Genelec has introduced the new 8351, a 3-way Smart Active Monitor (SAM), designed with mechanical, acoustical and signal-processing designs linked closely together.
The 8351 borrows its size attribute from Genelec’s 8050, with dimensions of 17.75 x 11.25 x 11 (h x w x d) inches.
The center of the 8351’s enclosure is outfitted with the Minimum Diffraction co-axial midrange/tweeter driver evolved from the 8260, providing extremely accurate imaging and improved sound quality, with a very high degree of accuracy, both on and off-axis, vertically as well as horizontally.
Aesthetically, there’s an absence of visible woofers, which are concealed beneath the proprietary 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).
This arrangement forms a 3-way co-axial enclosure with large continuous Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW) across the entire front. The 8351 is designed for either the vertical or horizontal orientation, with closely similar directivity characteristics as users move off-axis. The smooth frequency response and dispersion pattern lead to clarity and definition of the audio signal.
Further, the new 8351 is capable of delivering 110 dB at 1 meter through a combination of efficient Genelec-designed Class D amplifiers for the bass (150-watt) and midrange (120-watt) drivers, while a discrete (90 watts) Genelec-designed Class A/B amplifier applies power to the tweeter. Frequency response is stated as 35 Hz to 40 kHz +/-3dB, (38 Hz to 21 kHz +/-1dB), with low distortion.
SAM (Smart Active Monitoring) technology is designed to take all that can be good about a monitor by itself and integrates it further into the listening environment. It creates a computer controlled, flexible network of monitors and makes them as a fully aligned system with regard to level, timing and room response equalization – all done automatically – as well being configurable by the end user.
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 company’s factory in Iisalmi, Finland.
