Genesis 7.2f Floorstanding Loudspeakers Preview

One thing to remember about high end speaker companies is that they have to cater to a specific clientele. This clientele expects certain things. They expect to be told about speaker break-in. They expect to have reams and reams of text about how much care and thought went into each component of the design. They expect lots of colorful language about how the speaker will create an experience like no other. It's a reminder to audioholics all over the world that, just because a speaker has all these things, doesn't mean it is all smoke and mirrors. If you are going to make a good speaker, a high end one with a "cost-is-no-object" design, you have to give the clients what they expect. Or they aren't going to buy your speaker.

Case in point - Genesis Loudspeakers. We've heard some of their earlier offerings and we were very impressed. When they announced that they were updating their Series 7 line, we were naturally excited. Unfortunately, most of the information on their website on the new offerings (there are three) was shaky at best (like only listing one midrange in the 7.2f when it clearly has two). We found that looking up the info in the Owners Manual for each of the speakers seemed to be the most accurate source. 

The new Series 7 speakers are designed with the small room in mind. The line consists of the 7.2p (petite), a bookshelf with the Genesis signature front and rear mounted tweeter design and a single titanium woofer. The 7.2c (convertible) is an LCR speaker that can be used either upright or on its side. The flagship of the new series, however, is the 7.2f (floorstanding) speaker. Sporting both front and rear mounted 1" Ring-Ribbon tweeters, the speaker opts for a dipole design. The tweeter is a planar-magnetic driver crafted from an extremely thin membrane of Kapton with a photo-etched aluminum “voice coil” that is 0.0005 (5 ten-thousandths) of an inch thick. The entire radiating structure is a 3mm-wide ring that has less mass than the air in front of it. Genesis suggests at least 12" from the front wall when using the rear tweeter. If not, there is a rear tweeter defeat switch for disabling it. There is also a tweeter gain or cut knob on the back of the speaker that will adjust the tweeter response +/-2.5dB for further fine tuning.

The dual midrange woofers on the 7.2f speakers have solid titanium 5.5" cones, something we've not seen before. This is an extremely low mass material (as anyone that has swung a titanium hammer can attest to) but also very strong. As can be seen on the bottom of the speaker, there is a side-firing woofer. Usually, we'd expect these to be powered by your amp, but in the 7.2f speakers they are a true servo-subwoofer. An internal 180w class D amp powers an 8” aluminum cone woofer. There is even a bass gain knob for controlling the output of the built-in subs. The enclosure is constructed out of 1.75" MDF around the front baffle and 18mm (.70") for the rest of the cabinet. The cabinet is also asymmetrically braced to reduced standing waves. The grilles are magnetic and there are integrated outriggers and floor spikes set into the plinth at the base of the speaker. All told, the speaker is 48" tall, 14" deep, and 12" wide and weighs 82lbs. And it looks stunning.

With all this technology you are, of course, curious as to how the speakers perform. With a specified response from 22Hz to 40kHz, +/- 3dB, you're looking at a true full range speaker. If the 22Hz response is rated at meaningful output levels, than this is truly an impressive loudspeaker (especially considering that in-room they will likely play lower). If you take into account the cost of a sub that can dip that low, the price tag of the speakers look (slightly) less shocking. The 89dB sensitivity and the 8ohm nominal impedance means there will be no need for an uber-powerful amp for the midrange/high-frequency end of the speaker.

Conclusion

We had to cut through a lot of audiophile hyperbole and marketing speak to give you the details of the new Genesis 7.2f floorstanding speakers. Frankly, they are some pretty impressive products. They also have a pretty impressive price-tag at $8,950. The scary thing is that they didn't list if that was per pair or not (we'd assume not just to be safe). But with the technology involved, they may be worth $18k a pair. One thing we will note is that these would not be speakers for the uninitiated. The dipole design and integrated subwoofer will need knowledge and, often, equipment to calibrate properly. But if you are shelling out this kind of money for some speakers, you probably aren't installing them yourself anyhow.

For more information, please visit www.genesisloudspeakers.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.