Review of Genesis 5.3 Loudspeakers

JackD201

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Apr 20, 2010
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We are thinking of bringing the Dragons and setting them up in the ballroom.........

Try to snag a 45 rpm single of Gareth Emery's Concrete Angel for that shindig! :)

If you find one let me know where you got it please!
 

thestewman

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Feb 4, 2011
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Gary

The reviewer failed to list the built in 500 watt servo-controlled bass amplifier in the technical spec listing on the web page
and he misquoted in his presentation the output as 400 watts.

Stew
 

Johnny Vinyl

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thestewman

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Feb 4, 2011
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We are thinking of bringing the Dragons and setting them up in the ballroom.........

Gary

Bring the Dragons to RMAF. Set up a pair of Genesis 5.3s in the same room and use only the Genesis 5.3s.
No one will believe what they are hearing.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
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Gary

Bring the Dragons to RMAF. Set up a pair of Genesis 5.3s in the same room and use only the Genesis 5.3s.
No one will believe what they are hearing.

Or bring the Dragons and set up the Dragons...and really blow people away!!!
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
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Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Gary

The reviewer failed to list the built in 500 watt servo-controlled bass amplifier in the technical spec listing on the web page
and he misquoted in his presentation the output as 400 watts.

Stew

I wouldn't worry about that...... I must have told the reviewer that it's a UcD400 module, but the transformer and power supply are capable of 950W. Since we run three 8ohm woofers in parallel, theoretically it's more than 500W. But it's quite irrelevant to the sound. What' a few hundred watts between friends?
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Try to snag a 45 rpm single of Gareth Emery's Concrete Angel for that shindig! :)

If you find one let me know where you got it please!

Jack, are you sure it's available on vinyl? I've got the 24/44.1 but haven't managed to find a vinyl. It's a great tune - thanks.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Emery is pretty big and Concrete Angel is one of his biggest hits so there MIGHT be a euro press somewhere. I've checked most of the sights but can't find it. Where did you get the 24/44.1? Please share :D
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
There's going to be yet another review of the Genesis 5.3 forthcoming....... from Scot Hull the Part Time Audiophile. He's not done yet, but I visited him to tweak and tune the set-up before he writes his conclusion. Hopefully, it improved things and didn't mess with what he thought of the speakers. In order not to influence the review, I let him pay for the steak dinner :-D

PTA Visit.jpg

Check out his site if you haven't done so already: http://parttimeaudiophile.com/

Even though he still hasn't completed the review, last year, the G5.3 was one of his "Best of 2013". Here's what he said:

"Gary Koh hooked me up with some time on his marvelous and infinitely tunable G5.3 loudspeakers. These guys are nifty in ways that just scream flexibility. Integrated subwoofers, rear-facing drivers, tweak-able response curves for every section of the audio band leaves you with a pair of loudspeakers that can do it all — and do that everywhere.

That’s neat.

The sound field is dominated by a sense of coherence — and in exactly the way that truly big speakers manage so effortlessly. Height and width of the stage is pretty much spot-perfect, with all the expected audiophile traits you’re partial to — you’ll find detail and air a-plenty.

This is an extremely easy loudspeaker to recommend, assuming that the cost-to-entry is surmountable. Got a troublesome room? This would be the can-opener I’d reach for."
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
At long last, Scot finally finishes his review of the G5.3's - and he really does them justice. Everytime I think that it's time to retire this model, some one raves about them and even put their money where their mouth is and buys them.

http://parttimeaudiophile.com/2014/07/20/review-genesis-loudspeakers-5-3-hear-me-roar/

He also provoked two interviews from me - one on design, and another on music - for which he paid with a steak dinner.



 

puroagave

Member Sponsor
Sep 29, 2011
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At long last, Scot finally finishes his review of the G5.3's - and he really does them justice. Everytime I think that it's time to retire this model, some one raves about them and even put their money where their mouth is and buys them.

Nice review. I heard the G5.3 a few shows ago at Newport with burmester elec, Marcel Riendeau of oracle spinning records and the foxy as always Anne bisson just being herself (actually, she was singing acapella along with your speakers). I'm surprised you think they're long in the tooth, sonic-wise I'd put them on the same playing field with the magico s3/s5 and Wilson Sasha II/alexia

Did Scot buy the review pair?
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
Nice review. I heard the G5.3 a few shows ago at Newport with burmester elec, Marcel Riendeau of oracle spinning records and the foxy as always Anne bisson just being herself (actually, she was singing acapella along with your speakers). I'm surprised you think they're long in the tooth, sonic-wise I'd put them on the same playing field with the magico s3/s5 and Wilson Sasha II/alexia

Did Scot buy the review pair?

Thanks, Rob. I'm not the one who think that they are long in the tooth. Dealers don't want to demo them because they say that they are old and ask me for an update. Whenever I ask them what needs to be improved on them, they can't answer. I think that the G5.3's are competitive with speakers above their price range.
 

DonH50

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Jun 22, 2010
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Dealers, and consumers, always think something must be New and Improved or it's not worth buying. Re-route the wiring to the crossover, add a little internal caulk at a seam, stick some extra mass someplace, change the feet, whatever and call it the 5.3a. People will flock to it. ;)
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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Thanks, Rob. I'm not the one who think that they are long in the tooth. Dealers don't want to demo them because they say that they are old and ask me for an update. Whenever I ask them what needs to be improved on them, they can't answer. I think that the G5.3's are competitive with speakers above their price range.

If a product is good and is competitive with others in its price range it is good. Period. It doesn't matter when it was built or designed.

The fact that a product is produced over a period of years actually speaks very well for it.

Unfortunately many people believe if it isn't new or an updated model, it is either outmoded or not good.

It's hard to improve on some things without making a completely different product.
 

microstrip

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Dealers, and consumers, always think something must be New and Improved or it's not worth buying. Re-route the wiring to the crossover, add a little internal caulk at a seam, stick some extra mass someplace, change the feet, whatever and call it the 5.3a. People will flock to it. ;)

When buying a car, I usually get a model at the end of its life, just after the replacement has been presented. I expect that at that time all problems and issues of the model have been fully solved, service people know it well. But when buying digital audio equipment or speakers I prefer buying the latest models - I can not remember any occasion where I preferred the older model over the replacement.

Surely, if one is buying used equipment sometimes great bargains can be found in older equipment.
 

carolkoh

[Industry Expert] Member Sponsor
Sep 17, 2010
907
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
It's hard to improve upon perfection and we put in what Gary calls "Rolling Updates" - duly recorded in the S/N database. Updates that are too small to update the version number. A new and improved capacitor / resistor / fuse / what-have-yous.

We had someone come in recently. He drove his G5.3s (which were a pair of the first batch to be named G5.3s) in from the mid-west for an upgrade. Cross-overs and tweeters, and we also checked out the amps and brought them up to current. He was very, very pleased. :)
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
5,599
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www.genesisloudspeakers.com
With the G5.3's Carol's point about the updates being too small to update the version number is accurate. It's been almost 8 years since we launched the G5.3, and it was my first loudspeaker design after Arnie's retirement in 2006. Basically, I took his last design - the G5.2 - and fixed all the problems. After that launch, the significant changes were:

1) I figured a way to make the servo-feedback system better (react faster, more accurate, more reliable) - 2007 - denoted by the green LED on the amplifier plate instead of the blue LED.
2) Discovered the joys of HMWA (high molecular weight cast acrylic) as a material for loudspeaker construction - 2008 - changed the suspension of the G5.3 from marine ply to HMWA
3) Started to use a different manufacturer for large inductors that measured and sounded a lot more linear - 2009
4) Re-designed the Genesis tweeter for lower distortion, more extension and greater dispersion at high frequencies - 2012

Each upgrade was not ground-breaking enough to be a model change. Taken in total, though, it is quite a significant upgrade to the speaker - as some customers have discovered when they upgraded their speakers.
 

microstrip

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May 30, 2010
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With the G5.3's Carol's point about the updates being too small to update the version number is accurate. It's been almost 8 years since we launched the G5.3, and it was my first loudspeaker design after Arnie's retirement in 2006. Basically, I took his last design - the G5.2 - and fixed all the problems. After that launch, the significant changes were:

1) I figured a way to make the servo-feedback system better (react faster, more accurate, more reliable) - 2007 - denoted by the green LED on the amplifier plate instead of the blue LED.
2) Discovered the joys of HMWA (high molecular weight cast acrylic) as a material for loudspeaker construction - 2008 - changed the suspension of the G5.3 from marine ply to HMWA
3) Started to use a different manufacturer for large inductors that measured and sounded a lot more linear - 2009
4) Re-designed the Genesis tweeter for lower distortion, more extension and greater dispersion at high frequencies - 2012

Each upgrade was not ground-breaking enough to be a model change. Taken in total, though, it is quite a significant upgrade to the speaker - as some customers have discovered when they upgraded their speakers.

It is one of the reasons why it is wise to check the serial numbers with the manufacturer before buying used - many brands make significant improvements to their models during their production lifetime, but do not change models. I once got an used MBL101B that according to MBL "was 90% of a MBL101C".
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
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For marketability you could consider a minor rev in model to reflect the updates. That will also give the customers/dealers a "new" model to sell.

As an engineer, I do have the usual love for marketing, natch, but it helps pay the bills...
 

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