What Hi Fi Sound and Vision
05 JUL 2009
Geneva Lab Model L
More musical than your usual dock'n'speakers combo, the L is able to fill a room with quality iPod sound
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£850 (plus an 'optional' £150 for a stand that should probably be considered 'essential') seems a fair bit for what, at first sight, looks to be an oppressively sized centre speaker.
Fortunately for all our sensibilities, the Geneva Model L is more than that.
It's an iPod dock, a CD player and FM radio. It has amplification rated at 50W per channel, which drives two 1-inch tweeters and a pair of 5.25-inch mid/bass drivers.
It's got a pair of analogue inputs, a decent remote control and a display so big and bright you could read it through a fog.
Stand and deliver
You'll need the stand because all the L's connections are near the bottom of the cabinet and it's a big boy to balance on the top-plate of a speaker stand.
Once positioned (Geneva provides a long mains lead) and with an Apple Lossless file of Gogol Bordello's American Wedding playing via the iPod dock, the Geneva impresses with the scale and brio of its presentation.
A technology Geneva calls EmbracingSound allows a dramatically wide soundstage to be liberated from the Model L's single enclosure, and in terms of punch and drive the L wants for nothing.
Voices are expressive, high frequencies sparkle without hardness and the frequency range is well integrated. Wind the volume to antisocial levels and the L gets louder with no loss of composure.
It's a similar story with CD playback: fast, attacking and poised. FM radio, too, is expressive and clean.
So if you're looking for an iPod-based, true all-in-one with a lot more musicality than the norm, you need to hear the Geneva Model L.