Stereophile Reviews Airmotiv T2 Loudspeaker

[audiobill]

Apr 30, 2019 12:40:29 GMT -5 garbulky said:

Apr 30, 2019 11:18:52 GMT -5 robs said:

Withing the controlled dispersion, response should be even. In an anechoic chamber, it's still bad in my opinion if shifting my head a foot up or down changes the balance of treble and mid-range when a coincident coaxial driver would solve that problem.

I don't think there is one right way to make a speaker. Every approach introduces compromises. I haven't heard a single speaker design element that is a must have for better sound.

I have heard well reviewed speakers with:
Coaxial drivers (KEF) time aligned drivers with the Vandersteen and Thiels,
speakers with and without waveguides,
horn loaded, phase plugs, bipolar electrostats and quasi-ribbons,
ported, sealed, side drivers,
active subwoofers, active speakers, active bi amped speakers, passsive bi amped speakers, bi wired speakers,
10 inch bass and mid drivers, 4 inch bass and mid drivers, 6 and 8 inch bass and mid drivers, single full range speaker drivers
silk tweeters, ring radiator tweeters, folded ribbon tweeters, ferro-fluid tweeters, berrilium tweeters, silk tweeters,
Aluminium, paper, silk, berilium, diamond drivers,

didn't make one better than the other simply due to the presence of these elements in the design phase. None of these would I consider necessary to sound better than another.

You have to take both two speakers and actually listen to it to see if it's what you want imo. The design decisions used to get the sound you like are usually optimized for that specific speaker to tackle its specific challenges.

But doesn’t “accuracy” matter? Lol!

[garbulky]

May 1, 2019 9:38:16 GMT -5 audiobill said:

Apr 30, 2019 12:40:29 GMT -5 garbulky said:

I don't think there is one right way to make a speaker. Every approach introduces compromises. I haven't heard a single speaker design element that is a must have for better sound.

I have heard well reviewed speakers with:
Coaxial drivers (KEF) time aligned drivers with the Vandersteen and Thiels,
speakers with and without waveguides,
horn loaded, phase plugs, bipolar electrostats and quasi-ribbons,
ported, sealed, side drivers,
active subwoofers, active speakers, active bi amped speakers, passsive bi amped speakers, bi wired speakers,
10 inch bass and mid drivers, 4 inch bass and mid drivers, 6 and 8 inch bass and mid drivers, single full range speaker drivers
silk tweeters, ring radiator tweeters, folded ribbon tweeters, ferro-fluid tweeters, berrilium tweeters, silk tweeters,
Aluminium, paper, silk, berilium, diamond drivers,

didn't make one better than the other simply due to the presence of these elements in the design phase. None of these would I consider necessary to sound better than another.

You have to take both two speakers and actually listen to it to see if it's what you want imo. The design decisions used to get the sound you like are usually optimized for that specific speaker to tackle its specific challenges.

But doesn’t “accuracy” matter? Lol!

Sure it does! But not as much as if it sounds good. You got to tweak to get the best subjective sound out of those things and sometimes you can either overlook these errors as being trivial to the sound or purposely use errors to highlight a positive aspect of the speakers. For instance Axiom Audio has two tweeters which is produces noticeably measurable comb filtering. However, in their opinion, it was trivial to the sound compared to something else they were pursuing - I believe it was lowered distortion. And they are right - for that speaker the comb filtering is not a big deal and I love the treble on them. I've also heard excellent results out of a single tweeter speakers, so it doesn't mean two tweeters are always better than one. It just worked in that specific design combination.

[zoltano]

I am DELIGHTED to have the T2-s as my fronts, alongside with the matching C2. I couldn't imagine a better speaker setup for my front stage, in my blacked-out, dedicated HT room. I love the plain, mean, masculine look. The all-black, matte finish helps them disappear around my projector screen. And the size - I had bookshelves before with 5 1/2-inch woofers, the double 8" woofers of the T2-s finally have the upper bass slam I was missing so dearly... These speakers were the last piece in the puzzle in my HT setup (alongside with a freshly acquired XPA-3 Gen 3), I can watch my movies with inner peace now...

[tchaik]

May 2, 2019 13:31:30 GMT -5 zoltano said:

I am DELIGHTED to have the T2-s as my fronts, alongside with the matching C2. I couldn't imagine a better speaker setup for my front stage, in my blacked-out, dedicated HT room. I love the plain, mean, masculine look. The all-black, matte finish helps them disappear around my projector screen. And the size - I had bookshelves before with 5 1/2-inch woofers, the double 8" woofers of the T2-s finally have the upper bass slam I was missing so dearly... These speakers were the last piece in the puzzle in my HT setup (alongside with a freshly acquired XPA-3 Gen 3), I can watch my movies with inner peace now...

inner peace is always good. so are the T2's.

tchaik...........

[amped]

When we listen and make statements regarding how "good/great" something sounds we are really not commenting on the greatness of the new stimuli we are more commenting on how poor or different our brain interprets the prior listening experience  (and most of the time the sound is different not better or worse just different). That is the ONLY way we can determine whether something is better is by comparison.  When have we ever said those speakers measure really well thus they sound better we just say that those speakers sounded really good...It is human nature to compare/contrast and nowhere is it more prevalent than Audio!  And all you hardened EMO fans why does EMO come out with new amps now and again and not just keep what they consider their best design in circulation or discontinue anything that they consider the best?  Why do you feel 2 more channels in the surround system you have in a 12x17 room makes one lick of difference to your overall HT experience because it's different and new and you hope it does so you spend the $ to achieve this.

  

And lest we forget Duell's comment in 1899!