Hi,

I'm trying to decide which audio monitors to get. I have two choices and I have a little difficulty in making the decision. I hope that someone here could give me some insight...

I'm going to edit in a 4.5m x 5m room (~12x15 sq.ft). It's actually 4.5m x 10m divided in half by a very light wall. The computer will be in a corner. It's not the best place for audio monitors, but I have no options. The audio monitors would be placed on table stands on both sides of the screen. At ear level, as recommended. The desk is roughly L-shaped.

The alternatives would be Genelec 8020a or 8030a and probably a subwoofer for better bass management. These should be great for editing, and I like their compact size and - believe me or not - their looks. I actually have to look at them the next ten years, so...

Now I would need to choose between 8030a+sub, 8020a+sub or 8030a alone.

- What would you recommend?

- At first look the 8030a is a bit big, but my initial listening impression was that the 8030a + sub somehow sounded a little bit better that 8020a + sub. I felt some strange frustration when switching from 8030+sub to 8020+sub... Is there a true difference or is it just my imagination playing tricks? It could have been a result of poor placement (the smaller ones beeing closer to the desk surface), though... I don't have table stands yet.

- What's the main differences, besides the 8030a without a sub "only" reaching 58Hz?

I don't have any 8000 series. My remarks are based on about 4 years with Genelec 1029 + 1091 subwoofer, very similar to the 8030.

I've been VERY happy with the 1029/1091 system. Nice, full-range response for music, compact, portable. If I have a dialog-only job (I do lots of these) the 1029 is sufficient, and I sometimes take them to a video studio for audio monitoring. The sub hasn't left my home studio.

Mixing and mastering music has been great, I'm SO happy that I invested in reference monitors.

Looking at the 8020, I'd expect the response to be worse than the 8030, that's a pretty small cabinet and L.F. speaker. Even supplemented with a sub, you still want the low mids from the main cabinets, and these look too small to do the job. Like the 1029, the 8030 is much closer to a full-range cabinet.

I'm using my system as suggested by Genelec - there are dip switches to set on the satellites that limit bass response, creating a hole for the sub to fill. So, as I'm using it, this is a dedicated satellite/subwoofer system (I feed the whole thing from one stereo output).

One thing I've had my eye on is upgrading to a 5.1 system. Genelec recommends upgrading my 1091 sub to a newer box with "management", meaning a volume control, but I think I could just add 3 1029 (or 8030) cabinets, since I have software controls for playback volume of sub level (M-Audio Delta 1010).

The reason I mention this is that you might also consider what your upgrade path to 5.1 surround monitoring might be, should you need this in the future.

I think you'd be very happy with the 8030+sub. My montoring improved when I brought the cabinets up about 6" off the desk, so yes, stands would be important too.

If it's for the next 10 or how many years, go with the 30's and a sub. I promise you will be thanking yourself for it, even in 10 years time.
Comparing the 30's to the 20's, like you I found the 30's to be better.

I also discovered that running a sub with correct setup (placement, cross over etc...), not only allows you to accurately hear and feel the lower freqs, but also free's up the shelf monitors for a more accurate mid range respose. The woofers are free of low bass and therefore, are not compromised.

Thanks. Your comments have been most helpfull. I'll get the 8030a monitors + sub then. It seems to be the best choice as I'm planning on keeping them a long time...


ps. Now I just need to choose the color :) Black as usual, or a refreshing white :) White wouldn't be practical, though. It probably gets dirty and might cause reflections on screen...

Does anybody know what table stands to use with these monitors? Would the K&M floor/table mic stands work?

This one: http://www.k-m.de/D/Katalog/anzeige/detail.asp?ID=313&spr=EN
Or this: http://www.k-m.de/D/Katalog/anzeige/detail.asp?ID=309&spr=EN

I have budgeted this monitor purchase for next month, so all kinds of comments are still welcome :)