Genelec Community Forum has been archived

Thank you for all the years of Community discussions and activity!

The time has come for us to retire the community forums, but we will keep everything available for reading. There is a lot of valuable content written over the years, and you'll be able to access all of that. However, no new posts can be written, or old posts modified.

If you have questions, we recommend you use the Support function on the bottom right corner to contact our Customer Support directly.

Alternatively, if you wish to engage in a community discussion with other people, there are many active forums available. There is also an active, fan managed GENELEC COMMUNITY in Facebook, and many Genelec employees are active in the discussions there.

We are sorry for any possible inconvenience this may cause you, but we hope to hear from you through the other channels mentioned above.

Genelec Support

Keskusteluryhmät

Listening distance nearfield speakers

shocktone, muokattu 10 Vuodet sitten.

Listening distance nearfield speakers

Youngling Viestejä: 1 Liittymispäivä: 21.7.2013 Viimeisimmät viestit
The 8020 are described as nearfield monitors. When using the speaker selection tool the 8020 are recommended for a listening distance up to 1.5m if you choose professional audio.

If you switch to home audio the a distance up to 3m for the Genelec F Two (same as 8020) is recomended?
So why is this different in a pro audio (studio) or home audio system?

I am always hearing that smaller active studio monitors work best in the nearfield. So is there actually a difference when using the smaller Genelecs compared to "traditional" HIFI speakers in a Stereo or 5.1 home setup?
Is this mainly a matter of the size of the speakers and cabinet?

I think most people will use the speakers at a distance of 3-4 m in a typical living room. And I am wondering if the 8020 are really suited for that? Room treatment would make this a lot better I think. But in most living rooms this is not an option.

Also in the monitor setup guide non of the smaller speakers (even 8050) is recomended for more than 2 m. What actually makes a nearfield monitor a nearfield monitor? Is there a technical reason for those distances? And what happens if the distance is to big? A loss of treble? Or is it more a matter of dispersion?

Thanks alot for your help.
ilkka-rissanen, muokattu 10 Vuodet sitten.

Re: Listening distance nearfield speakers

Yoda Viestejä: 2564 Liittymispäivä: 23.3.2009 Viimeisimmät viestit
Hi,

The term near field speaker comes from the professional studio world. There can be (typically) three different kind speakers in a studio: near field, mid field and far field. Near fields are placed up close to the mixer, on top of the console. These have to be (physically) quite small in size so that they don't block the sound coming from the far fields which are typically flush mounted into the front wall. Mid fields are between those, typically on stands behind the console.

Requirements for pro audio and home audio can be a little bit different. In the studio, speakers are used to monitor the sound/recording to make it as good as possible, while at home, speakers are used to enjoy that sound/recording, made by that professional. Also typically the listening levels used in the studio are higher than at home. Therefore recommended listening distances for same model are shorter for pro than home.

When it comes to physics of a speaker, it is true that a small speaker works best in the near field, but that applies to all small speakers: active, passive, pro, hifi etc. That is mainly because a small speaker is not very directive and it has only moderate maximum SPL capability. Of course there are ways to improve the directivity, see Genelec Key Technologies: Directivity Control Waveguide and Minimum Diffraction Enclosure. With the help of those, even a small speaker can sound good and natural from a larger listening distance and in reflective listening environment.