General Description - Genelec 1029A Operating Manual

1029A Active Monitoring System

General description

The bi-amplified GENELEC 1029A is a two
way active monitoring speaker designed to be
small but still have high output, low coloration,
and broad bandwidth.
The 1029A is ideal for near field monitoring,
mobile vans, broadcast and TV control
rooms, surround sound systems, budget
home studios, multimedia applications and
also for use with computer soundcards.
As an active speaker, it contains drivers,
power amplifiers, active crossover filters and
protection circuitry. The Directivity Control
Waveguide (DCW ) technology used
TM TM
provides excellent frequency balance in
difficult acoustic environments. If necessary,
the bass response of the 1029A's can be
extended with a Genelec 7050A or 7060A
subwoofer.
Integrated Construction
As the amplifiers are built into the speaker
enclosure, the only connections required are
the mains supply and the line level input
signal, making the 1029A very easy to set
up and use. The integrated design allows the
amplifiers and the drivers to be calibrated as
a single unit at the factory. This eliminates the
effects of component tolerances and ensures
consistent quality. The cast aluminium cabinet
has rounded corners and a hard-wearing
painted outer surface.
Drivers
The bass frequencies are reproduced by a
130 mm (5") bass driver mounted in a 4.5
litre vented cabinet. The -3 dB point lies at
68 Hz and the frequency response extends
down to 65 Hz (-6 dB).
The high frequency driver is a 19 mm
(3/4") metal dome. Uniform dispersion control
is achieved with the revolutionary DCW
Technology pioneered by Genelec, which has
also resulted in perfect phase and delay
uniformity at the crossover frequency.
Magnetic shielding is standard on the
1029A. Shielding is vital for applications
such as video post production, where stray
magnetic fields must be minimized.
Crossover
The active crossover network consists of two
parallel bandpass filters. Acoustically, the fil-
ters are complementary and the slopes are
24 - 32 dB/octave. The crossover frequency
is 3.3 kHz. The active crossover controls
('treble tilt', 'bass tilt' and 'bass roll-off') allow
this speaker to be exactly matched to any
application.
Amplifiers
The amplifier unit is built into the speaker
enclosure. The bass and treble amplifiers
both produce 40 W of output power. The fast,
low distortion amplifiers are capable of driv-
ing a stereo pair to peak output sound pres-
sure levels in excess of 110 dB at 1 m. The
unit incorporates special circuitry for driver
overload protection. Variable input sensitivity
allows for accurate level matching.
Installation
Each 1029A monitor is supplied with an inte-
grated amplifier unit, mains cable and an
operating manual. After unpacking, place the
loudspeaker in its required listening position,
taking note of the line of the listening axis
(see Figure 1). Before connecting up, ensure
that the mains switch is off and the volume
control fully counter-clockwise (see Figure 1).
Check that the mains voltage selector is cor-
rectly set (models sold in Europe have a fixed
230V setting). Audio input is via a 10 kOhm
balanced XLR connector or a 10 kOhm bal-
anced 1/4" Jack. An unbalanced source may
be used as long as pin 3 is grounded to pin 1
at the input (see Figure 2). Once the connec-
tion has been made, the speakers are ready
to be switched on.
Setting the volume control.
The input sensitivity of the speakers can be
matched to the output of the mixing desk or
other source by adjusting the volume control
on the front panel (see Figure 1).
Setting the tone controls
The response of the system usually has to be
adjusted to match the acoustic environment.
The adjustment is done by setting the tone
control switches on the rear panel. The tone
control has four switches and can adjust
'treble tilt', 'bass tilt' and 'bass roll-off.' The
factory settings for these are 'ALL OFF' to
give a flat anechoic response. See Table 1
for suggested tone control settings in differ-
ing acoustic environments. Figure 4 shows
the effect of the controls on the anechoic
response. Always start adjustment by setting
all switches to 'OFF' position. Then set the
switch if needed to the 'ON' position to select
the response curve needed.
Monitor placement
Console top mounting
If the 1029A's are used for near field moni-
toring, avoid mounting them directly on the
console top. Instead position the speakers
slightly behind the console by using floor
stands, wall mounts or microphone stands.
This minimises the reflection from the con-
sole surface from colouring the sound.
Room placement
It is vital that the monitors are correctly posi-
tioned in the room as this greatly affects their
performance. To produce a true and accurate
stereo image the monitors must have exactly
similar frequency responses, which is true
in free field conditions. The frequency charts
shown are for free field conditions. When
placed in a room the response changes due
to reflections of the wave from the room's
boundaries. It is therefore necessary to place
the monitors at the same height and also at
the same distance from the front and side
walls so that the reflections, and therefore
the changes to the frequency response, are
the same.
The distance from the front wall should be
either less than 1 m, or alternatively more
than 3 m to avoid an uneven frequency
response due to reflections from the wall.
If the speaker is placed close to the wall
(<1 m) this will boost the lower frequencies
and the tone controls should then be adjusted
appropriately (see Table 1).
The monitors should be aimed toward the