Genelec: Active Monitor Development

Siamäk Naghian and Andy Bensley of Genelec chat to Sam Inglis about the 43 year history of the company, the development of new technology and future sustainability.

Chapters00:00 - Introduction00:21 - Company History02:57 - Focusing On The Pro Audio Market04:15 - Technology As The Foundation05:00 - In-House Design And Production09:44 - Exploring Different Technologies12:52 - Coaxial (MDC™) Drivers14:22 - Directivity Control Waveguide (DCW™)20:31 - Consistency Across The Range22:36 - DSP And Calibration 26:34 - Aural ID And Immersive Audio32:00 - Tech In Development33:25 - Sustainability In Music Tech38:25 - Equipment Built To Last39:53 - The Right To Repair

Genelec BiogFor over 40 years, Genelec active studio monitors and subwoofers have delivered truthful, neutral sound reproduction — enabling engineers and creatives to make accurate and reliable mix decisions, even in challenging rooms.

Founded in Finland by childhood friends Ilpo Martikainen and Topi Partanen, the company’s first monitor, the S30, instantly became the blueprint for Genelec’s future direction. Its active design delivered consistent performance, total reliability, and the ability to adapt to the acoustic environment it was operating in.

The following decades have seen a string of technically innovative Genelec releases, from the now-legendary 1031A nearfield model to the latest coaxial point source models from The Ones family. Genelec’s growing range of Smart Active Monitors work closely with GLM calibration software, allowing each monitor to be completely optimised for the room, producing mixes that translate consistently to the outside world.

Siamäk Naghian travelled from his native Iran to settle in Finland in the 1980s and continue his studies. After graduating, he went on to hold senior positions at telecommunications giant Nokia before joining Genelec in 2005 as R&D Director. Siamäk has been Genelec’s Managing Director since 2011.

Andy Bensley joined Genelec as Regional Business Development Manager in 2019. Based in the UK, Andy has huge experience in analysing and tuning the in-room performance of loudspeaker systems in a wide range of studios – from the smallest bedroom to the largest post production studio.

https://www.genelec.com/

Sam Inglis BiogEditor In Chief Sam Inglis has been with Sound On Sound for more than 20 years. He is a recording engineer, producer, songwriter and folk musician who studies the traditional songs of England and Scotland, and the author of Neil Young's Harvest (Bloomsbury, 2003) and Teach Yourself Songwriting (Hodder, 2006).https://www.soundonsound.com

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