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6010/8020 setup

ideefixx, modified 14 Years ago.

6010/8020 setup

Youngling Posts: 2 Join Date: 6/14/09 Recent Posts
Dear friends,

when I decided a few weeks ago to get a couple of 6010 as PC speakers, this decision completely changed my understanding of "hifi" and "home cinema" - as you might have assumed ;) So instead of getting a larger 5.1 System from a typical home cinema specialist soon, I decided to upgrade my actual installation to a genelec based solution :mrgreen:

Since my appartment is quite small and the walls are thin, the 6010/5040 setup seems to fit perfect with my expectations; however, I think about replacing two of the front speakers with the larger 8020's, as a commitment with my regular usage of the setup as stereo playback station for my music collection.

I know that this combination will only make sense if there's indeed an audible sound advantage for the 8020's (referring to the higher frequency range and the more powerful hardware) in stereo music playback (supported by the 5040 subwoofer), so I'd like to get your opinion about the following questions:

- Does a 8020/6010 combination make sense in a 5.1 installation, reflecting the usage of the 8020's as left and right front speaker - will they have a sound advantage when using them for music playback in 2.1-stereo?
- Does the 5040 sub fit with this combination or should I switch to the 7050 B instead? Please consider the sound level restrictions of my actual appartment; a future upgrade will alway be an option. BTW: The deepest bass will be delivered by my buttkicker, which is a really nice commitment to my sound sensitive neighborhood :twisted:

Many thanks in advance,
ideefixx
christophe-anet, modified 14 Years ago.

Re: 6010/8020 setup

Jedi Knight Posts: 188 Join Date: 3/23/09 Recent Posts
Hello,

Thanks for your post and questions. First, some comments about balanced 5.1 surround setups. The recommendations (according to ITU standards, etc) mention either 5 identical loudspeakers or 3 identical front louspeakers combined with smaller model loudspeakers (preferably of the same brand) for the surround channels. The argument for identical front L-C-R has its importance in the sense that the front sound stage has to stay consistent and coherent.

So, onto your questions:
1. As mentioned above the use of 2x 8020's are fine for a stereo setup, but for 5.1 listening, the center would be compromised. The ideal would be to have another 8020 for the center. But then, as a consequence, the 5040A subwoofer will not have enough headroom and SPL capacity to cope with the 3 front 8020's. Hence it would mean to upgrade the system to 7050B subwoofer.

The advantage of the 8020's will be higher SPL and improved control of the directivity due to larger DCW waveguide. But remember that you might have to turn down the 8020's anyway so that the overall reproduction level matches the 5040A SPL capacity. So, in short the argument of increased SPL is not really valid here.

2. The 5040A can handle a pair of 8020's. It has been designed to do so. Now, in a 5.1 setup, you will have to turn down the 2x 8020's so that you keep an overall balanced system, and we are basically back to the argumentation of point 1 above.

The choice is difficult indeed. One suggestion would be to wait for a bit more and upgrade the system with a 7050B subwoofer and 3x 8020's for the L-C-R. But the choice is yours!

Hope this is helpful.
Best regards,
ideefixx, modified 14 Years ago.

Re: 6010/8020 setup

Youngling Posts: 2 Join Date: 6/14/09 Recent Posts
Christophe,

thanks a lot for your detailed and very informative answer!

I now decided for the 6010/5040 combination, since the performance of this setup fits perfect with my actual living environment. As soon as I move to a less sensitive neigbourhood, I'll get a bigger setup anyway. Since I will always prefer an 8030/7060 or even better, a 8040/7070 combination over a 8020/7050 setup, it makes double sense to save the money for my next genelec upgrade :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Best regards,
ideefixx