Genesis 5.3 User manual

Genesis 5.3 Owners Manual Ver 2.0
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Owners Manual and Set-up Guide:
Genesis 5.3 Loudspeaker
Contents
SET-UP GUIDE 3
UNPACKING 3
SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED 3
ROOM PLACEMENT 5
POWER CONNECTIONS 6
SOURCE INPUT CONNECTIONS 7
THE ACOUSTIC PLATFORM 8
CONTROLS 8
TUNING THE SYSTEM 9
ADJUSTING THE BASS GAIN 10
LOW PASS FILTER 11
IMAGING AND SOUNDSTAGE 12
SOUNDSTAGE HEIGHT 13
TUNING INTO THE ROOM 13
HOME THEATER AND MULTI-CHANNEL MUSIC 14
LFE INPUT 15
LFE GAIN 15
LFE OUTPUT 16
THE REFINEMENT STAGE 16
ROOM TREATMENT 18
MASTERING THE REFINEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM 19
THE TECHNOLOGY 20
THE GENESIS RIBBON TWEETER 20
TITANIUM MIDRANGE 20
MID-BASS COUPLERS 21
THE SERVO-BASS ADVANTAGE 21
ALUMINIUM-CONE WOOFERS 22
500 WATT CLASS D SERVO AMPLIFIER 23
THE ACOUSTIC SUSPENSION 23
SPECIFICATIONS 25

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A Message from Genesis
Congratulations! You are now the owner of one of the finest
loudspeaker systems in the world. Based on technologies developed
and evolved over the past four decades, the Genesis 5 ver 3 is a
small 4-ft tall floor-standing loudspeaker, and yet it delivers some of
the dynamics, imaging and soundstage of our largest 7-foot tall 1½
ton reference Genesis 1 product.
The G5 loudspeaker system was created for the music lover living in
smaller environments. It is designed to reproduce music (and film) at
live listening levels with virtually no restrictions on dynamic range,
frequency response, or imaging capabilities. This is what we mean
by absolute fidelity™, the ability to reproduce the musical event
faithfully, as was intended by the performer, or the film-maker.
Standing 46 inches tall, and only 11 inches (13 ¼” including base)
wide, the Genesis 5 is a diminutive giant. By means of an active
servo-feedback bass system, response down to 18Hz is achieved,
and the full range and impact of a symphony orchestra or a rock
band can be reproduced.
With adjustable tweeter, midrange, and bass controls, the G5 can be
tuned into any room. The adjustable acoustic platform suspension
system also allows the G5 to be ideally sited on all types of flooring –
from the typical joist-suspended carpet-covered floorboards in the
USA, to uneven terracotta tiles in an Italian villa, and flagstones in an
English castle.
Please read this Owners Manual and Set-up Guide to get the
maximum enjoyment out of your purchase. Also, if you have access
to the Internet, please check back at our website often. The address
is www.genesisloudspeakers.com. We will put the latest updates,
tips and tricks, and support for our owners on our website.
Please write the serial number and purchase details of your
Genesis 5.3 here for future reference.
Bought at: _________________________ Date: __________

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Set-up Guide
Now that you have your new Genesis 5 loudspeaker system, we
realize that you can’t wait to hook it up and start playing! However,
please read this set up guide (even if your dealer is setting it up for
you!) before you proceed.
Unpacking
Your loudspeakers will come to you in two large shipping cartons
and a smaller box containing the acoustic suspension. The G5’s
weigh over 145lbs (66kgs) each, so we suggest a minimum of two
strong people to move the speakers around. We will not be held
liable for damage (to either the speakers or your backs!) during
unpacking and setting up if you ignore this basic advice.
Please collapse and store your packaging material in case you need
to ship the speakers later. You WILL need all your packaging
material to transport your speakers safely.
Some Assembly Required
The new G5’s come with a unique acoustic suspension, and this will
need to be attached to the bottom of the loudspeaker. Your dealer
should be responsible for assembling this. However, should you be
attempting this yourself, we recommend that you get a friend to help.
The speaker is large and heavy, and it will require at least two strong
pairs of hands and two strong backs to move it around.
First, identify the parts of the acoustic suspension – there will be two
suspension frames, eight neoprene vibration absorbers, eight spikes
and the associated bolts and washers. Next, move the speaker
close to where you will be placing them before assembling the
suspension. (Please see the next section on Room Placement.) A
145 lb loudspeaker with spiked feet will be very difficult to move!
Once you get the speakers close to
where they will be placed, remove the
two foam pieces from the top and
bottom of the shipping cartons, and
lay them down on the floor beside the
speakers. Then, carefully lay the
speakers on their sides on top of the
shipping foam pieces. If the shipping
tape (see picture) is still on the

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This side faces up
speaker, do not remove it at this point in time. The tape protects the
finish on the speakers and you should remove it only after you have
completed setting up the suspension system.
Locate the screw holes on each corner of
the bottom of the speaker, and screw the
vibration absorbers in. These should only
be finger-tight. Do not force or over
tighten. There will be four vibration
absorbers – one for each corner of the
loudspeaker.
Next, you will attach the suspension
frame to the vibration absorbers. The
suspension frame comes as a mirror-
image pair. It does not matter which one
is on the left and which one is on the
right.
However, what is important is to identify the top and bottom, and the
front and back of the frame. Look at the holes at each corner of the
frame. The top and bottom of the frame is different as illustrated in
the two pictures below. There is a recess for the washer and bolt-
head on the bottom face of the suspension frame.
There is also a circular hole in the middle of the frame that is always
oriented towards the front of the loudspeaker.
This side faces down

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Use the included bolts and washers to attach the frame to the
suspension. Align the mounting holes in the suspension frame to the
vibration absorbers mounted on the cabinet, and screw the bolts in
one at a time. Finger-tighten all four before using an allen (hex)
wrench to tighten the bolts.
The spikes attach from the top of the frame. A washer and a lock nut
is supplied to secure the spike at the bottom. However, before you
put the spikes in, you may want to first position the speakers as a
145lb speaker with spiked feet is going to be very difficult to move.
Now, lift the speaker up on its feet and remove the shipping tape that
protects the finish of the loudspeaker during transport.
Room Placement
A good starting position for your G5 is about 20% the way into the
room as measured from the front wall (the wall you look at as you
are seated listening to the speakers), six feet (~2m) apart, and firing
straight ahead with no toe-in. You will want to sit ten to twelve feet
(3m – 4m) away from the speakers, and have at least 24inches
(60cm) from the back of the speaker to the wall.
6’ to 8’
20% 80%
10’ to 12’
Typical room placement: Place speakers about 20% of the
way into the room and 10 to 12 feet from the listeners

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If you are in a smaller room, try to have at least 24 inches (60 cm) of
space from the back of the speaker to the front wall. You may have
to sit closer to the back wall, or sit closer to the speakers, but try to
keep at least 24 inches of space behind the speakers.
Start with the speakers six feet apart, and not toed-in. You will want
to sit at least 10 feet (3 metres) away from the speakers for proper
integration of the drivers. We will experiment with moving the
speakers around, and toeing them in later.
Power Connections
There are two connections you will need
to make to the G5. First, the power cord
for the built-in amplifier will need to be
plugged into a power socket. A 10-foot
power cord is included with your speakers
for this purpose. We do not recommend
using an extension cord for the G5 due to
the high power demands of the 500W
amplifier. However, if you MUST use an
extension cord, use an extremely heavy
duty one. The amplifier can draw up to 10
amps at 115v, hence make sure that the
extension cord is adequately rated.
Before you plug the power cord in, please
make sure that the voltage selector is set
to the proper voltage. Japan and North
America will require the 115v setting.
Most European countries and other Asian
countries will require 230v. The fuse is a
5amp 250v slow blow irregardless of
voltage used.
There is an on/off switch for the power
amplifier. This switch should always be
left on. We recommend that you plug the
G5 into an unswitched outlet, or a
switched outlet that can always be left ON.
The built-in amplifier has an auto-sensing circuit that will put the
amplifier into muted stand-by when there is no music being played

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for around 25 minutes. It will immediately switch the amplifier on if
there is a signal sensed.
Hence, leave the amplifier on unless you will not be using the
system for an extended period of time (like a month-long vacation).
When you return, the system may sometimes encounter what we
call a cold-start problem. After the amplifier has been turned off for
an extended period of time, it may squeal when first turned on.
Leave the amp squealing for 15 seconds (it won’t hurt the
loudspeaker). Then turn it off. Wait another 15 seconds, and turn it
on again. If it stops squealing, well and good. If not, leave squealing
for a bit longer this time (an additional 15 seconds), and turn it off.
Repeat until the loudspeaker stops squealing. It should take no more
than two to three times before the amplifier warms up and stops
squealing.
Source Input Connections
Connect the speaker-level output of your power amplifier to the High
Level Input binding posts using a high-quality loudspeaker cable.
Make sure that you have the correct polarity connected for both
speakers – the plus or positive (red) terminal on the G5 should be
connected to the plus, positive, or red terminal on your power
amplifier.
The Bass Input selector switch should be in the up or high-level
position – pointing to the inputs being used. This is the
recommended hook-up, both sonically and for convenience.
Nevertheless, if you know that your power amplifier may be
deficient in the bass, or does not have a response flat down to
18Hz (such as some Single-ended Triode amplifiers), you may
wish to connect the bass section of the G5 directly to your
preamplifier instead.
If you use the low-level inputs for the servo-bass of the G5, you
will need to check for the phase correctness of your power
amplifier. If your power amplifier inverts phase, you will need to
invert the high-level inputs when the bass section of the G5 is
driven by the preamplifier.
If you do this, use a good quality balanced interconnect cable to
connect the balanced output of your preamplifier to the preamp

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level input XLR connector, or the single-ended output of your
preamplifier to the preamp level input RCA connector on the back
plate of the G5.
While using this connection, switch the Bass Input Selector to the
down/line-level position. This will bypass the high-level input from
the servo amp, and the bass input is taken directly from the low-
level inputs.
Do NOT connect both the XLR and RCA inputs at the same time.
If you are planning to use long runs (over 10 feet or 3m) of
interconnect to connect the line-level inputs of your G5 to your
preamplifier, we recommend that you use a balanced connection.
The Acoustic Platform
The G5 sits on a suspension
system designed to allow the
loudspeaker to perform at its
optimum. It consists of three
elements – neoprene vibration-
absorbing de-couplers, a tuned
skeletal frame, and stainless steel
spikes. The system holds the
loudspeaker firmly, and yet isolates
it from the floor on which it sits.
After you have positioned the
speakers, insert the supplied spikes
from the top of the suspension
frame, and use your fingers to screw the spikes down to raise the
speaker off the floor so that it only rests on the spikes and no part of
the frame touches the floor. Lock nuts are provided to secure the
spikes. These are threaded on to the spikes from the bottom.
Controls
There are a total of five control knobs
in two rows on the back plate of the
Genesis 5 loudspeaker.
The upper left knob on the back
plate marked “Tweeter” is a volume
control for the front tweeter. Turning

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this control clockwise will increase the level of the front tweeter.
Use this control if you need a bit more treble or to increase the
apparent space of the soundstage. Start with this control at the
12 o'clock position. There is about a one dB range for this
control. The 12 o’clock straight up position is nominal for all
controls.
The upper right knob marked “Midrange”is used to adjust the
level of the midrange. Again, start this at the 12 o’clock position.
Turning the control anti-clockwise (or counter-clockwise) will
make the midrange sound more laid-back, and turning it
clockwise will make the midrange more forward. There is about a
one-and-a-half dB range for this control.
The knob on the middle of the lower
row of knobs marked “Bass Gain”
controls the volume of the built-in bass
servo amplifier. Begin with this control
at 6 (the 12 o’clock position). Adjusting
the gain higher will make the
loudspeaker sound “fuller” and more
bass-heavy.
The knob on the middle right marked “Low Pass” controls how
high the woofer will play. At the extreme low of 71Hz, the woofer
will play up to 71Hz, and then begin rolling off, or reducing its
volume, above this frequency. The recommended beginning
position for this control is 90Hz. Adjusting the crossover point up
will make the G5 sound warmer and fuller in the mid-bass.
The knob on the left marked “LFE Gain” is used for home theatre
applications, so ignore it for the time being.
Tuning the system
Two channel stereo music is the best way to begin your setup
procedure. We suggest that multi-channel and video sources be
used only after you have setup the system to properly reproduce
music. The room in which the G5 is placed would probably be the
greatest influence on the sound of the loudspeaker.
Since we do not live in anechoic chambers, at Genesis, we do not
design our loudspeakers to work perfectly in a perfectly damped

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room. The amount of hard/soft and absorbent/reflecting surfaces will
affect the sound of the speakers tremendously.
A room with solid concrete or brick walls, floors and ceiling will have
much more bass than if the walls were made of plasterboard, with a
suspended floor and false ceiling. An over-stuffed leather sofa will
absorb different frequencies to different extents from a light fabric-
covered armchair. So, you may even find that you will want to re-
tune your system when you change the furnishings in the room.
We suggest that you start your tuning with a single vocal with simple
instrumental accompaniment because the sound of the human voice
is more easily recognizable than many instruments and is the least
complex sound to deal with. A male voice, or a low female voice is
the easiest to start working with.
Adjusting the Bass Gain
Leave the low pass filter alone for the moment, as it should remain
set at approximately 90 Hz. This control will be addressed later.
Turn the gain control of the woofer amplifier up or down until the
voice sounds correct. Whatever controls you use, turn them up and
down only a little at a time. It is easy to turn it up or down too much.
However, the 12 o’clock position is only the starting point. Different
room construction and size will greatly influence the setting of the
bass gain.
If your room has “lossy” walls instead of solid brick or concrete walls,
you may find that the bass settings may need to be higher. If you
have a sealed room with no bass loss, the bass gain may be set as
low as 2 or 3.
Concentrate on the mid-bass regions (as opposed to the very low
bass in your recording) to achieve a natural blend. The voice and the
music accompaniment should sound as if it were cut from one cloth,
not separate.
If the voice sounds “thin” or does not have enough “chest” to its
sound, turn the woofers amplifier’s gain up till it does. If you find that
turning the volume up creates too much low bass and makes the
speakers sound boomy, you will then need to work on the low pass
filter.