Genelec Goes Luxe: "The Ones" Now Available in 120 Custom Colours
For most mass-produced products, consumers must accept whatever colours manufacturers decide to offer.
However, with luxury items like Fender Custom Shop guitars or high-end yachts, custom color options are typically available to meet customer preferences.
What about custom-colored studio monitors?
Studio monitors are primarily utilitarian tools rather than consumer HiFi products, so customisation has rarely been a priority.
To my knowledge, only Poland's APS (which appears to have shut down - their website is unreachable) and ME Geithain previously offered customisation, with the latter providing over 20 wood grain and RAL colour options:
However, these offerings had minimal impact on brand strength or sales volume, possibly due to product design limitations or insufficient marketing.
——————————————————
But what happens when an industry leader decides to enter the customisation game? The results could be quite different.
That's exactly what Genelec is trying to do now
The Ones series previously came in just four colours: white, grey, black, and RAW (natural metal finish).
Moving forward, over 120 colour options will be available!
Currently, each model in The Ones series has a customisation link on Genelec's website, allowing direct colour previewing.
Grey dominates the selection with a whopping 30 different shades of grey...
You could call it "Fifty Shades of Grey" minus twenty.
At present, the website only offers basic previews, with many details yet to be announced. For instance:
- What will the price premium be?
- How long will custom orders take to fulfil?
However, what we do know so far:
- The Iso-pod feet cannot be customised (they remain black)
- The front grille colour cannot be customised
- Other series cannot be customised
Yes, this means the "entry-level" G Series, 8000 Series monitors, and 7000 Series, F Series subwoofers currently don't support customisation.
The 4000 Series AV installation speakers are an exception, having supported customisation since 2016.
While shopping centres and sports venues may require more distinctive colours, the main reason is likely that these installations typically involve purchasing hundreds of speakers at once.
If Genelec's initiative proves successful, other manufacturers might follow suit.
Imagine colourful PMC, Dynaudio, and Neumann monitors...Quite a "beautiful" vision, innit?
I wonder if pattern customisation might be possible too?
I spotted an impressive enthusiast on Facebook who manually polished his black 8351 monitors...
(They look stunning, but it's probably not great for sound quality.)
And if possible,
I'd love to see some "co-branded" editions...
