audioXpress had the opportunity to see and hear the new 8351 at the 137th AES Convention in Los Angeles where Genelec’s R&D Director Aki Mákivirta introduced us to all the “outside the box” thinking within this project. Every sub-system in the 8351 – electronics, the drivers and mechanical assembly – is designed by Genelec’s R & D team and built entirely in-house at the Genelec factory in Iisalmi, Finland, to ensure accuracy and reliability.
The 8351 borrows its size attribute from Genelec’s acclaimed 8050. With dimensions of 17.75” x 11.25” x 11”, the 8351 has a particularly compact footprint for a three-way monitor. The center of the 8351’s enclosure features the Minimum Diffraction Co-axial midrange/tweeter driver evolved from the 8260. This breakthrough in coaxial driver design provides extremely accurate imaging and improved sound quality, with crystal clear accuracy, both on and off-axis, vertically as well as horizontally. Aesthetically striking is the absence of any visible woofers which are concealed beneath the Directivity Controlled Waveguide (DCW). The areas on the perimeter of the DCW are the acoustic openings for the proprietary Genelec-designed Acoustically Concealed Woofers (ACW).
It’s this arrangement, the Co-axial midrange / tweeter in combination with the innovative bass drivers, together form a three-way co-axial enclosure with large continuous Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW) across the entire front. The 8351 is perfectly at home in either the vertical or horizontal orientation, with closely similar directivity characteristics as users move off-axis. The extremely smooth frequency response and dispersion pattern lead to outstanding clarity and definition of the audio signal.
Delivering the SPLs needed for near-field monitoring can often be a challenge depending on client needs or desires. The 8351 is capable of delivering 110dB at 1 meter through a combination of efficient Genelec-designed Class D amplifiers for the bass (150 W) and midrange (120 W) drivers, while a discrete (90 W) Genelec-designed Class A/B amplifier applies power to the tweeter. The 8351 has a system frequency response of 35Hz to 40kHz +/-3dB, (38Hz to 21kHz +/-1dB) with low distortion.
Genelec knows that smaller environments can cause significant problems with regards to the room performance, but SAM (Smart Active Monitoring) technology takes all that can be good about a monitor by itself and integrates it further into the listening environment. SAM technology creates a computer controlled, flexible network of monitors and makes them as a fully aligned system with regards to level, timing and room response equalization – all done automatically – as well being configurable by the end user. Like all active monitors in the Genelec SAM range, the 8351 is capable of automatically adapting to acoustical environments to offer an indispensable tool for sound professionals in broadcasting, post production, music studios and remote recording environments.
The 8351 is a remarkable achievement in electro-acoustic design for the professional audio market.
www.genelec.com
