Genelec 8030C 5" 2-Way 100W Active Studio Monitor (Single, White)

this is like you buy it and last for about 25 years, and the used market value are still giving you back the difference, if you hesitated this is a to go

I have 2 pairs now, they are great products, designed for the pro, the good thing about Genelec is the used market value are very high, so it is also a good investment

I bought these knowing there was a chance I might find something wrong with them and have to return them. My use is casual music reproduction for desktop or portable use. When I connected them to a old Macbook Pro using the headphone jack (not a DAC), pushed play with my standard test track, I knew within about 5 seconds that I wouldn't be sending them back. They're too good. Volume level is fine from a laptop headphone jack.

I bought these for my small home office. The headline is that these speakers sound close to perfect. Genelec is one of the few companies that provides accurate measurements of their speakers. These measurements have been validated from third parties. The 8030c model measures almost perfectly flat from about 50 Hz to 20 kHz. Horizontal dispersion is also near perfect with smooth downward sloping response. This means that reflected sound will not introduce tonal imbalance if you're listening non near field. It also means that you can equalize these speakers to whatever response you prefer. There are a few minor downsides. First, low bass has significant distortion at high volumes. This is just physics: volume will always be limited by enclosure size and driver diameter. If you use a subwoofer like I do (crossed with 24db slope at 80Hz) and use them in a relatively small room this issue goes away. Second, vertical dispersion is not as good as horizontal. You need for the tweeter to point to ear level at the listening location. Luckily the bottom mount makes this easy. If you want better vertical dispersion you should consider the more expensive coaxial models like the 8331. For my case this doesn't matter. If you want to research these further just google them. A popular science-based audio review site has these speakers #1 among around 100 tested, if you use them with a subwoofer. They compute a suite of measurements and run these through a preference model developed at Harmon that takes this data and predicts listener preference in a blind speaker test. The model explains 86% of listener preference variance. Anyway, these are some of the best speakers around and I highly recommend them.

I have been using Genelec 8010s for 4 years as computer monitors but recent heavier listening overloaded the bass so I splurged on a set of 8030Cs. OMG, a new spring has arrived! A whole complex of midrange, bass, attack, separation has appeared. I never realized what was missing. I am overwhelmed. God, Genelec!

The sound you are getting for your money with these is spectacular. If there's any downside it's that they can sound phenomenal with the right listening position and maybe not quite as phenomenal if you site somewhere else. The vertical alignment is particularly noticeable. Luckily the rubber foot makes it easy to adjust the vertical angle, not something you are going to get from most monitors or bookshelf speakers that are in prismatic cases.The only other slight con may be some hiss if you stick your ear right in the tweeter, but if you sit a meter away you can't hear it. I turned the sensitivity all the way down and that also reduced the hiss. With pro-level sources (my reference level is +13dBu) you don't need the gain these speakers offer.

Supurb near field experience speakers. I am using these on my desk tied into a BlueSound Node and subscribed to Tidal. Can't say enough good things about these. Even a low volume the bass is clear. No need for a sub unless you re really cranking the volume and have the room for these.