smooth and detailed. punchy base Really cool lookin' with their all aluminum casing.

Nada..

Boy have I spent too much money on stereo equipment over the last 10 years..and I guess I have learned my lessons.. I have previously owned: Magnepan2.5R QLN signature JM Lab 915.1 NHT 2.5i and a few other less well known brands This is my first time I am posting my thoughts and I do so because I feel strongly about these speakers. I am a person whos listens mostly to R&B music but also play more acoustic music (guitarr..singer/song writer type of music) I appreciate dynamics, clarity as much as the next guy but have always been cautious not ending up with a harsh, fizzy analytical sound. I want to be able to play even poorly recorded albums. These speakers are originally engineered as studio monitors which you might think add up to a force ful mid band and overly analytical and not suitable as home stereo speakers...nothing could be farther from the truth. The sound is just right!! the integration of tweeter and midband/bass is spot on! It is a super smooth detailed sound...don't worry about it sounding too much like studio equipment..it's a super home stereo speaker. My friends that have heard them and all the other speakers I have owned feel the same way. I highly recommend a listening session!

1091 sub: response matched to the 1029as

I'm writing this second review because I have now purchased the Genelec 1091 subwoofer and combined it with the two 1029As. The sub is carefully tuned so that when combined with the main speakers, the overall frequency response remains flat. They perform well down to 40Hz which is about as low as you'll hear in most tracks. The subs are just as subs should be - you don't notice them but if you turn them off you can hear the difference!

A great trio.

Quality case, excellent sound

None that I have found

I use these speakers on my Yamaha P-80 keyboard. You could really use them for anything but the Yamaha is a good keyboard and other speakers don't do justice to the quality of the sound sampling. These little speakers are built tough. They feel very durable and are extremely heavy for their size. The sound they produce is unbelievable! The MA-5's are also good little powered speakers but not in anywhere near the same class!

Similar Products Used:

Roland MA-12

Everything

none

These speakers are unbelievable! I don't have the subwoofer and I don't want it. Who needs anything but the clarity and presence that these speakers command. My studio has just been lifted up a notch thanks to these babies.

two words: crystal clear.

Similar Products Used:

other speakers

Natural, even sound, great stereo imaging, easy to listen to and accurate to work with in the studio, excellent price/performance

Really none, only that I can still imagine better speakers than this, but only because I heard lately a lot of chamber music concerts (natural acoustics, full range sound of course) But it is nature and reproduction will never reach that.

I was looking for a good pair of studio monitors and checked Alesis M1, Tannoy system 600A and Behringer Truth, but from the moment I heard the 2029A i knew what to buy. I was convinced by the small boxes only, but I needed the whole picture, so I bought them together with the sub 1091A. They sounded even better and surely much better than any hi-fi speakers in their price category and they can compete even with a lot of high-end & high cost speakers. I also heard the 1030A with 1092A sub, but they didn't convince me more than the small modell - it is the latest of Genelecs products, so it is possible that they outperform the older modell 1030A, even if they cost less. I also heard the 1032A - they are better, but cost twice as much as the 2029A and the 1091A. If I was to compare the 1029A and the digital versions - I would choose the latter, since they have great DA's and easier volume control from the right speaker.
I switched the system like this - 2029A - treble tilt -2 db, bass roll-off ; 1091A -6 db attenuation (near the front wall) - this switching gives the smoothest picture

Similar Products Used:

ALESIS MONITOR ONE, TANNOY system 600A, Behringer Truth, Alesis M1, Genelec 1032A, some big old JBL monitors

According to the other comments on this speaker I'm can only partial agree. Shure is it a good speaker and even being an active one makes is easy to set up a stereo/surround system. But comparing these speakers with B&W 801 etc. is way out! I work in a studio an we have 2 pairs of 1029s and 5 speakers of the model 1030. The 1029s are absolutely the better of them. The sound is more natural and the crossover is definitely better on the 1029s. Considered the price I must say it is a very good speaker and you can get the tough of high fidelity. But they are no high end speakers what soever. Together with the subwoofer this system rocks!!

Extremely small size
Extremely flat frequency response
Detailed output, great stereo imaging (aided by DCW technology)
Built in matched amps

Volume control is uncalibrated so takes 5 minutes to get the volumes equal on L/R speakers (alternatively just set them both to max and use a mixer - this seems to work)

These are probably the best speakers I've listened to. I've spent a few weeks listening to hi-fi speakers in various stores being told repeatedly that consumer audio speakers give better stereo imaging & depth than pro audio monitors. I didn't like any of the speakers I listened to. The Raolks had an overbright high end and inaudible bass; the Aegis 3s were so bass-heavy that you couldn't hear any other instruments by the time you'd turned them down enough to survive the bass; the expensive floorstanders had such a peaky top-end that they gave me a headache.

So I moved on to pro-audio monitor speakers which are designed to have an extremely flat response - and in the case of the Genelecs, the new Directivity Control Waveguide technology. What is this DCW? It's a new way of designing the speaker which gives you, amongst other benefits, about 6dB extra sensitivity, and more importantly, very tightly controlled sound dispersion which minimizes the effects of room acoustics. Genelec have really got this all worked out, as you can read in their Support section on their website. They give detailed instructions on how to set the speakers up to give perfect frequency response - and there are even some DIP switches on the back which can be deployed according to where the speakers are placed, e.g. bass roll-off for speakers placed flush with a wall.

I listened to a lot of monitors and came out liking the Genelecs best. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard them. They are about the size of a small toaster but they are incredibly loud - and you can't even see the cones moving at high volumes. Crystal clear imaging. I am in love.

I will be buying the accompyaning 1091 subwoofer within the next week and will post a second review when these are combined with the 1029As.

Similar Products Used:

Listened to a lot of hi-fi speakers inc. Acoustic Energy Aegis 3, Raolk Epilogues, B&W 601 Mk2, $3000 floorstanders, on some very expensive CD players/amplifiers

A lot of pure sound, good resolution, bright sound, even frequency response, small size, active

One of my friends borrowed me a pair of Genelec's
and I use them as a surround speakers in my home-
theater. I have Dunlavy SC1AV's in front(l/c/r).
I wondered how it would sound if I put Genelec instead
of Dunlavy as a center speaker. Genelec was better in
every way and in every place, I mean in top of and below
television, than Dunlavy. Much more resolution and
much brighter. You can have over 100 dB per pair from
Genelec so they are ideal. For that price, 5 stars.
Well, I'm going to sell all Dunlavys
and buy Genelec's to center and surround, Amphions
perhaps in front(finnish speakers too). They have similar
sound to Genelec.
Equipment used:
Lexicon DC-2 pre
McCormack DNA-0.5 amp front
SSR42 amp center
Velodyne FSR-15 sub

Similar Products Used:

Dunlavy sc1av

Just like the guy from Sweden said about the 1030 model, I say about the 1029... This piece of equipment is astonishing! absolutely fabulous (!). Even when it costs here in Finland about $500, you might easily confuse this speaker to any high-end piece you might compare it to. Let me tell you some background: Genelec is a Finnish company, which makes only active speakers, nothing more, nothing less. You can find Genelec speakers in Abbey Road studios, and in Sony main studios in N.Y... didn't know that, did you? Yes, they are not listening to B&W nautilus or anything. That was the main reason why I first wanted to listen to these speakers, and because the manufacturer is Finnish, It wasn't hard to find a pair. I've heard people praise these speakers, but I didn't believe until I heard myself. Boy was I surprised when these speakers the size of a milk can sounded bigger than anything I have heard (including B&W matrix 801!!!, at the price of $10000).
The sound is very transparent, and the definition is clearer than water. I relly don't have the words to describe. But if you imagine that these speakers are made for professional studio use, you get the idea.
I live in a very small student apartment and they live well with me. You can have a concert hall in ten square meters! One of the best qualities is, that you can buy the speakers one by one, so when you are building a home theater, you can first buy two speakers, then one more for the surround channel, then one for the middle channel, and finally the fifth one for 5.1 back channel. And if you aren't satisfied with the bass frequency of 57Hz, (hey, these are still the size of a milk pint...) you can buy the matching subwoofer and extend bass frequency to astounding 27Hz! More useful utilities, they include balanced xlr input, and volume control in each speaker unit, so at the beginning you will need only a good cd-player and two speakers; that way you can immediately go for the high-end cd-player, because you don't need an amp at all. Of course preamplifier increases comfort, but it's no biggy. A MUST for someone who builds his/hers system gradually!
On the downside I can only tell, that the silent noise is something you can hear, but who can find it from the background when the music is playing? The other downside is that these speakers are so revealing, that if you have a poor cd-player, it sounds terrible, and if you play a poor cd-recording, it reveals all the faults in it. But isn't true hi-fi the quest for ultimate clarity and naturality? these speakers definetely fulfill any of your demands!
My system consists of Marantz CD63MKII KI cd-player, two 1029a:s and Akai vsg735 video recorder. I listened to the speakers with Meridian 502 and Meridian 24bit cd-player, and it sounded even more fabulous, and that is exactly to what I', switching to, first thing when I can afford them..
If you have any questions, e-mail me to tmjarvin@cc.hut.fi, or to tommi.merelin@hut.fi. I will be glad to tell you more, or to just write about life in itself.