Thread: Genelec 6010A and 5040A

We've reviewed numerous speakers in the past, and there have been so many for desktop users, some for home theaters and then many more for movie and gaming fanatics. We've had huge and powerful surroundsound speakers that have kept us happy for a bit. However, in the past few years, there has been something missing. Speaker manufacturers seem to be focussing on regular product releases. Very few speakers are striking enough to leave a mark. That's about to change.

For those unaware of the brand, Genelec is a studio-class monitor speaker manufacturer and the 60l0A satellites are one of the active speakers for the serious music enthusiast. These can be used in your home theatre setup or even as a desktop set for the Pc. We also received the 5040A sub woofer to provide the lower end of the audio spectrum.

These speakers haven't been designed to look flashy or fancy, but they're elegant, and designed for one reason only - to sound good! The satellites are made up of a treated aluminium shell - the feel is almost like an earthen
pot. The 60l0A satellites sit on a rubber stand that ensures the speakers don't move and vibrate. The stands also let you adjust the angle of the speaker.

Being active speakers, each speaker has its own separate power cable and a separate amplifier, built specifically to the driver and tweeter inside the
speakers - how many speaker sets can claim that? The speakers accept RCA connects for input and the 5040A sub woofer can support a 5.1 setup. The driver on the 5040A is a downfiring one and the satellites have a 2-way setup.

Setting up the speakers is simple, but tweaking them will take more patience. There are control switches at the back of each satellite and also on the woofer. There's a set of switches for bass tilt, right next to tiny volume dial and power on/off switch. The woofer has roll off and phase switches for tweaking so that your room characteristics do not drastically change the sound coming from the speakers.

We tried all kinds of music after our set of frequency sweep tests. There was no dislortion through the sweeps. For the music part of the test, highquality tracks from Opeth, Dream Theater and Between the BUlied and Me were used. The recordings of these artists are said to be very good. Each of these artists are made up of guitarists, a bassist, a drummer and also a member playing the synthesiser. Even with so many instruments playing, there was very clear separation of each instrument at all volumes. The guitars with distortions have a very sharp, gritty sound with just the right amount of treble in it.

The mellow bass slides can be heard sounding from the woofer. The bass can be
adjusted to have a smoother boomy sound, but it still gives you a very tight bass sound - beats from the really fast double bass drumming was accurate, with the bass drum tone intact.

We also heard some live performance recordings from The Corrs and Eric Claplon.The voices sounded very clear and it was easy to hear faint sounds from the audience in the background as well as the breath of the singers every now and then.

The performance is absolutely stunning and details that were never heard before were now audible. It's hard to find any kind of distortion in the sound on any track, irrespective of the set volume. Another impressive feature of the Genelec 60IOA speakers is the performance at low volume. Because of the way the speakers are designed, it's possible to turn the volume low and slill get extremely detailed sound.

If you want window shattering power from speakers stand several feet in the air, then these are not for you. These speakers are made for those who appreciate quality, have an ear for detail, and want exact reproduction of the sound source - like the mix artists in a recording studio. Another plus with active speakers is that you don't need a separate amplifier, which results in a more compact setup.

All that quality and performance comes at a price though Each Genelec 6010A satellite cost Rs. 24,752 and the 5040A subwoofer is another Rs. 49,505 The subwoofer is highly recommended if you want thal extra punch. If you're looking for 5.1 setup, then be ready to shell out of in excess of Rs. 1,50,000. Hey, you can't expect studio quality sound for cheap.

More powerful models are also available from Genelec, and we'll try to get those in for review as well, so stay tuned.