Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2016 9:46:47 GMT -5
Airmotiv 3b (ASM-3b) Review
I purchased this pair of Airmotiv 3b's, powered compact Bluetooth speakers on the $99 closeout. (After about 5 hours of initial listening I ordered a second pair). Maybe that will give you a hint about my conclusion on the Nutty review of these speakers. I already own 5 of the original Emotiva Reference speakers (3ea ERM-1 and 2ea ERD-1) plus a pair of the Airmotiv4's. I have been extremely please with all my previous Emo speakers and other gear which I still own.
These were delivered in the usual very professionally packed double boxes. The look and feel of these speakers to me is of very high quality and excellent appearance. I have always loved the satin black finish (not piano black - fingerprint magnets). These even have a very nice non-slip pad on the bottom surface. Yes even the power cord seems high quality. Same for the other connectors and on speaker jacks and controls. Initial impression, very nice indeed and no way a $99 pair of powered speakers. They were well worth the original price! (Someone at Emo is going to get fired for having to close these out!
I feel sort of guilty about the low price!)
Tonight I have hooked them up in several ways. Note, I am new with my iPad and couldn't get the Bluetooth to mate. I'll work on that some more to check it out. However, the Bluetooth feature was way down in my buying decision. I mainly bought the 3b's to use as external speakers for the bedroom 42" plasma. IMO they would be excellent for den, kitchen, computer desk, laptop, desktop, TV, bathroom, garage, etc.
I tried them into the line level jack from the living room 50" Plasma (TV programs and cable music-Music Choice), from my Emo ERC-2 (CD's) and from my new iPad Pro (quality YouTube music). I tried the speakers down on the low corners of the TV stand and also balanced carefully on the top corners of the plasma. They can tend to sound very slightly too bass heavy/warm and having them away from walls, etc. makes them sound more defined in the low end. The bass is as close as one can get to ideal for this size speaker. My plasma is near my main component stand and part of my 5.1 HT System. Some classical strings just now sound ever so smooth and then an acoustic guitar sounds very clean and defined. Vocals are reproduced with good clarity and presence. I measured them at 8' with 90dB's very clean output. These little gems play pretty loud folks!
I really think the boys at Emotiva did a super job on these babies! It is very difficult to make a small speaker (4.125" wide by 6.75" high and 5.5" deep), one with an internal amp, sound acceptable to all for general use, especially like the Lounge Lizards here who many have very fine audio/HT speakers. For comparison, the relatively small Airmotiv4 powered monitor is 445 cu in, versus 153 cu in for the Airmotiv 3b, three times the external size! This really is one small speaker.
I was hoping for a speaker with a very smooth and non-fatiguing tweeter. Many of the lower priced speakers try to impress folks with the highs by using a cheap metal driver that at first sounds good up top but is really edgy and soon becomes very fatiguing. The 3/4" dome tweeter on the ASM-3b sounds very detailed, clean, smooth and non-fatiguing. I've been listening to them now for about 7 hours and they still sound very sweet and with low distortion. Nice tweeter. The 3" long throw low driver is a very nice compliment and lends itself to a good blend in the midrange and quite respectable bass performance. No it won't be too good for pipe organs (
) but IMO was a very good choice by Emo. It provides very pleasant bass to my ears. I have heard much poorer bass and edgy higher sound in Bose cubes and small speakers, over-EQ'd Henry Kloss small speakers and many computer speakers. The overall build quality of the 3b's is fantastic!
I used several of my best CD's in the ERC-2. Cuts from The Beatles-Love album, Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett, and R Kelly. Very nice indeed. Overall, it is a impressive performing speaker with no obvious flaws considering the difficult job Emo gave to whomever designed this speaker. I used a Visa card for my purchase direct from Emo at $99 which gives me an extra year warranty for a total 2yrs warranty, free shipping and no tax.
Kudos to Emotiva on a home run for the Airmotiv 3b!
As many of you Lounge Lizards know in my past reviews I usually give a nutty rating on the product from 1 nut to the coveted 5 nut rating. Of course I consider the relative MSRP price level and design purpose. The ASM-3b in my evaluation clearly far exceeds my expectations based on bang for the buck relative performance for any similar speakers in this general category.
It was an easy decision in my former military mind to present the Emotiva's Airmotiv 3b speakers a top rating of 5 NUTS.
5 NUTS
Sorry for the lousy photo. They look very handsome
in person without the apparent bulging of the driver screens.
Maybe a better photo tomorrow.
Later: They have been playing now for about 12 hours steady. They are very nice sounding, maybe loosening up a bit. Especially impressive to me on piano, massed strings, guitar, Hammand, guitars both accoustic and electric jazz and well as jazz voices, especially nice with Norah, Ella and Diane Schuur. Tony Mottola, I Only Have Eyes For You from the Romantic Guitar Collection, simply luscious! Hanan Harchol, classical guitarist, More (Theme From Mondo Cane), lovely. I also can't believe how good and deep the soundstage is. They really shine on high quality recordings. OK, I like them a lot. What a awesome little jewel of a speaker!
See how your small speakers handle this very interesting arrangement of Nelson Riddle's Makin' Whoopie! The ASM-3b's nailed it!
I purchased this pair of Airmotiv 3b's, powered compact Bluetooth speakers on the $99 closeout. (After about 5 hours of initial listening I ordered a second pair). Maybe that will give you a hint about my conclusion on the Nutty review of these speakers. I already own 5 of the original Emotiva Reference speakers (3ea ERM-1 and 2ea ERD-1) plus a pair of the Airmotiv4's. I have been extremely please with all my previous Emo speakers and other gear which I still own.
These were delivered in the usual very professionally packed double boxes. The look and feel of these speakers to me is of very high quality and excellent appearance. I have always loved the satin black finish (not piano black - fingerprint magnets). These even have a very nice non-slip pad on the bottom surface. Yes even the power cord seems high quality. Same for the other connectors and on speaker jacks and controls. Initial impression, very nice indeed and no way a $99 pair of powered speakers. They were well worth the original price! (Someone at Emo is going to get fired for having to close these out!
I feel sort of guilty about the low price!)Tonight I have hooked them up in several ways. Note, I am new with my iPad and couldn't get the Bluetooth to mate. I'll work on that some more to check it out. However, the Bluetooth feature was way down in my buying decision. I mainly bought the 3b's to use as external speakers for the bedroom 42" plasma. IMO they would be excellent for den, kitchen, computer desk, laptop, desktop, TV, bathroom, garage, etc.
I tried them into the line level jack from the living room 50" Plasma (TV programs and cable music-Music Choice), from my Emo ERC-2 (CD's) and from my new iPad Pro (quality YouTube music). I tried the speakers down on the low corners of the TV stand and also balanced carefully on the top corners of the plasma. They can tend to sound very slightly too bass heavy/warm and having them away from walls, etc. makes them sound more defined in the low end. The bass is as close as one can get to ideal for this size speaker. My plasma is near my main component stand and part of my 5.1 HT System. Some classical strings just now sound ever so smooth and then an acoustic guitar sounds very clean and defined. Vocals are reproduced with good clarity and presence. I measured them at 8' with 90dB's very clean output. These little gems play pretty loud folks!
I really think the boys at Emotiva did a super job on these babies! It is very difficult to make a small speaker (4.125" wide by 6.75" high and 5.5" deep), one with an internal amp, sound acceptable to all for general use, especially like the Lounge Lizards here who many have very fine audio/HT speakers. For comparison, the relatively small Airmotiv4 powered monitor is 445 cu in, versus 153 cu in for the Airmotiv 3b, three times the external size! This really is one small speaker.
I was hoping for a speaker with a very smooth and non-fatiguing tweeter. Many of the lower priced speakers try to impress folks with the highs by using a cheap metal driver that at first sounds good up top but is really edgy and soon becomes very fatiguing. The 3/4" dome tweeter on the ASM-3b sounds very detailed, clean, smooth and non-fatiguing. I've been listening to them now for about 7 hours and they still sound very sweet and with low distortion. Nice tweeter. The 3" long throw low driver is a very nice compliment and lends itself to a good blend in the midrange and quite respectable bass performance. No it won't be too good for pipe organs (
) but IMO was a very good choice by Emo. It provides very pleasant bass to my ears. I have heard much poorer bass and edgy higher sound in Bose cubes and small speakers, over-EQ'd Henry Kloss small speakers and many computer speakers. The overall build quality of the 3b's is fantastic! I used several of my best CD's in the ERC-2. Cuts from The Beatles-Love album, Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett, and R Kelly. Very nice indeed. Overall, it is a impressive performing speaker with no obvious flaws considering the difficult job Emo gave to whomever designed this speaker. I used a Visa card for my purchase direct from Emo at $99 which gives me an extra year warranty for a total 2yrs warranty, free shipping and no tax.
Kudos to Emotiva on a home run for the Airmotiv 3b!
As many of you Lounge Lizards know in my past reviews I usually give a nutty rating on the product from 1 nut to the coveted 5 nut rating. Of course I consider the relative MSRP price level and design purpose. The ASM-3b in my evaluation clearly far exceeds my expectations based on bang for the buck relative performance for any similar speakers in this general category.
It was an easy decision in my former military mind to present the Emotiva's Airmotiv 3b speakers a top rating of 5 NUTS.
5 NUTS
Sorry for the lousy photo. They look very handsome
in person without the apparent bulging of the driver screens.
Maybe a better photo tomorrow.
Later: They have been playing now for about 12 hours steady. They are very nice sounding, maybe loosening up a bit. Especially impressive to me on piano, massed strings, guitar, Hammand, guitars both accoustic and electric jazz and well as jazz voices, especially nice with Norah, Ella and Diane Schuur. Tony Mottola, I Only Have Eyes For You from the Romantic Guitar Collection, simply luscious! Hanan Harchol, classical guitarist, More (Theme From Mondo Cane), lovely. I also can't believe how good and deep the soundstage is. They really shine on high quality recordings. OK, I like them a lot. What a awesome little jewel of a speaker!
See how your small speakers handle this very interesting arrangement of Nelson Riddle's Makin' Whoopie! The ASM-3b's nailed it!
