Genelec unveil world’s first Genelec Experience Centre

Located in London, visitors can choose to audition anything from a stereo pair of compact 8010A monitors to a full blown 11.1 immersive audio system.

The state-of-the-art 34.5 sq/m demonstration facility, which is located in the new offices of Scrub (HHB’s post production reseller division, situated in the Fitzrovia area of London’s West End), the new Genelec Experience Centre allows visitors to choose source material of virtually any format and evaluate Genelec monitors in stereo, surround and immersive audio configurations. The brilliance of the Centre’s audio architecture is the ability to route any source to any destination – so visitors can choose to audition anything from a stereo pair of compact 8010A monitors to a full blown 11.1 immersive audio system.

The 11.1 system in question partners an Ávido Pro Tools S6 control surface and combines seven 8351A SAM studio monitors in left, centre, right, left side, right side, left back and right back positions, four 8330A SAM studio monitors overhead and two 7370A SAM studio subwoofers handling the low end.

Complementing the Centre’s Pro Tools S3 control surface is a 5.1 configuration of five 8320A SAM studio monitors and one 7350A SAM studio subwoofer, which provides outstanding monitoring accuracy and flexibility in a smaller footprint, while the 8010A studio monitors and two 8430A audio-over-IP SAM studio monitors demonstrate both analogue and digital compact loudspeaker formats.

A second 5.1 system showcases Genelec’s architectural installation products and includes five AIC25 active in-ceiling speakers and one 5041A active in-wall subwoofer, while two AIW26B active in-wall speakers can be run in stereo mode or in 2.1 mode in conjunction with the 5041A. Finally, four 4030B installation speakers are positioned in the Scrub sales office to demonstrate small to mid-sized commercial installations.

Flexibility and configurability

Visitors are able to choose source material from a range of formats including MP3, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, PlayStation, Pro Tools, Logic, Nuendo, Spotify and Tidal – with Blu-ray, Pro Tools and Nuendo providing Dolby Atmos compatibility. The system is also compatible with Auro-3D and DTS:X, and can support low order Ambisonics and Binaural formats. Extensive use of high quality signal processing, audio conversion and Dante audio networking – courtesy of products from BSS, Focusrite and DAD – helps achieve the Centre’s flexibility and configurability while also reflecting the growing adoption of this type of technology in the marketplace.

Jani Jalonen, Genelec Marketing Director commented: “Outside of our own factory in Finland this is without doubt the most comprehensive Genelec demonstration facility in the world, and we’re thrilled to be able to invite customers to London to experience everything that Genelec loudspeaker technology can offer. If you want to hear our products in action and discuss any aspect of speaker selection, placement and calibration, then this is the place to visit”.