My Turn - 8.3s and 6.3 Center

OK, I ran "breakin" music all day, and ran Audessy when I got home from work. The Onkyo 805 (used as prepro) set the 8.3s full band, and crossed the 6.3 at 40hz. I switched both to 80hz, as my LFM-1EX does the lows real well. First up, some music. I tried my usual test tracks, Donald Fagen from "The Nightfly", Dire Straits from "Brothers In Arms", and Robert Cray from "Strong Persuader". Nice, VERY nice! These speakers are remarkably clear and crisp, without being overbearing. In 2 channel the towers seemed to expand around me, making me check that the ERDs were indeed off. I played with the switches a bit, and could make the towers sound "laid back" or "bright", but I preferred them at their nuetral positions. Plenty of bass from the twin woofers in "pure" stereo, but being a bass freak I tended to use my sub.

Switching over to PL2 music the room opened up, with all the speakers getting into a seamless blend. Some purists don't like music this way, but I'm finding I like to use surround sound for cds, especially now that my setup is timbre matched. All in all, I was very impressed.

Now it was time for HT, my main interest. I'm doing about 80% HT, so this was really the make or break for me. Here the 6.3 took center stage, literally. I have never heard such a clear midrange, like a bell. The towers provided plenty of dynamics, and the ERD surrounds were perfectly matched. I played all my usual suspects, LOTR Fellowship, Matrix, Fifth Element, jumping to my favorite scenes. For comparison I had been using Rocket 850s and Bigfoot, and I find the Emotiva setup to be much more clear and sparkling. The 850s are great speakers, but I was never totally happy with Bigfoot. This was probably due to the rear ports, in my room placement seemed to be a problem. The acoustic suspension design of the ERMs made them a snap to setup, no boominess to worry about.

I'll post some pictures later, for now I'm gonna get to know these speakers better. Another great point about them is they fade into the backround when the lights go off, and don't reflect any light back with my projector. The Rockets had a bit of a glare, that no amount of toe in would eliminate. I'll be back with more later, but that's all for now, back to my taxes!