Post by mvc2011 on Oct 4, 2011 21:16:07 GMT -5
First off let me start off by giving some back ground on myself:
I've been in "the industry," for over 15 years. I've worked as a grunt (pulling wires) to system design, to system programming (Crestron) and as a Manufacturer's Rep (even for Sherbourn during the time frame when the Pre-Pro was released), and as a Consultant. I'm also HAA (Home Acoustic Alliance) level 2.
I've had the most success as a Consultant. I'm involved in a lot of large projects through out the world. It's fun.
I bought my first Emotiva piece last year for my father. It was a UPA-7 amp, and my father has a combination of Magnepan fronts and normal in ceiling rears. The switch was from the top of the line Denon Receiver, to a Sherbourn Pre-Pro and UPA-7 amp (I was thinking of upgrading to the UPA-1 for the stereo fronts, and thus wanted the balanced outputs of the Sherbourn). It was a night and day difference. One of the best sounding upgrades I've ever made in any situation.
So I've got a client, he has a limited budget and a normal 9 to 5 type of job. Unlike the majority of my clients he can't afford to spend more than $5K on his entire system. He saved up for a year to do it right. Projector, Screen, and sound system... that's a tight budget.
He currently has a nice Denon 4308 Reciever, a $1200 Definitive Technology center, and Niles in walls and in ceilings. He has a CD collection of over 2000 CDs. He wanted an upgrade over the Denon 5 disc changer.
So last week I ordered him a pair of AirMotiv4s to test in his system and the ERC-2 ( I also ordered an ERC-2 for myself). We started with the ERC-2. It was a huge improvement over the Denon. Next we hooked up the AirMotiv4 speakers...
UNBELIEVABLE. Near field monitors only? I don't think so. We threw Pink Floyd at them, sounded awesome. We threw NIN at them, sounded awesome. The amount of bass they provide for being so small is almost unheard of (The new PSB Imagine Mini is about the same size, and it produces unreal bass as well).
All I wanted was something that would be better than the Niles In-Walls (that are about 6 years old). I knew this would be an improvement, but I wasn't expecting as big of an improvement.
So I went out and got a pair of PSB Imagine Minis ($800 MSRP), Totem Acoustic Arros ($1595 MSRP), Magnepan MMGs ($600 MSRP), and Paradigm Studio 10s ($595 MSRP) from different stores I do business with (the Magnepans were from my place).
These are all legitimately good speakers and some known for their extreme bang when bucks are concerned. The AirMotiv4s blew them all away in one way or another. We all agreed that the Magnepans and AirMotiv4s were the winners followed just by the Imagine Mini. We even replaced the $1200 Definitive Tech center speaker with just one AirMotiv4. It was better at voices hands down. A $200 speaker better than something 6 times the cost? YES, the areas where it was better justified the statement, I can fix the lack of bass with the sub and an equalizer. I can see the AirMotiv6 being a true audiophile surround sound system. The increase in woofer and tweeter on that speaker surely results in some amazing sound quality.
The sound stage of these speakers is stunning, and the highs are incredible. The mids are really good, and the lows are shocking for their size. I'm thoroughly won over.
They sound much better at reasonable sound levels. You turn them up and the weaknesses really start to show. However, we're talking about weaknesses that were shared by the Studio 10s, and in fact the Studio 10s were a much worse speaker over all. $200 less, and amplified the AirMotiv4s are just flat out better than the Paradigm Studio 10s. The twice as expensive PSB Imagine Mini shared a lot of sonic characteristics with the AirMotiv4s. Played loud they shared a lot of the weaknesses too. I thought the Minis had slightly better bass, but the sound stage of the AirMotiv4s won as well as voice reproduction.
The $1595 Arros should have steam rolled the little $400 speakers. Not so much. Were they better? Sure. However, not in the sound quality of voices. The AirMotiv tweeter is just that good. The Totems also cost FOUR TIMES the amount of the little Emotiva Pros.
The only speaker that out performed the AirMotiv4s in the voice reproduction category were the 50% more expensive Magnepans which truthfully need a real amp to make them shine (they improved when I threw in a VTL 150watt Stereo Tube amp into the mix), and the AirMotiv4 had them beat in bass! However, when you have to start throwing real amplifier muscle at a speaker to make them surpass a $400 powered monitor?!?
These speakers are a STEAL. Combine them with a sub woofer and they're better than they have any right to be. Emotiva suggests they can be used as Satellites in a small surround sound system (this room is about 14x12) and they're right. It can pull it off with a good sub woofer.
I believe it so much, I'm buying 3 AirMotiv6 to test out. I want to see what the larger tweeter and woofer can do.
Setting these speakers up is IMPORTANT. Distance from the wall, toe in, etc all made differences. So did using the right speaker stand and making sure they were at the right height. These speakers aren't a magical fix that can truly crush $2K+ speakers, but they can go toe to toe and surpass in areas speakers that are in the $1.5K and under categories.
Another note: These sounded best with the ERC-2. We hooked them directly up to the CD player. The better the source material was, the better the speakers sounded. The fact that you could truly tell a great source from a bad one shows just how great these speakers are. Switched the ERC-2 back and forth with the Oppo-BDP95. The ERC-2 was better.
I've been in "the industry," for over 15 years. I've worked as a grunt (pulling wires) to system design, to system programming (Crestron) and as a Manufacturer's Rep (even for Sherbourn during the time frame when the Pre-Pro was released), and as a Consultant. I'm also HAA (Home Acoustic Alliance) level 2.
I've had the most success as a Consultant. I'm involved in a lot of large projects through out the world. It's fun.
I bought my first Emotiva piece last year for my father. It was a UPA-7 amp, and my father has a combination of Magnepan fronts and normal in ceiling rears. The switch was from the top of the line Denon Receiver, to a Sherbourn Pre-Pro and UPA-7 amp (I was thinking of upgrading to the UPA-1 for the stereo fronts, and thus wanted the balanced outputs of the Sherbourn). It was a night and day difference. One of the best sounding upgrades I've ever made in any situation.
So I've got a client, he has a limited budget and a normal 9 to 5 type of job. Unlike the majority of my clients he can't afford to spend more than $5K on his entire system. He saved up for a year to do it right. Projector, Screen, and sound system... that's a tight budget.
He currently has a nice Denon 4308 Reciever, a $1200 Definitive Technology center, and Niles in walls and in ceilings. He has a CD collection of over 2000 CDs. He wanted an upgrade over the Denon 5 disc changer.
So last week I ordered him a pair of AirMotiv4s to test in his system and the ERC-2 ( I also ordered an ERC-2 for myself). We started with the ERC-2. It was a huge improvement over the Denon. Next we hooked up the AirMotiv4 speakers...
UNBELIEVABLE. Near field monitors only? I don't think so. We threw Pink Floyd at them, sounded awesome. We threw NIN at them, sounded awesome. The amount of bass they provide for being so small is almost unheard of (The new PSB Imagine Mini is about the same size, and it produces unreal bass as well).
All I wanted was something that would be better than the Niles In-Walls (that are about 6 years old). I knew this would be an improvement, but I wasn't expecting as big of an improvement.
So I went out and got a pair of PSB Imagine Minis ($800 MSRP), Totem Acoustic Arros ($1595 MSRP), Magnepan MMGs ($600 MSRP), and Paradigm Studio 10s ($595 MSRP) from different stores I do business with (the Magnepans were from my place).
These are all legitimately good speakers and some known for their extreme bang when bucks are concerned. The AirMotiv4s blew them all away in one way or another. We all agreed that the Magnepans and AirMotiv4s were the winners followed just by the Imagine Mini. We even replaced the $1200 Definitive Tech center speaker with just one AirMotiv4. It was better at voices hands down. A $200 speaker better than something 6 times the cost? YES, the areas where it was better justified the statement, I can fix the lack of bass with the sub and an equalizer. I can see the AirMotiv6 being a true audiophile surround sound system. The increase in woofer and tweeter on that speaker surely results in some amazing sound quality.
The sound stage of these speakers is stunning, and the highs are incredible. The mids are really good, and the lows are shocking for their size. I'm thoroughly won over.
They sound much better at reasonable sound levels. You turn them up and the weaknesses really start to show. However, we're talking about weaknesses that were shared by the Studio 10s, and in fact the Studio 10s were a much worse speaker over all. $200 less, and amplified the AirMotiv4s are just flat out better than the Paradigm Studio 10s. The twice as expensive PSB Imagine Mini shared a lot of sonic characteristics with the AirMotiv4s. Played loud they shared a lot of the weaknesses too. I thought the Minis had slightly better bass, but the sound stage of the AirMotiv4s won as well as voice reproduction.
The $1595 Arros should have steam rolled the little $400 speakers. Not so much. Were they better? Sure. However, not in the sound quality of voices. The AirMotiv tweeter is just that good. The Totems also cost FOUR TIMES the amount of the little Emotiva Pros.
The only speaker that out performed the AirMotiv4s in the voice reproduction category were the 50% more expensive Magnepans which truthfully need a real amp to make them shine (they improved when I threw in a VTL 150watt Stereo Tube amp into the mix), and the AirMotiv4 had them beat in bass! However, when you have to start throwing real amplifier muscle at a speaker to make them surpass a $400 powered monitor?!?
These speakers are a STEAL. Combine them with a sub woofer and they're better than they have any right to be. Emotiva suggests they can be used as Satellites in a small surround sound system (this room is about 14x12) and they're right. It can pull it off with a good sub woofer.
I believe it so much, I'm buying 3 AirMotiv6 to test out. I want to see what the larger tweeter and woofer can do.
Setting these speakers up is IMPORTANT. Distance from the wall, toe in, etc all made differences. So did using the right speaker stand and making sure they were at the right height. These speakers aren't a magical fix that can truly crush $2K+ speakers, but they can go toe to toe and surpass in areas speakers that are in the $1.5K and under categories.
Another note: These sounded best with the ERC-2. We hooked them directly up to the CD player. The better the source material was, the better the speakers sounded. The fact that you could truly tell a great source from a bad one shows just how great these speakers are. Switched the ERC-2 back and forth with the Oppo-BDP95. The ERC-2 was better.
