Post by monkumonku on Apr 24, 2009 23:53:45 GMT -5
Back in January before I had even looked at the Emo website, I bought a pair of Swans D2.1SE speakers to replace a pair of Rocket ELT center channels I had been using on the left and right. My plan was to replace the center and two surrounds with the matching Swans when they were released, which I thought was going to be February.
Meanwhile, I ran across the Emo site on the last day of January and saw the XPA-3 on sale. I bought it. Then when Emo released their new speakers I got tired of waiting for Swans (you think the UMC-1 is taking a long time, the forum at Audio Insider has been talking about the companion speakers for the D2.1SE for ages and only a week ago did the prototypes arrive) and I went for the 6.3 center and two of the ERM-1's for the surrounds. I also sprung for the UPA-2 to drive the surrounds, using the XPA-3 for the fronts.
Then as you may have guessed, I got curious about how an all-Emo speaker system would sound so I thought about getting the 6.2's for the fronts. The Swans are really good speakers but I kept wondering how a matched set would sound instead, so finally I knew I would never rest easy until I heard the 6.2's in the front so I ordered them. Cathy took the order Friday, they shipped out that day and I received them on Tuesday this past week - from Tennessee to So Cal in a really short time!!
The speakers arrived in great condition, double-boxed and inside of the nice, soft black cloth bags. I put them on top of the Swans, using the pads that came with the 6.2's in between the two speakers.
Here is a comparison of the Swans versus 6.2's:
Build quality/fit and finish: both are excellent. Nice and solid. The Swans seem a bit more solid, though - if you rap on the side, the Swans have a very dull thud, as though they were solid wood.
Appearance: sorry Emo, but the Swans in piano black win hands down. There is no comparison. The 6.2 flat black finish looks neat but, well..
Sound: the equipment consisted of the preamp section from an Onkyo 706, the XPA-3, and various disc players: Onkyo 390 CD player using analog outputs; Sony BX-1 blu ray player (HDMI); Oppo 980 for SACD (analog and HDMI both hooked up), and Onkyo DVD player for non-blu ray DVD's (digital coax).
I compared the two speakers using the "pure audio" mode of the preamp, meaning no modifications were made to the sound and it was pure 2-channel.
Test tracks: Diana Krall "I Love Being Here With You" from her Live in Paris CD; Steely Dan "Gaslighting Abbie" and "Cousin Dupree" from the Two Against Nature CD; "Hey Nineteen" from Steely Dan's Gaucho CD; "Aja," "Peg" and "Josie" from Steely Dan's Aja CD (can you tell I am a big Steely Dan fan?); Esperanza Spalding's "I Adore You" from her Esperanza CD; and a couple of tracks from the MapleShade Music Festival sampler CD, "Nick of Time" (Sunny Sumter and Larry Willis Quintet) and "Shady Green Pastures" (the ARC choir).
Here are the main differences I heard between the two:
The Swans have incredible bass extension that the Emos could not match. In all fairness, the Emo product page says that these speakers are meant to be used with a subwoofer. With the Swans, the bass was tight, punchy and the plucking of the strings had a visceral quality - I could just feel it, and also feel the fingers sliding on the strings. The Emos reproduced the bass notes but could not match the bottom end or the feel of the bass. This was very noticeable on pretty much every track that had a bass line.
The Emos had a slightly wider soundstage, perhaps because I positioned them with the tweeters on the outside. The Swans are inline, with the tweeter over the woofer. Often it seemed like the instruments were on the outside of the speakers instead of inbetween them. Both have excellent imaging.
The Emos have a more rounded, laid-back sound. They nevertheless sound very crisp and clean with excellent transient response but the sound seemed a bit fuller. The Emos seemed very non-fatiguing. Both speakers have excellent detail. No veils got lifted, there were none to begin with! I don't know how to really describe it but the Swans were tighter, the Emos fuller, but both had good zing to them. On the portion of the music above the bass notes, I think it's a matter of preference as to which speaker is better - they both sounded accurate even though the character was different.
Just listening to the speakers in pure audio mode with no sub and no equalization, I felt the Swans won out because of their superior bass response. That response added the solid bottom end musical foundation that the Emos didn't have (and weren't made to have). Note that the Emos were positioned on top of the Swans and the back of the speakers were about 26" away from the wall. If you just want a good stereo speaker system without a sub, the Swans are an excellent choice. The Audyssey on my Onkyo sets them as full range. Also, the Emos are a lot more efficient. I had to decrease the volume by 6db when listening to the Emos.
Day two: I took the Swans off the stands and put the Emos on, then ran Audyssey. Audyssey set all five of the Emo speakers at a 70 hz cutoff.
Then I listened to the same tracks as the day before, plus the following: Elton John's "Madman Across the Water" original version off the bonus tracks from Tumbleweed Connection (SACD) and Pink Floyd's "Money" from DSOTM (SACD also). I also played the opening scenes from Gladiator and Matrix (regular DVD, DTS and Dolby Digital, respectively) and the scene from Kill Bill in which Uma Thurmans's Black Mamba character duels with GoGo Yubari (blu ray, direct sound). I only listened to the Emos this time.
Adding the subwoofer (an Hsu STF-2) and running the Audyssey program made a big difference. The sub added the bottom foundation that really rounded out the sound and complemented the Emos quite nicely.
The regular stereo CD tracks I had listened to the day before now sounded superb with the addition of the sub. Very clean, full, natural and neutral sound that, while easy on the ears, was still crisp and clean. This was especially notable on the Esperanza disc (which it should, since she is an incredible bassist).
The SACD tracks were impressive. They sounded great before with the Swans on the L/R but I think better with the Emos because the speakers were matched. I have the Oppo hooked up with both 5 analog cables and HDMI. The analog goes to the mulit-channel input on the Onyko and plays without processing whereas the HDMI gets the Audyssey treatment. With the Swans, I preferred listening with the HDMI cable, but with the Emos, it sounded better with analog. I think that is because the Swans needed the equalization to match more closely with the other three Emo speakers in the center and surrounds. But with the 6.2's in the front instead of the Swans, everything blended better. Like I said, these SACD tracks sounded great using the Swans but having all Emos made it sound even better because of the timbre match.
DVD's and blu-ray: Wonderful. Having matching speakers makes more of a difference than I thought it would. The sound from the scenes of all three movies was awesome. Dialog was exceptionally clear and the sound was crisp, clean and dynamic. By the way, I have the "boundary compensation" switch on the 6.3 center turned on; it sits in the middle of a glass stand and even though it protrudes about 3" from the front of the stand and is resting on Auralex Mopads, it still seems to resonate off the stand. All of the other switches on the 6.3 as well as the other Emos were set to the flat position. After watching these scenes I was impressed. They sounded GOOD.. really good.
Yesterday after comparing the Swans to the Emos in stereo, pure audio mode, I wasn't sure what to do. On a standalone basis, the Swans are better because of their extended bass. But I wanted to try the Emos with a sub and also run Audyssey for them to see how much difference that made.
Today after listening to the Emos in both stereo (with a sub) and multi-channel mode, I had a big smile. The Swans are excellent speakers but in multi-channel mode they just don't attain the same blend as when using all Emo's. The Emos, with a properly balanced sub, have a very natural, pleasing and detailed sound and my mind is made up. I sat there just wanting to keep on listening. I'm keeping the Emos. I wish I could keep the Swans as well but that makes no sense.. so.. anyone out there want to buy a pair of D2.1SE's in excellent condition?
Oh also: some have wondered about the difference between the 6.2 and ERM-1's. I have not listened extensively to the ERM-1's except as surrounds but from what I have heard, there is not a big difference. The Emo product page says the 6.2's have better bass response, but in my opinion they still need a sub to really sound their best so in either case (6.2 or ERM-1), you will need a subwoofer.
And that's my very very long review.. sorry for the length and sorry for using the same adjectives so often but those were the best I could think of, short of saying that a veil had been lifted.
If you team the Emos with a sub like the product page recommends, you will not be disappointed. I love the way it sounds.
NOTE: I am selling the Swans - please see the emporium.
Meanwhile, I ran across the Emo site on the last day of January and saw the XPA-3 on sale. I bought it. Then when Emo released their new speakers I got tired of waiting for Swans (you think the UMC-1 is taking a long time, the forum at Audio Insider has been talking about the companion speakers for the D2.1SE for ages and only a week ago did the prototypes arrive) and I went for the 6.3 center and two of the ERM-1's for the surrounds. I also sprung for the UPA-2 to drive the surrounds, using the XPA-3 for the fronts.
Then as you may have guessed, I got curious about how an all-Emo speaker system would sound so I thought about getting the 6.2's for the fronts. The Swans are really good speakers but I kept wondering how a matched set would sound instead, so finally I knew I would never rest easy until I heard the 6.2's in the front so I ordered them. Cathy took the order Friday, they shipped out that day and I received them on Tuesday this past week - from Tennessee to So Cal in a really short time!!
The speakers arrived in great condition, double-boxed and inside of the nice, soft black cloth bags. I put them on top of the Swans, using the pads that came with the 6.2's in between the two speakers.
Here is a comparison of the Swans versus 6.2's:
Build quality/fit and finish: both are excellent. Nice and solid. The Swans seem a bit more solid, though - if you rap on the side, the Swans have a very dull thud, as though they were solid wood.
Appearance: sorry Emo, but the Swans in piano black win hands down. There is no comparison. The 6.2 flat black finish looks neat but, well..
Sound: the equipment consisted of the preamp section from an Onkyo 706, the XPA-3, and various disc players: Onkyo 390 CD player using analog outputs; Sony BX-1 blu ray player (HDMI); Oppo 980 for SACD (analog and HDMI both hooked up), and Onkyo DVD player for non-blu ray DVD's (digital coax).
I compared the two speakers using the "pure audio" mode of the preamp, meaning no modifications were made to the sound and it was pure 2-channel.
Test tracks: Diana Krall "I Love Being Here With You" from her Live in Paris CD; Steely Dan "Gaslighting Abbie" and "Cousin Dupree" from the Two Against Nature CD; "Hey Nineteen" from Steely Dan's Gaucho CD; "Aja," "Peg" and "Josie" from Steely Dan's Aja CD (can you tell I am a big Steely Dan fan?); Esperanza Spalding's "I Adore You" from her Esperanza CD; and a couple of tracks from the MapleShade Music Festival sampler CD, "Nick of Time" (Sunny Sumter and Larry Willis Quintet) and "Shady Green Pastures" (the ARC choir).
Here are the main differences I heard between the two:
The Swans have incredible bass extension that the Emos could not match. In all fairness, the Emo product page says that these speakers are meant to be used with a subwoofer. With the Swans, the bass was tight, punchy and the plucking of the strings had a visceral quality - I could just feel it, and also feel the fingers sliding on the strings. The Emos reproduced the bass notes but could not match the bottom end or the feel of the bass. This was very noticeable on pretty much every track that had a bass line.
The Emos had a slightly wider soundstage, perhaps because I positioned them with the tweeters on the outside. The Swans are inline, with the tweeter over the woofer. Often it seemed like the instruments were on the outside of the speakers instead of inbetween them. Both have excellent imaging.
The Emos have a more rounded, laid-back sound. They nevertheless sound very crisp and clean with excellent transient response but the sound seemed a bit fuller. The Emos seemed very non-fatiguing. Both speakers have excellent detail. No veils got lifted, there were none to begin with! I don't know how to really describe it but the Swans were tighter, the Emos fuller, but both had good zing to them. On the portion of the music above the bass notes, I think it's a matter of preference as to which speaker is better - they both sounded accurate even though the character was different.
Just listening to the speakers in pure audio mode with no sub and no equalization, I felt the Swans won out because of their superior bass response. That response added the solid bottom end musical foundation that the Emos didn't have (and weren't made to have). Note that the Emos were positioned on top of the Swans and the back of the speakers were about 26" away from the wall. If you just want a good stereo speaker system without a sub, the Swans are an excellent choice. The Audyssey on my Onkyo sets them as full range. Also, the Emos are a lot more efficient. I had to decrease the volume by 6db when listening to the Emos.
Day two: I took the Swans off the stands and put the Emos on, then ran Audyssey. Audyssey set all five of the Emo speakers at a 70 hz cutoff.
Then I listened to the same tracks as the day before, plus the following: Elton John's "Madman Across the Water" original version off the bonus tracks from Tumbleweed Connection (SACD) and Pink Floyd's "Money" from DSOTM (SACD also). I also played the opening scenes from Gladiator and Matrix (regular DVD, DTS and Dolby Digital, respectively) and the scene from Kill Bill in which Uma Thurmans's Black Mamba character duels with GoGo Yubari (blu ray, direct sound). I only listened to the Emos this time.
Adding the subwoofer (an Hsu STF-2) and running the Audyssey program made a big difference. The sub added the bottom foundation that really rounded out the sound and complemented the Emos quite nicely.
The regular stereo CD tracks I had listened to the day before now sounded superb with the addition of the sub. Very clean, full, natural and neutral sound that, while easy on the ears, was still crisp and clean. This was especially notable on the Esperanza disc (which it should, since she is an incredible bassist).
The SACD tracks were impressive. They sounded great before with the Swans on the L/R but I think better with the Emos because the speakers were matched. I have the Oppo hooked up with both 5 analog cables and HDMI. The analog goes to the mulit-channel input on the Onyko and plays without processing whereas the HDMI gets the Audyssey treatment. With the Swans, I preferred listening with the HDMI cable, but with the Emos, it sounded better with analog. I think that is because the Swans needed the equalization to match more closely with the other three Emo speakers in the center and surrounds. But with the 6.2's in the front instead of the Swans, everything blended better. Like I said, these SACD tracks sounded great using the Swans but having all Emos made it sound even better because of the timbre match.
DVD's and blu-ray: Wonderful. Having matching speakers makes more of a difference than I thought it would. The sound from the scenes of all three movies was awesome. Dialog was exceptionally clear and the sound was crisp, clean and dynamic. By the way, I have the "boundary compensation" switch on the 6.3 center turned on; it sits in the middle of a glass stand and even though it protrudes about 3" from the front of the stand and is resting on Auralex Mopads, it still seems to resonate off the stand. All of the other switches on the 6.3 as well as the other Emos were set to the flat position. After watching these scenes I was impressed. They sounded GOOD.. really good.
Yesterday after comparing the Swans to the Emos in stereo, pure audio mode, I wasn't sure what to do. On a standalone basis, the Swans are better because of their extended bass. But I wanted to try the Emos with a sub and also run Audyssey for them to see how much difference that made.
Today after listening to the Emos in both stereo (with a sub) and multi-channel mode, I had a big smile. The Swans are excellent speakers but in multi-channel mode they just don't attain the same blend as when using all Emo's. The Emos, with a properly balanced sub, have a very natural, pleasing and detailed sound and my mind is made up. I sat there just wanting to keep on listening. I'm keeping the Emos. I wish I could keep the Swans as well but that makes no sense.. so.. anyone out there want to buy a pair of D2.1SE's in excellent condition?
Oh also: some have wondered about the difference between the 6.2 and ERM-1's. I have not listened extensively to the ERM-1's except as surrounds but from what I have heard, there is not a big difference. The Emo product page says the 6.2's have better bass response, but in my opinion they still need a sub to really sound their best so in either case (6.2 or ERM-1), you will need a subwoofer.
And that's my very very long review.. sorry for the length and sorry for using the same adjectives so often but those were the best I could think of, short of saying that a veil had been lifted.
If you team the Emos with a sub like the product page recommends, you will not be disappointed. I love the way it sounds.NOTE: I am selling the Swans - please see the emporium.
