Genelec has unveiled the 8381A Smart Active Monitoring system, a flagship floor-standing Adaptive Point Source design that ‘fuses exceptional precision and envelopment with unrivalled LF control, huge headroom and high-resolution imaging’.
Designed for high-end music recording, mastering and audiophile listening, the 8381A is a free-standing full-range monitor that can intelligently adapt to any acoustic environment. For audio professionals, the 8381A produces accurate full-band mixes that translate consistently to other rooms and playback systems, while audiophiles are offered the detail and nuance of a musical performance.
As a member of The Main Ones range, the 8381A system is acoustically coaxial down to bass frequencies, and draws on technology developed for Genelec’s The Ones family of point source monitors and the W371A Adaptive Woofer System, which themselves can combine to create a free-standing full-range monitoring system. However, the 8381A raises the performance bar higher by offering controlled directivity and uncoloured response both on and off axis, with an ultra-wide frequency response spanning from 20Hz to 35kHz. Additionally, with almost 6kW of amplifier power and a maximum SPL of 126dB – believed to be the highest level yet achieved with a precision point source acoustic design – the 8381A claims the most sophisticated features and specification of any audio monitor currently available.
At the heart of the 8381A is a proprietary high SPL Minimum Diffraction Coaxial (MDC) midrange/tweeter driver that – combined with a Genelec DSP engine – delivers extraordinary clarity, imaging and adaptability. This MDC driver shares a common acoustical axis with the 8381A’s four complementary 5-inch dome drivers which are arranged as a midrange transduction system, and this unique array combines with a forward-facing 15-inch woofer to provide outstandingly stable directivity, control and coherence.
To further enhance and extend the 8381A’s low frequency reproduction, a pair of high-performance 15-inch woofers employ the LF adaptive technology originally developed in the W371A, offering high resolution and supreme levels of low frequency control – despite the effects of room acoustics. This technology allows the 8381A to tailor performance to the room, offering flatter, smoother in-room response at the listening location, with LF imaging coherent with the full audio range. This flat and neutral LF response minimises acoustic notching, and reduces detrimental reflections and resonances by the walls, ceiling or floor of the room.
As part of Genelec’s Smart Active Monitoring family, the 8381A integrates tightly with Genelec’s GLM software, which can configure, calibrate and control entire Genelec smart monitoring systems. Based on experience from thousands of studios around the world, GLM minimises the listening room’s influence on the sound, enabling mixes that translate to other systems, whether the format is stereo, surround or high channel count immersive.
GLM also includes the Grade room report feature, which gives a complete analysis of room/monitoring system performance, and providing observations and advice on any acoustical issues, helping them and studio designers to fine tune the room’s acoustic treatment, adjust monitor and listener positions, and optimise bass management.
Designed and manufactured to high standards of sustainability and environmental responsibility at Genelec’s headquarters in Iisalmi, Finland, the 8381A comes with a comprehensive SonicAdvisor system calibration and service package to jointly celebrate Genelec’s 45th anniversary, and the company’s total commitment to its customers and to sustainable development.
‘The demand for high quality free-standing full-range monitoring systems has been clear from the exceptional response to The Ones and W371A combination,’ says Genelec Managing Director, Siamäk Naghian. ‘It was also evident that there was a desire from customers for a free-standing system that could deliver even more headroom and increased low frequency extension. And while we continue to offer a wide range of soffit-mounting main monitors, we’re confident that the flexibility and mobility of a floor-standing adaptive system like the 8381A will provide the perfect solution for any discerning user seeking a truly next-generation sonic reference.’
More: www.genelec.com
