Post by lukeh on Aug 15, 2016 17:38:33 GMT -5
Hi,
I'm totally new to Emotiva, I stumbled across the brand while looking around for a new set of speakers. I'm by no means a really hardcore audiophile anymore but I did do audio engineering for about 10 or so years in a different life before I was neck deep in Information Technology. So I do still have an interest in professional audio when opportunities appear. I thought I'd share a few pictures and some information along with random mumblings around the new Airmotiv Speakers since mine arrived Friday the 12th. I might have more feedback later once I get through some more content.
What did I replace.
Energy CB-10 x4
Energy CC-10 x1
I bought a complete Energy line up a few years ago but I decided I really wanted towers. For those of you not familiar with Energy it's actually owned by Klipsch though they haven't done much in the last few years. I was originally taking a look at the RP-280F by Klipsch along with surrounds and Atmos speakers. (I may yet pickup the atmos speakers.) While looking for new towers and the options around that would fit my speech I ran across Emotiva and I was intrigued by the folded ribbon tweeters. I read a few early releases such as those written around CES 2016 and decided to wait for the airmotiv line up.
Which Airmotiv speakers did I pickup.
Airmotiv T1 x2
Airmotiv C1
Airmotiv B1 x2
I should have taken a few photos of how things arrived but none the less I'll say that the packaging was well done.
Setup
Setup was of course a breeze since these are speakers after all. I did elect to use the carpet spikes for my environment. The spikes have a nice weight to them and everything fit together without a hitch. I am driving all of the speakers I have presently with a Denon AVR-x3200w though that may change soon as well.
I ran through a regular Audyssey calibration with the following speakers connecting to my x3200w receiver.
Airmotiv T1 x2
Airmotiv C1
Airmotiv B1 x2
Onkyo-SH410 (Atmos)
Energy ESW-C10 (Sub)
The calibration went off with out a hitch but there was one thing important thing of note that came from the calibration. With my previous gear al of the speakers had a cross-over value. The Onkoyo atoms speakers for example have a cross-over value around 200hz. The calibration for the T1, C1, and B1 speakers all came back at Full Band with no cross-overs.
Thoughts
I am certainly impressed by the presentation of the speakers and the care taken in packaging. The speakers definitely seem to carry with them a pretty large low end punch with pretty crisp and clean highs. I didn't find the highs to be tinny even at relatively high volumes. (I'm sure my downstairs neighbors love me for that at 1am
.) I initially found the low end of the setup a bit much until I realized I still had all of my sources levels set for the old speakers at +8db. After a few adjustments to the source levels things where much more where I'd expect them to be given the relatively small size of the space. I found the sound stage to be quite good and without question an improvement over the previous configuration I had. That is of course a subjective opinion based on my ears alone and no specific gear to perform an analysis of the outputs.
One of the first albums of music I ran through this setup was part of the new album from Lindsey Stirling, Brave Enough. (For those not familiar with here music. youtu.be/ytMqO-WQpQ4) I later followed this up with a few movies like John Wick and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
I was originally not sure how I felt about the aggressive styling but after unboxing these speakers and setting them up I can say that they are certainly striking. The edges are rounded and the flat-black finish is really clean. The grills do fit nicely though if I had one complaint they should have been packaged differently. They should have been in cardboard on their own as opposed to partially attached to speakers. I say partially because I'm sure they were on properly before UPS dragged the box behind the truck.
The construction of the speakers and the quality is beyond my expectations at the price point personally. I haven't encountered any rattles, squeaks, line noise, or vibration from any of the speakers so far. At obviously high audio levels and when the low end is really pumping out sound you can feel vibration to the touch but that seems like normal resonance to me and not really anything unexpected.
I know most of you would probably like to see real performance metrics but alas it's been years since I've really been in the audio industry professionally or cared enough to keep that type of gear floating around. I'm sure there will be other comments and reviews of these that will be more in-depth.
Here are few photos with my smart phone, I have real camera gear but I don't think we need more professional photos. Do your best to ignore the mess of cabling. I've given up on controlling the mess of cables until I move to a larger space. I don't know if these help anyone looking for some different angles but here they are.
I'm totally new to Emotiva, I stumbled across the brand while looking around for a new set of speakers. I'm by no means a really hardcore audiophile anymore but I did do audio engineering for about 10 or so years in a different life before I was neck deep in Information Technology. So I do still have an interest in professional audio when opportunities appear. I thought I'd share a few pictures and some information along with random mumblings around the new Airmotiv Speakers since mine arrived Friday the 12th. I might have more feedback later once I get through some more content.
What did I replace.
Energy CB-10 x4
Energy CC-10 x1
I bought a complete Energy line up a few years ago but I decided I really wanted towers. For those of you not familiar with Energy it's actually owned by Klipsch though they haven't done much in the last few years. I was originally taking a look at the RP-280F by Klipsch along with surrounds and Atmos speakers. (I may yet pickup the atmos speakers.) While looking for new towers and the options around that would fit my speech I ran across Emotiva and I was intrigued by the folded ribbon tweeters. I read a few early releases such as those written around CES 2016 and decided to wait for the airmotiv line up.
Which Airmotiv speakers did I pickup.
Airmotiv T1 x2
Airmotiv C1
Airmotiv B1 x2
I should have taken a few photos of how things arrived but none the less I'll say that the packaging was well done.
- Everything was double boxed.
- Everything was neatly packed in foam including the accessories.
- The speakers where sheathed in a black cloth-like material to protect them. It certainly made things feel premium.
Setup
Setup was of course a breeze since these are speakers after all. I did elect to use the carpet spikes for my environment. The spikes have a nice weight to them and everything fit together without a hitch. I am driving all of the speakers I have presently with a Denon AVR-x3200w though that may change soon as well.
I ran through a regular Audyssey calibration with the following speakers connecting to my x3200w receiver.
Airmotiv T1 x2
Airmotiv C1
Airmotiv B1 x2
Onkyo-SH410 (Atmos)
Energy ESW-C10 (Sub)
The calibration went off with out a hitch but there was one thing important thing of note that came from the calibration. With my previous gear al of the speakers had a cross-over value. The Onkoyo atoms speakers for example have a cross-over value around 200hz. The calibration for the T1, C1, and B1 speakers all came back at Full Band with no cross-overs.
Thoughts
I am certainly impressed by the presentation of the speakers and the care taken in packaging. The speakers definitely seem to carry with them a pretty large low end punch with pretty crisp and clean highs. I didn't find the highs to be tinny even at relatively high volumes. (I'm sure my downstairs neighbors love me for that at 1am
.) I initially found the low end of the setup a bit much until I realized I still had all of my sources levels set for the old speakers at +8db. After a few adjustments to the source levels things where much more where I'd expect them to be given the relatively small size of the space. I found the sound stage to be quite good and without question an improvement over the previous configuration I had. That is of course a subjective opinion based on my ears alone and no specific gear to perform an analysis of the outputs. One of the first albums of music I ran through this setup was part of the new album from Lindsey Stirling, Brave Enough. (For those not familiar with here music. youtu.be/ytMqO-WQpQ4) I later followed this up with a few movies like John Wick and Transformers: Age of Extinction.
I was originally not sure how I felt about the aggressive styling but after unboxing these speakers and setting them up I can say that they are certainly striking. The edges are rounded and the flat-black finish is really clean. The grills do fit nicely though if I had one complaint they should have been packaged differently. They should have been in cardboard on their own as opposed to partially attached to speakers. I say partially because I'm sure they were on properly before UPS dragged the box behind the truck.
The construction of the speakers and the quality is beyond my expectations at the price point personally. I haven't encountered any rattles, squeaks, line noise, or vibration from any of the speakers so far. At obviously high audio levels and when the low end is really pumping out sound you can feel vibration to the touch but that seems like normal resonance to me and not really anything unexpected.
I know most of you would probably like to see real performance metrics but alas it's been years since I've really been in the audio industry professionally or cared enough to keep that type of gear floating around. I'm sure there will be other comments and reviews of these that will be more in-depth.
Here are few photos with my smart phone, I have real camera gear but I don't think we need more professional photos. Do your best to ignore the mess of cabling. I've given up on controlling the mess of cables until I move to a larger space. I don't know if these help anyone looking for some different angles but here they are.
