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Post by floridaguy on Jun 19, 2009 18:58:57 GMT -5
This thread is sort of a review of the following equipment: ERT-8.3 ERM-6.3 ERD-1 XPA-5 I wanted to start this thread by making sure that you fully understand that I consider myself wholly unqualified to do a "reveiw" of audiophile equipment. I am going to begin with a synopsis of my history that is designed to help you put into perspective the thoughts and opinions that will follow. If you are not interested in my history skip to message two in this thread where I will give my first impressions of the system that arrived at my home yesterday. I have always had an interest in high quality sound. Shortly after turning 18 in 1979 I moved into my own apartment and made the outrageous splurge of buying a $400 stereo system from K-Mart that included four speakers which my friends found utterly ridiculous. That system served me poorly until 1988 when I bought my first quality gear. After much research and stops at every audiophile shop in Milwaukee where I lived at the time and a trip to Chicago to go to a number of stores there I settled on a Carver Receiver and Thiel Speakers for about $3,000. I got them home and found that the system that sounded great in the store sounded bright and overpowering in my small apartment. I returned the gear and started over. I ended up with a Yamaha receiver and Phase Tech speakers. The receiver was about $600. The speakers were about $1,800 for the pair. These served me well until the stuff around one of the woofers deteriorated. Sorry about the technical terminology but "stuff" is the only way I know how to describe it. Phase Tech would have repaired the speaker for about $80 including shipping but I decided it was time to start researching a new system. A co-worker gave me some old speakers he had around the house to tide me over while I decided. That was about six years ago! I had a long stretch with a horrendous boss at work that kept me out of the frame of mind to make these kinds of decisions. Around Christmas 2007 I was nearing a decision. Then life got in the way again and put the project on hold until just recently. While the audiophile shops I went to in Milwaukee in 1988 still thrive today I found nothing that compared with them in Florida where I had moved. The process of auditioning speakers was extremely frustrating. I went to a custom dealer's warehouse to audition a Monitor Audio RS6 system last Saturday and was unimpressed. A subsequent discussion with strindl lead me to this forum and started this thread... emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=speakers&action=display&thread=5499&page=1Less than a week later the whole sordid process is over. Enough background on to the impressions. |
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 19, 2009 18:59:16 GMT -5
Being unfamiliar with the process of setting up the latest audio gear lead to a late night until I finally was able to hear sound from my new system. I had to stop before I even took the surround speakers out of the box. By then I was tired and hungry and as it turns out the first recording I chose to listen to on my new system was a poor choice. Thus my first impression was not a good one. Things have improved considerably since then.
After I made a very late supper I sat down to watch some familiar movies on my new system. In my worn down state I was not up to doing a lot of critical listening. I remember the most significant positive impression being not what I heard but what I felt. I could feel my chest vibrating and the couch shook during some of the special effects. This, and my SVS sub woofer was still on its way from Ohio!
The next day after setting up the surround speakers my system reflected my signature on this forum at the time of this writing:
In my home:
Emotiva Amp XPA-5 - Emotiva speakers: ERT-8.3(2) ERM-6.3(1) ERD-1(1 pair)
Yamaha Reciever RX-V663 - Panasonic 50" HDTV TC-P50G10 - Yamaha 5 Disk DVD Changer DVD-C740
Currently racing across the country:
SVS Sub Woofer PB12-NSD
These are my initial impressions at the time of this writing and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time...
I put in the 20 track audition CD I had prepared for my hard to arrange speaker auditions. At the custom dealer I had been to the previous Saturday (see message one in this thread) I had found myself saying next, next, as the harsh bright sound was an unpleasant listening experience.
I planned to skim through and sample each of the tracks but I found myself not wanting to push next because I was enjoying the sound so much. On one track I found the vocal was heavily weighted to the right side and I was considering re-configuring my speaker set up but the next track showed me that this was an anomaly of the recording. On another track I experienced a very clear image of a guitar being played well to the left and rear of the left front speaker.
My audition CD was a mix of songs that had portions that I particularly liked and where I had found unpleasant aspects listening to some speakers. I found the bass on the new system to be really tight and lacking in the booming charecteristics that had turned me off to some high end gear. I played some poor recordings that had sounded irritatingly bright and harsh on some speakers. They were less so on this system than others I had heard but it is now clear to me that some of the problem is with the recording itself.
I found myself glued to my chair and felt chills from time to time. Even when I had to get up I found the sound was exceptional as I moved around the house. I went back to turn up the sound so I could experience the new found IMPACT of the music as I did my chores.
I plan to post more thoughts. I wanted to establish a place where I could record them as they came to me.
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Post by artiek on Jun 19, 2009 19:09:19 GMT -5
Good deal brudda, glad you're happy!
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Post by roadrunner on Jun 19, 2009 20:24:23 GMT -5
Floridaguy,
Congats! I knew you would love those speakers once you had a chance to give a listen to them. Just wait until they have had a chance to "break-in". The ERT-8.3s will go deeper and tighter as they are used; and, the mid-range is going to get smoother and silky. It is hard to believe they could get any better than they are right out of the box, but they will.
Once you have a chance to get the rest of the speakers installed and calibrated, you will find yourself in heaven... pure nirvana. I found it hard to quit listening -- especially with high quality recordings. For the next few weeks, every time you power up the system, it will sound better and better.
You may not know it yet, but you are becoming addicted to Emotiva... you will want to buy all things Emotiva. ;D Enjoy!!
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Animo
Emo VIPs 
Gotta Love Me!!
Posts: 2,662
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Post by Animo on Jun 19, 2009 21:06:18 GMT -5
You may not know it yet, but you are becoming addicted to Emotiva... you will want to buy all things Emotiva. ;D Enjoy!! Especially the toaster!! |
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Post by strindl on Jun 19, 2009 21:19:32 GMT -5
man does emotiva ever make a GREAT toaster.  |
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Post by strindl on Jun 19, 2009 21:28:57 GMT -5
lol..that stuff is the foam surround. That stuff basically rotting away was very common with speakers from the 70's and 80's..and even some still sold today. You will never have that problem with your Emotiva's because they don't use foam surrounds for their drivers. They use a form of rubber surround as most high quality speakers today do. Far more durable than the foam of years past.
I'm glad you're enjoying the new system. I have never had the chance to listen to the ert's at all , but based on what others here have said about them and compared them to, I was quite certain they are a high quality product. I know their amps are since I have one.
Now you will find yourself glued to it for a while listening to all of those old recordings you have and seeing what they really sound like.
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 19, 2009 21:53:08 GMT -5
Now you will find yourself glued to it for a while listening to all of those old recordings you have and seeing what they really sound like. I just watched Shrek. They are rolling the credits and as one IMPACTFUL song after another plays while they roll I can't turn it off. The tight bass is really impressing and pleasing me. The other strong impression is the clarity of the vocals. |
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Post by knucklehead on Jun 19, 2009 22:37:32 GMT -5
Now you will find yourself glued to it for a while listening to all of those old recordings you have and seeing what they really sound like. I just watched Shrek. They are rolling the credits and as one IMPACTFUL song after another plays while they roll I can't turn it off. The tight bass is really impressing and pleasing me. The other strong impression is the clarity of the vocals. When it comes to the ERTs - you now know what I know. These things rock! |
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Post by strindl on Jun 19, 2009 22:49:07 GMT -5
The ert's and the xpa-5 make a great combination. If you ever have a chance to hook up those ert's to the speaker terminals on the Yamaha receiver rather than the XPA-5, I think you will be surprised by what is missing in the sound.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2009 21:37:23 GMT -5
Floridaguy, you might call yourself an amateur, but you are no ameteur in choosing equipment and telling a story.
I found myself glued to my seat reading this thread. I look forward to more updates as you get your SVS hooked up. The EMO gear, SVS sub and Panny plasma are especially great choices. I hope you will try the 8.3's set as small and crossover to the sub in the 60-80Hz area to keep that very defined bass.
Excellent review!
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 20, 2009 22:58:37 GMT -5
I found myself glued to my seat reading this thread. Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Words I have read in other reviews that I think about during the many hours I have listened to my system in the two days I've had it are: Tight Bass Detail Clarity The sound of the special effects on movies has been very satisfying. I have to admit that I'm anxious to hear how they sound once my sub woofer arrives. They are already so much better than what I'm accustomed to, that I can only imagine... You're right about my Panasonic 50" HDTV TC-P50G10 by the way. I can't say enough about the picture quality. We have HDTV's all over at work and I find myself wondering if they are set to an HD station when I compare the picture to what I have at home. They always are. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2009 19:54:59 GMT -5
I got the Panny 50" 1080p plasma about 6 months ago from Costco. Using the cinema setting, SDTV is excellent, HDTV is superb and Blu-ray is stunning!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2009 8:07:30 GMT -5
Floridaguy, you might call yourself an amateur, but you are no ameteur in choosing equipment and telling a story. I found myself glued to my seat reading this thread. I look forward to more updates as you get your SVS hooked up. The EMO gear, SVS sub and Panny plasma are especially great choices. I hope you will try the 8.3's set as small and crossover to the sub in the 60-80Hz area to keep that very defined bass. Excellent review! indeed . . well done . . |
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 22, 2009 8:35:43 GMT -5
A couple of other random observations... 1) Last night I noticed that I wasn't rewinding (what do you call it when it is digital?) my DVR to catch dialog all the time. It is something I used to do commonly "What did they say?". Now I understand it the first time. 2) The friend who is going to help me do the permanent installation of my surround speakers was over yesterday to check out my attic and explore possibilities. I have any unanswered question about this here emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=speakers&action=display&thread=5499&page=6Re: Yamaha Rx-V663 with emotiva speakers « Reply #112 on Jun 20, 2009, 11:29pm » When we were done he sat down to audition my system. After listening to some of my stuff he went out to his truck to get his Meatloaf CD. He wanted to hear "Two out of three ain't bad." He said that he was curious to hear it because he was in a bar once and it sounded so much better than it did on any other system he heard it on. I thought to myself "Oh boy! There is no way this is going to match his distorted memory of how good it sounded years ago." Sure enough he said it sounded like they were outside. I switched my Yamaha RX-V663 receiver to "Pure Direct" and told him he was hearing exactly what was recorded on an accurate system. Of course, that explanation didn't give him the experience he was hoping for. |
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 22, 2009 22:03:49 GMT -5
So a month ago I was watching movies on a 27" CRT I bought from Wal-Mart. I was listening on my 1988 stereo Yamaha Receiver and speakers that were hand me downs from a co-worker. Tonight my sub woofer arrived completing the system detailed in my signature. I am watching "The Dark Knight" "Presented in HD and 5.1 Sound where available". I am shhaaakkkinng in my couch during the action scenes and thinking to myself "It isn't this good in a movie theatre." O.K. the screen isn't quite as large but the sound... Oh, the sound... More than a few times I flinched... My interest in music which had waned has been revived. My interest in action movies which was never that strong is suddenly kindled. THIS IS FUN!!! ;D ;D Now baackkk tttooo the mmmovvvie... I'm late for bed but I don't care. Oh yeah... my Squeezebox Duet arrives on Wednesday. Ee Mo Tee Va!! Ee Mo Tee Va!! |
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Post by strindl on Jun 22, 2009 23:46:28 GMT -5
wow...you're just going whole hog here. I strongly suspected that you would be blown away by the sound of those emotiva speakers driven by the XPA-5, but it's nice to hear the outright giddiness in your posts after hearing what it can do.
You've invested some bucks here, but have gotten great value for your hard earned dollars. That Duet is going to make music a far more important part of your listening. You can sit back and recline on your sofa and not have to get up for hours while browsing through your entire music collection. I do that now all the time. It spoils you real fast.
I think back to LP's and the vinyl days and wonder how we put up with having to get up every twenty minutes or so and change the record. Plus...once we had an album spinning, if we got tired of it, we couldn't just push the remote and select a new artist.
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 28, 2009 23:40:05 GMT -5
I'm listening to music tonight. My receiver has a button called Pure Direct that shuts down the receiver and just sends whatever is on the disk to my speakers. This means that I only have two speakers putting out sound from the FLAC ripped CD on my new Squeezebox Duet.
I've had to get up and walk over to the center speaker several times because I thought something was wrong. I couldn't believe there wasn't any sound coming out of the center channel speaker but there wasn't.
I don't know how common this kind of imaging is for speakers because I'm an amateur but I wanted to report my impressions.
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Post by floridaguy on Jun 29, 2009 2:24:18 GMT -5
So if you've never had a night where, despite your best efforts, you simply cant' fall asleep.
And in a desperate attempt to catch some zzzs you trying listening to music hoping you will nod off.
And you turn on Shania Twain and choose your FLAC ripped "If you're not in it for love. I'm outa here" on your new Squeezebox Duet and you feel the impact of the rock solid bass popping you in the chest. And suddenly you aren't so bothered that you can't sleep because you are having a powerful experience...
If you've never done that, then you haven't experienced life the way you could have...
I mean really... I've listened to that song countless times before but this was the first time I heard it driven by my top of the line Emotiva amp into my top of the line Emotiva speakers... but let me tell you, it won't be the last...
Ee Mo Tee Va!!
Ee Mo Tee Va!!
Wow!!!
When I bought my first high end gear in 1988 my experience did not meet my expectations. This time after opening my wallet... HOLY COW!!! ;D ;D
If you'll excuse me now. I'm going to stop typing and go listen to it again.
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Post by artiek on Jun 29, 2009 9:20:54 GMT -5
I'm listening to music tonight. My receiver has a button called Pure Direct that shuts down the receiver and just sends whatever is on the disk to my speakers. This means that I only have two speakers putting out sound from the FLAC ripped CD on my new Squeezebox Duet. I've had to get up and walk over to the center speaker several times because I thought something was wrong. I couldn't believe there wasn't any sound coming out of the center channel speaker but there wasn't. I don't know how common this kind of imaging is for speakers because I'm an amateur but I wanted to report my impressions. Welcome to 2ch! |
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