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
1111
absolute fidelity
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: _______
2222
absolute fidelity
Warranty Statement and Extended Registration Card
This page intentionally left blank
should be placed here
3333
absolute fidelity
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.
4444
absolute fidelity
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
5555
absolute fidelity
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
6666
absolute fidelity
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.)
7777
absolute fidelity
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!!)
8888
absolute fidelity
Position two gives you a soundstage perspective of about the
middle of the concert hall. Position three is more like the orchestra
seats, and position one may be more like the balcony seats.
While it is relatively easy to put the Genesis 201 loudspeaker
system into your room and system and get nice music, it is not as
easy to integrate the loudspeakers into your room, and get great
music out of it. The time you will take to do this properly will be well
worth it for the long-term enjoyment you will derive.
Servo-bass Amplifier Protection
The servo-bass amplifier has numerous protection circuits built in. If
you over-drive the amplifier, it will shut itself off and display a
blinking “-” on the LED display. If that happens, turn down the
volume of your system, use the remote control to turn it off and wait
a moment before turning it back on.
Should your woofer amplifier unexpectedly turn off and you are
unable to turn it back on, you may have overheated the amplifier. It
will take up to thirty minutes for the amplifier to cool down
sufficiently for it to be turned back on. Be patient.
One more thing – the G201 servo-bass amplifier is a Class AB
amplifier. It contains four 500W power modules and a 3000W
power supply. However, it is not able to deliver this power
continuously.
Class AB amplifiers (including the power supply) are only about
20% efficient. This means that to get 100W of audio, you will need
500W of incoming power. Hence, we rate the servo-bass amplifier
at 1,600W. At 120V, 66 amps will be needed to deliver the full
rated power.
Hence, you may find that a very loud bass drum thwack will cause
your lights to dim, the circuits to trip, or the servo-bass amplifier to
shut down if you do not supply enough power to the bass amp.
Ground Control
If you get a horrendous hum when you first turn on your servo-bass
amplifier, you have a ground problem.
One reason could be that the servo-bass amplifier is not properly
grounded. If the servo-bass interconnect is used, make sure that
the servo-bass amplifier is properly grounded. Then, try attaching
9999
absolute fidelity
the black alligator clip at the XLR end of the interconnect to the
chassis of the servo-bass amplifier. A convenient attachment point
is the bright locking tab on the XLR at the amplifier end.
If this does not work, take disconnect the clip, and then try
connecting the black alligator clip at the other end to the chassis of
your power amplifier.
Do NOT attach the ground tab to the negative loudspeaker terminal
if you are not sure if you have a fully balanced floating output on
your power amplifier. You could destroy your power amplifier, or
your woofer tower if you do.
If you are using the preamplifier to drive the servo-bass amplifier,
you may have a ground loop. In this case, if your hifi system is
grounded at the preamplifier, you may have to lift the ground on the
servo-bass amplifier.
10
10
1010
absolute fidelity
Tuning the system
Music is the best way to begin to fine-tune your setup. We suggest
that video sources be used only after you have setup the system to
properly reproduce music.
We suggest that you start with a single vocal with 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.
Begin with the bass level
Leave the low pass filter alone, for the moment, as it should remain
set at approximately 95 Hz, This control will be addressed later.
Turn the volume 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.
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 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 volume up till it does. If you find
that turning the volume up creates too much low bass, you may
want to experiment with increasing or decreasing the low pass filter
control.
This control will raise or lower the frequency cutoff point of the
woofer. Turning the low pass filter up to a higher number will
extend the upper bass regions without affecting the low bass level.
Some rooms may require that you set the low-pass filter to 100Hz.
Do not be afraid to increase this control to give the sound more
body.
Next, set the woofers using more than just a voice. Select some
music that you know to have good deep bass. Using the volume
control on the servo amplifier’s remote control, set 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.
11
11
1111
absolute fidelity
If, at this point, it does not have 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. At this point it is
suggested to use the low pass filter control until you get to the
refinement stage.
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 for a standing 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, toe the woofer towers in a slight amount or place
them closer together and re-listen. Repeat this process till you
have it right. If the voice is too low in height, turn the midrange
control to the next highest position and the image of the voice will
move upward slightly.
If you have the speakers only 20% away from the front wall, and
you are not getting enough front to back depth (the singer not
appearing behind the speaker enough) pull the midrange tweeter
panels 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. If you get the speakers much beyond 1/3 of
the way into the room, it is unlikely that pulling them further away
is reasonable.
Find the best compromise for your room, your tastes and your
space requirements. 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. We recommend you begin with six to seven
feet apart as measured from tweeter to tweeter. If you are not
getting proper focus on the voice, you may angle the midrange
panels about 5 to 10 degrees towards your seating position until
you have a properly defined center image.
12
12
1212
absolute fidelity
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.
Phase Control
We suggested in the beginning of this manual to set the phase to
zero degrees. Now that you have roughed the system in, you may
want to experiment with different phase angles.
Using the remote control you can adjust the woofer's phase angle
up and down in five-degree increments.
The changes are subtle and they usually affect the imaging and
soundstage. Listen carefully to the positioning (in acoustic space)
of the orchestral players as you change the phase control. You
may notice small shifts in their apparent relationship to the other
members of the orchestra. Do not expect them to actually move.
Expect minute changes in the soundstage, the apparent width of
the stage, your ability to distinguish individual players etc. If you
reach a phase shift of ninety degrees you have probably gone too
far (zero is okay).
The other change to listen for is coherence and timing. Adjust the
phase will subtly change the relationship between the bass and the
midrange. When you get the phase perfectly correct, you will find that
the timing between the vocalist and the double bass “snaps” in place,
and your foot will start to tap, and you will sway to the music. This is
basically what we term “PRAT” – or pace, rhythm and timing.
13
13
1313
absolute fidelity
Further adjustments
With the woofer towers positioned in the recommended placement
behind and outside the midrange tweeter panels, low bass in the
room should not be a problem. Should you have too much bass,
simply turn the volume down on the remote control. Too little, and
the opposite will apply.
In some problematic rooms a resonance may develop at one or
two frequencies that is unnatural to the music. By moving the
woofer towers closer to the rear wall or farther
the resonance may be reduced at the listener’s position. There
are no absolute rules concerning problematic rooms, so do not be
afraid to experiment with best woofer placement.
Ultimately, it 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 coupling), and also move the woofer
towers closer together, or further apart, or even move them closer
to a corner of the room for more bass.
from the rear wall,
One trick that we have found to always work is NOT
to have the woofer towers placed symmetrically in the
listening room. When you have the woofers
equidistance to the walls, there will be wall-loading
which will increase the volume of some frequencies in
the bass and mid-bass.
Place the left and right woofer towers equidistance from
the midrange towers. However, have one woofer tower
further to the side of one midrange tower, and have the
other woofer tower further to the back of the other
midrange tower. Distance X on the diagram should be
no more than a quarter wavelength of the crossover
frequency – approximately 36 inches or 0.9m.
It may look strange, but the principle here is to position
the midrange/tweeter towers for the best imaging and
soundstage, and the woofer towers for the smoothest and best bass
and ambience retrieval.
14
14
1414
absolute fidelity
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.
Make One Change At A Time
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 amplifier all at once.
Make each of these changes separately and note the difference by listening - with each adjustment, then make the next change.
Each adjustment, in positioning, and in control adjustment will
result in a subtle sonic change. Even when you are moving the
midrange/tweeter panels further apart, or closer together, move
one panel, listen, and then move the other panel. You may also
find an asymmetric placement in-room more accurate and
pleasing.
Defining the Soundstage
A common problem we find with many set-ups is a tendency to
separate the speakers too far from each other. This gives an
unnaturally stretched soundstage between the two speakers, and
creates problems with focus. The key problem is a lack of
soundstage information beyond the left and right sides of 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 though: if you move the
speakers too far from the front wall you may lose the focus of the
image.
A problem with the soundstage could also be caused by the
recording. Try another recording if you cannot achieve what you
are trying to do.
Appropriate Mid-bass/Low-bass Balance
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
15
15
1515
absolute fidelity
should be close enough together to achieve proper "coupling" of the
midrange ribbon driver. 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 overheat the amplifier.
Push the woofer towers back towards the rear wall. This will
increase the coupling of the woofers to the room. Do this procedure
in small increments (approximately three inches at a time) and
return often to the recordings you have used to adjust the front to
back depth and soundstage properties of your system. It is easy,
yet unproductive, to go too far in one direction (and if you move the
woofer towers too far from the rear wall you may lose low bass
extension).
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 midrange ribbon. This would tend to sound bloated or thick in
the mid bass regions.
Another good rule of thumb is to first set the volume control of the
woofer towers 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.
A good balance between proper low bass extension and a deep
and spacious soundstage needs to be established to optimize your
new 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 is wall to wall and with pinpoint focus,
16
16
1616
absolute fidelity
the speakers disappearing completely on a recording containing
such information.
Room Treatment
No room is perfect. To optimize your sonic presentation it may be
helpful to treat 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.
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 proofed
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.
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
listener. This reflection is undesirable because it is slightly
delayed from the original sound. 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 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.
However, you may want to experiment with diffusers or
17
17
1717
absolute fidelity
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.
One of the best pieces of advice we can offer is that you take
advantage of the ear's ability to identify similarities 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. Keep at it and remember to enjoy
your music as you work on perfecting your set-up.
During the design stage of Genesis loudspeakers, we rely on
hundreds and hundreds of hours of critical listening. There are
changes we can make to the crossover that we can measure, but can
hardly hear the difference. And there are changes that we can easily
hear the difference, but cannot measure. It is an artform as much as a
science! Setting up the audio system is the same.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at Genesis. Our
website is the first place that you should look to for more
information, but you are welcome to either send us an email, or just
give us a call!
18
18
1818
absolute fidelity
)
The Technology
The Genesis 201 loudspeaker comprises four “towers”: two
midrange/tweeter panels and two bass towers. Each tower is 6 feet
tall (183cm), and the cabinet is made of a vibration damping and
resonance-control acrylic composite sandwich material.
The rationale for the four-tower system separating the woofers from
the midrange/tweeters is to allow the placement of the
midrange/tweeter panels to optimize soundstage, and the
placement of the woofer towers to optimize in-room bass response.
Design Philosophy
Nothing has changed in theoretical acoustics since Lord Rayleigh’s
original book on acoustics published in 1877. There are still only
two proper ways for a transducer to propagate sound in a room: a
point source and a line source. Anything else, or everything in
between, is a compromise.
John William Strutt Lord Rayleigh (1842 –1919
the ideal, and in doing so, provide sufficient radiating area for
dynamically and spatially realistic sound reproduction.
The Genesis 201 is a line-source that is 4 feet long (nearly the half
the room’s entire height). A line source has no vertical dispersion at
any frequency. Hence there is no sound bouncing from either the
floor or the ceiling. No deleterious interference from these surfaces
is created (as in virtually all other kinds of speakers).
In order for all frequencies of
sound from the loudspeaker to
reach the listener at exactly the
same time, a coherent wave front
is important - not just “timealignment” of drivers. The ideal is
either an infinitely small pulsating
point or a pulsating line with a size
on the order of the room
dimension.
Obviously, a line-source is much
easier to mechanize than the ideal
point source. The line-source (if
large enough), can approximate
19
19
1919
absolute fidelity
Another advantage of the line source is that the vertical spectral
content of music is virtually the same throughout the length of the
line source. Hence, the seating height does not matter with this
speaker; unlike point source speakers where it is important for the
ears to be aligned in relationship with the tweeter.
The Genesis 201 is also a dipole radiator. The midrange and
tweeter drivers are mounted on a rigid acrylic composite panel with
no enclosure. This has two advantages: firstly, it eliminates any
enclosure or boxy colorations caused by cabinet vibrations or
resonance.
Secondly, the dipole creates a cardioid pattern (like a figure-eight),
which has its maximum output at the listening position and behind
the speaker itself, and minimum output to the sides in the plane of
the loudspeakers. This very effectively eliminates the bounce from
the sidewalls.
Hence, in conjunction with the line source, the G201 has no first
reflection from the floor, ceiling or sidewalls. The net result is that
there are far fewer detail-robbing room reflections from the room
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.
This results in a loudspeaker system that is virtually roomindependent. Also, because there are no phase and frequency
distorting reflections created, one can be transported into the
audience of the actual concert hall where the music was recorded.
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 accurately
reproduce frequencies to 36 kHz.
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.
20
20
2020
absolute fidelity
The G201 uses twelve of these tweeters configured as a vertical
line source. Because the output is distributed over many drivers,
each works at very low-stress. This dramatically lowers the
distortions in the high frequencies.
The G201 also use three rear-firing tweeters per channel wired to
the crossover out of phase to the front tweeters creating a dipole.
48inch midrange ribbon
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. This is why the G201
loudspeaker system uses a 48inch-long ribbon per channel as a
dipolar line-source to reproduce these critical frequencies.
The midrange ribbon used in the G201 is manufactured to Genesis’
specifications. The ribbon itself is made of a very thin layer of
aluminium laminated to a substrate of mylar that is 0.001inch thick.
The ribbon is then suspended in the magnetic field created by over
24 feet of barium ferrite magnets.
This results in a perfect line-source ribbon generating a continuous
and perfectly coupled wave front. The benefit of this to the listener
is a wide and even horizontal dispersion yielding a large and highly
stable sweet spot.
As a line-source dipole, the midrange ribbon has a vertical
dispersion pattern identical to that of the line array of tweeters.
Thus further insulating the listener from the room’s negative effects,
and enhancing the sense of spaciousness and depth.
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 history of the Genesis servosystem started from the first introduced in the legendary Infinity
Servo Statik One in 1968(!) – so we know how to design and build
servo systems. The technology has been constantly updated and
refined over the past almost 40 years!
The concept of our servo bass system is an easy one to
understand: It employs an accelerometer as a sensor to constantly
21
21
2121
absolute fidelity
monitor the movement of the woofer cone and continuously
compares it to the input signal. This comparison circuit instantly
identifies any deviation from the input and applies a corrective
signal to compensate for any deviation, resulting in the virtual
elimination of 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 has
started moving, the momentum of the cone makes it continue to
move after the signal has stopped. The sonic result is softness,
overhang, and bloat in the bass. This results in a perceived 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
predicts that the woofer will continue to move when it shouldn’t be
moving 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
moderate levels. The Genesis servo bass system reduces this
distortion to below one percent at almost any output level. The
system also drives the woofer to constant acceleration, which
makes the frequency response of the woofer anechoically flat to
the lowest frequencies.
The Woofer Tower
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 G201 features a
total of four front- and four rear-firing 8-inch woofers per channel –
a total of sixteen woofers in the system.
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.
22
22
2222
absolute fidelity
The woofers are a uniquely designed metal cone driver made for
the Genesis servo system. Made with a cone of solid aluminium,
the suspension and voicecoil have been maximized for long
distortion-free excursion so as to increase dynamic range. Our
aluminium cones are a magnitude stiffer than any plastic 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 that these drivers operate at. Therefore, the driver
is a perfect piston within the frequencies used. Thus, extremely low
cone break-up distortion is inherent in the driver that is designed for
the Genesis 201.
Unlike the midrange and the tweeters, the front and rear woofers
operate in phase as a bipolar arrangement in which all sixteen
operate in unison to control the air mass of the entire room. This
means that the surface area of the eight cones and the large
enclosure all work together in unison to produce bass output that
descends evenly to below your hearing limits.
1600 watt Servo Amplifier/Crossover
One problem, however, of metal cones, 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 201, the amplifier was designed as a holistic system
of integrated connecting cables, woofers, and custom tailored EQ
network and remote controlled crossover circuitry. The proprietary
four-channel 400 watt per channel switching amplifier is specifically
designed and tuned specifically 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 mid/tweeter section of the
Genesis 201. No longer must one choose between having an
amplifier with enough power to drive the woofers, and a smaller
23
23
2323
absolute fidelity
amplifier having better spatial and tonal characters. Nevertheless,
we do recommend no less than 100 watts as a minimum for the
mid/tweeter sections.
24
24
2424
absolute fidelity
Specifications
Dimensions:
Mid/Tweeter Panel: H 72” x W 13.5” x D 9.75”
Woofer Tower: H 72” x W 11” x D 22”
Amplifier: H 10” x W 12” x D19”
Weight: 650 lbs (295kg) per side
70 lbs (32kg) amplifier
Frequency Response: 16Hz to 36kHz, +/- 2dB
Controls (on amplifier): Phase, gain,
low-pass, high-pass
Controls (on speaker): Rear Tweeters (+/- 1 dB)
Midrange (+/- 0.75 dB)
Input Impedance: 4 ohms (nominal)
33K ohms (amplifier)
Sensitivity: 91 dB 1 watt 1 meter
Amplifier Power Rating: 4 channels @400 watts each
Amplifier Inputs: 1pair XLR (balanced)
1pair RCA (single ended)
Finish: Acrylic composite sandwich
25
25
2525
Loading...