Post by darkvisions on May 22, 2009 11:51:21 GMT -5
I just received my 8.3's this morning at work. I went home at lunch and hooked them up.
I had blown my trusted Snell Type E-II's last Friday night. I've had these speakers for over twenty years and have enjoyed them immensely. I was saddened when they went as we've been through a lot together over the last two decades and they were always there as a trusted friend to bring me hours of musical bliss. But alas, all good things must come to an end.
So here I am now ushering in a new era of speakers.
I have been blown away by my XPA-1s, XPA-3 and ERC-1 CD Player by Emotiva. My system, especially my Snell's never sounded better and I could easily say that this was the best sounding system I ever had.
I really wasn't sure what to expect with the 8.3's. I was positive the build quality and parts would be first rate, but how would they sound? My Snell's Frequency Response was 39Hz-22kHz and the 8.3's is 45hz-20Khz +/-2db, was there going to be enough bass for my two channel listening
I don't use a sub when listening to two channel and that was about the only thing I was worried about.
I lugged these behemoths into my house by myself at lunch time. As usual the packing was rock solid. A few tears in the outer box from Fedex. The inner box was perfect.
I got the boxes opened and saw the nice cloth wrap for the speakers with sturdy foam inserts holding the speakers snugly in place.
I love the finish on these and those that have seen pictures of my house and set up in the forum know I love black. I like the rounded corners and the magnetic grills.
The build quality is first rate, these things are tanks. I love the feet, they match up perfectly with everything else in my setup and the speakers fit right in with my system and décor like Emotiva designed them that way. I have the feet all the way in as shipped and have no fears about them tipping over.
I hooked them up without using any of the switches on the back; I was just dying to hear them and will make adjustments as need be, if any at a later date.
I have my ERC-1 running into my AVM-30 via RCA (I am waiting for Emotiva's balanced cables to be released, not necessarily for noise or sound quality, it will just free up another analog connection for me) and I have the Anthem in Audio-Direct mode, bypassing all processing and tone controls.
The CD I use when introducing new equipment into my set up is Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow", specifically Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". This is my all time favorite song and I know it like the back of my hand.
I sat on the couch and let Jeff's opening notes surround me. I had the Anthem at about +2 (it starts on -95 and goes to +33). As the song moved along the smile on my face kept getting wider and wider. WOW!! That was all about I could say at this point. I was totally amazed at the sound coming from my setup. Now granted my Snell's were +20 years old, but Snell is no slouch in the speaker dept. and I can safely say that the 8.3's sounded better than my Snell's . The sound was more open and enveloping with a huge sound stage. Recollecting what my Snell's sounded like, I would say they sounded kind of muffled compared to what I was hearing coming out of the 8.3's. Right out of the box I was impressed.
I then put on Loreena McKennitt's "An Ancient Muse". Specifically track two "The Gates Of Istanbul" and track six "Penelope's Song". She uses a lot of diverse music and instruments and her voice is amazing. I wanted to see how the 8.3's handled these difficult musical passages. Again I was in awe at the sounds coming from my speakers. I cranked her up to about +6 and the sound was smooth as glass. The sound stage was immense and filled my entire living room and the rest of the house for that matter. Her voice was spot on. When I closed my eyes I could picture her there singing in the room. I don't even know some of the instruments she uses, but the different instruments and notes were well defined. I could hear everything.
Unfortunately I had to head back to work. I could have easily spent the whole afternoon listening to these speakers. My initial fears of not having enough bass were for naught. There is plenty of bass and my sub will remain for movie use only.
And for BigRed I will take some new pictures and post them sometime this weekend. I am looking forward to tonight and some concert DVD's to really put these speakers through a workout. I have not doubts that they will perform outstandingly.
I will post more of my thoughts as I listen to these more. If you are sitting on the fence about these, jump off and grab a pair. I'm glad I did.
Now I have the best sounding system I have ever had.
I had blown my trusted Snell Type E-II's last Friday night. I've had these speakers for over twenty years and have enjoyed them immensely. I was saddened when they went as we've been through a lot together over the last two decades and they were always there as a trusted friend to bring me hours of musical bliss. But alas, all good things must come to an end.
So here I am now ushering in a new era of speakers.
I have been blown away by my XPA-1s, XPA-3 and ERC-1 CD Player by Emotiva. My system, especially my Snell's never sounded better and I could easily say that this was the best sounding system I ever had.
I really wasn't sure what to expect with the 8.3's. I was positive the build quality and parts would be first rate, but how would they sound? My Snell's Frequency Response was 39Hz-22kHz and the 8.3's is 45hz-20Khz +/-2db, was there going to be enough bass for my two channel listening
I don't use a sub when listening to two channel and that was about the only thing I was worried about.
I lugged these behemoths into my house by myself at lunch time. As usual the packing was rock solid. A few tears in the outer box from Fedex. The inner box was perfect.
I got the boxes opened and saw the nice cloth wrap for the speakers with sturdy foam inserts holding the speakers snugly in place.
I love the finish on these and those that have seen pictures of my house and set up in the forum know I love black. I like the rounded corners and the magnetic grills.
The build quality is first rate, these things are tanks. I love the feet, they match up perfectly with everything else in my setup and the speakers fit right in with my system and décor like Emotiva designed them that way. I have the feet all the way in as shipped and have no fears about them tipping over.
I hooked them up without using any of the switches on the back; I was just dying to hear them and will make adjustments as need be, if any at a later date.
I have my ERC-1 running into my AVM-30 via RCA (I am waiting for Emotiva's balanced cables to be released, not necessarily for noise or sound quality, it will just free up another analog connection for me) and I have the Anthem in Audio-Direct mode, bypassing all processing and tone controls.
The CD I use when introducing new equipment into my set up is Jeff Beck's "Blow By Blow", specifically Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". This is my all time favorite song and I know it like the back of my hand.
I sat on the couch and let Jeff's opening notes surround me. I had the Anthem at about +2 (it starts on -95 and goes to +33). As the song moved along the smile on my face kept getting wider and wider. WOW!! That was all about I could say at this point. I was totally amazed at the sound coming from my setup. Now granted my Snell's were +20 years old, but Snell is no slouch in the speaker dept. and I can safely say that the 8.3's sounded better than my Snell's . The sound was more open and enveloping with a huge sound stage. Recollecting what my Snell's sounded like, I would say they sounded kind of muffled compared to what I was hearing coming out of the 8.3's. Right out of the box I was impressed.
I then put on Loreena McKennitt's "An Ancient Muse". Specifically track two "The Gates Of Istanbul" and track six "Penelope's Song". She uses a lot of diverse music and instruments and her voice is amazing. I wanted to see how the 8.3's handled these difficult musical passages. Again I was in awe at the sounds coming from my speakers. I cranked her up to about +6 and the sound was smooth as glass. The sound stage was immense and filled my entire living room and the rest of the house for that matter. Her voice was spot on. When I closed my eyes I could picture her there singing in the room. I don't even know some of the instruments she uses, but the different instruments and notes were well defined. I could hear everything.
Unfortunately I had to head back to work. I could have easily spent the whole afternoon listening to these speakers. My initial fears of not having enough bass were for naught. There is plenty of bass and my sub will remain for movie use only.
And for BigRed I will take some new pictures and post them sometime this weekend. I am looking forward to tonight and some concert DVD's to really put these speakers through a workout. I have not doubts that they will perform outstandingly.
I will post more of my thoughts as I listen to these more. If you are sitting on the fence about these, jump off and grab a pair. I'm glad I did.
Now I have the best sounding system I have ever had.
