Genelec’s Masterful Floor-standing Main Monitor
The Genelec 8381A SAM Adaptive Point Source main monitor makes it easy to integrate the “big” monitoring experience into your studio. While nearfields certainly have their place, when you need to hear everything, there’s no substitute for main monitors. As small- and mid-sized control rooms play an increasingly important role in content creation, unerring accuracy, full frequency response, and robust dynamic range are required from a speaker system with a modest footprint. The 8381A SAM Adaptive Point Source main monitor delivers world-class performance in an elegant package that gives you the flexibility of free-standing placement along with advanced acoustical optimization. When playback on the “bigs” is called for, the Genelec 8381A SAM Adaptive Point Source main monitor performs impeccably.
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The benefits of the 8381A system
The 8381A is a 5-way monitoring system comprising a bottom enclosure fitted with dual 15-inch subwoofers and a full-range top enclosure with a 15-inch woofer, four 5-inch midrange drivers, and a 5-inch +1-inch coaxial midrange/tweeter assembly. Two Class D rackmount RAM-81 power amplifiers totaling 5,926 watts are included, in addition to Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) calibration software. The system also ships with an accessory kit that includes incline wedges. Properly integrated into the room and calibrated, the system delivers ruler-flat frequency response from 20Hz to 35kHz (±1.5dB) and a maximum SPL of 126dB.
Rock-solid, pinpoint imaging
A pair of 8381A monitors produces a wide, tall, and deep stereo soundstage with pinpoint imaging that will allow music engineers to confidently place instruments and vocals in a mix without having to guess about track levels and equalization. Mastering engineers need to be able to evaluate the sound of a mix, compare it against other successful releases, and tweak it for multiple playback platforms. In this regard, the Genelec 8381A outperforms other main monitors in a floor-standing form factor that perfectly integrates into the mastering suite. With its high SPL capability, the 8381A makes even extremely low-level details audible, an invaluable asset regardless of monitoring application.
Truth in monitoring
The 8381A uses the point source operating principle, offering the advantage of maintaining consistently accurate sonic color and rock-solid, ultra-detailed imaging over a broad lateral sweet spot and at all listening distances while eliminating the vertical sound coloration variability commonly experienced with large monitors. The system is time-aligned to present a coherent soundscape without the image smear that affects lesser designs, while Genelec’s Directivity Control Waveguide ensures uncolored off-axis sound. The combination of advanced technologies in the 8381A joins forces to provide an optimized workflow, allowing you to work faster with the confidence that what you hear reflects the true-to-life sonics of any audio signal you’re monitoring, whether you’re standing, seated, or moving about the control room.
Automatic adaptive acoustic optimization
GLM software is key to the outstanding performance of Genelec loudspeakers. Running the Genelec Loudspeaker Manager app automatically adapts the 8381A’s response to the room, ensuring absolute monitoring precision, even in challenging acoustic environments. The floor-standing 8381 projects its soundstage at a natural monitoring height, while the included incliner system accommodates studios that desire a traditional high main monitor positioning, thus permitting the acoustic axis to be configured for the listening position at all installation heights.
Genelec: a legacy of monitoring excellence
Unerring full-range monitoring is a must-have for any studio that aspires to world-class status, which is why Genelec monitors are found in the world’s most distinguished recording facilities. Drawing on decades of professional monitor design expertise, Genelec’s engineering team painstakingly develops and optimizes every component in the company’s state-of-the-art facility in Iisalmi, Finland. As such, Genelec products feature superior build quality that ensures premium performance and faithful service, session after session, year after year. Furthermore, users of Genelec’s flagship products enjoy access to SonicAdvisor services, which provide full support from initial configuration to on-site consultation. Whether you require small nearfield monitors or a powerful main monitoring system, Sweetwater has you covered with the complete range of Genelec monitoring solutions.
Genelec 8381A SAM Adaptive Point Source Main Monitor Features:
- 5-way floor-standing monitoring system in 2 stacked enclosures
- Maximum SPL: 126dB
- Amplification: 2 Class D rackmount RAM-81 power amplifiers (total power: 5,926W)
- Frequency response: 20Hz–35kHz (-6dB)
- Frequency response accuracy: ±1.5dB
- Genelec Loudspeaker Manager (GLM) kit for automated acoustic optimization
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 57-13/32 x 19-11/16 x 27-5/16 inches
- Weight: 440.9 pounds
- 2 x XLR Analog Input
- 2 x XLR Analog Output
- 2 x XLR AES/EBU Input
- 2 x XLR AES/EBU Output
- 4 x RJ45 Control
- Included incliner wedges to optimize the vertical acoustic axis
- Access to 8381A-specific SonicAdvisor services
- Designed and built in Finland
