Genesis Physics Speakers:Model II

[tmad40blue]

Oh Mr. fancy pants had "real speakers" when he was a teenager?
Man.... I didn't have S#!t when I was a teen. Still trying to make up for lost time....

If that's considered Mr. Fancy Pants, then I'm Bill Gates... :

Personally, I don't like my pair of Model II+, but the overwhelming majority votes otherwise. If you enjoy them, more power to you (and shame on me).

 

[sealy]

These are just like EPI speakers (several EPI people started Genesis) in that the more power you give them the better they will perform. You can drive them with a 40 watt per channel receiver and they will sound very good. Hook them up to a set of good separates with 150 watts or so on tap......completely different speaker.

Agree with your latter comment, disagree with the former. Certain speakers of the Genesis line, like my V6s as a for instance, have crossovers, where the woofer is choked off at a certain frequency, as opposed to running full-range like others of the Genesis line and most EPI's. The Genesis tweeter, although similar in design to the EPI tweeter, is a different animal, with a doped dome to reduce high frequency resonances and in most cases, a larger magnet. Having had several EPI's, as well as a number of Genesis', I would opine that the Genesis tweeter is a bit better overall than the EPI tweeter.

 

[cgutz]

Of all the type speakers I wish I had bought in the 70's, and never did, without a doubt Genesis II's are the one, nothing else even close. My girlfriend had them, my best friend had them, I bought something else instead, and was never as happy...

They were pretty efficient, my friend powered them very acceptably with a Pioneer 550 receiver (15-25 watts RMS). I'm guessing around 90db+ per watt.

Some people were known to disconnect the tweeters and use them as subwoofers. Bass was strong, but not flabby like some ported speakers of the era.

I think the early Genesis were better than any of the Genesis models that came latter...

 

[HepcatWilly]

They are great speakers, easy to refoam and a lot of fun. The inverted tweeter really spreads the music all over the room (in a good way) and there's a surprising amount of good clean bass.

The cabinet vibrates like hell, at least mine does, kind of like the old Magic Fingers in the motels. I don't have a problem with that, it doesn't seem to affect the sound, and they beat the heck out of most ported speakers that I have heard. The only drawback is the vinyl veneer.

Like sealy, I prefer the Genesis over Epi. The Genesis is cleaner and sweeter, more along the lines of an Allison tweeter. Love them, love them love them.

 

[Metrobilly]

I bought a pair of these new, and still own them. Very extended bass is their strong point. A bit weird in the upper mid-range to my ears. They were my main speaker for well over 10 years.

The original green surrounds were very soft. I suggest you seek some equally soft replacements. Many of the generic ones are stiff enough tho effect the tuning, it did with mine.

The woofers will audibly bottom out if you run too big of an amplifier. My Sansui 881 caused this to happen on occasion. I don't consider them to be especially efficient speakers and they didn't serve too well playing loud in a party environment.

I hope you enjoy your pair as much as I did mine.

 

[moggi1964]

So hear are my new acquisitions and I have some questions:

How on earth do you get the back off?

What is the role of the switch?

If I re-foam the damaged woofer do I have to do the other so both speakers have the same foam?

What do you suggest to remove the marks on the top of the pictured speaker?

Thanks.

 

[moggi1964]

I think they may have Boston Acoustics A70 woofers instead of original Genesis ones. There is a sticker inside that says "A70I/A70THEAWE" and another that says "06/15/90".

Your thoughts on this finding would be welcomed.

 

[dumptruck]

How on earth do you get the back off?

You don't, but you can get to the crossover by removing the passive radiator.

What is the role of the switch?

adds a resistor to the tweeter circuit.

If I re-foam the damaged woofer do I have to do the other so both speakers have the same foam?

Usually a good idea to do both, but those don't look like the right woofers or passives! See if you can get some model numbers off those.

What do you suggest to remove the marks on the top of the pictured speaker?

howard's restore-a-finish with steel wool (or brass wool if you've got it).

 

[HepcatWilly]

I think they may have Boston Acoustics A70 woofers instead of original Genesis ones. There is a sticker inside that says "A70I/A70THEAWE" and another that says "06/15/90".

Do all woofers have magnets? The passive radiators should not.

 

[moggi1964]

Passive has: "1098032 PR-10" stamped on it.

No magnet on the passive.

 

[bakes]

They're a really solid performer with the inverted dome tweeter and passive radiator. The bass response will really surprise you. Of course they were the first real speakers I ever owned as a teenager, so I will never sell the pair I have...:thmbsp:

:thmbsp: I remember those. Still have the scar on my upper lip from when one of those damn woofers attacked me in Maine. I'll agree w/ AA and Sealy - clean, clean midrange. Refoamed a pair for another friend recently and they're an easy fix. Ask AA and HomerJ about the green woofer foams.

 

[analog addict]

Oh Mr. fancy pants had "real speakers" when he was a teenager?
Man.... I didn't have S#!t when I was a teen. Still trying to make up for lost time....

Well, they were my BIG X-mas present one year in high school, and my parents had the last laugh when they hid them under the dining room table instead of under the tree. I had been lobbying for them all year, and I looked like Ralphie from the X-mas Story movie without his Red Ryder when the big boxes didn't show up. They finally took pity on me and told me to look in the dining room....:nono:

The rest of the system was pretty low budget, a SX-450 and a CT-2121. I did soon add a PL-518 to the mix though...:thmbsp:

If that's considered Mr. Fancy Pants, then I'm Bill Gates... :

Personally, I don't like my pair of Model II+, but the overwhelming majority votes otherwise. If you enjoy them, more power to you (and shame on me).

II+'s and II's are different animals. I've directly compared the II's and II+'s on a Kenny KR-8050 and the II+'s have to me a weaker bass response and a different crossover/coloration of the tweeter.

:thmbsp: I remember those. Still have the scar on my upper lip from when one of those damn woofers attacked me in Maine. I'll agree w/ AA and Sealy - clean, clean midrange. Refoamed a pair for another friend recently and they're an easy fix. Ask AA and HomerJ about the green woofer foams.

That'll teach you to stick your face in front of a driver you're trying to dislodge with a rubber mallet....

Yeah, be glad I had all the stuff to sew you back up on the living room couch instead of going to the ER. We saved 3 hours of time and were able to add the proper pain killers very shortly after the operation was completed.....:beer:

PM HomerJSimpson if you'd like to go back to the original, or as close to the original green foam look as you can get. IMO, Genesis speakers don't sound right unless they're playing through green foam.

Oh yeah, and you can buy replacement drivers if necessary from Human Speakers....:thmbsp: Those tweeters scream early production to me BTW, almost like KLH/Advent tweeters

 

[PioneerGuy75]

I'm not really familiar with the Genesis line but NONE of those drivers look original....

Tweeter looks like from Advent...:scratch2:

Perhaps someone can correct me if I am wrong...

 

[HepcatWilly]

Those don't really look like the right tweets. I just went to check my pairs.
Here's the tweeter found in both pairs. They are an inverted dome, like the Epi. These do look a lot like Advents, or maybe a KLH.

I can't tell about the passive radiator. Mine looks like a woofer without the magnet and doesn't have that foam curtain on front.

I checked the 8" driver. It has a square magnet and has a paper inspection sticker on it. As for the BA drivers, mine don't have any markings at all.

 

[HepcatWilly]

NO WAIT! I've been looking at a few images online and found some that look very similar to yours.

http://img718.imageshack.us/i/genesisii.jpg/sr=1

http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/images/gen2-newparts.jpg

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/image.php?image=804585&is_user=0


Sorry about that. I'm an idiot. Looks like you have an early version.

 

[kfa888]

Here is what mine looked like with all the stock drivers. Edit, just noticed your last link / pix was my speakers someone sniped for an ad.

 

[dumptruck]

Here is what mine looked like with all the stock drivers.

Mine too, but the OP's look like the same ones to me - looks more like someone put the grill from an advent fried egg onto the genesis tweeter, which is weird.

 

[Pete B]

I like them and restored a pair as described here:
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=3874

 

[HepcatWilly]

If you look very carefully at the Human Speakers page, the top shot has a metal grille and looks similar to an Advent tweet.

Kfa888, no kidding, huh? I like your setup and that sippy cup is awesome.

 

[moggi1964]

I like them and restored a pair as described here:
http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Board/index.php?showtopic=3874

I read through that; very interesting and informative. Thanks.

So here is a close-up of the tweeter front and back.

Also a close up of the back of a 10" passive that is NOW detached from the passive structure because I left the speaker lying on the floor to answer the phone and the dog jumped on it

This is turning into something of a nightmare :yes: