Center

ht
Le

Rig
ft
30° 0° 30°

r l e f t Re ar ri
Re a g ht
100° 100°

110° 110°
120° 120°

ITU-R BS.775-3

Monitor Focusing Template

Room acoustic improvements Listening distance recommendations
Several acoustic improvements can be made in a typical rectangular room where an audio
monitoring setup is installed. Here are a few suggestions.

0.5 1 1.5 2 3 5 10 15 (m)

A
106 101 98 96 95 93 92 65 m3
8320A

SAM Monitor Models

Cut the room front corners at 30 degree 100 95 92 90 89 87 86 2'300 ft3 0.22 s

angle using high-mass materials (concrete,

A A 8330A 110
102
105
97
102
94
100
92
98
90
97
89
96
88
75 m3
2'650 ft3 0.23 s
bricks, multi layered gypsum board, etc).
In case building materials have medium 8340A 111 108 106 104 102 101 85 m3
101 98 96 94 92 91 3'000 ft3 0.24 s
mass, make sure to fill the empty space
113 110 108 105 104 103 95 m3
behind these walls with mineral wool. 8350A 104 101 99 96 95 94 3'350 ft3 0.25 s

110 105 102 100 98 96 95 75 m3

B 8331A 105 100 97 95 93 91 90 2'650 ft3 0.23 s

B Use a combination of absorption and 116 111 108 106 104 102 101 85 m3
8341A
B diffusion on the side wall surfaces. Note
107 102 99 97 95 93 92 3'000 ft3 0.24 s

that thin layers of porous absorbers only 8351B 119 114 110 108 106 104 103 95 m3
107 102 98 96 94 92 91 3'350 ft3 0.25 s
reduce HF reflections.
124 118 115 113 111 108 107 110 m3
8361A 115 109 106 104 102 99 98 3'900 ft3 0.26 s
C
115 111 110 107 105 104 110 m3
1032C 3'900 ft3 0.26 s

MAI-0062. Genelec Document BBAGE027b. Copyright Genelec Oy 04.2020. All data subject to change.
If the room is large enough, use diffusive 105 101 100 97 95 94

and absorbing element(s) on the back wall. 118 115 113 110 108 106 106 125 m3
S360A 112 109 107 104 102 100 100 4'420 ft3 0.27 s

D 115 113 110 108 106 106 125 m3

1237A 109 107 104 102 100 100 4'420 ft3 0.27 s
Control low frequency room resonances
112 109 107 105 105 120 m3
using a large amount of absorption ma- 1238CF/DF 102 99 97 95 95 4'250 ft3 0.26 s

C terial for example in the back of the room

116 113 110 108 108 170 m3
1238A/AC 111 108 105 103 103 6'000 ft3 0.29 s
and in the ceiling. Carefully designed and
located panel resonator absorbers can 120 117 113 111 110 200 m3
1234A/AC 115 112 108 106 105 7'100 ft3 0.31 s
also be used.
D 124 121 118 114 113 400 m3
1236A 119 116 113 109 108 14'200 ft3 0.43 s
E
Use a combination of absorption and 1.6 3.2 5 6.5 9.8 16.5 32 50 (ft)
diffusion above the listening area to reduce Distance from the monitor (meters, feet)
acoustic reflections from the ceiling.
Room volume Listening Distances and SPL
The short-term and long-term sound pressure levels (SPL)
listed take into consideration the typical room volume and
Room reverbation time (RT60) reverberation time for each monitor (right margin, based
on ITU-R BS.1116). If the reverberation time is longer, it will
mainly affect the long-term SPL that will be higher than
Short-term sound pressure levels
shown.
Maximum short-term sine wave sound pressure level averaged
E 102 from 100 Hz to 3 kHz, measured in half-space, on-axis.
97 Peak levels are higher. This number tends to under-estimate
headroom by 4 dB, based on typical immersive standards and
Not Recommended Distances
audio content. For more detailed information, please contact When the distance to the monitor is too short, summing of
Genelec. sound from multiple drivers is not happening as designed.

55 m3 Long-term sound pressure levels

0.21 s long-term RMS sound pressure level, measured in
1'950 ft3Maximum
half-space, on-axis, with simulated programme signal according
to IEC 60268-5 (limited by driver unit protection circuit).