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A Message from Genesis
Congratulations! You are now the owner of one of the finest
loudspeaker systems in the world. Based on technologies developed
and evolved over the past four decades, the Genesis 5.3 is a small
4-ft tall floor-standing loudspeaker, and yet it delivers some of the
dynamics, imaging and soundstage of our largest 7-foot tall 1½ ton
reference Genesis 1 product.
The G5 loudspeaker system was created for the music lover living in
smaller environments. It is designed to reproduce music (and film) at
live listening levels with virtually no restrictions on dynamic range,
frequency response, or imaging capabilities. This is what we mean
by absolute fidelity™, the ability to reproduce the musical event
faithfully, as was intended by the performer, or the film-maker.
Standing 46 inches tall, and only 11 inches (13 ¼” including base)
wide, the Genesis 5 is a diminutive giant. By means of an active
servo-feedback bass system, response down to 18Hz is achieved,
and the full range and impact of a symphony orchestra or a rock
band can be reproduced.
With adjustable tweeter, midrange, and bass controls, the G5 can be
tuned into any room. The adjustable acoustic platform suspension
system also allows the G5 to be ideally sited on all types of flooring –
from the typical joist-suspended carpet-covered floorboards in the
USA, to uneven terracotta tiles in an Italian villa, and flagstones in an
English castle.
Please read this Owners Manual and Set-up Guide to get the
maximum enjoyment out of your purchase. Also, if you have access
to the Internet, please check back at our website often. The address
tips and tricks, and support for our owners on our website.
Please write the serial number and purchase details of your
Genesis 5.3 here for future reference.
Bought at: _________________________ Date: __________
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Set-up Guide
Now that you have your new Genesis 5 loudspeaker system, we
realize that you can’t wait to hook it up and start playing! However,
please read this set up guide (even if your dealer is setting it up for
you!) before you proceed.
Unpacking
Your loudspeakers will come to you in two large shipping cartons
and a smaller box containing the acoustic suspension. The G5’s
weigh over 145lbs (66kgs) each, so we suggest a minimum of two
strong people to move the speakers around. We will not be held
liable for damage (to either the speakers or your backs!) during
unpacking and setting up if you ignore this basic advice.
The bottom of the speaker’s acoustic suspension will be spiked into
the foam. You may want to retract the spikes at each corner of the
suspension frame before attempting to remove the foam. It will also
be very much easier to move the speaker around with the spikes
retracted.
Please collapse and store your packaging material in case you need
to ship the speakers later. You WILL need all your packaging
material to transport your speakers safely.
Room Placement
A good starting position for your G5 is about 20% the way into the
room as measured from the front wall (the wall you look at as you
are seated listening to the speakers), six feet (~2m) apart, and firing
straight ahead with no toe-in. You will want to sit ten to twelve feet
(3m – 4m) away from the speakers, and have at least 24 inches
(60cm) from the back of the speaker to the wall.
If in a smaller room, you may have to sit closer to the back wall, or sit
closer to the speakers, but try to keep at least 24 inches of space
behind the speakers. This allows the speaker to “breath” as there is
a rear-firing woofer, a mid-bass coupler and a tweeter.
Start with the speakers six feet apart, and not toed-in. You will want
to sit at least 10 feet (3 metres) away from the speakers for proper
integration of the drivers. (See diagram on the next page). We will
experiment with moving the speakers around, and toeing them in
later.
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Typical room placement: Place speakers about 20% of the
way into the room and 10 to 12 feet from the listeners
6’ to 8’
10’ to 12’
20%
80%
Power Connections
There are two connections you will need to make to the G5. First,
the power cord for the built-in amplifier will need to be plugged into a
power socket. A 10-foot power cord is included with your speakers
for this purpose. We do not recommend using an extension cord for
the G5 due to the high power demands of the 500W amplifier.
However, if you MUST use an extension cord, use an extremely
heavy duty one. The amplifier can draw up to 10 amps
instantaneously at 115v, hence make sure that the extension cord is
adequately rated.
Before you plug the power cord in, please make sure that the
voltage selector is set to the proper voltage. Japan and North
America will require the 115v setting. Most European countries and
other Asian countries will require 230v. The fuse is a 5amp 250v
slow blow irregardless of voltage used.
There is an on/off switch for the power amplifier. This switch should
always be left on. We recommend that you plug the G5 into an
unswitched outlet, or a switched outlet that can always be left ON.
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The built-in amplifier consumes about 10w on standby – about the
same as a child’s night-light. Hence, leave the amplifier on unless
you will not be using the system for an extended period of time (like
a month-long vacation).
Source Input Connections
Connect the speaker-level output of your power amplifier to the High
Level Input binding posts using a high-quality loudspeaker cable.
Make sure that you have the correct polarity connected for both
speakers – the plus or positive (red) terminal on the G5 should be
connected to the plus, positive, or red terminal on your power
amplifier.
The Bass Input selector switch should be in the up or high-level
position – pointing to the inputs being used. This is the
recommended hook-up, both sonically and
for convenience.
Nevertheless, if you know that your power
amplifier may be deficient in the bass, or
does not have a response down to 18Hz
(such as some Single-ended Triode
amplifiers), you may wish to connect the
bass section of the G5 directly to your
preamplifier instead.
If you use the low-level inputs for the
servo-bass of the G5, you will need to
check for the phase correctness of your
power amplifier. If your power amplifier
inverts phase, you will need to invert the
high-level inputs when the bass section of
the G5 is driven by the preamplifier.
If you do this, use a good quality balanced
interconnect cable to connect the balanced
output of your preamplifier to the preamp
level input XLR connector, or the single-
ended output of your preamplifier to the
preamp level input RCA connector on the
back plate of the G5.
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While using this connection, switch the Bass Input Selector to the
down/line-level position. This will bypass the high-level input from
the servo amp, and the bass input is taken directly from the low-
level inputs. Do NOT connect both the XLR and RCA inputs at the
same time.
If you are planning to use long runs (over 10 feet or 3m) of
interconnect to connect the line-level inputs of your G5 to your
preamplifier, we recommend that you use a balanced connection.
The Acoustic Platform
The G5 sits on a suspension system designed to allow the
loudspeaker to perform at its optimum. It consists of three elements
– neoprene vibration-absorbing de-couplers, a tuned skeletal acrylic
frame, and stainless steel spikes. The system holds the loudspeaker
firmly, and yet isolates it from the floor on which it sits.
Like the architectural suspension of a
skyscraper in Tokyo, the suspension
allows the speaker to sway at
frequencies that do not affect the sound,
and yet remain absolutely rigid at higher
frequencies.
After you have positioned the speakers,
screw down the supplied spikes from the
top of the suspension frame to raise the
speaker off the floor so that it only rests
on the spikes and no part of the frame
touches the floor. The suspension frame should be barely off the
surface on which the loudspeaker sits.
If on thin carpet, hardwood floors or stone floors,
this should be less than 1/16” or 1.5mm. On deep
pile carpet, screw the spikes down until the
suspension frame is not resting heavily on the
carpet.
A second set of shorter spikes and hole covers
(included with this Owner’s Manual) are provided
for a neater cosmetic. However, any adjustment
and fine-tuning should be completed before these are used as the
thumb-screw spikes are much more convenient to adjust.
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Controls
There are a total of five control knobs in two rows on the back plate
of the Genesis 5 loudspeaker.
The upper left knob on the back
plate marked “Tweeter” is a volume
control for the front tweeter. Turning
this control clockwise will increase
the level of the front tweeter. Use
this control if you need a bit more
treble or to increase the apparent
space of the soundstage. Start with
this control at the 12 o'clock
position. There is about a one dB
range for this control. The 12 o’clock straight up position is
nominal for all controls.
The upper right knob marked “Midrange”is used to adjust the
level of the midrange. Again, start this at the 12 o’clock position.
Turning the control anti-clockwise (or counter-clockwise) will
make the midrange sound more laid-back, and turning it
clockwise will make the midrange more forward. There is about a
one-and-a-half dB range for this control.
The knob on the middle of the lower
row of knobs marked “Bass Gain”
controls the volume of the built-in bass
servo amplifier. Begin with this control
at 6 (the 12 o’clock position). Adjusting
the gain higher will make the
loudspeaker sound “fuller” and more
bass-heavy.
The knob on the middle right marked “Low Pass” controls how
high the woofer will play. At the extreme low of 71Hz, the woofer
will play up to 71Hz, and then begin rolling off, or reducing its
volume, above this frequency. The recommended beginning
position for this control is 90Hz. Adjusting the crossover point up
will make the G5 sound warmer and fuller in the mid-bass.
The knob on the left marked “LFE Gain” is used for home theatre
applications, so ignore it for the time being.
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Tuning the system
Two channel stereo music is the best way to begin your setup
procedure. We suggest that multi-channel and video sources be
used only after you have setup the system to properly reproduce
music. The room in which the G5 is placed would probably be the
greatest influence on the sound of the loudspeaker.
Since we do not live in anechoic chambers, at Genesis, we do not
design our loudspeakers to work perfectly in a perfectly damped
room. The amount of hard/soft and absorbent/reflecting surfaces will
affect the sound of the speakers tremendously.
A room with solid concrete or brick walls, floors and ceiling will have
much more bass than if the walls were made of plasterboard, with a
suspended floor and false ceiling. An over-stuffed leather sofa will
absorb different frequencies to different extents from a light fabric-
covered armchair. So, you may even find that you will want to re-
tune your system when you change the furnishings in the room.
We suggest that you start your tuning with a single vocal with simple
instrumental accompaniment because the sound of the human voice
is more easily recognizable than many instruments and is the least
complex sound to deal with. A male voice, or a low female voice is
the easiest to start working with.
Adjusting the Bass Gain
Leave the low pass filter alone for the moment, as it should remain
set at approximately 90 Hz. This control will be addressed later.
Turn the gain control of the woofer amplifier up or down until the
voice sounds correct. Whatever controls you use, turn them up and
down only a little at a time. It is easy to turn it up or down too much.
However, the 12 o’clock position is only the starting point. Different
room construction and size will greatly influence the setting of the
bass gain.
If your room has “lossy” walls instead of solid brick or concrete walls,
you may find that the bass settings may need to be higher. If you
have a sealed room with no bass loss, the bass gain may be set as
low as 2 or 3.
Concentrate on the mid-bass regions (as opposed to the very low
bass in your recording) to achieve a natural blend. The voice and the
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music accompaniment should sound as if it were cut from one cloth,
not separate.
If the voice sounds “thin” or does not have enough “chest” to its
sound, turn the woofers amplifier’s gain up till it does. If you find that
turning the volume up creates too much low bass and makes the
speakers sound boomy, you will then need to work on the low pass
filter.
Low Pass filter
This control will lower the upper-frequency cut-off point of the
woofer. It does not affect the lower-frequency cut-off point of the mid-
bass couplers.
Turning the low pass filter up to a higher number will extend the
upper bass regions at the crossover point between the woofers and
the mid-bass couplers without affecting the low bass level. Some
rooms may require you to set the low pass filter up to 130Hz, while
others will require you to lower it down to 80Hz.
Do not be afraid to increase this control to give the sound more body
or to make the balance “warmer”. There is a balance between the
setting of the bass gain control and the low-pass control. The trick is
to find this balance.
A general rule of the thumb is to turn the low-pass filter as far
clockwise of the 12 o’clock mark as the bass gain control is anti-
clockwise of the 12 o’clock mark. For example, if the bass gain is at
10 o’clock, the low-pass should be at 2 o’clock. If the bass gain is at
1 o’clock, the low pass should be at 11 o’clock.
Next, set the woofers using more than just a voice. Select some
music that you know to have good deep bass. Set the gain on the
woofers for a natural and powerful bass sound. Use a symphonic
piece of music if you can, or use a natural bass instrument for your
guide. Try to make it sound real. You may have to return to the vocal
to make sure you have not gone too far in one direction or the other.
At this point, if there is not enough mid bass, turn the low pass
number to a higher position or, alternately, position the main
speakers closer together in order to achieve better mid bass
coupling between the main speakers. If it sounds too “fat” turn the
low pass control down or adjust the volume.
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Small rooms have more bass gain, hence the smaller the room, the
higher the low-pass frequency to use, and the lower the bass gain
level. The larger the room, the lower the low-pass frequency to use,
and the higher the bass gain. The two knobs are turned in opposite
directions – what you want to achieve is balance.
Imaging and Soundstage
If your vocal selection is a well-recorded audiophile CD or LP, the
performer should appear to come from behind the loudspeakers and
be at the appropriate height and size for a person. If it is not, there
are several remedies that will address this.
If the vocal appears to be larger than life, you should first check the
system volume. Is it a volume that would be appropriate for
someone actually singing in your room? If there is too much
volume the artist will appear too big and the opposite is true
for too little volume.
If the volume is set correctly and the image is still too big, place
the speakers closer together and listen again. Place the speakers
no less than 5 feet apart. If the image is still too big, toe the
speakers in by a slight amount.
Conversely, if the image is too small, move the speakers apart.
The speakers should be no more than nine feet apart. Repeat
this process till you have it right. If the voice is too low in height,
turn the midrange control up (turning the knob clockwise) and the
image of the voice will move upward slightly. However, this will also
at the same time make the speakers sound more forward.
If you have the speakers 20% of the way into the room, and you are
not getting enough front to back depth (the singer not appearing
behind the speaker enough) pull the speakers away from the front
wall a little bit at a time. If you do not have them pulled far enough
away, you may not have enough front to back depth. However,
slightly more than 1/3 of the way into the room is about as far as
you want to go. Pulling them half-way into the middle of the room
is unlikely to help (and probably incur the wrath of your spouse).
Find the best compromise for your room, your tastes and your space
requirements. If you are not getting proper focus on the voice, you
may angle the left and right speaker up to about 15 to 20 degrees
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(toe-in) towards your listening position until you have a properly
defined center image.
If the speakers are too far apart you will lose the side image and if
they are too close together you will have too small a center stage. If
the speakers are far apart and toed-in significantly, you will find that
you will only have a small sweet spot in which to sit and enjoy your
music. When these speakers are properly set up, you will have a
sweet spot wide enough for you and your partner. When you sway
side to side while enjoying the music, the image and tonality of the
system should not waver.
The spikes on the acoustic suspension give you an additional control
over the height of the soundstage. Tilting the front of the
loudspeaker up and down will affect the height of the soundstage
depending on the furnishings and wall coverings in your listening
room. In some rooms with hard walls, tilting the front of the speaker
up will lower the soundstage. In other rooms, it will raise the
soundstage. Experiment!
When properly set up very little sound should appear to come
directly from the speaker, instead, the sound stage should extend
far beyond the left and right edge of the loudspeakers and they
should have tremendous front to back depth. When the recording is
close miked (when the instrument or performer is very close to the
recording microphone) the music may appear to come directly
from the loudspeaker. This is normal. Typically, however, the sound
should appear to be detached from the loudspeakers.
A simple rule of thumb to follow is that focus will be achieved by
placing the speakers closer together or farther apart, and front to
back depth can be adjusted by the distance from the rear wall.
Further, as the system “breaks in”, the depth and width of the
soundstage will increase and so will the “smoothness” of the sound.
Soundstage Height
A unique feature of the acoustic suspension is the ability to alter the
height and shape of the soundstage. In most “live” rooms, if the
soundstage is deemed to be too low, increase the height of the
spikes at the BACK of the loudspeaker. If the height of the
soundstage is too high, increase the height at the FRONT of the
speaker.
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Do not extend the spikes all the way to the end. They should only be
screwed far enough down so that no part of the acoustic suspension
touches the floor, or rests heavily on the carpet. Keep the part of the
spikes protruding from the bottom of the suspension frame as short
as possible.
Tuning into the room
There are no absolute rules concerning the speaker/room
coupling, so do not be afraid to experiment with speaker
placement for best results. Positioning the speakers within the
room will significantly affect the quality of the bass.
This is because of standing waves caused by bass modes in the
room. Hence, you should experiment with asymmetric positioning
in the room. Do not have your speakers the same distance from
the side and front walls – try putting them closer to the left or the
right wall. If the speakers are equidistance from side and front wall,
you may find strange suck-outs at some frequencies.
In some problematic rooms a resonance may develop at one or
two frequencies that is unnatural to the music. By moving the
speakers closer to the front/side wall or farther from the front/side
wall, the resonance may be reduced at the listener’s position.
The amount of hard and soft surfaces in your room will also affect
the tonal balance of your loudspeakers. For example, with lots of
very hard surfaces such as marble or granite floors, large picture
windows, and concrete walls, you may find that the room is very
bright and you will have to turn the tweeter control down
significantly.
On the other hand, large sofas and arm-chairs tend to absorb
frequencies in the lower mid-range and mid-bass. When your
room is full of furniture, you may find that you have to turn down
the tweeter, midrange, and bass gain.
Ultimately, an enjoyable and musical system is all about balance.
You have a number of controls at hand with which to adjust the
bass response, the low-pass filter frequency and woofer volume.
You can also move the speakers closer together for better
speaker-to-speaker mid-bass coupling, or further apart for less.
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You can tilt the tonality of the speaker towards bright or dry with
the tweeter control, and forward or laid-back with the midrange
control.
Home Theater and Multi-Channel Music
While the Genesis 5.3 was designed with the audiophile in mind, its
performance and features make it ideal for Home Theater as well.
The G5 is truly a full frequency loudspeaker that satisfies the
requirement for THX™, Dolby Digital and DTS cinema
reproduction. However the combination of the low frequency
capability and a unique set of controls and connections on the G5
provide Home Theater users benefits beyond other loudspeakers on
the market.
In essence, the G5 has a servo-controlled subwoofer already
included in each speaker. This capability allows the G5 to
reproduce the low frequency effects (LFE) signal available on all
modern movie decoders. An additional benefit of using this feature
is that the LFE will come from two (or more) locations in your room
versus using a single subwoofer for LFE. Utilizing this capability
dramatically reduces room bass mode and bass node problems.
This results in smoother bass integration in the room, and a huge
system impact capability.
LFE Input
The Low Frequency Effects (LFE) input allows the G5 to be used in
addition to, or in place of, a separate sub-woofer. The LFE input
blends the low frequency effects signal from the home theatre
processor into the woofer section of the speakers.
The LFE input bypasses the internal crossover, and hence uses the
home theatre processor’s crossover. Since the G5 is able to play
down to 18Hz, the bass section can also be used as your Home
Theater System’s LFE sub-woofer if you do not have one – even if
you are using a completely different set of loudspeakers for your
home theatre system!
On the home theatre processor, set the speakers to “LARGE” and
sub-woofer to “YES” even if you do not have a separate sub-woofer.
Then, take the sub-woofer line-level output from the processor, and
plug it into the “LFE IN” connector on the G5.
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If you are planning to use long runs (more than 10 feet) of
interconnects to connect the line-level LFE inputs of your G5 to
your processor, we suggest that you use the balanced XLR inputs.
For runs of interconnect less than 10 feet (3 metres), a single-
ended interconnect can be used.
LFE Gain
The G5 has a knob that controls LFE GAIN separately from the BASS
GAIN. This allows you to have the G5’s plugged both into your
audiophile stereo system as well as your home theatre system at the
same time without conflicts. The usual way to control the level of the
LFE output is to set the LFE gain to 6 – the twelve o’clock position –
and then use the home theatre processors level control to dial in the
level. However, having the LFE gain control allows you to tune the
LFE if your two systems have completely different gain structure.
LFE Output
Along with the LFE input, the G5 has a unique capability of LFE
output. This is a true powered buffered balanced output, and hence,
can convert a single-ended input signal into a true balanced output.
This buffered output can be used to daisy chain the LFE signal to
other LFE inputs including other G5 speakers and separate
subwoofers.
Thus, it is possible to channel the LFE signal from your home
theatre processor to one speaker, and then from that speaker to
another, and to another, and to another!
Distributing the bass is also helpful for reproduction of multi-channel
music because you get incredible articulation and detail in the bass
all around the room.
The Refinement stage
After following the rough setup guide above, you may not be
completely satisfied with the results. We share with you here some
of our observations in setting up these loudspeakers.
One rule of thumb you should always keep in mind. Make one
change at a time! Do not, for instance, change position of the
speakers and make an adjustment to the tweeter, midrange, and
bass all at once. Make each of these changes separately and note
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the difference - by listening - with each adjustment, then make the
next change.
A common problem we find with many set-ups is a tendency to
separate the speakers too far from each other and toe them in too
much. This gives an unnaturally wide soundstage between the two
speakers, and creates problems beyond the unnatural width of the
center stage. It also results in a very narrow sweet spot that is really
only suitable for one person with his head clamped still.
The key problem is a lack of soundstage information beyond the left
and right sides of the speakers, and also a loss of focus between the
speakers.
If you find that the sound is not spacious enough or you are not
getting enough front to back depth, pull the speaker away from the
front wall. This is typically preferable to separating the two speakers
too far and will almost always give you better depth and soundstage
information. A word of caution, however, if you move the speakers
too far from the front wall you may lose focus.
Yet another problem is a lack of mid bass energy. In order for the
appropriate amount of mid bass energy to be present, the speakers
should be close enough together to achieve proper "coupling" of the
midrange driver and the mid-bass couplers. Coupling is desirable in
the lower frequencies from the mid-bass on down. This simply
means that the left and right drivers "work together" as opposed to
working separately.
If you find there isn't enough deep bass, your first remedy is the
volume control on the woofer amplifier. This has several limitations.
First, turned up too high, you may get some distortion on very low
frequencies or you may overdrive the amplifier.
Secondly, you may make the mid bass produced by the top of the
woofer out of proportion with the mid bass produced by the bottom
of the mid-bass coupler. This would tend to sound "boomy" in the
mid bass regions.
Another good rule of thumb is to first set the volume control of the
woofer for proper midbass rather than low bass. The theory is that if
the midbass is correct, then the low bass should be very close to
correct. If the midbass is proper and the low bass is still not right,
here are some other suggestions.
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A good balance between proper low bass extension and a deep and
spacious soundstage needs to be established to optimize your
speaker's performance.
In order to achieve what the speaker is capable of we suggest you
focus your efforts on a proper balance of soundstage elements that
includes information beyond the left and right sides of the speakers,
front to back depth well behind the speaker, excellent focus of
instruments and voices with proper vertical information and mid bass
fill.
A Genesis loudspeaker system correctly set up, can and should
provide a soundstage that “melts the walls of your room” and with
pinpoint focus. The speakers disappear completely on a recording
that has such quality.
Room Treatment
No room is perfect. To optimize your sonic presentation it may be
helpful add some minimal acoustic treatment to your room. Here are
some guidelines:
1. Front walls. This loudspeaker is a dipole and therefore there
is sound coming from both the front and the back of the
speaker. How the front wall is treated or not treated is
important. Generally speaking, the Genesis loudspeakers
prefer a live front wall to a dead front wall.
By these terms we mean the amount of reflection of sound. A
typical wall of glass or, brick, cement or drywall material is a
reflective surface. A heavily curtained or sound absorbent
wall would be considered a "dead wall" or a non-reflective
wall. A normal thin curtain across a window causes only a
small amount of absorption. Hence, a curtained glass window
would just be about perfect.
2. Sidewalls. Because the speaker is a dipole it is less sensitive
to the sidewalls. However, as a rule of thumb, it is a good
idea to keep the speaker as far away from the sidewalls as is
practical. With this in mind, it may be helpful to add some
damping material or diffuser panels to the point of first
reflection. This is a point on the sidewalls between the listener
and the loudspeaker. It is where the sound from the
loudspeaker first hits the sidewall, then bounces to the
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listener. This reflection is undesirable because it is slightly
delayed from the original sound and “smears” pinpoint
imaging. This point on the sidewall can be easily determined
with the help of a second person and a mirror.
Sitting in your listening position have an assistant hold a
mirror up on the sidewall. Move the mirror until you can see
the tweeter. This is the point of first reflection. A diffuser (see
your dealer), an absorptive material or even a piece of
furniture (a rack of CDs or LPs is ideal) can help break up this
point of first reflection.
3. Rear wall. In many cases it will be unnecessary to do
anything with the wall behind your listening position unless
you are sitting very close to the rear wall. You may want to
experiment with diffusers or absorbers behind you for best
sound. Absorption behind the listener is usually beneficial.
Mastering the Refinements of the system
Fine tuning an audio system is an art that will take time and
patience. It can be one of the more rewarding learning experiences
you will have in the pursuit of music and its enjoyment.
Keep at it and remember to enjoy your music as you work on
perfecting your set-up. Use as wide a range of music and
performances as you can get a hold of in your set-up. The better your
set-up, the better badly-recorded music will sound. If your system only
sounds great on a very small number of “reference recordings”, then
you will be restricted to enjoying a narrow range of music.
One of the best pieces of advice we can offer is that you take
advantage of the ear's ability to identify similarities and differences in
sound. This ability is useful in fine tuning your system because if
every recording you listen to has a similarity of sound (too much or
too little of a certain frequency for instance) then you can be fairly
certain that you have yet to perfect your set-up.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at Genesis. Our
website is the first place that you can look to for more information,
but you are welcome to either send us an email, or just give us a
call!
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The Technology
The Genesis Ribbon Tweeter
Reviewers in the Audiophile press have often remarked that the
Genesis circular ribbon tweeter is the world’s best. It is a one inch
circular planar ribbon design crafted from an extremely thin
membrane of Kapton with a photo-etched aluminium “voice coil” that
is a mere 0.0005 inch thick. The entire radiating structure has less
mass than the air in front of it! That is why it will reproduce accurately
frequencies beyond 36k Hz.
The result of this design is a driver that has a rapid and uniform
response to high frequencies, and has the speed of the best
ribbon/electrostatic designs without the high distortion and poor
dispersion that is typically associated with them.
The G5 use two of these tweeters per channel. One front-firing, and
the other wired to the crossover out of phase to the front tweeter and
firing to the rear, creating a dipole. Dipoles radiate the same sound
from both front and rear out of phase in “push/pull” fashion. Thus,
the sound waves from the front and back of the speakers cancel out
as they radiate from the sides of the speakers; which means that
there is minimum radiation of sound to the sidewalls of the room.
The net result is that the G5 generate far fewer detail-robbing room
reflections from the sidewalls than other types of loudspeakers. With
fewer spurious reflections to confuse your hearing, the program
source emerges more clearly. Imaging is deeper, yet more focused.
Titanium Midrange
We sometimes say that the midrange is a window into the mind of a
composer or a singer. And indeed, the midrange is where the
“magic” is in a well-recorded musical event.
The G5 uses a Genesis-designed proprietary 4.5inch titanium coned
midrange to cover this critical frequency spectrum. Machined out of
one of the lightest and stiffest materials known, this low mass cone
driver is one of the best midrange transducers ever made with nearly
instantaneous transient response, enabling the G5 to sound lifelike
and effortless.
The driver is housed in an enclosure that is open to the back. Thus,
the midrange operates as a dipole too.
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Mid-Bass Couplers
In order to create a “sound bridge” between the midrange and the
bass section, the G5 incorporates two 6.5inch metal cone mid-bass
couplers. One front and one rear firing, again working as a dipole.
Made of aluminum, this metal cone is extremely light and stiff. The
driver is hence capable of handling the huge dynamic range
demands of live music while maintaining extremely low coloration
and excellent transient response.
The Servo-bass Advantage
Very few loudspeakers use servo drive, either because most
designers think that it is too difficult to design, too expensive, or
because of the extraordinary demands a servo system makes on
the amplifier and the transducer.
The concept of the Genesis servo bass system is an easy one to
understand: It employs, an accelerometer as a sensor, to constantly
monitor the movement of the woofer cone and instantaneously
compares it to the input signal. This comparison circuit identifies any
deviation from the input and instantaneously applies a corrective
signal to compensate, thus practically eliminating the inherent
distortion of the woofer!
As an example, when you have a high-impact, low-bass signal that
starts and stops suddenly (for example a tympani), the inertia of the
woofer cone makes it slow to start moving, and then after it is
moving, the momentum of the cone makes it continue moving even
after the signal has stopped.
The sonic result is overhang, bloat, lack of tautness and definition,
and a blurring of dynamic impact. With the servo system, the circuit
senses that the woofer is not moving as fast as it should, and it
instantaneously applies much more current to make it move faster.
When the signal stops, it detects that the woofer will continue to
move when it shouldn’t and applies a counter-signal to stop the
woofer faster and more effectively than an open loop woofer could
possibly respond.
Thus, the servo-drive reduces distortion and improves transient
response by making the woofer seem massless. Typical non-servo
woofer systems have distortion levels that exceed 10% at even
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moderate levels. The Genesis servo bass system reduces this
distortion to below one percent at almost any output level. It also
drives the woofer to constant acceleration, which makes its
frequency response totally flat!!
The servo system is a more proactive approach to controlling a
loudspeaker than high-damping factor and high current in the normal
amplifier. However, this also means that the woofer, the cables
attaching the woofer to the amplifier, and the power amplifier has to
be designed as an integrated system. Thus, the Genesis 5 is
designed with a built-in 500W servo amplifier for the bass section.
Aluminium-cone Woofers
The transducer used in a servo system must be strong enough to
withstand the high current approach of the servo, and yet delicate
and light enough to react extremely quickly. The G5 features three
8-inch aluminium cone long-throw woofers per channel.
While the servo system is able to ensure that the driver works
linearly as a perfect piston, it is unable to correct for distortion
caused by cone wobble, bending, and break-up. Hence, the drivers
were designed to minimize these non-linear distortions, allowing the
servo system to most effectively eliminate the linear distortions.
The woofers are a uniquely designed metal cone driver made for the
Genesis servo system. Made of a cone of solid aluminium, the
suspension and voice-coil have been maximized for long distortion-
free excursion so as to increase dynamic range. Our aluminium
cones are a magnitude stiffer than any plastic or paper cone on the
market, and virtually eliminate the problems caused by cone bending
and break-up.
The lowest break-up mode (where there can be any chance of
distortion at all) is at 6,000Hz – far above the 16Hz to 120Hz
frequency range at which these drivers operate. Therefore, the
driver is a perfect piston within the frequencies used. Thus, low cone
break-up distortion is inherent in the driver designed for the G5.
Unlike the mid-bass couplers, midrange and the tweeters, which
operate in dipole, the three woofers in the G5 operate in phase as
an omni-pole. All three woofers work in phase to control the air mass
of the listening room. This means that the surface area of the three
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cones and the loudspeaker enclosure all work in unison to produce
bass output that descends evenly to below your hearing limits.
500 watt Class D Servo Amplifier
While the advantages of metal cones include extreme stiffness
resulting in very low distortion and break-up, one problem is that of
greater mass. To over come this, Genesis had to build an
amplification system of great wattage, and high damping factor. The
servo system also places extraordinary demands on the amplifier
because the system uses enormous amounts of current to make the
woofer follow the input signal. Combined with the metal cones, this
means that the amplifier used must deliver extraordinarily large
amounts of clean power.
In the Genesis 5, the built-in amplifier was specifically designed and
tuned for low frequencies in order to produce “floorshakingly
musical” bass to power the servo woofers.
One side benefit of this powered woofer system is that almost any
sized amplifier can be used to drive the Genesis 5. No longer must
one choose between having an amplifier with enough power to drive
the woofers, and a smaller amplifier having better spatial and tonal
characters. Nevertheless, we generally recommend 60 watts as a
minimum.
The Acoustic Suspension
The suspension for the speaker comprises three elements:
1)
The neoprene vibration absorbers are tuned to isolate and
decouple the loudspeaker cabinet for optimal bass response
no matter what surface the loudspeaker sits on.
If the loudspeakers sound extremely hard and relenting, AND
you have them on extremely hard floors (solid granite, etc), a
set of softer vibration absorbers may be substituted (please
contact us if you need these). If a very resonant floor (such as
if the speakers were to be used on a wooden stage), the
softer absorbers may also be used for further decoupling to
ensure that floor-borne vibrations are not transmitted up into
the loudspeaker.
2)
The skeletal frame acts as a tuned absorber. Made of a high
molecular weight acrylic, no two parts of the frame will
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resonate at the same frequencies. This ensures that all
midrange frequencies are “dumped” below the base of the
cabinet so that floor-borne vibrations do not affect the imaging
and soundstage of the loudspeaker.
3)
The spikes rigidly couple the suspension system to the floor.
If you have hardwood floors and do not want to make holes in
the wood, use a copper penny (instead of expensive “spike
cups”) under the spike.
A pin-point suspension system is designed to pass all
frequencies. Using a spike cup under the spike will defeat this
system. A copper penny gets deformed – the spike making
an indentation where it meets the penny, and a little “nipple”
on the other side. This still performs the same function as a
pin-point suspension system, but at the same time protects
your hardwood floor.
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Specifications
ꢀ Dimensions:
H 46” x W 13 ¼” x D 23 ¼”
145 lbs (66kg) per side
ꢀ Weight:
ꢀ Frequency Response: 18Hz to 36kHz, +/- 3dB
ꢀ Controls:
Low-pass, bass gain, LFE gain
Rear Tweeter (+/- 1 dB)
Midrange (+/- 1.5 dB)
ꢀ Inputs:
Speaker Level
Line Level (RCA & XLR)
LFE Line Level (RCA & XLR)
ꢀ Outputs:
LFE Buffered Daisy Chain (RCA &
XLR)
ꢀ Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms (speakers)
ꢀ Sensitivity:
ꢀ Power Rating:
ꢀ Finish:
90 dB 1 watt 1 meter
500 watts each
High Gloss Black
High Gloss Titanium
High Gloss Arctic Silver
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