BACK in the early 1990s, Genesis Technologies’ line-source design represented the cutting edge in loudspeaker technology … but the decade that followed witnessed various fluctuations in the company’s fortunes.
Fronting it at the beginning was the legendary Arnie Nudell, famed for the Infinity (a company he co-founded in the late 1960s) IRS. The Genesis One set new benchmarks when it was launched in 1993.
Much water has flowed under the bridge since then – various owners and bankruptcy – before Genesis Advance Technologies rose from the ashes a decade ago, this time with incumbent president and CEO Gary Leonard Koh at the helm, and Nudell still with the company. Although Nudell parted ways with GAT a few years later, the company has gone on to expand its range of products considerably – at the forefront are the 1.2 and 2.2.
Now comes a new one – the Genesis 2 Junior, which is set to make its debut at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Jan 8-11. Ostensibly, it is a scaled-down version of the 2.
“This year is the beginning of our second decade in business. To mark the occasion, we will debut the line-source Genesis 2 Junior at CES – it is the biggest of our products that will fit through the door of our suite!” said Koh in a statement.
“Being a line-source, the G2jr is quite unique among loudspeakers generally available to the average consumer and it has several advantages. Because small changes in distance make less of a difference in sound pressure level with line sources, it has a sweet-spot that accommodates a couple or a family instead of just one person.
“Also, at the usual listening distance, it will be twice as efficient as the equivalent point-source loudspeaker. This makes the G2jr sound more dynamic and louder with the same amplifier power, or more capable with lesser powered amplifiers,” Koh added.
According to Genesis, the advantage of a line-source loudspeaker is that the sound pressure level falls off at -3dB for every doubling of distance away from the loudspeaker instead of -6dB as with a point source loudspeaker. Hence, a point-source and a line-source loudspeaker with the same sensitivity at 1m will have a 6dB difference at 4m. The line-source loudspeaker will have double the sound pressure level at the listening position.
The G2jr, which stands over six feet falls and weighs about 100kg, incorporates a 48-inch midrange ribbon, a line-array of Genesis ring-ribbon tweeters, and twin 12-inch servo-controlled amplified subwoofers per channel.
The “junior” tag, obviously, is not a reflection of the scope of its sound … check it out for yourself at the CES.
