Genesis I.C.E 201 User Manual

absolute fidelity

Owners Manual and Set-up Guide
Genesis 201 Loudspeaker System

Contents

G201 SET-UP GUIDE 4

UNPACKING 4
PLACEMENT OF THE G201 LOUDSPEAKER SYSTEM 5
SPEAKER CONNECTIONS 6
CONTROL ADJUSTMENTS 7
SERVO-BASS AMPLIFIER PROTECTION 9
GROUND CONTROL 9

TUNING THE SYSTEM 11

BEGIN WITH THE BASS LEVEL 11
IMAGING AND SOUNDSTAGE 12
PHASE CONTROL 13
FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS 14

THE REFINEMENT STAGE 15

AKE ONE CHANGE AT A TIME 15

M
D

EFINING THE SOUNDSTAGE 15
PPROPRIATE MID-BASS/LOW-BASS BALANCE 15

A
ROOM TREATMENT 17
M

ASTERING THE REFINEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM 18

THE TECHNOLOGY 19

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY 19

HE GENESIS RIBBON TWEETER 20

T
48INCH MIDRANGE RIBBON 21
T

HE SERVO-BASS ADVANTAGE 21
HE WOOFER TOWER 22

T
1600

WATT SERVO AMPLIFIER/CROSSOVER 23

PECIFICATIONS 25

S

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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 the technologies
developed for our flagship model, the Genesis 201 is the
penultimate Genesis loudspeaker; the closest you can get to
perfect sound reproduction short of the Genesis 1.1.

The G201 loudspeaker system was created for the music lover
who knows (almost) no compromise. 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 “
the musical event faithfully, as was intended by the performer or
filmmaker.

absolute fidelity”, the ability to reproduce

However, the G201 is not meant to reproduce music at ear-splitting
levels. If you are looking just for LOUD, this is the wrong
loudspeaker for you. A Ferrari and a Mack truck may have the
same price and power, but they are very, very different vehicles.

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 is www.genesisloudspeakers.com

. We will put the latest

updates, tips and tricks, and support for our owners on our website.

Please write the purchase details of your Genesis 201 System
here for future reference.

Mid/Tweeter Panels : __20102057_/_20102058__

Woofer Towers : __20102059_/_20102060__

Amplifier : _______20102061________

Bought at: _____________________________ Date: _______

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Warranty Statement and Extended Registration Card

This page intentionally left blank

should be placed here

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G201 Set-up Guide

Now that you have your new Genesis 201 loudspeaker system, we
realize that you can’t wait to hook it up and start playing! However,
this is a big, complex system and we want you to set it up correctly
and safely. So, please read this quick set up guide (even if your
dealer is setting it up for you!) before you proceed.

Unpacking

The Genesis 201 system will arrive in 5 pieces. There are four
wooden crates, two containing the woofer towers, two holding
midrange/tweeter panels, and one cardboard amplifier box.

To remove the contents of all the crates, you will need help. The
G201 loudspeaker system with crates weigh a total of 1,400 lbs, so
we suggest a minimum of three 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.

Each woofer tower weighs over 210 lbs, and each
tweeter tower weighs over 140 lbs!

Start with the woofer crates. These are the taller,
skinnier crates. Remove the screws from the top
piece and open them up. Take the woofer towers
out of the shipping crates by setting the crates on
their sides and sliding the towers out onto a
carpeted surface. Remove the packing material,
and set them standing up in your room. Look inside
the crates and take out the box containing cables.

Next, remove the midrange tweeter sections from
the shorter, fatter crates. Unscrew only the bottom row of screws.
Do not remove any other screws except the ones going along the
outside bottom perimeter of the crate.

Lift off the entire top part of the shipping crate and set this aside.
You can then tilt the mid/tweeter sections off the crate, and remove
the bottom.

Remove the woofer amplifier and remote control from the box.
There will be two sets of servo-bass cables and two sets of servo­amp interconnects, and you now have all the pieces that make up
the Genesis 201 loudspeaker system.

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Placement of the G201 Loudspeaker System

A good starting position for the midrange/tweeter panels is about
one third the way into the room as measured from the rear wall (the
wall you look at as you are seated listening to the speakers). You
want to sit approximately two-thirds of the way in the room, again as
measured from the rear wall. You will not need a huge room, but
we recommend that the room be at least 16 feet (5m) wide and 18
feet long. There needs to be a minimum of 10 feet (3m) from the
front of the midrange ribbon to the listening position for proper
integration of the drivers.

1/3 or 20% 1/3 or 20%

Typical room placement: Place speakers and

listeners about 1/3 of the way into the room

6’ to 8’

For some rooms, there may not be enough space. In that case,
have the speakers 20% of the way into the room, and the listening
position can then be 20% from the rear wall. Good results can also
be achieved in this way.

Place the row of tweeters on the inside, and position the
mid/tweeter panels so that the rows of tweeters are between six to
eight feet apart. If the room is particularly large, you can have the

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tweeters up to 10 feet apart. Next, position the woofer towers
behind, and just to the outside of the mid/tweeter panels.

Speaker Connections

Use the woofer cables that were found inside the woofer crates to
connect the woofer towers to the woofer amplifier. Each end of the
cable is clearly marked,
which connector is attached to which woofer as long as the
channels are correct.

When you connect the woofer tower outputs pay close attention to
the way the connector works. This connector is a 50 amp Neutrik
Speakon. It only goes in one way, you cannot put it in wrong.
However, you can fail to put it in all the way. Push the plug in, and
twist it clockwise until the lock "clicks" in place to keep it there. By
looking carefully, it will be obvious to how it works.

AMPLIFIER or SPEAKER. It does not matter

At the

AMPLIFIER end of the servo-bass cable, you will find a male 1/8”

mini-jack. The female end is at the end off a flying lead attached to the
chassis of the servo-bass amplifier. These jacks are used for
grounding an internal shield within the servo-bass cable. For the time

being, leave this grounding disconnected.

Next, connect the mid/tweeter panels to your
power amplifier using high quality loudspeaker
cables (not supplied) to the 5-way binding
posts. We recommend using good quality
spade connectors for this job.

To get the music signal to the

servo-bass amplifier to power the
woofers, there are two ways to connect it to your
system.

The first, and preferred way is to drive it using the
output of the power amplifier that is driving the
midrange/ tweeter panels using the supplied pair of
servo-bass interconnects.

These servo-bass interconnects will be supplied with
a pair of banana plugs at one end, and an XLR
balanced male plug at the amplifier end. The XLR
Neutrik connector includes a specially designed internal balancing
and attenuation circuit that enables the power amplifier to drive the

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balanced input of the servo amplifier. Do not use any other
interconnection for this purpose! This internal circuit also allows

even fully balanced power amplifiers to be connected this way.

Plug the banana plug end of these interconnects into the binding
posts of your midrange/tweeter towers (preferred) or the output
binding posts of your power amp. Each end of the interconnect has
a grounding alligator clip on a flying orange lead. Leave this
grounding clip disconnected for the time being.

The second way to connect the servo-bass amplifier to your
system is to use a pair of interconnects (not supplied) from your
preamplifier to the servo-bass amplifier. If you use this method of
connection, your power amplifier will be driving the midrange/
tweeter towers and the servo-bass amplifier will be driven in
parallel by your preamp.

Connect the input of the woofer amplifier to the output of your
preamplifier. Choose either balanced or unbalanced for inputs. If
your preamplifier has only one set of balanced outputs and one set
of unbalanced (RCA) type outputs, choose your first preference of
connection for the power amplifier that is driving the midrange
tweeter panels of your speaker. Use the remaining set of outputs to
feed the woofer amplifier. If your preamplifier has only one set of
outputs, you will need a Y-splitter cable so that it can drive the two
amplifiers.

As no power amplifier is “straight wire with gain”, we do not
recommend this way of driving your servo-bass amplifier. The
reason is that phase coherence between the midrange and bass is
much harder (but not impossible) to achieve.

Control Adjustments

Plug the woofer amplifier into a power outlet, and using the remote
control, turn it on by pressing the
work, press the

MODE button and make sure that the led above that

POWER button. If that does not

button flashes red.

Use the buttons marked “

VOL ” or “VOL ” to adjust the volume to

20 to start with. (Again, if you are not driving the servo-bass
amplifier with the output of the power amplifier, this gain will
depend on the gain of your power amplifier. A typical value to start
at is between 10 and 30.)

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The display will flash to identify that the volume function is being
adjusted. When you first press one of the volume control
buttons, the currently-set volume will flash. The next press will
move the volume up or down. Pressing and holding the button
will move the volume up or down rapidly.

Next, adjust the phase with the buttons marked “PHS ” or “PHS ”
on the remote
button, the display will flash “Ph” and then the current phase setting
will be shown. The next press of the button will move the phase up
or down.

Set the phase to zero to as an initial setting. (If you are not driving
the servo-bass amplifier as recommended using the output of the
power amplifier, the phase will depend on the phase shift of your
power amplifier. A typical value will be 45 to 60 degrees.)

The high-pass (HI) filter determines how low the woofers will play.
Set this initially to 20Hz. Next, adjust the low pass (LO) filter (how
high the woofer goes). Set this to 95 using the button marked "low
pass" (on the remote control).

control. When you first press the phase up or down

You will notice two controls on the back of the midrange tweeter
panel. The left hand knob is a volume control for the rear tweeters.

Turning this control clockwise will increase
the level of the rear tweeters. 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
twelve o'clock position.

The control on the right side is a three­position switch used to adjust the
midrange. Start at position two. Position
one will sound fuller in the lower midrange
while position three will sound leaner and
have more upper midrange.

The less obvious effect of the midrange control is to make the
soundstage sound more forward, and change the perceived height
and position of the performance. Relative to position two, you can
raise the soundstage by moving to position three (it’s like moving
your seat forwards in the concert hall!!)

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