Elac B6 or Airmotiv B1?

[robmuller78]

Hi! Looking to replace my old Polk RTi70 towers (2002?), never been impressed with them so I wanted to step up to some higher end (affordable) bookshelf speakers. Live in a condo so no need for the Airmotiv T1's.

Driving them with a Emo Fusion 8100 and have a 12" Velodyne sub that I'm keeping for bottom end. I'll be using mostly for music, Rega RP1 TT. 

I'm no audiophile, so I will probably be impressed by both the Elac B6 or Airmotiv B1's, just wondering if having a 6.5" driver over a 5.25" driver will be noticeable?

[Loop 7]

I've not heard the B1 but I've had the ELAC B6 for 6 months and could not be happier. Before purchasing the B6, I heard the B5s and was impressed but read that the B6's could handle transients better. Just so impressive.

It's important to filter out celebrity hype but there's something to be said about Andrew Jones and his decades of designing ONLY speakers.

I recommend trying the B6 from a retailer like Music Direct which has a decent return policy.

ELAC B6 at Music Direct

[robmuller78]

Aug 24, 2016 11:27:58 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

I've not heard the B1 but I've had the ELAC B6 for 6 months and could not be happier. Before purchasing the B6, I heard the B5s and was impressed but read that the B6's could handle transients better. Just so impressive.

It's important to filter out celebrity hype but there's something to be said about Andrew Jones and his decades of designing ONLY speakers.

I recommend trying the B6 from a retailer like Music Direct which has a decent return policy.

ELAC B6 at Music Direct

Really appreciate the input, I was leaning towards the B6 just based on reviews alone. Wanted to keep it in the Emo family though, just not sure my patience can last any longer for reviews to come out for the B1's. 

[Hair Nick]

Keep in mind robmuller78, the folded ribbon tweeter of the B1 makes a world of difference. The Airmotiv B1 has a better tweeter, build quality and finish.

[brubacca]

I own a pair of Andrew Jones deigned speakers. They are the Soliloquy 5.0 monitors. They were produced at a much higher price point ($1k) than the Elac. These speakers were praised and compared to high end ProAc speakers in their day. I really like these speakers, but recently I heard some very well implemented ribbon tweeter speakers and was blown away by the airy/transparent nature of the ribbon tweeter. Not bright, but just right.

Based on my persoanal experience with similar not exactly the same speakers I'd probably give the Emotiva a shot.

[Loop 7]

Aug 24, 2016 12:07:58 GMT -5 Hair Nick said:

Keep in mind robmuller78, the folded ribbon tweeter of the B1 makes a world of difference. The Airmotiv B1 has a better tweeter, build quality and finish.

You do have a point. I have some tower speakers with a folded ribbon. Extremely fast with endless extension but almost too much for me even though that sounds illogical.

[jhob]

Couldn't you order the Emotiva B-1 and try them out for a month? If you decide you don't like them, send them back.

[jhob]

Not to mention, if you use the code: Airmotiv10 at checkout, they'll knock 10% off.

[robmuller78]

Aug 24, 2016 15:25:46 GMT -5 jhob said:

Couldn't you order the Emotiva B-1 and try them out for a month? If you decide you don't like them, send them back.

Yep, just didn't want to go through the hassle of returning B1's, getting the B6's and then deciding that I like the B1's better. Did I mention Im lazy?

[Deleted]

If you are really interested in what you see and read about these two speakers by themselves (no sub) and want to make the best decision there is only one way to do a realistic choice/comparison.  Order them both and take the time to set them up side by side and do a careful A/B evaluation (the volume output must match perfectly).  I might guess that the B6 might perhaps based on the driver size have a slight edge on the low end extension, but not necessarily cleaner.  The return shipping would be worth the cost.

However, I'm a stickler on very low, clean and low distortion bass and I like the fact that you have sub.  With your Velodyne sub you should be crossing over low bass below about 80Hz to the sub for the best bass performance.  Living in a condo (I do too) has nothing to do with a tower versus a bookshelf since you have a sub to go along with your choice of the B6 or B1, which combined will go much louder and lower if needed than the T1 by itself.  The B1 plus a very good sub (the Velodyne should be a very good performer) should give you full range performance better than many expensive towers.  If you find the lower bass is bothering the neighbors you can dial down the sub slightly or try something like these feet below from SVS.

Buying only either the B6 or B1, my choice would be the Airmotiv B1,  I think you will find the mids/highs to be superior in the B1 and the bass might be more defined.  With the sub you are really interested in how they perform down to about 80Hz.  Have the sub at or near the front sound stage if possible.

Your Fusion 8100 is a great little receiver.  Don't be afraid to manually override the Fusion's auto EQ system (ARCS) as it is not infallible.  Do not let the ARCS set the L&R speakers to "full size/large", set them instead to "small" and try the crossover at 80Hz.  You can manually measure the speakers distance.  

Please let us know how it all works out.  Good luck!

www.svsound.com/products/soundpath-subwoofer-isolation-system
 

[robmuller78]

Aug 29, 2016 0:57:44 GMT -5 @tllfkacn said:

If you are really interested in what you see and read about these two speakers by themselves (no sub) and want to make the best decision there is only one way to do a realistic choice/comparison.  Order them both and take the time to set them up side by side and do a careful A/B evaluation (the volume output must match perfectly).  I might guess that the B6 might perhaps based on the driver size have a slight edge on the low end extension, but not necessarily cleaner.  The return shipping would be worth the cost.

However, I'm a stickler on very low, clean and low distortion bass and I like the fact that you have sub.  With your Velodyne sub you should be crossing over low bass below about 80Hz to the sub for the best bass performance.  Living in a condo (I do too) has nothing to do with a tower versus a bookshelf since you have a sub to go along with your choice of the B6 or B1, which combined will go much louder and lower if needed than the T1 by itself.  The B1 plus a very good sub (the Velodyne should be a very good performer) should give you full range performance better than many expensive towers.  If you find the lower bass is bothering the neighbors you can dial down the sub slightly or try something like these feet below from SVS.

Buying only either the B6 or B1, my choice would be the Airmotiv B1,  I think you will find the mids/highs to be superior in the B1 and the bass might be more defined.  With the sub you are really interested in how they perform down to about 80Hz.  Have the sub at or near the front sound stage if possible.

Your Fusion 8100 is a great little receiver.  Don't be afraid to manually override the Fusion's auto EQ system (ARCS) as it is not infallible.  Do not let the ARCS set the L&R speakers to "full size/large", set them instead to "small" and try the crossover at 80Hz.  You can manually measure the speakers distance.  

Please let us know how it all works out.  Good luck!

www.svsound.com/products/soundpath-subwoofer-isolation-system
 

Really great insight, thanks!  I was leaning towards the B1's since the ribbon tweeter seems enticing. 
I was rummaging through my nightstand and found a $150 gift card to Amazon so I promptly ordered the B6's with some 24" Sanus stands. They will ship out in 2 weeks since they are sold out everywhere. I will definitely give them a good listen before deciding to send them back to give the B1's a shot. 

I really wish Emotiva offered financing options, even just for 6 months, would make it an easy decision to go with new products they debut. 

[jmasterj]

robmuller78,

Welcome to the forum, first thing I want to say is Emotiva is worth the wait. I don't work for the company, I'm just like you! I want a little more on a limited budget, you're in the right place. Now I know that sounds like a sales pitch it's not. This might not matter to you but the last line of your post prompted me to reply.

Sometimes we have to sacrifice to get what we want, I had sacrifice to purchase my mono blocks one month at a time, then I had to wait two months before I could get my pre amp. I know you don't want to hear this but it's what you need to hear. Be patient get the Emotiva gear that you really want even if you have to get it one piece at a time and you have to look at it in the box. In the end you'll be happy with your purchase.

[millst]

So far, it sounds like nobody here has compared them head to head. Being an Emotiva forum, I'd be shocked if people here didn't recommend the Emotiva product.

The ELACs get rave reviews. Your best bet would be to compare head-to-head and keep the one you prefer. However, given your admission of being a lazy, non-audiophile , I doubt you'd miss out on much by sticking with what you bought.

-tm

[Loop 7]

Aug 30, 2016 11:18:39 GMT -5 millst said:

So far, it sounds like nobody here has compared them head to head. Being an Emotiva forum, I'd be shocked if people here didn't recommend the Emotiva product.

The ELACs get rave reviews. Your best bet would be to compare head-to-head and keep the one you prefer. However, given your admission of being a lazy, non-audiophile , I doubt you'd miss out on much by sticking with what you bought.

-tm

I likely came across as an ELAC fan boy which was not my intention. I've just never heard $279 speakers I liked this much, however, I won't be surprised if they B1s surpass them.

I've been thinking about this thread and if there's one quality of the ELAC B6 I consider triumphant it would be that the crossover is invisible. They sound like single driver speakers in a lot of ways. There's no doubt in my mind that the new Emotiva speakers will offer more high frequency extension and breadth.

[millst]

When I referred to the ELACs, I wasn't talking about anyone specific here. They really do get great reviews [all over the Internet].

-tm

[rbk123]

Aug 30, 2016 17:35:11 GMT -5 Loop 7 said:

I likely came across as an ELAC fan boy which was not my intention. I've just never heard $279 speakers I liked this much, however, I won't be surprised if they B1s surpass them.

No need to apologize, I believe he actually was referring to the Emo fanboys, not the ELAC fanboys, since this is an Emo forum. Guess what the majority of recommendations you would get on an ELAC forum would be? That being said, the superior build construction and the ribbon tweeter would make me want to try the Emo's.

[bolle]

Why is everyone excited about the ribbon tweeter? This is only a different technology and doesn´t necessarily result in better sound. I think this argument is flawed - you shouldn´t prefer a speaker and also make judgements about "having better highs" only based on having an AMT, a coax, a plasma tweeter or whatever.

Elac builds great speakers and they also have a very good AMT in their higher end speakers - I am pretty sure that they won´t use a bad tweeter here.

[KeithL]

It's about the same as why everyone gets excited about an engine with "dual overhead cams" or "a hemi"......

Obviously there's more to a speaker than the tweeter it uses, and there are several companies that use folded-ribbon tweeters, however,
ribbon tweeters simply have a reputation for usually delivering a clean clear high end, with lots of detail, but with minimal distortion and no harshness.

Aug 31, 2016 9:43:36 GMT -5 bolle said:

Why is everyone excited about the ribbon tweeter? This is only a different technology and doesn´t necessarily result in better sound. I think this argument is flawed - you shouldn´t prefer a speaker and also make judgements about "having better highs" only based on having an AMT, a coax, a plasma tweeter or whatever.

Elac builds great speakers and they also have a very good AMT in their higher end speakers - I am pretty sure that they won´t use a bad tweeter here.

[Deleted]

I think the folded ribbon tweeters on my Emotiva Airmotiv 4's sound excellent.  Several years ago I did a careful/extensive side by side A/B comparison to the silk dome tweeters in my Emo ERM-1.  I thought they were both outstanding and gave an ever so slight edge to the silk dome.  That IMO is a testament to the very fine tweeter Emo used in their original Reference line of speakers.

I'm guessing that most folks will find the Emo folded ribbon tweeter in their new Airmotiv passive speakers superior to other speaker's dome tweeters in the same general price range (and up to twice the price)

[vcautokid]

Thoroughly agree. The Folded Ribbon Tweeter is tops in its game. I cannot listen too anything else. Color me spoiled okay? The dispersion, the imaging, lack of compression, and distortion is what I love about these tweeters. The Stealth, and the Airmotiv Impress with terrific balance, power, quality, and that I can do anything you want form factor. As for Hemis and Over Head Cams Keith, I will do you a crazy with a 572 Chevy Crate motor with Push Rods, and overhead valves. From a Packaging standpoint. My favorite. Not going to hurt anyone's feelings that it will do 600HP very easily. Pushrods, and all make the package narrower than overhead cams, lowers center of gravity too. See Keith, you got me started. LOL.



But coming back, I think the Elac B6 is a great product. I am glad it is made for more folks to enjoy. But I think for everything you want, and more is here with Airmotiv. Just saying.