Founded in 1978, Genelec has spent more than four decades developing a reputation for precision and innovation in studio monitoring. The Finnish company pioneered Active Monitoring and continues to lead the industry with its Smart Active Monitoring™ technology, which allows studio monitors to be calibrated to their specific acoustic environment. Known for their accurate imaging, low distortion, and deep bass, Genelec monitors are trusted in professional studios around the world.
That trust is exactly what brought Sean Genockey—a seasoned producer and engineer with over 20 years in the industry—to upgrade the monitoring system in his personal space, ReKognition Sound, with a pair of Genelec 8351B three-way coaxial monitors.
Located inside London’s Metropolis Studios, ReKognition is more than just a mix room. Co-founded with Jesse Wood, it serves as home base for their ReKognition Sound label and reflects Genockey’s straightforward philosophy: “engineering should be invisible—your job is to facilitate greatness, not hold it up.” A statement from the company confirms the studio’s recent monitoring upgrade, explaining that “the studio’s monitoring system has recently been upgraded with a pair of Genelec 8351B three-way coaxial monitors.”
ReKognition sits adjacent to Metropolis Studio B, which Genockey regularly uses for live tracking. The room itself is designed for precision, built to capture and finalize projects for artists like Ronnie Wood, Jasmine Rodgers, Craig Silvey, and NewDad. “Ronnie’s amazing, full of energy,” Genockey says. “We’ve done all his recent solo work in this room. It’s a space where you can react fast and keep that magic alive. The moment you stall an artist, the take’s gone.”
To preserve that immediacy, Genockey built the studio around gear that empowers creativity rather than slowing it down. The signal chain is simple but intentional: quality microphones, Neve-style preamps, essential compressors, and vintage pedals he knows inside and out. “The magic isn’t in the plugins, it’s in the players,” he says. “My job is to get it right at source, fast, and then not get in the way.”
That focus on clarity made the Genelec 8351Bs an obvious choice. “I grew up in studios with massive full-range mains. This little setup gives me that same confidence,” Genockey explains. “It’s forensic, but it still feels like music. You’re not distracted by dips or harshness, you can think about emotion and instinct.”
A statement from the company reveals that “the system has been calibrated by Genelec’s Andy Bensley using GLM software,” which helped Genockey immediately trust the sound of the room. “Andy came in, did the full sweep with GLM and suddenly I wasn’t second-guessing myself anymore. I can make big decisions fast and I know they’ll hold up.”
As someone who values experience and instinct, Genockey is wary of the overreliance on post-production correction in modern workflows. “So many multitracks I get now are rescue jobs. Nothing’s phase-aligned, the fundamentals aren’t there,” he notes. “People are hoarding knowledge too—mic techniques, signal chains, like it’s all a secret. But I came up in a world where everyone shared what they knew. That’s how we got better.”
For Genockey, good production starts with trust—trust in the room, the gear, and the players. With Genelec monitors providing transparent playback, he knows what he hears will translate anywhere. “Whether I’m handing off stems to someone in Nashville or mixing something Craig Silvey started, I know it’s solid. What I hear is what they’ll hear.”
ReKognition Sound is ultimately a place where instinct leads the process. “The artist walks in, we talk about what we’re trying to capture, and we just go,” Genockey says. “No fiddling, no fuss. Just music.”
Learn more about Genelec’s approach to accurate sound reproduction at www.genelec.com.
