Emotiva Basx theater first impressions
May 24, 2017 12:23:07 GMT -5
Boomzilla, cwmcobra, and 3 more like this
Post by garbulky on May 24, 2017 12:23:07 GMT -5
Boomzilla
TLDR short version:
Great in movies. Slightly above average in music. GREAT dual subs. Lack of lower mid range with the basx LCR. May have more potential with more setup and tweaks.
Long version:
Once again, I got a chance to visit mr and mrs B'zilla!
And just a small aside, he found me some cool garage sale finds of two ukuleles from the 50's and 60's - one of which was a banjoukulele! I got it fixed up and it's twanging away down here in the South!
Anyway, this time B'zilla had a complete set of Emotiva basx components.
This time, it includes three basx LCR, two basx sats, two basx s12 subwoofers - the real star of the show.
The electronics were the MC-700 and the Basx A-500, a 5 channel amp.
The build quality on the speakers and subs seemed pretty solid. Rapping on all of them gave no hollow sounds - not even on the LCR or sat speakers.
The LCR speakers were surprisingly small....very small and also not deep at all. I would think the airmotiv 4 had more volume on them. The basx sat even more so.
The tweeters were not the airmotion type but a conventional tweeter. And the whole setup had a compact feel, similar to a home theater in a box size versus a more conventional setup. All except, that is, for the fantastic basx s12 subwoofers. Those were definitely not HTIB size, being big and sturdily built.
Now these were obviously built for movie performance putting in nearly two completely different sounds for movies and music.
BASx LCR
The basx LCR has hints of the stealth bezel that I thought looked nice.
Before I talk about the sound - keep in mind this setup wasn't properly optimized so my comments are literally what I heard in that specific setup. The performance might well be better than I report. I actually feel that it probably will and my next visit will have me do a 180 on the comments.
Overall, the sound felt clean with no break up, with a slightly above average detailing in the treble. For instance I'd give the nod to the treble of these over the KEF LS 50's treble. Where the KEF LS50's sounded muddy and lacking in detail in the treble, these did not.
They had an all right center image and there was some reasonable soundstage to be had though improvements may be had. Different speaker placements revealed improvements.
However the biggest drawback was that the mid-range integration wasn't enough. So the sound wasn't thick in the mids and had a thin tonality to it. Now I freely admit that this could very likely be a setup issue causing poor integration between where the basx LCR left off and the sub picked up.
So the problem here is that this caused the tonality to be tipped up towards the treble. You could say treble shenanigans. I heard several songs I was familiar with and politely put, that's not how they actually sound.
The other thing is...even with these kick butt s-12 subs, the basx couldn't separate itself from the fact that these are small speakers. So the soundstage was that of a smaller speaker. Tower speakers have a certain size, heft, that contribute itself to a large living room like B'zillas. However these speakers were not distorting.
HOWEVER.......
There's probably a good reason for that too....the MC-700.
MC-700
We couldn't figure out how to turn off Emo-q and oh god, the configuration menu on the MC-700's LED display menu was just awful to figure out. It made the PT-100 seem downright baby-like in easiness.
We went to the manual which was also unfortunately no real help in how to navigate the config, being lightweight in that aspect. The onscreen HDMI display for some reason had stopped working, which also could have been a setup mistake so that was no help either.
So I felt the Basx LCR's had more potential that may come out later after a bit more fiddling with the processor.
Anyway, overall I wasn't thrilled with the sound quality of the MC-700's. For instance for music, I would take the PT-100 any day over the MC-700 for music.
It didn't help that the MC-700 took large amounts of time to switch HDMI inputs and all its usability niggles. The remote is also new and an improvement over the PT-100 weird ergonomics but a step back from the more metallic heavy duty remotes of the XDA/XMC/DC-1 theme which could be useful in a zombie outbreak.
If I was in a market for a processor, sadly, this wouldn't be it. But then again, I am DEMANDING and picky. Tiny things become deal breakers for me. I could easily see somebody being happy with it, especially at the price.
So....it sounds like all bad news right?
Not really. The stereo sound still sounded good, just not what I was used to. And it's definitely a step up from HTIB systems from wally world or best buy. Quite a step up. But then again, this is Emotiva and Emotiva competes in the audiophile market. I think the placement of these speakers are appropriate within their price range though they do perform better than others in it.
Anyway, then we got on to movies.
And this is where things got surprisingly good.
Holey moley! Movies were fantastic! We had a coherent sound field. Large dynamics which held together well under the strain.
DA SUBS
The basx subwoofers were real stars in my opinion providing high resolution bass detail and some serious punch. There was no bloat. Just tight powerful bass. My standard for tight bass is pretty high imo. While lots of subs can produce grunt, they can't all produce the same resolution. I heard quite a lot of resolution and speed with the basx sub. I now wonder what the one step up sub might sound like ?!
Now keep in mind this is in a large not bass friendly living room. So the fact that these things were knocking it out was amazing imo. The couch (which very rarely vibrates) was vibrating, I could feel a little bit of viceral punch even. They just gave and gave. They are also a very nice size imo. Not small by any means but also not huge like the PSA XV15.
The PSA XV15 had more upper bass but did not quite have the punch of this sub. The PSA however, is a real beast, and is probably better than the basx. But the basx did stuff that the PSA couldn't do. I was IMPRESSED.
Anyway, Guardians of the Galaxy felt very close to the IMAX theater I normally got to. It got LOUD. Viceral bass punch, rumbles, large dynamics. tons of fun. Sure the mids were lacking slightly, the tone slightly different from correct, but who cared. It was a thrill ride. Though the basx LCR had limitations, quick dynamics and relatively clean output was NOT its weak point.
The tonality between the speakers was also matched making the sound field pretty cohesive.
Just a note here - don't run the basx LCR by themselves. I don't think you'd be satisfied. It needs support.
Basx- A500: this amp reminded me very closely - surprise - to the UPA-500. And what that is is an amp that does nothing wrong. But also does nothing exceptional to write home about. It's a service amp. It's there and it works. The sound is neutral. You won't go home talking about how it excels at this or that. It just does its job and you won't complain about it. But you also won't be wowed by it - unless you are coming from a wimpy receiver.
So end of the day....it's probably not the system for most of us here who tend to have higher end units. These are Emotiva's entry level stuff, and I think its placement is appropriate. But for somebody who isn't looking to spend tons of money and is really concerned about movies, this provides a thrill ride. Not the end game in sound quality, but also one wouldn't call it a slouch.
But the the price of this ENTIRE SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM was $2500 - ish.
Now....that sounds low....but for the person jumping in to audio, it's also high. But make no mistake - if you're jumping in to audio and you want to instantly go surround sound....then it's going to cost you for decent sound. For instance, Axiom which produces excellent value in theaters has great values - found here for surround. I would probably pick them over this system. The lowest being $1770 without electronics.
www.axiomaudio.com/home-theaters
But.....those prices don't include a power amp or procoessor - or the very good dual subs that this sytem comes with. And let me note - dual subs! You want those dual subs! They are great! And when you add the electronics in, it comes to probably being closer to 3k rather than $2500. The sound will be better in tone and accuracy with the Axiom. But...it is more expensive. And this is from a company that provides excellent value as well as well as internet direct.
So the take away here is......those subs are impressive imo and the system is lots of fun for movies!
If it was me buying this sytem, I would lean heavily towards their Airmotiv T1 towers to really kick things up a notch. - More expensive, but likely worth the sound upgrade. And more importantly, I believe with the towers and the subs, you could REALLY call these a high end system with the towers filling in the size of the soundstage and also filling in that mid range gap. This would put them in some serious competition with Axiom's offerings. But without them, they are a good performing entry level entry which brings the thrills in movies and is appropriate for the price. Likely outdoing similar efforts by other companies - but not necessarily every one.
Not a giant killer, but also a decent product with only one big limitation (the mid-range tone) - above average for the price.
Thanks again for the good times!
TLDR short version:
Great in movies. Slightly above average in music. GREAT dual subs. Lack of lower mid range with the basx LCR. May have more potential with more setup and tweaks.
Long version:
Once again, I got a chance to visit mr and mrs B'zilla!
And just a small aside, he found me some cool garage sale finds of two ukuleles from the 50's and 60's - one of which was a banjoukulele! I got it fixed up and it's twanging away down here in the South!
Anyway, this time B'zilla had a complete set of Emotiva basx components.
This time, it includes three basx LCR, two basx sats, two basx s12 subwoofers - the real star of the show.
The electronics were the MC-700 and the Basx A-500, a 5 channel amp.
The build quality on the speakers and subs seemed pretty solid. Rapping on all of them gave no hollow sounds - not even on the LCR or sat speakers.
The LCR speakers were surprisingly small....very small and also not deep at all. I would think the airmotiv 4 had more volume on them. The basx sat even more so.
The tweeters were not the airmotion type but a conventional tweeter. And the whole setup had a compact feel, similar to a home theater in a box size versus a more conventional setup. All except, that is, for the fantastic basx s12 subwoofers. Those were definitely not HTIB size, being big and sturdily built.
Now these were obviously built for movie performance putting in nearly two completely different sounds for movies and music.
BASx LCR
The basx LCR has hints of the stealth bezel that I thought looked nice.
Before I talk about the sound - keep in mind this setup wasn't properly optimized so my comments are literally what I heard in that specific setup. The performance might well be better than I report. I actually feel that it probably will and my next visit will have me do a 180 on the comments.
Overall, the sound felt clean with no break up, with a slightly above average detailing in the treble. For instance I'd give the nod to the treble of these over the KEF LS 50's treble. Where the KEF LS50's sounded muddy and lacking in detail in the treble, these did not.
They had an all right center image and there was some reasonable soundstage to be had though improvements may be had. Different speaker placements revealed improvements.
However the biggest drawback was that the mid-range integration wasn't enough. So the sound wasn't thick in the mids and had a thin tonality to it. Now I freely admit that this could very likely be a setup issue causing poor integration between where the basx LCR left off and the sub picked up.
So the problem here is that this caused the tonality to be tipped up towards the treble. You could say treble shenanigans. I heard several songs I was familiar with and politely put, that's not how they actually sound.
The other thing is...even with these kick butt s-12 subs, the basx couldn't separate itself from the fact that these are small speakers. So the soundstage was that of a smaller speaker. Tower speakers have a certain size, heft, that contribute itself to a large living room like B'zillas. However these speakers were not distorting.
HOWEVER.......
There's probably a good reason for that too....the MC-700.
MC-700
We couldn't figure out how to turn off Emo-q and oh god, the configuration menu on the MC-700's LED display menu was just awful to figure out. It made the PT-100 seem downright baby-like in easiness.
We went to the manual which was also unfortunately no real help in how to navigate the config, being lightweight in that aspect. The onscreen HDMI display for some reason had stopped working, which also could have been a setup mistake so that was no help either.
So I felt the Basx LCR's had more potential that may come out later after a bit more fiddling with the processor.
Anyway, overall I wasn't thrilled with the sound quality of the MC-700's. For instance for music, I would take the PT-100 any day over the MC-700 for music.
It didn't help that the MC-700 took large amounts of time to switch HDMI inputs and all its usability niggles. The remote is also new and an improvement over the PT-100 weird ergonomics but a step back from the more metallic heavy duty remotes of the XDA/XMC/DC-1 theme which could be useful in a zombie outbreak.
If I was in a market for a processor, sadly, this wouldn't be it. But then again, I am DEMANDING and picky. Tiny things become deal breakers for me. I could easily see somebody being happy with it, especially at the price.
So....it sounds like all bad news right?
Not really. The stereo sound still sounded good, just not what I was used to. And it's definitely a step up from HTIB systems from wally world or best buy. Quite a step up. But then again, this is Emotiva and Emotiva competes in the audiophile market. I think the placement of these speakers are appropriate within their price range though they do perform better than others in it.
Anyway, then we got on to movies.
And this is where things got surprisingly good.
Holey moley! Movies were fantastic! We had a coherent sound field. Large dynamics which held together well under the strain.
DA SUBS
The basx subwoofers were real stars in my opinion providing high resolution bass detail and some serious punch. There was no bloat. Just tight powerful bass. My standard for tight bass is pretty high imo. While lots of subs can produce grunt, they can't all produce the same resolution. I heard quite a lot of resolution and speed with the basx sub. I now wonder what the one step up sub might sound like ?!
Now keep in mind this is in a large not bass friendly living room. So the fact that these things were knocking it out was amazing imo. The couch (which very rarely vibrates) was vibrating, I could feel a little bit of viceral punch even. They just gave and gave. They are also a very nice size imo. Not small by any means but also not huge like the PSA XV15.
The PSA XV15 had more upper bass but did not quite have the punch of this sub. The PSA however, is a real beast, and is probably better than the basx. But the basx did stuff that the PSA couldn't do. I was IMPRESSED.
Anyway, Guardians of the Galaxy felt very close to the IMAX theater I normally got to. It got LOUD. Viceral bass punch, rumbles, large dynamics. tons of fun. Sure the mids were lacking slightly, the tone slightly different from correct, but who cared. It was a thrill ride. Though the basx LCR had limitations, quick dynamics and relatively clean output was NOT its weak point.
The tonality between the speakers was also matched making the sound field pretty cohesive.
Just a note here - don't run the basx LCR by themselves. I don't think you'd be satisfied. It needs support.
Basx- A500: this amp reminded me very closely - surprise - to the UPA-500. And what that is is an amp that does nothing wrong. But also does nothing exceptional to write home about. It's a service amp. It's there and it works. The sound is neutral. You won't go home talking about how it excels at this or that. It just does its job and you won't complain about it. But you also won't be wowed by it - unless you are coming from a wimpy receiver.
So end of the day....it's probably not the system for most of us here who tend to have higher end units. These are Emotiva's entry level stuff, and I think its placement is appropriate. But for somebody who isn't looking to spend tons of money and is really concerned about movies, this provides a thrill ride. Not the end game in sound quality, but also one wouldn't call it a slouch.
But the the price of this ENTIRE SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM was $2500 - ish.
Now....that sounds low....but for the person jumping in to audio, it's also high. But make no mistake - if you're jumping in to audio and you want to instantly go surround sound....then it's going to cost you for decent sound. For instance, Axiom which produces excellent value in theaters has great values - found here for surround. I would probably pick them over this system. The lowest being $1770 without electronics.
www.axiomaudio.com/home-theaters
But.....those prices don't include a power amp or procoessor - or the very good dual subs that this sytem comes with. And let me note - dual subs! You want those dual subs! They are great! And when you add the electronics in, it comes to probably being closer to 3k rather than $2500. The sound will be better in tone and accuracy with the Axiom. But...it is more expensive. And this is from a company that provides excellent value as well as well as internet direct.
So the take away here is......those subs are impressive imo and the system is lots of fun for movies!
If it was me buying this sytem, I would lean heavily towards their Airmotiv T1 towers to really kick things up a notch. - More expensive, but likely worth the sound upgrade. And more importantly, I believe with the towers and the subs, you could REALLY call these a high end system with the towers filling in the size of the soundstage and also filling in that mid range gap. This would put them in some serious competition with Axiom's offerings. But without them, they are a good performing entry level entry which brings the thrills in movies and is appropriate for the price. Likely outdoing similar efforts by other companies - but not necessarily every one.
Not a giant killer, but also a decent product with only one big limitation (the mid-range tone) - above average for the price.
Thanks again for the good times!
