do hope that it answers most of your questions, if not please feel free to contact me.

Speakers

The satellite speakers are all Genelec. Why? I worked in the recording industry for years and Genelec monitors, like Westlake, Tannoy and JBL etc., are extensively used throughout the world in high end recording studios and cutting rooms. I wanted a speaker system that was representative and capable of reproducing those “original” source sounds and could generate the typical sound-fields found in those professional audio environments that I had worked in. So when I had the opportunity to go Genelec I jumped at it, as it was a brand that I was familiar with in professional settings and that provided the overall technical performance; bi/tri-amping, power handling, SPL, distortion and frequency response etc. that I was looking for to support my room and the desired THX levels.

• Genelec Satellites:
  • LH/RH Front 1038A
  • Center Front 1038AC
  • LH/RH Front Heights 8030A (behind black corner cloth)
  • LH/RH Music Surrounds 1038A
  • LH/RH Movie Surrounds 8040A
  • LH/RH Rears 8040A

The room was primarily designed to listen to both Stereo and Surround music, with movie sound and viewing being secondary. This is supported by 5 professional grade monitors, PM rated Genelec 1038A/AC satellite speakers for Stereo and Surround music and for film support there are an additional 4 Genelec 8040A’s for side and rear and 2 Genelec 8030A’s for front height. (Currently the room does not support immersive sound formats).

All speaker AC power control (ON/OFF) is achieved using SR227 X10 SuperSocket Receptacles and an X10 IR453 IR controller.

Front 8030A’s are top corner mounted behind the black hessian

Rear movie 8040A’s and surround music 1038A’s with SVS SB2000’s underneath

Side movie 8040A’s

•  Subs:
  • LH/RH Front Subs SVS PB12NSD
  • LH/RH Rear Subs SVS SB2000 (Mounted under each rear 1038A)

Some may ask why did I not use Genelec subs? Well my budget only goes so far and as I wanted four smaller subs in order to smooth out and extend my LF response and fit my available space, Genelec subs were unfortunately not an option. Being familiar with and already owning two SVS subs, being very cost effective and providing very good performance, I decided to add two more and let them deal with the octaves below 40Hz. The Genelec’s were more than capable of performing down to 40Hz especially when corner loaded and creating the required SPL’s to meet THX levels.

NOTE: Equalizing two different pairs of subs and getting a correctly timed and smooth crossover to ALL the satellites was somewhat of a nightmare. See the PDF link below.

Connectivity

Neither my Audyssey Sub Equalizer nor my AVP Audyssey XT32 EQ are capable of equalizing my SUB setup in any reasonably effective way. It was therefore equalized using my Velodyne SMS-1 and Rane AD22D delay unit. I then had no option but to EQ them again using Audyssey XT32, unfortunately it degrades the frequency response slightly. See graphs below.

Acoustics

The rooms design is a conventional isolated box within a box with its own silenced low velocity HVAC system, dedicated 100 amp power feed and technical grounding system. The rooms acoustics are purposely designed for an analytical short reverb decay of 0.2 seconds and has an Audyssey equalized frequency response of +- 3.0dB 7Hz to 20KHz. The subs actual response created using just the SMS-1 is +- 2dB 5Hz to 100+Hz, see below.

Individual Speaker Responses after Audyssey XT32 EQ. Uptick in HF response above 15K is due to a sampling error and the room gently rolls off to 20KHz unless I set Audyssey to flat when the room is virtually “flat” to 20KHz.

Final Room Response Using a crossover Frequency of 40Hz.

FL/FR/C 1038A/1038AC Impulse Responses. Reflections at 43mS are the rear quadratic diffuser.

Rear Surround 1038A Impulse Responses

Sub Response Before AVP Audyssey XT32 Equalization

Sub Waterfall After SMS-1 EQ. Decay at 13Hz is structural. Decay at 28Hz is the external box.

Final Sub Waterfall After AVP Audyssey XT32 EQ. Decay at 13Hz is structural. Decay at 28Hz is the external box.

NOTE: As can be seen above, after running Audyssey XT32 the subs SMS only response was notably rolled-off below 20Hz. There was no simple way of correcting this.

Current Room Images (Screen Retracted)

Projector: JVC DLA-RS640U. Anamorphic Lens: Panamorph UH380 on sled.

For a far more in depth review of my sub alignment process and the rooms various acoustic measurements please download this PDF white-paper: Sub Sonics V2P

Hopefully the above has answered most of my readers questions. For many more details on the design and construction of my AV room check out Home Theater Construction.