Genelec 8361A Review: Beautifully balanced with depth and control

When Genelec’s 8361A monitors - and a pair of substantially sturdy stands - arrived at Headliner’s Dolby Atmos Studio, the initial challenge was getting them out of their hard cases - because these speakers are heavy. But as with every model in Genelec’s ‘The Ones’ series of coaxial three-way monitors, the bigger they come, the better they seem to sound. We put them to the test standalone, and as part of our Dolby Atmos setup. 

Headliner is no stranger to The Ones. Darkwood Studios, our tracking room, boasts a pair of 8331As and 8341As; and the Dolby Atmos room from which we are conducting this review has a full complement of 8351Bs, 8341As, 8331As, and W371As with a 7380A sub. So we can integrate the 8361As into this setup, as well as look at them as standalone speakers.

Once they’re out of their hard cases and mounted onto their stands, the true size of the 8361As becomes evident. It’s a much more significant upscale than, for example, moving from 8331As to 8341As, or 8341As to 8351Bs. And as soon as we passed audio through them, it was clear that they possessed greater power, and that quite a bit more was going on inside. But more on that shortly.

Aesthetically, the 8361A is on par with its smaller siblings, just bigger: the front of the die-cast aluminium Minimum Diffraction Enclosure (MDE) forms what Genelec calls its Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW). This is what produces the wider listening area, accurate stereo imaging, controlled directivity, and flat frequency response.

In terms of tech spec: housed in the middle of the waveguide is the Minimum Diffraction Coaxial (MDC) driver which comprises a 130mm midrange diaphragm and a 25mm domed tweeter. Behind the MDE - and above and below the coaxial driver - are two acoustically concealed 263mm x 137mm racetrack-shaped bass drivers; these are reflex loaded with a shared duct to the rear. The 8361A is a tri-amped, Class D system that delivers 700w for bass and 150w each for midrange and tweeter; and the crossover points are at 320Hz and 2.8kHz.

The front of the speaker has the familiar LED which is green when on, amber when muted, and flashes red when clipping. This indication can be disabled via a rear panel dip switch. The back panel has XLR inputs for both analogue and AES, an XLR digital out/thru connector, as well as in/out RJ45s for Genelec’s GLM network control and the mains IEC.

The back panel also houses two banks of dip switches which provide some basic room EQ and control of input selection and sensitivity when using the 8361As in standalone mode. However, to unlock the full power of these speakers, and save yourself a whole host of experimentation and trial and error, Genelec recently released their updated and rather excellent GLM 5 loudspeaker manager software, which integrates closely with the DSP within the 8361A.

We’ve come to rely pretty heavily on the GLM system, to the point where we simply fire up the Mac Studio first thing and it turns on and configures all the speakers in our Atmos setup. Of course we also configured a new stereo preset for the 8361As as well as further presets to integrate the 8361As into the Atmos system, and again as a stereo pair with the W371A woofer system; and a further preset incorporating the 7380A subwoofer and bass management. None of this preset configuration took more than a few minutes, but more importantly it gave us a better picture of just how easy integrating different Genelec models and building or upgrading your monitoring system can be.

And this is something that should be considered in the current climate: repurposing your smaller speakers into a future Atmos setup, for example, could seriously improve your future planning and stretch your budget further. While there's an obvious benefit to keeping a great monitoring system in situ, GLM allows you to alter and provide different monitoring configurations within the same room and move systems around to accommodate clients' needs and preferences.

Back In The Room

When we first mounted the 8361As on their supplied stands - and before we did any calibration - they were possibly too far apart and sounded slightly bass/low mid heavy. This could have been because of the 50-inch LCD screens wall mounted behind them, or their proximity to the side walls, or simply because they are a louder more substantial flagship.

On moving them closer and replacing our existing 8351Bs on top of the W371As really brought everything into focus, and while we still felt the need to slide the chair back just a little or simply turn them down a touch more, it didn’t take long to realise that really they are a warmer, weightier, almost supercharged version of the 8351B. There is a fabulous depth and openness to the sound, with the 8361A delivering extra SPL and LF extension when compared to the 8351B.

Having all The Ones’ acoustical axes dead centre means you can orientate the speaker both vertically and horizontally which was important with the 8361A as its very size was obscuring our ability to see all the screens clearly, and we felt we were still a little close to them to get the best listening experience. However, the minute this configuration was calibrated using Genelec's GLM 5 software (and it only takes a minute), everything became clear, and the level of detail - particularly the focus and accuracy of the stereo image - was really quite something. And not just the bass and low mid detail, but clarity across the entire range of the speaker’s performance.

The same ‘brain’ is present within all The Ones which means there is a natural sonic consistency between all models, but now it’s evident that the bigger The Ones are, the better they sound; there’s that little more magic sauce every time.

Historically, we’ve not been huge fans of over-processing - or processing for the sake of it - but these days the studio industry is definitely leaning the other way: it’s as good as impossible to produce a top class monitor that works in every environment without calibration software; and the 8361A and GLM combination is certainly further proof in that pudding.

In summary, the 8361As standalone provided a beautifully balanced, powerful sound with excellent stereo image; and paired with the W371As, they offered even more depth and control. If you have enough space in your studio, and are looking to up the ante somewhat, these monitors could help you achieve it.

genelec.com