😀Thank you for watching! If you enjoyed this video, please hit the 👍Like button! 📌Considering the AIRMOTIV SERIES? Find them here th-cam.com/video/eH9jqssoVwM/w-d-xo.html 🔌Watch our EMOTIVA REVIEW th-cam.com/video/eH9jqssoVwM/w-d-xo.html to get caught up on today’s UNPLUGGED! 🙏 Please stay on topic and be respectful. 🚫No links, self-promotion, or personal info.
Hi Andrew and Kristie. I may be incorrect, but to assume a product line will not allocate test equipment fearing or previously having a negative review of their product, would I be incorrect?
I will Listen to a reviewer like yourself Before I go out and Buy something, same goes for PC stuff. I have reviewers like yourself That I Highly Respect and TRUST what you say because you have nothing to gain by it, AKA Not getting paid to BS the Public, and the channels that I did trust when I don't get an Answer to my Question they get deleted from my Channels. Makes No Sense to give your email and when someone uses it, you don't Answer. Just recently had this experience with an Amp, question. And That person got my Question because they were reviewing it.
Thanks for the follow-up review on this. I had similar experience with trying to drive some Polk RTA 15 TLs with a Yamaha AVR some time ago. It just didn't work. I needed to go to a class. A b though still sticking with the Yamaha brand and then they came alive. That being said, I do have a question- was there no unplugged for the primare review?
I love AMT tweeter speakers. I have the GoldenEar BRX, 90db sensitivity NAD C298 amp Parasound 2125v2 amp Parasound 2100 preamp Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 dac Denafrips Iris 12th ddc Cardas Parsec RCA cable Eversolo DMP-A6 + LPS upgrade iFi Supanova power cable with active noise cancelling soure=Apple Music lossless
This discussion demonstrates ALL of the best elements of your channel. Informative, fair, encouraging, direct, no nonsense. Thanks for this episode. I think it is the best in months.
I enjoyed today's episode for the honest, yet diplomatic, summation and conclusion expressed by Kristi and Andrew. And Andrew did an excellent job describing a cost-effective way to drive these Emotiva speakers. I'm happy to learn new things and how to be polite when pointing out inefficiencies because I grew up in the '70s and I have no trouble saying what I mean and meaning what I say . Thank you once again for making my Friday afternoon more enjoyable.
Example of sonic change with my Reference two-way speakers: Going from an 8 ohm 25 wpc A/B Amp, to a 4 ohm 100 wpc class D Amp, the quality of bass and mid-range was definitely improved. Base went deeper to 30 Htz, mid-range was clearer and no longer smeared by base. The volume I kept the same as before (88 DB peaks). So while I do not use louder volume with more power, the increased power made the Reference speakers sound like different, much better speakers. Even at low volume, the deep bass is there. You feel it. Not so with the previous 25 wpc Amp. Good smaller speakers will usually need more power to go deep. But the soundstage with some standmounts is incredible. Thank you for the video.
21:01 is the kind of information all beginners need to know. With inefficient speakers you need a lot lot more power. Of course how you define loudspeaker inefficiency is a bit of a minefield given existence of impedance issues.
I’ve been enjoying you guys since you first dove into a record bin.I especially like the way you address the so called “mid fi”market letting your viewers know there is value without breaking the bank
Thank you for your reviews. Your review of the T2 (which I was going to get) made me realize I didn't have the power to run them so I decided on getting the Martin Logan Foundation F2's and a B2 as a center. Your review of those speakers helped me make that decision. I have had them a week now and love them. They are detailed, dynamic and punchy. A great beautiful speaker.
Can you do a video or explain how a speaker can reproduce multiple sounds at the same time? For example, how can a speaker simultaneously reproduce dialogue, background music, and other sounds all at the same time.
My attempt at a simple explanation: You only have one eardrum in each ear - so they're only vibrating with the _combined_ waveform of all the sounds, just like the single waveform the speaker puts out. Your brain is doing a staggering amount of its own work to try to separate that back out into distinct sounds. That's really where the magic happens. The goal of the speaker is to get that waveform to your ears in the most accurate way so your brain has the best chance to do that job.
@@postjm9 That's interesting, thanks for sharing. Still not sure on how an eardrum or speaker can move at multiple different hertz at the same time. Seems physically impossible but clearly it must not be.
I love your channel. I go to sleep, wake up and rewind the videos. Kristi’s voice is so soothing. Sorry Andrew, you’re ok too 😂 - No annoying music in the background (urghhh why do people do that) anyway. Thanks 🙏🏾
I purchased marantz cinema 70s silver and I am matching it to exp 7 ch. To drive sonus faber lumina v amator. Hope all this works. Haven't built a system in decades, tons of info plus the technology these days, crazy. Old marantz guy trying to hang to the past while jumping into the new. With Kristi and your help I am embracing the new. Keep up the great work and wish me luck. PS no sound bars for me thanks!
Glad you mentioned the Revel speakers. The best kept secret Out there. At my local hi end shop in Las Vegas I heard the Revel Performa f 206 speakers with the Luxman l 509 ux11 It was jaw dropping .They retail for about 4 grand. I just picked up a pair of Revel Concerta f 12 speakers used their entry level I cannot stop Listening to them and sold my Wharfedale lintons.
I have the Emotiva T1+ with the A2 amp. They are great until you turn them way up. Clean, yes. Powerful, yes. The AMT tweeter at low to around 85db is lovely. I use some Q 3050's that are great on the same amp. Less fatigue at high volumes. As usual, preferences are paramount. I'll be picking up the ML XT100's on your recommendation and retiring the T1+. Thanks for taking the time to review!
Emotive has been super successful in the low to medium (Depending on your perspective) market. When you have a lot of hits there is the danger in thinking that you have the golden touch and perhaps you don't do the internal questioning that can result in a better product or uncovers latent flaws. Sometimes this is arrogance, complacency or you just get sloppy. I trust they are going to take a hard look at not only the product but their process and do a course correction. Failing occasionally is not a bad thing. It keeps you sharp and committed to doing better if you are the right kind of person.
I recently purchased a set of Emotive X1C to use as dedicated L & R speakers. I'll be running them off of an Emotiva A2M. After watching this video I'm already regretting my purchase. I suppose we'll see how they sound when they come in.
Thanks to both of you. I have a pair of xpa-1 that have been feeding my MartinLogan Theos (with two subs) since 8 years and I was expecting the new Emotiva with great anticipation. At the Montreal Audio Show, the XT3 were the ones on demonstration and yes they rocked, but for quiet listening of cello or string quartet they would be a bit too much. Good week-end to you.
XT3s were my favorites at Montreal AudioFest 2024. We went around the show at other vendors and came back just to listen to them again for a longer. We really enjoyed them with their setup. We even tried lower volume, as we know that can be a factor, and they seemed fine.
Different strokes for different folks. I'm very happy that you found the Emotiva speakers enjoyable, and if you ultimately purchased them, I hope they will provide you with years of sonic happiness.
Love this newer format… pease keep it!!! Really wanted to buy these. But if a decent AVR like the pioneer elite 505 can’t power these. Nope! Again thank you for saving me time and money!!! Great work
This actually kind of reminds me of when the shop I worked for took on the new NHT line. The Model 1 sounded absolutely amazing, but it's low(er) sensitivity made them a bit power hungry. We would try to explain that they were not going to get the same sound out of the inexpensive Pioneer receiver as they were hearing in the store connected to an Adcom GFA-545 or GFA-555. I'm sure a lot of people are going to have a similar issue with the Airmotivs.
Had to listen to you like 8 times to digest what you were saying, you approached it from a different angle then where i came from so it was hard to reorient myself. So by having more power available, you can achieve a livelier more energetic sound.
Context: My Klipsches are fed with 20w of glorious class A from a Schiit Aegir. With 95db peaks then never clip or strain, and they sound incredible with whatever music you throw at them. I do find they lack the energy you get with a theatre when watching a movie though.
Just curious, with the advent of dirac and audyssey and others, where you correct the speakers curve, do you think that having super accurate speakers is a thing anymore? In my setup I eq to the curve I like and use the speakers headroom if any to tweak to my tastes. The speakers characteristics change massively doing this.
EQ is not a magic bullet so to speak, it cannot fix things like poor setup, poor construction etc. In truth, you still want a good/great speaker (whatever that means to you), setup correctly before applying EQ, which should be looked at as icing on the cake rather than a fix-all. Too much EQ can actually harm a speaker's performance and even introduce distortion when none existed originally, so please keep that in mind.
Ok cold beer in hand. Ready to rock with this follow up. I love my Emotiva gear. But when they announced this new line, i had just bought the last gen and feared fomo. Sounds like i didnt miss out
I bought the Emotiva C1+ and B2+ speakers at their inventory close-out price and also their BasX A3 amp for the front stage in my HT and I'm quite happy with my set-up.
Wow, this is a big problem for Emotiva. It's interesting because they make great amps and pre-amps, and have good brand recognition. However, a brand represents more than a name and logo. A brand also represents the experience the user has with all aspects of product and customer service. I hope they can turn this around.
Nowadays, more and more speakers are either designed as 4 Ohms or are more accurately represented by saying they're 4 Ohms. Regardless, amps need to be able to keep up, and more and more are falling behind.
Loved this. Thank you Andrew for this open, honest review. These were speakers I was thinking of getting. Your review has given me room to pause and rethink my potential purchase. my set up includes Marantz cinema 50 and BasX A3 amp (to power the LCR channels). What speakers would you pair with these?
These speakers seem to be a perfect thing to segway into reviewing some of the cost effective hand build Hypex and Purifi class D amps from places like Buckeye Amps. 425 watts @ 4 ohm S/N: 131dB THD: 0.00017 for $1075 seems like a winner for these!
Having access power is like walking when you can run. We can all run but we don’t run everywhere because that’s our limit, so we walk but have running in reserve for when we need it. Amps are the same, if you have heaps of power, then most of the time they’re only walking and when they need to they can run. If they’re always at maximum power draw like they’re running, thats were things wear out faster and increases risk of failure, just like us. Same as towing a trailer, you don’t get a car that’s maximum tow rate is the same as your trailer, you get a car that can tow more so it’s not constantly under load or pressure, reducing wear and tear and having ability in reserve.
This was an outstanding discussion. You finally explained to me the relationship between distance and wats to spaker db ratings. The light wen on. Now I get it. I've got a question - you said ohm's are also a factor. Could you explains this in the simple terms you explained the distance and wats? That would be really helpful. I don't understand how ohm's figure into the need for inreased power. I'd sure appreciate y'all "edumakatin'" me here. Thanks in advance.
We are doing a disservice not being absolutely clear that Emotive XPA-DR3 Differential Reference is the best 3 x channel front L-C-R multichannel amplifier in the business. B&W 7 series towers or bookshelf and center. Not talking about just the vanilla XPA talking about the Differential Reference series. You need a Parasound @ 3 x the cost to get anywhere near the power and linearity of the Emotiva Differential Reference series.
WOW! Learnt a lot today about the usage of power in an amp. And things make a lot more sense now! :) Always wondered how some tube amps that produced say 15wpc could "ever" be appropriate in all but the tiniest rooms!! As I said make sense now, thanks Andrew!! :)
If you own a multimeter, I highly suggest measuring ac voltage from the speaker terminals to get a feeling how loud 1W really is. Just play a sine wave at 60hz and ramp up volume to 2.8V if you have 8ohm speakers or 1.4volts if 4ohm. I bet you'd be surprised. If you have a good multimeter you can use 1khz tune aswell and it should read right.
I was at the Montreal Audiofest show that Matt mentioned and had the same impression as him. I listened to them twice: quick 2 minutes at the start or my tour and then sat in front of them for 15mins at the end of the day. That said, a very important point to know is that the room was big, with high ceiling and twice (or more) long than wide, all that on the conference floor of the hotel and not in smaller rooms like you might expect. Could it be that they perform well in huge rooms? Granted this wouldn't matters for most customers unless you want an hifi barn.
Our room, for the record, is just under 500 sq ft with an opening to the rest of the house, so it's actually "bigger" than that. Not everyone is going to agree on what sounds good or best, suffice to say, I personally, do not recommend these loudspeakers regardless of room size.
Another great video guys. I appreciate all the work you do on this channel. On a side note, Did i miss the Primare amplifiers unplugged or did you not get around to doing one?
Thanks guys for taking my question from last weeks Emotiva review. Just finished watching today's Arcam show and yes I agree with you Andrew... Wait ! ✊🏼
Great show and thank you for taking my question. Regarding today's main topic of power and its perception related to watts being the driving force. Can you maybe discuss the relationship of amplifiers that promote (use to at least) high current more so than its wattage e.g. Adcom, Krell, Parasound to name a few. When I had Martin Logan's electrostats the Krell's and Adcom's drove them with little effort and with not more than 150 watts. Thanks for all you guys do ✊🏼
I have two low watt amps in two different systems. I power my HT front channels with a 6 watt amp(low ceilings and efficient speakers), and I use an 8 watt amp to run my desktop set-up. Andrew is right, in some cases you can get by with 10 watts or less but power requirements go up quick as space grows and efficiency go down.
Over the last couple years I've had some products from Arcam that use their Class G technology..SA30 & then a PA240. Very impressive amplification in my opinion. If Onkyo can replicate that or improve upon it I think it will be a winner of a product. I am interested to see a review on this Onkyo.
Good Friday morning Andrew and Kristi. Another great informative discussion. Kristi, your comments on initially being wowed but after listening for awhile finding them tiresome is spot on many times with speakers in general. On a different speaker plane, any chance Sonus Faber is sending you guys one of their newly refreshed Sonetto G2 speakers, preferably a V or VIII tower? Thanks again for the great work you guys do and looking forward to Sunday. Enjoy your weekend.
Appreciate what you guys experienced here. If I have it right you need a higher power and current capable receiver/amplifier. Fair enough. Many affordable receivers just can’t offer up the current provided when pushed hard. Especially the more channels one is using. I just wish all manufacturers would list rated power that the industry could agree on. Best way to inform potential customers. I have never had a problem with my vintage Nad or Adcom. Most recently Hegel. Thanks for your take.
I have been considering a pair of xt3's - and this review saddens me. I will be forced to consider something else as towers for my office/music room and would prefer a full range system without sub for simplicity sake. What do you recommend for a system that has to perform well at conversation level but also will rock out with no hint of strain?
R700 all day. I bought the XT3’s and am currently returning them. Didn’t have an issue driving them with my Emotiva TA2, but man were the highs really harsh in most music. They’re great as a pure home theater left and right channel, but were very disappointing for music.
🙋♂️HI ,ANDREW,KRISTI,THANKS FOR THIS REVIEW FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE INTERESTED,🤗…IMHHO I AGREE WITH KRISTI LISTENING 👂 FIRST AND TRUSTING YOUR EARS,MORE THAN THE MEASUREMENTS 💚💚💚
Really looking forward to checking this out after work. I will say my Emotiva t3s didnt really sing till i paired em with the xpa dr2. But that was the old gen…
Should I be seriously considering getting a separate amp if I buy a set of Sonus Faber Lumina II Amators or the KEF Q Concerto Metas, which are both 4 ohm speakers. I am currently utilizing a Pioneer VSX LX305 AVR.
whoop I just ordered an onkyo txrz 30 to drive my polk es 60 and center es 35 with es 15 for rear following one of your recommendations and there you say that you would not buy a untxrz 50 which is the equivalent, I I'm a little confused
Yeah say what you want about Klipsch speakers, their budget lines are always very easy to drive on budget AVRs (8 ohms, high sensitivity), as they should be IMO.
Great video! For me, I’m at that point in my journey where separates are more enjoyable. I’m really digging mono-blocks and their sound quality. I have no idea why, they just sound better to me… I’m learning how to listen to music more than listening to the equipment/gear.
When i initially got the last gen T3s, my amp was an old Harmon Kardon Citation 16. 200 or so watts into 4ohms. Stereo setup only. It was adequate, but still didnt quite cut the mustard. I did eventually pair them with their xpa differential reference 2 channnel amp. Those speakers came to life. But they should really note how much power they really require. They say at least 100 watts per channel. But thats absurd. They need waaayyy more.
I had to go from the DR2 to the Purifi 1ET400a. Because the Emotiva would shut off at -15db. I’m using the T2 from TYLER ACOUSTIC. I have the RMC1L and the xpa 11ch. Emo just says that I need more power. But the dr2 just doesn’t work for 4ohm load.
Love your unplug series! Need point out something though, you said that this is an example where the measurements do not reflect what you heard and pointed out how linear and flat the FR of this speaker is. You suggested that the measurements cannot tell the whole picture but this is not accurate in my opionion. You are just looking at one set of measurements namely the FR and yes this is not enough to describe a speaker it is obvious, this is why we look at a lot more measurements. By definition what we hear at our subjective listening is measurable because everything abides to the rules of physics and psycoacoustics, you just need to know where to look. once you produce and look at all the relevant measurements for various attributes of each speaker, the correlation between what you heard and what you measure will be there. Its science
Sounds like these are really made for big home theatre’s with a lot of distance between the listeners and the speakers. It appears these are not your daily do it all listening speakers, these are for those dedicated theaters where you’re turning these up.
Thanks for the follow-up review on this. I had similar experience with trying to drive some Polk RTA 15 TLs with a Yamaha AVR some time ago. It just didn't work. I needed to go to a class. A b though still sticking with the Yamaha brand and then they came alive. That being said, I do have a question- was there no unplugged for the primare review?
Before i bought the last gen T3’s i did reach out to emotiva customer support. They did express how power hungry they are, and obviously suggested their own high power amps as a pairing. Is it nefarious or misleading? Some may cry foul.. im happy i went with this brand, but yeah. They really need some juice. Though they now have dedicated receivers, they sell separates. Thats what they are angling for you to bite on. If you wanna go high sensitivity for a home theater setup, go klipsch or something.
Andrew you two (Kristi) do great work. Question. I have a Marantz SR-8015, driving Klipsch RF-7IIIs, if I'm listening in 2 Ch mode and have the volume set to stop @ 0 (which I'm told is "Reference" level) am I running a risk of clipping?
From the little knowledge I have in speaker design and components, what I understand is, the cheaper the internals on the speaker compared to the drivers themselves, the harder it becomes to drive as a package. They had to save money somewhere to meet a certain price point, and either they got really crappy drivers (they didn’t) and got good internals, or they did the opposite. And it seems like they did the latter. Unfortunately, the went with this specific way to design it; instead of trying to balance it between the speaker drivers and the internal components. Which to me is a bit of miss in this one. There are plenty of speakers out there that do an incredible job of finding balance between the two, Klipsch RP line, Polk R series, even Martin Logan newest line of budget motion speakers. I think the reason those are so good, is because they’re balanced in their design and the entry cost to actually make them sound well, is far lower compared to Emotiva. Sure, they make really good amps with damn good power, but at that point, you could get slightly lower powered amp with far better speakers? Either way, I think this speaker line needed more work and time in the oven, but that’s my personal opinion. I’ll post an extra comment about the consumers being the testers as well, as that hits my itch quite a bit. Hope everyone has a lovely Friday!
Super interesting video today. I thought it was interesting to hear how the speakers put the Sony ES 5000 to the test. Did I miss the Sony ES comparison review? If not, when is it slated for debut?
Hi andrew, Are there any viable wireless speakers for surround that can work with an AVR (Not HEOS) or are there any devices that can be retrofitted to make it happen? I have a 3.0 system and would like to add two back speakers but running a wire is impossible due to my situation(aesthetics tbh)
@@user-jm8ky1kn2t Hi, yeah they only work on their own. Alternatively there is the SVS SoundPath which will allow you to wirelessly connect stereo speakers via the pre-outs on any avr.
OMG, so I have a Cinema 50 and martin logan motion 40's and I thought to add emotiva xc2 center channel (as in a theater set up i like to hear dialog and watch regular tv) and Emotiva Rears. That being said I did add a 3 channel amp from emotiva. BUT i HATE bright. in the past the Martin Logan and PIONEER Elite AVR just couldn't dial it in. NOW i'm in a world of hurt tying to figuire out how to make this work. Any thoughts?
Would like to leverage your vast knowledge into recommending systems at various price points. Emphasize the critical parts of the choices for that price point. Example there may be 2 or 3 amps you would use but make sure you stick with x component.
My. Parasound 2350 with 600 wpc can drive multiple speakers per channel being Class D. Runs cold at high SPL. Got it for 900 bucks and it's paired with a Parasound 2100 preamp.
Regarding AVRs and their power ratings, for me it is simple. When the sticker on the rear says the AVR power supply draws max. 700 watts, no way it will do 10 or 13 channels 120 watts. Simply physics, what doesn't go in won't come out! And of course one can help a bit with (realy) large capacitors in there, but they usually don't have these. Just as an example, my Arcam AVR30 says on the sticker it can draw up to 1,5 kW. When they state it can do 7 chanels up to 180 watts in 4 ohm, that might just make sense to me.
Actually its not always truth, my crown xlr 2502 driving sub can definitely output over 1.4kw power even through the sticker says 500. 500is average operation by producer not max power that it can output
@@wadimek116how do you determine that 1,4 kW output? And average power consumption is something else as max. power consumption, that is specified on the AVR30
Great video thank you. Someone already mentioned the Fosi V3 monoblocks driving those tricky speakers and you mentioned not a good combo....but for science and showing power isn't everything it would be interesting content .... especially if you don't get the expected results
We’ve shown this a few times with these TI based amps. Every time we do, we get nothing but hate. It isn’t worth it. Even in the face of evidence from us (and others) there’s a whole group of enthusiasts who would rather attack us for speaking up than listen to some of the caveats that come with these not-so-giant-killing-amps.
I would NOT add a Fosi amp to any of these speakers as those TI-based amps do not like lower impedances and they rise in the treble which could only make these speakers' fatiguing high-end treble worse.
😀Thank you for watching! If you enjoyed this video, please hit the 👍Like button!
📌Considering the AIRMOTIV SERIES? Find them here th-cam.com/video/eH9jqssoVwM/w-d-xo.html
🔌Watch our EMOTIVA REVIEW th-cam.com/video/eH9jqssoVwM/w-d-xo.html to get caught up on today’s UNPLUGGED!
🙏 Please stay on topic and be respectful. 🚫No links, self-promotion, or personal info.
Hi Andrew and Kristie.
I may be incorrect, but to assume a product line will not allocate test equipment fearing or previously having a negative review of their product, would I be incorrect?
I will Listen to a reviewer like yourself Before I go out and Buy something, same goes for PC stuff. I have reviewers like yourself That I Highly Respect and TRUST what you say because you have nothing to gain by it, AKA Not getting paid to BS the Public, and the channels that I did trust when I don't get an Answer to my Question they get deleted from my Channels. Makes No Sense to give your email and when someone uses it, you don't Answer. Just recently had this experience with an Amp, question. And That person got my Question because they were reviewing it.
Andrew May I contact you to ask this Question, Cheers.
Thanks for the follow-up review on this. I had similar experience with trying to drive some Polk RTA 15 TLs with a Yamaha AVR some time ago. It just didn't work. I needed to go to a class. A b though still sticking with the Yamaha brand and then they came alive. That being said, I do have a question- was there no unplugged for the primare review?
I love AMT tweeter speakers. I have the GoldenEar BRX, 90db sensitivity
NAD C298 amp
Parasound 2125v2 amp
Parasound 2100 preamp
Denafrips Pontus II 12th-1 dac
Denafrips Iris 12th ddc
Cardas Parsec RCA cable
Eversolo DMP-A6 + LPS upgrade
iFi Supanova power cable with active noise cancelling
soure=Apple Music lossless
This discussion demonstrates ALL of the best elements of your channel. Informative, fair, encouraging, direct, no nonsense. Thanks for this episode. I think it is the best in months.
We're so glad you enjoyed it!
I really enjoy the unplugged episodes, in my opinion you hit a home run with this format. They are a nice follow-up to a product review.
I appreciate your comment. We're loving them!
I enjoyed today's episode for the honest, yet diplomatic, summation and conclusion expressed by Kristi and Andrew. And Andrew did an excellent job describing a cost-effective way to drive these Emotiva speakers. I'm happy to learn new things and how to be polite when pointing out inefficiencies because I grew up in the '70s and I have no trouble saying what I mean and meaning what I say . Thank you once again for making my Friday afternoon more enjoyable.
Example of sonic change with my Reference two-way speakers: Going from an 8 ohm 25 wpc A/B Amp, to a 4 ohm 100 wpc class D Amp, the quality of bass and mid-range was definitely improved. Base went deeper to 30 Htz, mid-range was clearer and no longer smeared by base. The volume I kept the same as before (88 DB peaks). So while I do not use louder volume with more power, the increased power made the Reference speakers sound like different, much better speakers. Even at low volume, the deep bass is there. You feel it. Not so with the previous 25 wpc Amp. Good smaller speakers will usually need more power to go deep. But the soundstage with some standmounts is incredible. Thank you for the video.
21:01 is the kind of information all beginners need to know.
With inefficient speakers you need a lot lot more power.
Of course how you define loudspeaker inefficiency is a bit of a minefield given existence of impedance issues.
I’ve been enjoying you guys since you first dove into a record bin.I especially like the way you address the so called “mid fi”market letting your viewers know there is value without breaking the bank
Thank you for your reviews. Your review of the T2 (which I was going to get) made me realize I didn't have the power to run them so I decided on getting the Martin Logan Foundation F2's and a B2 as a center. Your review of those speakers helped me make that decision. I have had them a week now and love them. They are detailed, dynamic and punchy. A great beautiful speaker.
Can you do a video or explain how a speaker can reproduce multiple sounds at the same time? For example, how can a speaker simultaneously reproduce dialogue, background music, and other sounds all at the same time.
That is an interesting topic; maybe it will find its way to the channel. Thanks for tuning in.
My attempt at a simple explanation:
You only have one eardrum in each ear - so they're only vibrating with the _combined_ waveform of all the sounds, just like the single waveform the speaker puts out.
Your brain is doing a staggering amount of its own work to try to separate that back out into distinct sounds. That's really where the magic happens.
The goal of the speaker is to get that waveform to your ears in the most accurate way so your brain has the best chance to do that job.
@@postjm9 That's interesting, thanks for sharing. Still not sure on how an eardrum or speaker can move at multiple different hertz at the same time. Seems physically impossible but clearly it must not be.
Is a wave in a wave. Is like you can move your arm up and down but Also you can make he same move while shakin your arm
🤔 This is what speakers do.. Right? Are subs and centers confusing you are what are we really talking about here? 😅
I love your channel. I go to sleep, wake up and rewind the videos. Kristi’s voice is so soothing. Sorry Andrew, you’re ok too 😂 - No annoying music in the background (urghhh why do people do that) anyway. Thanks 🙏🏾
I purchased marantz cinema 70s silver and I am matching it to exp 7 ch. To drive sonus faber lumina v amator. Hope all this works. Haven't built a system in decades, tons of info plus the technology these days, crazy. Old marantz guy trying to hang to the past while jumping into the new. With Kristi and your help I am embracing the new. Keep up the great work and wish me luck. PS no sound bars for me thanks!
Watched the review of these Emotiva speakers twice. Really looking forward to this episode of Unplugged!
🔥
Glad you mentioned the Revel speakers. The best kept secret
Out there. At my local hi end shop in Las Vegas I heard the
Revel Performa f 206 speakers with the Luxman l 509 ux11
It was jaw dropping .They retail for about 4 grand. I just picked up a pair of Revel Concerta f 12 speakers used their entry level I cannot stop
Listening to them and sold my
Wharfedale lintons.
I have the Emotiva T1+ with the A2 amp. They are great until you turn them way up. Clean, yes. Powerful, yes. The AMT tweeter at low to around 85db is lovely. I use some Q 3050's that are great on the same amp. Less fatigue at high volumes. As usual, preferences are paramount. I'll be picking up the ML XT100's on your recommendation and retiring the T1+. Thanks for taking the time to review!
Emotive has been super successful in the low to medium (Depending on your perspective) market. When you have a lot of hits there is the danger in thinking that you have the golden touch and perhaps you don't do the internal questioning that can result in a better product or uncovers latent flaws. Sometimes this is arrogance, complacency or you just get sloppy. I trust they are going to take a hard look at not only the product but their process and do a course correction. Failing occasionally is not a bad thing. It keeps you sharp and committed to doing better if you are the right kind of person.
I recently purchased a set of Emotive X1C to use as dedicated L & R speakers. I'll be running them off of an Emotiva A2M. After watching this video I'm already regretting my purchase. I suppose we'll see how they sound when they come in.
Thanks to both of you. I have a pair of xpa-1 that have been feeding my MartinLogan Theos (with two subs) since 8 years and I was expecting the new Emotiva with great anticipation. At the Montreal Audio Show, the XT3 were the ones on demonstration and yes they rocked, but for quiet listening of cello or string quartet they would be a bit too much. Good week-end to you.
"Krell-like power." Forbidden Planet?? I love it!
XT3s were my favorites at Montreal AudioFest 2024. We went around the show at other vendors and came back just to listen to them again for a longer. We really enjoyed them with their setup. We even tried lower volume, as we know that can be a factor, and they seemed fine.
Different strokes for different folks. I'm very happy that you found the Emotiva speakers enjoyable, and if you ultimately purchased them, I hope they will provide you with years of sonic happiness.
Afternoon Andrew, Kristi & Kadie👍👍👍
Good morning, KJ. Thanks for tuning in, as always!
Hi KJ!
Love this newer format… pease keep it!!!
Really wanted to buy these. But if a decent AVR like the pioneer elite 505 can’t power these. Nope!
Again thank you for saving me time and money!!!
Great work
I believe the OEM for Emotiva processors is Tonewinner, The BasX MC1 is essentially a Tonewinner AT-300 with all channel XLR outputs.
This actually kind of reminds me of when the shop I worked for took on the new NHT line. The Model 1 sounded absolutely amazing, but it's low(er) sensitivity made them a bit power hungry. We would try to explain that they were not going to get the same sound out of the inexpensive Pioneer receiver as they were hearing in the store connected to an Adcom GFA-545 or GFA-555. I'm sure a lot of people are going to have a similar issue with the Airmotivs.
Had to listen to you like 8 times to digest what you were saying, you approached it from a different angle then where i came from so it was hard to reorient myself. So by having more power available, you can achieve a livelier more energetic sound.
Context: My Klipsches are fed with 20w of glorious class A from a Schiit Aegir. With 95db peaks then never clip or strain, and they sound incredible with whatever music you throw at them. I do find they lack the energy you get with a theatre when watching a movie though.
Morning!
Good morning ma’am! Hopefully it’s a beautiful and sunny morning! 😇
@@gavriushkaGood morning! Hope all is well!🥰
Morning Kristi!🥰
@@LeezahBmorning LeezahB! It’s going alright I guess! 😅
@@gavriushka😉🙏
Hi guys. Will you be reviewing the new SVS Speakers?
They covered the new Titan floor standing speakers recently.
Just curious, with the advent of dirac and audyssey and others, where you correct the speakers curve, do you think that having super accurate speakers is a thing anymore?
In my setup I eq to the curve I like and use the speakers headroom if any to tweak to my tastes.
The speakers characteristics change massively doing this.
EQ is not a magic bullet so to speak, it cannot fix things like poor setup, poor construction etc. In truth, you still want a good/great speaker (whatever that means to you), setup correctly before applying EQ, which should be looked at as icing on the cake rather than a fix-all. Too much EQ can actually harm a speaker's performance and even introduce distortion when none existed originally, so please keep that in mind.
Ok cold beer in hand. Ready to rock with this follow up. I love my Emotiva gear. But when they announced this new line, i had just bought the last gen and feared fomo. Sounds like i didnt miss out
I bought the Emotiva C1+ and B2+ speakers at their inventory close-out price and also their BasX A3 amp for the front stage in my HT and I'm quite happy with my set-up.
@@hondaphan4172 i have a basx a4 for my atmos channels. Love it
Happy Speaker Friday!
Happy Friday to you!
Wow, this is a big problem for Emotiva. It's interesting because they make great amps and pre-amps, and have good brand recognition. However, a brand represents more than a name and logo. A brand also represents the experience the user has with all aspects of product and customer service. I hope they can turn this around.
Great video! Ive also noticed the spike in 4 ohm speakers.
Nowadays, more and more speakers are either designed as 4 Ohms or are more accurately represented by saying they're 4 Ohms. Regardless, amps need to be able to keep up, and more and more are falling behind.
I love my emotiva t2 in a medium size room at low volumes and no amp. I think it sounds fantastic. I can't wait to add an amp.
Great video guys, thanks. Can't wait until Sunday.
Loved this. Thank you Andrew for this open, honest review. These were speakers I was thinking of getting. Your review has given me room to pause and rethink my potential purchase. my set up includes Marantz cinema 50 and BasX A3 amp (to power the LCR channels). What speakers would you pair with these?
These speakers seem to be a perfect thing to segway into reviewing some of the cost effective hand build Hypex and Purifi class D amps from places like Buckeye Amps. 425 watts @ 4 ohm S/N: 131dB THD: 0.00017 for $1075 seems like a winner for these!
No, those amps are THE winners for ALL speakers! Can't be beat.
Having access power is like walking when you can run. We can all run but we don’t run everywhere because that’s our limit, so we walk but have running in reserve for when we need it. Amps are the same, if you have heaps of power, then most of the time they’re only walking and when they need to they can run. If they’re always at maximum power draw like they’re running, thats were things wear out faster and increases risk of failure, just like us. Same as towing a trailer, you don’t get a car that’s maximum tow rate is the same as your trailer, you get a car that can tow more so it’s not constantly under load or pressure, reducing wear and tear and having ability in reserve.
This was an outstanding discussion. You finally explained to me the relationship between distance and wats to spaker db ratings. The light wen on. Now I get it. I've got a question - you said ohm's are also a factor. Could you explains this in the simple terms you explained the distance and wats? That would be really helpful. I don't understand how ohm's figure into the need for inreased power. I'd sure appreciate y'all "edumakatin'" me here. Thanks in advance.
We are doing a disservice not being absolutely clear that Emotive XPA-DR3 Differential Reference is the best 3 x channel front L-C-R multichannel amplifier in the business. B&W 7 series towers or bookshelf and center. Not talking about just the vanilla XPA talking about the Differential Reference series. You need a Parasound @ 3 x the cost to get anywhere near the power and linearity of the Emotiva Differential Reference series.
WAITING FOR SUNDAY 🌞🥶
WOW! Learnt a lot today about the usage of power in an amp. And things make a lot more sense now! :) Always wondered how some tube amps that produced say 15wpc could "ever" be appropriate in all but the tiniest rooms!! As I said make sense now, thanks Andrew!! :)
If you own a multimeter, I highly suggest measuring ac voltage from the speaker terminals to get a feeling how loud 1W really is. Just play a sine wave at 60hz and ramp up volume to 2.8V if you have 8ohm speakers or 1.4volts if 4ohm. I bet you'd be surprised. If you have a good multimeter you can use 1khz tune aswell and it should read right.
Very fun Unplugged!! Thank you!🥰
Thanks for watching, Leezah. Have a great weekend!
I was at the Montreal Audiofest show that Matt mentioned and had the same impression as him.
I listened to them twice: quick 2 minutes at the start or my tour and then sat in front of them for 15mins at the end of the day.
That said, a very important point to know is that the room was big, with high ceiling and twice (or more) long than wide, all that on the conference floor of the hotel and not in smaller rooms like you might expect.
Could it be that they perform well in huge rooms?
Granted this wouldn't matters for most customers unless you want an hifi barn.
Our room, for the record, is just under 500 sq ft with an opening to the rest of the house, so it's actually "bigger" than that. Not everyone is going to agree on what sounds good or best, suffice to say, I personally, do not recommend these loudspeakers regardless of room size.
Another great video guys. I appreciate all the work you do on this channel. On a side note, Did i miss the Primare amplifiers unplugged or did you not get around to doing one?
Thanks for asking. No, you didn't miss it. We took that Friday off since we worked through the holiday that week.
@@andrewrobinsonreviews Awww that's a shame, i would have loved to hear Kristi's take on those amps.
Thanks guys for taking my question from last weeks Emotiva review. Just finished watching today's Arcam show and yes I agree with you Andrew... Wait ! ✊🏼
Diamond hands!
Good information! How would a Yamaha NR2000a power these new Emotiva speakers?
You would be ok, killer amp by the way.
Well, I’m very excited for Sundays review 😊
Great show and thank you for taking my question. Regarding today's main topic of power and its perception related to watts being the driving force. Can you maybe discuss the relationship of amplifiers that promote (use to at least) high current more so than its wattage e.g. Adcom, Krell, Parasound to name a few. When I had Martin Logan's electrostats the Krell's and Adcom's drove them with little effort and with not more than 150 watts. Thanks for all you guys do ✊🏼
I have two low watt amps in two different systems. I power my HT front channels with a 6 watt amp(low ceilings and efficient speakers), and I use an 8 watt amp to run my desktop set-up. Andrew is right, in some cases you can get by with 10 watts or less but power requirements go up quick as space grows and efficiency go down.
Hey Andrew - Onkyo has a new Class G stereo reciever - not an AVR, but built for true stereo listening. Will you be reviewing it in the future?
I believe it has been requested though no ETA on its arrival.
Over the last couple years I've had some products from Arcam that use their Class G technology..SA30 & then a PA240. Very impressive amplification in my opinion. If Onkyo can replicate that or improve upon it I think it will be a winner of a product. I am interested to see a review on this Onkyo.
Good Friday morning Andrew and Kristi. Another great informative discussion. Kristi, your comments on initially being wowed but after listening for awhile finding them tiresome is spot on many times with speakers in general. On a different speaker plane, any chance Sonus Faber is sending you guys one of their newly refreshed Sonetto G2 speakers, preferably a V or VIII tower? Thanks again for the great work you guys do and looking forward to Sunday. Enjoy your weekend.
As far as I know, we don't have anything incoming from Sonos Faber.
Thanks for watching!
Appreciate what you guys experienced here. If I have it right you need a higher power and current capable receiver/amplifier. Fair enough. Many affordable receivers just can’t offer up the current provided when pushed hard. Especially the more channels one is using. I just wish all manufacturers would list rated power that the industry could agree on. Best way to inform potential customers. I have never had a problem with my vintage Nad or Adcom. Most recently Hegel. Thanks for your take.
I have been considering a pair of xt3's - and this review saddens me. I will be forced to consider something else as towers for my office/music room and would prefer a full range system without sub for simplicity sake. What do you recommend for a system that has to perform well at conversation level but also will rock out with no hint of strain?
R700 all day. I bought the XT3’s and am currently returning them. Didn’t have an issue driving them with my Emotiva TA2, but man were the highs really harsh in most music. They’re great as a pure home theater left and right channel, but were very disappointing for music.
“It’s like ‘demo mode’…” 😂
🙋♂️HI ,ANDREW,KRISTI,THANKS FOR THIS REVIEW FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE INTERESTED,🤗…IMHHO I AGREE WITH KRISTI LISTENING 👂 FIRST AND TRUSTING YOUR EARS,MORE THAN THE MEASUREMENTS 💚💚💚
I have planning to buy denon 1800 h avr with Polk es 10 and Yamaha ns p41 speakers ..and my question is how good is my configuration?
Really looking forward to checking this out after work. I will say my Emotiva t3s didnt really sing till i paired em with the xpa dr2. But that was the old gen…
Thanks for stopping by!
Grabs popcorn.
Is Emotiva related with Adam Audio?
Not to my knowledge.
how ? Adam is a german company and emotiva US
@@vortekkz_mixes im not an expert but they really look like the passive versions of Adam Audio
Should I be seriously considering getting a separate amp if I buy a set of Sonus Faber Lumina II Amators or the KEF Q Concerto Metas, which are both 4 ohm speakers. I am currently utilizing a Pioneer VSX LX305 AVR.
“Mustache Twirling”
😂😂😂😂😂😂
whoop I just ordered an onkyo txrz 30 to drive my polk es 60 and center es 35 with es 15 for rear following one of your recommendations and there you say that you would not buy a untxrz 50 which is the equivalent, I I'm a little confused
How do you guys feel about these compared to the previous version? I have the previous version, and I LOVE them.
I never heard them so I can't say.
I love my b1 bookshelves running on a ta1 basX desktop setup
I just go with brute power AVM90, XPA-DR3, ARENDAL 1723 for the LCR. Monolith 7 and 4 Emotiva T2. Horsepower and torque.
Yeah say what you want about Klipsch speakers, their budget lines are always very easy to drive on budget AVRs (8 ohms, high sensitivity), as they should be IMO.
Great video! For me, I’m at that point in my journey where separates are more enjoyable. I’m really digging mono-blocks and their sound quality. I have no idea why, they just sound better to me… I’m learning how to listen to music more than listening to the equipment/gear.
When i initially got the last gen T3s, my amp was an old Harmon Kardon Citation 16. 200 or so watts into 4ohms. Stereo setup only. It was adequate, but still didnt quite cut the mustard. I did eventually pair them with their xpa differential reference 2 channnel amp. Those speakers came to life. But they should really note how much power they really require. They say at least 100 watts per channel. But thats absurd. They need waaayyy more.
I had to go from the DR2 to the Purifi 1ET400a. Because the Emotiva would shut off at -15db. I’m using the T2 from TYLER ACOUSTIC. I have the RMC1L and the xpa 11ch. Emo just says that I need more power. But the dr2 just doesn’t work for 4ohm load.
Love your unplug series!
Need point out something though, you said that this is an example where the measurements do not reflect what you heard and pointed out how linear and flat the FR of this speaker is.
You suggested that the measurements cannot tell the whole picture but this is not accurate in my opionion.
You are just looking at one set of measurements namely the FR and yes this is not enough to describe a speaker it is obvious, this is why we look at a lot more measurements.
By definition what we hear at our subjective listening is measurable because everything abides to the rules of physics and psycoacoustics, you just need to know where to look.
once you produce and look at all the relevant measurements for various attributes of each speaker, the correlation between what you heard and what you measure will be there. Its science
How many home theater speakers do I need?
The speakers in the thumbnail looks like a halfway decent starting point to me.
I'm late to this one :( excited to watch this !!
Hey!! Glad you could make it.
@@KristiWright had to work some overtime, how was the week?
Sounds like these are really made for big home theatre’s with a lot of distance between the listeners and the speakers. It appears these are not your daily do it all listening speakers, these are for those dedicated theaters where you’re turning these up.
whoa...i had no idea you were a former employee at Emotiva...i purchased one of their first ert 8.3's that they rolled out...
Those are great speakers, and one of the ones that was brought to market while I worked there, which is why I never reviewed them.
Calling it, totem speakers for Sunday video
Nah, will be Arcam.
Thanks for the follow-up review on this. I had similar experience with trying to drive some Polk RTA 15 TLs with a Yamaha AVR some time ago. It just didn't work. I needed to go to a class. A b though still sticking with the Yamaha brand and then they came alive. That being said, I do have a question- was there no unplugged for the primare review?
Hi Andrew & Kristi , Is there any chance that you will review the new Wharfedale Aura 3 line speakers ? Thank you.
Thank you! One can tell they have been around the sun a lot when one just nods their head at the problems. I have dealt with them all. lol
Before i bought the last gen T3’s i did reach out to emotiva customer support. They did express how power hungry they are, and obviously suggested their own high power amps as a pairing. Is it nefarious or misleading? Some may cry foul.. im happy i went with this brand, but yeah. They really need some juice. Though they now have dedicated receivers, they sell separates. Thats what they are angling for you to bite on. If you wanna go high sensitivity for a home theater setup, go klipsch or something.
Andrew you two (Kristi) do great work.
Question.
I have a Marantz SR-8015, driving Klipsch RF-7IIIs, if I'm listening in 2 Ch mode and have the volume set to stop @ 0 (which I'm told is "Reference" level) am I running a risk of clipping?
Hello from Hong Kong ～～
Hello there!
Hi Ohno.
Very informative...Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for all you do for the audio community. Looking forward to your review of Wharfedale’s Super Denton. Please don’t take too long, I’m old! 🥴🎶
Thank you for watching and that review is coming sooner than later.
Right on!!! Cant wait till Sunday!! But i will
See you then!
From the little knowledge I have in speaker design and components, what I understand is, the cheaper the internals on the speaker compared to the drivers themselves, the harder it becomes to drive as a package. They had to save money somewhere to meet a certain price point, and either they got really crappy drivers (they didn’t) and got good internals, or they did the opposite. And it seems like they did the latter. Unfortunately, the went with this specific way to design it; instead of trying to balance it between the speaker drivers and the internal components. Which to me is a bit of miss in this one. There are plenty of speakers out there that do an incredible job of finding balance between the two, Klipsch RP line, Polk R series, even Martin Logan newest line of budget motion speakers. I think the reason those are so good, is because they’re balanced in their design and the entry cost to actually make them sound well, is far lower compared to Emotiva. Sure, they make really good amps with damn good power, but at that point, you could get slightly lower powered amp with far better speakers? Either way, I think this speaker line needed more work and time in the oven, but that’s my personal opinion. I’ll post an extra comment about the consumers being the testers as well, as that hits my itch quite a bit.
Hope everyone has a lovely Friday!
Super interesting video today. I thought it was interesting to hear how the speakers put the Sony ES 5000 to the test. Did I miss the Sony ES comparison review? If not, when is it slated for debut?
We have the 5000 and 3000 in for review. I think that video will be out at the end of the month or early July.
Thanks Kristi, have a great weekend!
sony theater quad vs samsung q990d suondbar Plz👍🏼
it's coming
Hell yea! My comment made the video😂😂
😁
Hi andrew,
Are there any viable wireless speakers for surround that can work with an AVR (Not HEOS) or are there any devices that can be retrofitted to make it happen?
I have a 3.0 system and would like to add two back speakers but running a wire is impossible due to my situation(aesthetics tbh)
Yamaha and Sony AVR’s have wireless surrounds.
@shemsureshot Do they only work with their own Avr/speaker combinations?
@@user-jm8ky1kn2t Hi, yeah they only work on their own. Alternatively there is the SVS SoundPath which will allow you to wirelessly connect stereo speakers via the pre-outs on any avr.
OMG, so I have a Cinema 50 and martin logan motion 40's and I thought to add emotiva xc2 center channel (as in a theater set up i like to hear dialog and watch regular tv) and Emotiva Rears. That being said I did add a 3 channel amp from emotiva. BUT i HATE bright. in the past the Martin Logan and PIONEER Elite AVR just couldn't dial it in. NOW i'm in a world of hurt tying to figuire out how to make this work. Any thoughts?
Would like to leverage your vast knowledge into recommending systems at various price points. Emphasize the critical parts of the choices for that price point. Example there may be 2 or 3 amps you would use but make sure you stick with x component.
Has Emotiva provided an impedance curve to see how low and in what frequency range does the speakers drop below 4 ohm.
My. Parasound 2350 with 600 wpc can drive multiple speakers per channel being Class D. Runs cold at high SPL. Got it for 900 bucks and it's paired with a Parasound 2100 preamp.
Please review the Canton smart amp. Perfekt class D avr👍
Noted, but please don't spam our comments with the same comment half a dozen times.
Would like to see a review of the Cerwin Vega LA series speakers for budget minded folks.
Regarding AVRs and their power ratings, for me it is simple. When the sticker on the rear says the AVR power supply draws max. 700 watts, no way it will do 10 or 13 channels 120 watts.
Simply physics, what doesn't go in won't come out! And of course one can help a bit with (realy) large capacitors in there, but they usually don't have these.
Just as an example, my Arcam AVR30 says on the sticker it can draw up to 1,5 kW. When they state it can do 7 chanels up to 180 watts in 4 ohm, that might just make sense to me.
Actually its not always truth, my crown xlr 2502 driving sub can definitely output over 1.4kw power even through the sticker says 500. 500is average operation by producer not max power that it can output
@@wadimek116how do you determine that 1,4 kW output?
And average power consumption is something else as max. power consumption, that is specified on the AVR30
Great video thank you. Someone already mentioned the Fosi V3 monoblocks driving those tricky speakers and you mentioned not a good combo....but for science and showing power isn't everything it would be interesting content .... especially if you don't get the expected results
We’ve shown this a few times with these TI based amps. Every time we do, we get nothing but hate. It isn’t worth it. Even in the face of evidence from us (and others) there’s a whole group of enthusiasts who would rather attack us for speaking up than listen to some of the caveats that come with these not-so-giant-killing-amps.
@@andrewrobinsonreviews Fair enough
Andrew is Brooks Koepka's doppelganger
Would be interesting to know if adding a couple of Fosi Audio v3 monoblocks to your setup could help with that drive power 🧐
I would NOT add a Fosi amp to any of these speakers as those TI-based amps do not like lower impedances and they rise in the treble which could only make these speakers' fatiguing high-end treble worse.
Hey! I bought 3 of those Argosy desks
They’re great!
I would recommend the Crown XLS 1502, or the Behringer A800 power amplifiers. They are cheap, and they work wonderfully in home audio.
You need to review
A SLEEPER ON HOME THEATER
BLACK SERIES S SERIES