Post by red5ive on Jul 2, 2010 17:28:23 GMT -5
This isn't exactly a full review of UAW8.2 speaker performance, but I thought it better to post the information into this forum. Hopefully this will help anyone looking into these speakers, at least for an HT setup. On that note, I won't be commenting on musical performance on these speakers as they will only be used for HT surround duty, and I only listen to music in 2-channel.
Anyway, I jumped on the 8.2s a couple of days after the release announcement. I ordered on Monday, June 21st, and fortunately FedEx delivered them Friday the 25th (I'm on the west coast) - right on time for the weekend! I didn't waste any time hooking them up once 5pm hit and I logged off work for the day. I spent my lunch break (telecommuting has it's perks
) inspecting the design knowing that I had limited space for these since they'd be going in between studs spaced around 8 7/8" apart (don't say that too loudly at the Twilight crowd), and the cutout requires 8 3/4" width. I made a mistake thinking that the the locking tabs - or whatever they're called I don't have the installation manual - could be secured in a vertical position along the top and bottom edges of the cutout. I was wrong. The shaft for the tabs are slotted for one position, and will only secure to the sides of the cutout. Not having the spacing for that due to the studs, I had to improvise the installation. With a little extra planning, 1x2 furring strips and longer screws, I was in business. Nevertheless, at this point I was thinking, "I knew I should have gone for the 6.2's instead." Performance-Greed, if you will, got me in the end as I was really interested in the 8" driver. Total installation time took about 2 hours - 1 hour for each speaker - taking into account re-framing with the furring strips.
Prior to the 8.2s I had used Rocket RS250 Mark II Signature bookshelves for my surrounds, and prior to that Boston Acoustic in-walls with 5.25" drivers that were already installed when I bought this home. While the BA in-walls did the job, I always felt there was something lacking, hence my decision to replace them with bookshelves. However, due to WAF for a living room, mounting the Rocket bookshelves - or any other speaker that would protrude including the Emotiva ERD-1 surrounds - did not meet WAF certification. That meant putting the Rocket bookshelves on stands, which unfortunately were near ear height. Between these two setups, I was not 100% satisfied. The BA in-walls with the tweeters at exactly 5' 8" provided the proper indirect speaker positioning for surrounds, but their performance was a bit lacking. Though the Rockets were a significant improvement over the BA in-walls, there's the problem of speakers becoming blocked when we're all sitting down to watch a movie. This impacted surround performance. Keeping WAF certification in mind, my only solution was to go back to in-walls, and who better to supply the gear than Emotiva?
Once installed and tested, I'm glad to say the extra installation effort was well worth it! I know many folks balk at the thought of using in-walls in an HT setup, but make no mistake, the word "powerful' on the UAW8.2 product page is no lie. As surround speakers, the 8.2s MORE than do the job, and they have integrated perfectly with the Rocket 850s and BigFoot center. I can't say that the 8.2 performance exceeds the Rocket bookshelves on a whole since I've never used the bookshelves for anything but surrounds, but for surround performance I'm very surprised at what the 8.2s have been able to deliver. I'm not missing the bookshelves at all, in fact I haven't even looked back once I heard the 8.2s. The BA in-walls? Forget about it - they don't even compare. The sound from the 8.2 is full and spacious. Imaging is excellent, and "Behind your head" effects are literally behind your head. The 8" drivers indeed provide strong mid-bass performance, easily keeping up with my bookshelves for surround duty. Best of all, the higher positioning well above ear level solves the problem of speakers getting blocked.
These speakers are an incredible value for the $169 sale price shipped, and even at the normal $229 price I wouldn't look elsewhere. Indeed, the 8.2s live up to the low price/high performance ratio Emotiva is known for. The pivoting tweeter is a HUGE plus, a feature that I've only found interest in with other in-wall brands that are 3 times the price. I'm happy to say my rear sound field is finally complete, and I'm 110% satisfied.
Thanks Emotiva!
Here's a a few pics. I've still yet to paint these, which will happen this weekend.
Anyway, I jumped on the 8.2s a couple of days after the release announcement. I ordered on Monday, June 21st, and fortunately FedEx delivered them Friday the 25th (I'm on the west coast) - right on time for the weekend! I didn't waste any time hooking them up once 5pm hit and I logged off work for the day. I spent my lunch break (telecommuting has it's perks
) inspecting the design knowing that I had limited space for these since they'd be going in between studs spaced around 8 7/8" apart (don't say that too loudly at the Twilight crowd), and the cutout requires 8 3/4" width. I made a mistake thinking that the the locking tabs - or whatever they're called I don't have the installation manual - could be secured in a vertical position along the top and bottom edges of the cutout. I was wrong. The shaft for the tabs are slotted for one position, and will only secure to the sides of the cutout. Not having the spacing for that due to the studs, I had to improvise the installation. With a little extra planning, 1x2 furring strips and longer screws, I was in business. Nevertheless, at this point I was thinking, "I knew I should have gone for the 6.2's instead." Performance-Greed, if you will, got me in the end as I was really interested in the 8" driver. Total installation time took about 2 hours - 1 hour for each speaker - taking into account re-framing with the furring strips. Prior to the 8.2s I had used Rocket RS250 Mark II Signature bookshelves for my surrounds, and prior to that Boston Acoustic in-walls with 5.25" drivers that were already installed when I bought this home. While the BA in-walls did the job, I always felt there was something lacking, hence my decision to replace them with bookshelves. However, due to WAF for a living room, mounting the Rocket bookshelves - or any other speaker that would protrude including the Emotiva ERD-1 surrounds - did not meet WAF certification. That meant putting the Rocket bookshelves on stands, which unfortunately were near ear height. Between these two setups, I was not 100% satisfied. The BA in-walls with the tweeters at exactly 5' 8" provided the proper indirect speaker positioning for surrounds, but their performance was a bit lacking. Though the Rockets were a significant improvement over the BA in-walls, there's the problem of speakers becoming blocked when we're all sitting down to watch a movie. This impacted surround performance. Keeping WAF certification in mind, my only solution was to go back to in-walls, and who better to supply the gear than Emotiva?
Once installed and tested, I'm glad to say the extra installation effort was well worth it! I know many folks balk at the thought of using in-walls in an HT setup, but make no mistake, the word "powerful' on the UAW8.2 product page is no lie. As surround speakers, the 8.2s MORE than do the job, and they have integrated perfectly with the Rocket 850s and BigFoot center. I can't say that the 8.2 performance exceeds the Rocket bookshelves on a whole since I've never used the bookshelves for anything but surrounds, but for surround performance I'm very surprised at what the 8.2s have been able to deliver. I'm not missing the bookshelves at all, in fact I haven't even looked back once I heard the 8.2s. The BA in-walls? Forget about it - they don't even compare. The sound from the 8.2 is full and spacious. Imaging is excellent, and "Behind your head" effects are literally behind your head. The 8" drivers indeed provide strong mid-bass performance, easily keeping up with my bookshelves for surround duty. Best of all, the higher positioning well above ear level solves the problem of speakers getting blocked.
These speakers are an incredible value for the $169 sale price shipped, and even at the normal $229 price I wouldn't look elsewhere. Indeed, the 8.2s live up to the low price/high performance ratio Emotiva is known for. The pivoting tweeter is a HUGE plus, a feature that I've only found interest in with other in-wall brands that are 3 times the price. I'm happy to say my rear sound field is finally complete, and I'm 110% satisfied.
Thanks Emotiva!
Here's a a few pics. I've still yet to paint these, which will happen this weekend.
. I've also gotten some strange calibration results with Audyssey after installing the speakers, particularly with the sub which isn't attenuating bass from the mains properly when Dynamic EQ is enabled, resulting in excessively boomy bass. I believe I finally solved that today as well. If nothing else pops up I'll paint them this weekend. I'll follow up with pics.