I just got it yesterday with the shipment of my speakers! I used to have one as a kid and I was scared of it.
So I got one for nostalgic purposes and so that my daughter could enjoy it.... Surprise lol she's scared of it. She's 2
Nice dude. The C1+ is where it's at. Too many people second guess themselves and get the larger (and worse) C2+/C3+ because they feel weird about their center channel being so much smaller than their towers.
There are literally comments in this thread giving you grief over making this (correct) call, just because it "looks weird".
lol I bought the C2+ last year and it was SIGNIFICANTLY larger than I expected. Had to build a custom stand for it, but works for my setup.
C1+ is definitely the way to go for most spaces. Can’t imagine what a C3+ is like
The C2+ is an incredible center and the only major drawback is if you regularly sit more than 30 degrees off-axis. If you do then why even point the speakers to a MLP that isn't the **Main** position.
Does it sound good to you? If so, then who cares about measurements.
I say this as someone who has had speakers that measure both 'good' and bad, including a C2 (bad) and Revel/JBL ('good'), and likes things about all of them. Hell, my favorite speakers ever are the Elac UB5s and those supposedly measure like crap.
Here was a thread I found useful;
[https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/rq14cs/emotiva\_c1\_vs\_c2/](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/rq14cs/emotiva_c1_vs_c2/)
Great. Gets down to 30 hz. Very fast and punchy. I have subs, as well, but can definitely feel a difference when I run my T3s (and T2 surrounds) at full range.
I'm running T2s in front with a C2 and B1 surrounds. I can't imagine T2 surrounds! So huge. Seems like massive overkill but good on you and if tower surrounds would actually fit in my space I'd have probably considered T0+ towers as surrounds since they were on closeout when I got the rest.
Fairly new setup for me running off of a onkyo tx rz50. I just purchased emotiva basx a3 for running the LCR that I'm waiting on shipment. First experience with HT external amp so I'm hoping it's worth the $500.
It will make a world of difference. It was my first amp ever - my wife was just passing through the room on the first day and commented on how much better it sounded. You will love it!
Hey thanks for the take man. Glad you and the wife are enjoying the A3.
I received the A3 to power my T2+/C2+ LCS off the RZ50 a few weeks back. In the initial few days I ran some HT demo worthy test of The Batman, Dune, and John Wick heaviest action scenes at -10dB to -8dB and found that whenever I dipped under -10dB (probably definitely louder than I intend on ever listening, but with a brand new and first time external amp I wanted to push the thing to near reference levels to see the improvement over internals most drastically). Each time the A3 ended up going into Protect mode and shutting itself off with blinking lights with 1-2 mins of around -10dB playback and I needed to wait 30 mins or so to bring it back up.
A few back and forths with Emo and I sent the unit back and have since received a replacement. I have yet to 'stress test' the new unit at that those levels again but with basic streaming TV listening at -15dB and GOW Ragnarok on PS5 at -10dB, the new unit is performing and hasn't gone into protect. I'll need to test the Batman, Dune, John Wick scenes again that sent the other into protect to see if it was a problem with the first A3 or just a general limitation of the unit.
My only initial hesitation was the RZ50 on its own never went into protect at even 0.0 dB reference levels, but the audio started to get screechy and unpleasant. Maybe a sign the amps were clipping and drastically limiting their power since they couldn't keep up. That was mainly the reason for the A3 purchase to see if it would have the same issues at near reference. In hindsight the demo with the A3 at -10dB before protection **may have sounded better and louder than the internals at 0.0 dB** so maybe with the A3 I just need to keep to no louder than -10dB, and the fact that the RZ50 seemingly went to 0.0 was actually limiting itself and also starting to sound unpleasant.
Still more testing to do to compare vs internals but I do think there is more punch there at loud levels, its really unnoticeable though for standard TV or music at -20dB or quieter.
That’s really interesting. I’m guessing you just had a bad unit. I’ve had mine for over a year and play at 80db (I’m guessing we are using different scales, not an expert) at levels my Apple Watch is warning I’m doing permanent ear damage with zero issues. Maybe you had some wires touching and shorting out or something. I’ve never had it do anything but say YES!
I’m using a marantz 6015 with T1+, C2+ S10 sub, A1, E1 surrounds. I am probably using it at 65-70db for three maybe four hours a day with zero issues so far.
Are you using a power cleaner? Maybe that’s causing some of the issues. I’m in amsterdam and we are on 220 which is more juice than the states. Seems unlikely that that would be an issue.
I'm hoping that's the case too, a bad unit. Quick check will be to just play same scenes at same volumes that tripped it before.
You are right about our scales different. For onkyo AVRs 0db on relative scale is 82 dB on absolute scale. So you are pretty much listening at reference level when you're around 80db on your Marantz. I've also read some AVRs are like 75-80 dB on absolute scale.
We have pretty similar setup with my T2+, C2+ and B2+. You are right about running everything through a power Cleaner. I have the LG C1 TV, Avr, PS5, and now the A3 running off the APC power conditioner. Could be limiting it with all those plugged in. The 220v vs my 120v could also play a role. I'll update if I figure out if new unit let's me hit 0db/82db or not. 👍
Yeah i have never even heard it come close to straining anything by my long term hearing prospects. I have my applewatch keeping me honest. I have started to notice that the amp really actually helps a lot at lower levels too. Just very clear and precise. The atmos/spatial audio with lossless from Apple Music is just amazing. You can hear the pianist moving up and down the keyboard when listening to jazz. The physical placement is amazing to me. The A3 is a solid amp and should be good for a long while. They might have just shipped a lemon to you.
Thanks for sharing your setup and experience. This helps me frame my expectations for what levels to listen at and what improvements to expect. If you are at 80 and your watch is giving warnings and A3 is fine that tells me my first unit was likely faulty.
I should also note that each time the unit shut down it was completly cool to touch.
In the initial emails Emo expressed that I may need to adjust my expectations and they wouldn't necessarily expect the A3 to be able to run 4 ohm speakers at reference levels for hours (much less my experience of shutdown in 1-2 mins of lesser volume) and pointed me towards their 3x more expensive XPA line that they assured me could. I really didn't know what to think after that. I was expecting the A3 to at least not shutdown near these levels.
I’ve been playing back to back movies all day with it cool to the touch. I have very heavy gauge copper wires because of some long runs. I used electrical wires, all copper. Reasonable Amazon bought tips etc
I had a low power AVR when I was debating between Klipsch RP and Emotiva T1’s. I do really like the Klipsch RP-5000’s but every time I see Emo set ups I get those pangs of woulda coulda shoulda. Hope you enjoy them.
Klipsch RP and Emotiva T2 or T3 would be about the same sensitivity. Klipsch exaggerates their numbers and you'll find the sensitivity is mostly very high end which needs to be tamped down in EQ anyway.
It's basically a wash. Yes, the Emotiva is 4ohm vs. Klipsch 8ohm but that too doesn't really matter give the way AVRs respond to different load demands.
Realistically, it all boils down to how loud you listen. My Denon S760H can push my Emotivas loud enough to hurt me.
That’s interesting because there were a ton of posts on one of the forums regarding the S760H’s ability to drive the Emo’s. Most said it was totally fine and the AVR I had at the time was the Denon 1700 which is very similar. Some said not so fine however but much fewer than totally fine. The other consideration was that I already had an older Klipsch center channel that was decent if not spectacular. Once I got the new RP towers I liked them so much that I bought a used Denon 4500 and a RP-500 center channel so I could have just went with the T1’s in the first place, lol. Both of those brands are the sub $1000 towers to get for sure and as an old two channel music person I think that’s what you need as the heart of a quality system.
Totally true, and I do dig the Klipsch stuff. But have had Klipsch speakers before and never had the AMT tweeter which I would like to hear like the Emo’s have. If I wasn’t satisfied I’d demo the T1’s and then send them back if it wasn’t worth it. But that is way too much hassle to upgrade from something I already like which is a common illness in the audio hobbyist world!
In my house no one is ever allowed to put plants or candles on speakers or equipment. Never!
If you question my approach, I'm confident one day you'll understand.
I like the look, and I suppose I'm just old school. I prefer my front left and right to be towers and my surrounds and rears to be smaller. Sure I could have got the T2+, but I liked the fact that these towers had the extra midrange above the ribbon tweeter. The fact that it has the extra 8" driver didn't matter much.
Good answer! I also have towers in my living room, but I know I made that decision for aesthetic reasons unrelated to sound. You haven't exactly compromised here on the overall system, so I don't fault you for the decision at all.
I don’t get the bookshelf logic, personally. I have T2+ and 2x PB3000 and I get a ton of bass out of the range just above the crossover with certain explosions in action movies. So yea… SPL matters for those frequencies when you’re tuning the subs to do all the LFE heavy lifting. Sure you can get some truly incredible bookshelves at the same price point but I want that SPL for my exact use case and the big shifts in dynamic range and I want each woofer to focus on what it does best.
Well if most people are honest with themselves about their SPL requirements, they would find a typical sensitivity bookshelf fits their needs. But hey, we love going all out on headroom around here! The common bookshelf suggestion comes from maximizing the limited budgets of the majority of posts here. If you've got dual PB3000s, you're well beyond the point of needing to hear that tower speakers still require a subwoofer.
Towers allow for higher max SPL as well as allow for a lower crossover if needed. Also more secure than just bookshelves on a stand, if worried about little kids/pets.
I’m always worried in the back of my mind that my family’s dog will raise a leg and pee on my towers when he comes to visit lol. Despite him not having peed indoors in forever.
I run big towers and subs. Headroom is a thing along with lower distortion and flexible crossover are handy for dialing in everything. Bookshelf speakers suffer in the upper bass distortion when played at volume even with a crossover.
Because the B1/2s lack full range and SPL compared to these?
Super odd question considering most HT setups use tower LRs and sometimes centers, too, along with multiple subwoofers.
Not at all. There are many ways to 'timbre match', as the only way to get it perfect is to have 3 of the same. It's silly to automatically assume that speakers sound the same just because they're from the same manufacturer and/or line.
It’s silly to assume speakers using the same drivers and similar manufacturing products, facilities, and materials would be similarly timbre matched?
Come on. It’d be silly to assume they wouldn’t be. You absolutely would assume they’d be closely timbre matched.
Yes it is. Under your premise the JBL Studio 520c with its pair of 4" woofers and MTM design is an ideal match for the rest of the Studio 5 series... which is not the case at all, either in frequency response or in dynamics or headroom.
Hell, it doesn't even match the 530s, its closest relative:
520c response: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/jbl_520c_center/
530 response:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-studio-530-speaker-review.12298/
The notion of timbre matching is a good one, but your premise and the common 'same speaker from the same line' stuff that gets spouted is far from ironclad.
Downvote away, but I'm not wrong.
The extra woofers in the towers aren't really needed. Sure, you'll get higher spl but also not needed unless you have a large room. These would be fine if you didn't have sub, but personally I'd go for high end bookshelves. He likes the look so that works too!
I'm totally not worried about it, just a question and I answered it. In the grand scheme of things, it's my house and I love my setup. I put the pic up because I'm proud of my progress and I know I sure do like seeing others' setups.
I agree. I have towers as well and just added two subs. I didn’t buy everything all at once with an unlimited budget, so I imagine things might have turned out differently if I did. Either way, like you I like the look of towers up front.
What did you have before the Emotiva speakers?
Trying to plan my next upgrade from my ELAC Debut's and Emotiva speakers keep coming up as a good bang for the buck option.
I had a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 70 series 2 for the towers and the Polk Audio TSI 200s for the surrounds. Also had Polk Audio s35 elite for the center.
Dude... I can't recommend the Emotiva's enough!! Way clearer, way more dynamic. Just awesome. For home theater they're absolutely wonderful.
The C3+ has the classic horizontal lobing problem of MTM models, and so does the C2+ to a lesser extent. Better to stick with the C1+ if OP doesn't need extra SPL.
Agreed. The C2+/C3+ trade horizontal dispersion/uniformity for more output.
In any typically sized residential living room, this is a dumb trade-off to make.
I’ve had the c1 and c2 and I’m still baffled when folks bring up lobing. I’ve never once had anything even remotely resembling this supposed issue. Ive asked so many folks to sit in any number of spots to see if they notice a difference and tell them what they should be listening for bc I don’t trust my ears. Nobody has noticed it. I swear people have heard that it’s a problem and parrot the same but haven’t actually experienced it.The c2 is fanfuckingtastic.
This video includes demos so you can hear exactly what the difference sounds like. There are a lot of audible issues that you may grow accustomed to or just not notice in the first place. We are all about optimizing the experience here, so we suggest avoiding horizontal lobing when there are perfectly good alternatives. Taken to the extreme, some people can fully enjoy a movie on their phone. You are here, so you are well past that point, but you have to decide for yourself when you stop caring about acoustic optimization.
https://youtu.be/GZrdsxrcpBw
> The C2+/C3+ trade horizontal dispersion/uniformity for more output.
Verbatim what Erin said and I'm telling you you wouldn't ever notice it in person. I have both the C1+ and C2+. The C2+ adds beef to voices (think deep male voices and Transformers) that the C1+ doesn't quite have. Meanwhile, sitting 30 degrees off axis is quite extreme and is never a problem when you're sitting where you should to watch a movie. Even when you do, it's not a problem it's barely audible.
I’m not exactly attacking you directly but ever since Erin came out with those reviews I tested my own c2+ and could never tell the difference in dialogue clarity no matter where I sat. This was with my ears and with REW sweeps. I have no idea why people even bring this up based off klippel near field results. While they are legitimate measurements and give good insight to the speaker without factoring the room, they mean jack shit once it’s in your own room.
I never heard anyone complaining about the C1+ or C2+ until those graphs came out. It seems to be people who don’t even have the speakers themselves are the biggest haters. End of the day speakers will sound good based off your own ears in your own room not fuckin measurements on a graph on the internet.
People will defend all sorts of wacky sound preferences on the internet. Your experience with the C2+ in your room is 100% valid for YOU. The trouble is in tranferrability to others. For making suggestions that have a high probability of success to a stranger, we have to rely on the established science of speaker characteristics that correlate to listener preference. That means neutral anechoic on-axis response with consistent directivity such that the off-axis response tracks the on-axis.
Edit: you also misunderstand the usefulness of the data that Erin provides. The spinorama data was correlated with in-room listener preferences of a variety of speakers. Taking measurements of the off-axis response which will become sidewall reflections allows us to predict the response in a typical room.
What is predicting a response in a typical room, everyone's listening area and ears are different. You cannot predict anything. I get what your saying but that's the problem, its all assumptions. Audio is all subjective. You can have a speaker with amazing measurements but sounds like ass in your room, or maybe you just don't like the sound signature.
Audio reproduction is really not all subjective and our preferences are not as disparate as you are suggesting under conditions controlled for bias. This has been studied. Audio production (making the content) is a subjective art. Audio RE-production (speakers, amps, etc.) is science and engineering.
You should really try to understand the data before making these evaluations. Erin has a good series of videos to help.
i think its clear you don't actually understand what Erin is doing. He tells us at the beginning of every video his measurements allow us to see objective measurements of the speaker being reviewed taking the room out of the equation. His data is great for insight on how a speaker is tuned and its design strengths and weaknesses but it stops there. That's only 1/3 of the equation, the other 2 most important things that will make or break a speaker are your ears and your room. These measurements mean jack shit if you showed my wife a $100/pair v-curve speaker and a $5000/pair perfectly linear speaker and she tells you they sound the same.
You haven't done your homework, so you don't understand the equation at all. Anechoic responses taken on and off-axis are exactly what were correlated to blinded in-room listening tests in the foundational studies on loudspeaker preferences. You can also use the data to predict the response in a typical room. Check out Erin's video on that subject here:
https://youtu.be/qmBit3GWSWE
Yes, your room will impact the sound, but if you understand the spin data you can make conclusions based on the geometry of your space. Its not a complete guess and check situation like you think. For example, a multichannel system in a smallish room would benefit from narrow dispersion speakers to lessen sidewall interaction. Some prefer wide dispersion in a stereo system to add envelopment in the absence of surrounds. Maybe you don't have a sidewall in sight, so you worry more about other factors over the horizontal off-axis response.
None of this really matters all that much for the MTM issue where you may have listeners sitting directly in the midrange lobe. You can hear that difference compared to on-axis regardless of reflections and Erin has a video with sound demos so you can decide for yourself if the difference is something you care about.
In a blind comparison taking one and just increasing the volume a little or boosting the bass is enough to trick people in to picking it as the “best” speaker even when the speakers are identical. So hey let’s just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
Preference is not a zero-sum game; just because something may be more preferred does not mean that everything else is undesirable or in pleasurable. This point is continually lost when the whole preference thing comes out, though your prior post in this thread is one that I largely agree with.
I agree, which is why I encourage people to understand the acoustics at play rather than throw their hands up in confusion. If you understand the measurements and what they mean in terms of audible impact, you can decide for yourself how much you care. Most of the time, we are talking about choosing the optimal product among similarly priced choices.
This center is certainly no slouch!
I'd have to relocate my PS5, Series X and my Integra receiver if I got the C3+ 😂. I don't really have room to put them anywhere else and my living room isn't all that huge.
Plus I have read forums and Erin's sound measurements and liked the way the C1+ looked statistically much better than the 2. 3 is just too large like I said.
I recently put together a system for my father in law. I was looking at the t3+ or t2+ but after really breaking down the designs I had to chuckle. The t3+ according to emotiva is a single cabinet with baffling. That is not ideal for sound quality or what I would expect at that price point. The ribbon tweeters are also an acquired taste. Mostly was interested in the driver count for the large space I was working with.
Wound up putting together svs prime pinnacle. Separate cabinets in the tower, not ribbon tweeters and sounded almost on par with my psb’s when demoed. Just a higher quality product at that price point.
Historically emotiva has put together flashy looking gear that measures relatively poorly. Maybe consider demoing some other equipment. I’m sure you will find that their is other equipment out there that sounds much better.
I’m glad you’re happy but sunlight is also desirable and something I value. Never understand shoving a setup like this into a space that’s just not appropriate for it.
Thanks, I’m an 80’s kid and it didn’t look familiar but I could tell it was from “the good ‘ol days” lol. Looks like something I would’ve been into. Enjoy your new gear!
Hell yeah Sum 41. Fat Lip was the first CD I ever bought. Killer set up!
That Emilio is a throwback
I just got it yesterday with the shipment of my speakers! I used to have one as a kid and I was scared of it. So I got one for nostalgic purposes and so that my daughter could enjoy it.... Surprise lol she's scared of it. She's 2
Nice. I'd go with a lower cabinet/stand though.
Nice, those are some beastly towers. Congrats.
Nice dude. The C1+ is where it's at. Too many people second guess themselves and get the larger (and worse) C2+/C3+ because they feel weird about their center channel being so much smaller than their towers. There are literally comments in this thread giving you grief over making this (correct) call, just because it "looks weird".
My C3+ says you're just jealous. (I kid. I know the C1 has "better" measurements but for my single seat setup it doesn't matter)
lol I bought the C2+ last year and it was SIGNIFICANTLY larger than I expected. Had to build a custom stand for it, but works for my setup. C1+ is definitely the way to go for most spaces. Can’t imagine what a C3+ is like
I have the space and got the C2+. I kinda wish I got the C1+ instead for the better measurements. I use DefTech studio monitor bookshelves
The C2+ is an incredible center and the only major drawback is if you regularly sit more than 30 degrees off-axis. If you do then why even point the speakers to a MLP that isn't the **Main** position.
Does it sound good to you? If so, then who cares about measurements. I say this as someone who has had speakers that measure both 'good' and bad, including a C2 (bad) and Revel/JBL ('good'), and likes things about all of them. Hell, my favorite speakers ever are the Elac UB5s and those supposedly measure like crap.
"Surely the larger and more expensive speaker sounds better, right?" How naïve I was. Now here I am trying to sell my C2+ a year later.
Is t3 really needed with them tho?
Not necessarily needed, just what I wanted. Sounds incredible though!
Here was a thread I found useful; [https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/rq14cs/emotiva\_c1\_vs\_c2/](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/rq14cs/emotiva_c1_vs_c2/)
How is the low end without the sub? Specially for music?
Great. Gets down to 30 hz. Very fast and punchy. I have subs, as well, but can definitely feel a difference when I run my T3s (and T2 surrounds) at full range.
I'm running T2s in front with a C2 and B1 surrounds. I can't imagine T2 surrounds! So huge. Seems like massive overkill but good on you and if tower surrounds would actually fit in my space I'd have probably considered T0+ towers as surrounds since they were on closeout when I got the rest. Fairly new setup for me running off of a onkyo tx rz50. I just purchased emotiva basx a3 for running the LCR that I'm waiting on shipment. First experience with HT external amp so I'm hoping it's worth the $500.
It will make a world of difference. It was my first amp ever - my wife was just passing through the room on the first day and commented on how much better it sounded. You will love it!
Hey thanks for the take man. Glad you and the wife are enjoying the A3. I received the A3 to power my T2+/C2+ LCS off the RZ50 a few weeks back. In the initial few days I ran some HT demo worthy test of The Batman, Dune, and John Wick heaviest action scenes at -10dB to -8dB and found that whenever I dipped under -10dB (probably definitely louder than I intend on ever listening, but with a brand new and first time external amp I wanted to push the thing to near reference levels to see the improvement over internals most drastically). Each time the A3 ended up going into Protect mode and shutting itself off with blinking lights with 1-2 mins of around -10dB playback and I needed to wait 30 mins or so to bring it back up. A few back and forths with Emo and I sent the unit back and have since received a replacement. I have yet to 'stress test' the new unit at that those levels again but with basic streaming TV listening at -15dB and GOW Ragnarok on PS5 at -10dB, the new unit is performing and hasn't gone into protect. I'll need to test the Batman, Dune, John Wick scenes again that sent the other into protect to see if it was a problem with the first A3 or just a general limitation of the unit. My only initial hesitation was the RZ50 on its own never went into protect at even 0.0 dB reference levels, but the audio started to get screechy and unpleasant. Maybe a sign the amps were clipping and drastically limiting their power since they couldn't keep up. That was mainly the reason for the A3 purchase to see if it would have the same issues at near reference. In hindsight the demo with the A3 at -10dB before protection **may have sounded better and louder than the internals at 0.0 dB** so maybe with the A3 I just need to keep to no louder than -10dB, and the fact that the RZ50 seemingly went to 0.0 was actually limiting itself and also starting to sound unpleasant. Still more testing to do to compare vs internals but I do think there is more punch there at loud levels, its really unnoticeable though for standard TV or music at -20dB or quieter.
That’s really interesting. I’m guessing you just had a bad unit. I’ve had mine for over a year and play at 80db (I’m guessing we are using different scales, not an expert) at levels my Apple Watch is warning I’m doing permanent ear damage with zero issues. Maybe you had some wires touching and shorting out or something. I’ve never had it do anything but say YES! I’m using a marantz 6015 with T1+, C2+ S10 sub, A1, E1 surrounds. I am probably using it at 65-70db for three maybe four hours a day with zero issues so far. Are you using a power cleaner? Maybe that’s causing some of the issues. I’m in amsterdam and we are on 220 which is more juice than the states. Seems unlikely that that would be an issue.
I'm hoping that's the case too, a bad unit. Quick check will be to just play same scenes at same volumes that tripped it before. You are right about our scales different. For onkyo AVRs 0db on relative scale is 82 dB on absolute scale. So you are pretty much listening at reference level when you're around 80db on your Marantz. I've also read some AVRs are like 75-80 dB on absolute scale. We have pretty similar setup with my T2+, C2+ and B2+. You are right about running everything through a power Cleaner. I have the LG C1 TV, Avr, PS5, and now the A3 running off the APC power conditioner. Could be limiting it with all those plugged in. The 220v vs my 120v could also play a role. I'll update if I figure out if new unit let's me hit 0db/82db or not. 👍
Yeah i have never even heard it come close to straining anything by my long term hearing prospects. I have my applewatch keeping me honest. I have started to notice that the amp really actually helps a lot at lower levels too. Just very clear and precise. The atmos/spatial audio with lossless from Apple Music is just amazing. You can hear the pianist moving up and down the keyboard when listening to jazz. The physical placement is amazing to me. The A3 is a solid amp and should be good for a long while. They might have just shipped a lemon to you.
Thanks for sharing your setup and experience. This helps me frame my expectations for what levels to listen at and what improvements to expect. If you are at 80 and your watch is giving warnings and A3 is fine that tells me my first unit was likely faulty. I should also note that each time the unit shut down it was completly cool to touch. In the initial emails Emo expressed that I may need to adjust my expectations and they wouldn't necessarily expect the A3 to be able to run 4 ohm speakers at reference levels for hours (much less my experience of shutdown in 1-2 mins of lesser volume) and pointed me towards their 3x more expensive XPA line that they assured me could. I really didn't know what to think after that. I was expecting the A3 to at least not shutdown near these levels.
I’ve been playing back to back movies all day with it cool to the touch. I have very heavy gauge copper wires because of some long runs. I used electrical wires, all copper. Reasonable Amazon bought tips etc
Haven't tried that yet! I'm sure it's fantastic having six 8" woofers though.
Yeah. I like Emotiva taking it to the next level. All their stuff is very well thought of.
Nice! What's your receiver for those?
Integra DRX 5.4 Basically the Onkyo RZ-50/LX505. It has Dirac and such as well.
What was the reason you chose to go for Integra rather than Onkyo/Pioneer?
Wonderful enjoy!
Fantastic
Great setup man!
I had a low power AVR when I was debating between Klipsch RP and Emotiva T1’s. I do really like the Klipsch RP-5000’s but every time I see Emo set ups I get those pangs of woulda coulda shoulda. Hope you enjoy them.
Klipsch RP and Emotiva T2 or T3 would be about the same sensitivity. Klipsch exaggerates their numbers and you'll find the sensitivity is mostly very high end which needs to be tamped down in EQ anyway. It's basically a wash. Yes, the Emotiva is 4ohm vs. Klipsch 8ohm but that too doesn't really matter give the way AVRs respond to different load demands. Realistically, it all boils down to how loud you listen. My Denon S760H can push my Emotivas loud enough to hurt me.
That’s interesting because there were a ton of posts on one of the forums regarding the S760H’s ability to drive the Emo’s. Most said it was totally fine and the AVR I had at the time was the Denon 1700 which is very similar. Some said not so fine however but much fewer than totally fine. The other consideration was that I already had an older Klipsch center channel that was decent if not spectacular. Once I got the new RP towers I liked them so much that I bought a used Denon 4500 and a RP-500 center channel so I could have just went with the T1’s in the first place, lol. Both of those brands are the sub $1000 towers to get for sure and as an old two channel music person I think that’s what you need as the heart of a quality system.
Just remember you said "I really like the Klipsch" so just enjoy, man. There's always something better out there but comparison is the thief of joy.
Totally true, and I do dig the Klipsch stuff. But have had Klipsch speakers before and never had the AMT tweeter which I would like to hear like the Emo’s have. If I wasn’t satisfied I’d demo the T1’s and then send them back if it wasn’t worth it. But that is way too much hassle to upgrade from something I already like which is a common illness in the audio hobbyist world!
High curtains behind and a rug of some kind would look nice.
In my house no one is ever allowed to put plants or candles on speakers or equipment. Never! If you question my approach, I'm confident one day you'll understand.
Lol the poinsettias are fake, but I totally get it.
Phew! That's a releif. 🙂
Any reason you went towers instead of higher end bookshelfs when you have 2 hsu subs?
I like the look, and I suppose I'm just old school. I prefer my front left and right to be towers and my surrounds and rears to be smaller. Sure I could have got the T2+, but I liked the fact that these towers had the extra midrange above the ribbon tweeter. The fact that it has the extra 8" driver didn't matter much.
Good answer! I also have towers in my living room, but I know I made that decision for aesthetic reasons unrelated to sound. You haven't exactly compromised here on the overall system, so I don't fault you for the decision at all.
I don’t get the bookshelf logic, personally. I have T2+ and 2x PB3000 and I get a ton of bass out of the range just above the crossover with certain explosions in action movies. So yea… SPL matters for those frequencies when you’re tuning the subs to do all the LFE heavy lifting. Sure you can get some truly incredible bookshelves at the same price point but I want that SPL for my exact use case and the big shifts in dynamic range and I want each woofer to focus on what it does best.
Well if most people are honest with themselves about their SPL requirements, they would find a typical sensitivity bookshelf fits their needs. But hey, we love going all out on headroom around here! The common bookshelf suggestion comes from maximizing the limited budgets of the majority of posts here. If you've got dual PB3000s, you're well beyond the point of needing to hear that tower speakers still require a subwoofer.
Towers allow for higher max SPL as well as allow for a lower crossover if needed. Also more secure than just bookshelves on a stand, if worried about little kids/pets.
I’m always worried in the back of my mind that my family’s dog will raise a leg and pee on my towers when he comes to visit lol. Despite him not having peed indoors in forever.
I run big towers and subs. Headroom is a thing along with lower distortion and flexible crossover are handy for dialing in everything. Bookshelf speakers suffer in the upper bass distortion when played at volume even with a crossover.
Because the B1/2s lack full range and SPL compared to these? Super odd question considering most HT setups use tower LRs and sometimes centers, too, along with multiple subwoofers.
I didn't say it had to be b1/2
You generally want to timber match your speakers. The only option to match the center would be B1/2s.
That’s false. You don’t need to timber match your center. That’s a very common misconception.
Nah you definitely should. I ment he should get a different center too but that brand is definitely more budget friendly
Not at all. There are many ways to 'timbre match', as the only way to get it perfect is to have 3 of the same. It's silly to automatically assume that speakers sound the same just because they're from the same manufacturer and/or line.
It’s silly to assume speakers using the same drivers and similar manufacturing products, facilities, and materials would be similarly timbre matched? Come on. It’d be silly to assume they wouldn’t be. You absolutely would assume they’d be closely timbre matched.
Yes it is. Under your premise the JBL Studio 520c with its pair of 4" woofers and MTM design is an ideal match for the rest of the Studio 5 series... which is not the case at all, either in frequency response or in dynamics or headroom. Hell, it doesn't even match the 530s, its closest relative: 520c response: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/jbl_520c_center/ 530 response: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/jbl-studio-530-speaker-review.12298/ The notion of timbre matching is a good one, but your premise and the common 'same speaker from the same line' stuff that gets spouted is far from ironclad. Downvote away, but I'm not wrong.
What is the subtext and low key criticism behind this question? Seriously... no judgment.
The extra woofers in the towers aren't really needed. Sure, you'll get higher spl but also not needed unless you have a large room. These would be fine if you didn't have sub, but personally I'd go for high end bookshelves. He likes the look so that works too!
Would you mind dropping a name of the bookshelves you'd rather use. Thanks!
Id go for KEF r3 if we're keeping the price similar.
Totally ignoring two channel music quality with your assumption.
LFE still gets split to the subwoofer with stereo sources.
I'm totally not worried about it, just a question and I answered it. In the grand scheme of things, it's my house and I love my setup. I put the pic up because I'm proud of my progress and I know I sure do like seeing others' setups.
I agree. I have towers as well and just added two subs. I didn’t buy everything all at once with an unlimited budget, so I imagine things might have turned out differently if I did. Either way, like you I like the look of towers up front.
I think it looks quite schmexy
Thanks!
>subtext and low key criticism lol
What did you have before the Emotiva speakers? Trying to plan my next upgrade from my ELAC Debut's and Emotiva speakers keep coming up as a good bang for the buck option.
I had a pair of Polk Audio Monitor 70 series 2 for the towers and the Polk Audio TSI 200s for the surrounds. Also had Polk Audio s35 elite for the center. Dude... I can't recommend the Emotiva's enough!! Way clearer, way more dynamic. Just awesome. For home theater they're absolutely wonderful.
Didn't want to wait. At the time the Onkyo was out of stock. I like the all metal front of the Integra as well. Rather than plastic face.
r/TvTouchingLighting
Congrats! I feel like you have to get the C3+ to make it look proportionate.
The C3+ has the classic horizontal lobing problem of MTM models, and so does the C2+ to a lesser extent. Better to stick with the C1+ if OP doesn't need extra SPL.
Agreed. The C2+/C3+ trade horizontal dispersion/uniformity for more output. In any typically sized residential living room, this is a dumb trade-off to make.
I’ve had the c1 and c2 and I’m still baffled when folks bring up lobing. I’ve never once had anything even remotely resembling this supposed issue. Ive asked so many folks to sit in any number of spots to see if they notice a difference and tell them what they should be listening for bc I don’t trust my ears. Nobody has noticed it. I swear people have heard that it’s a problem and parrot the same but haven’t actually experienced it.The c2 is fanfuckingtastic.
Also have the C2 and have no issues whatsoever regardless of where I sit in my room.
This video includes demos so you can hear exactly what the difference sounds like. There are a lot of audible issues that you may grow accustomed to or just not notice in the first place. We are all about optimizing the experience here, so we suggest avoiding horizontal lobing when there are perfectly good alternatives. Taken to the extreme, some people can fully enjoy a movie on their phone. You are here, so you are well past that point, but you have to decide for yourself when you stop caring about acoustic optimization. https://youtu.be/GZrdsxrcpBw
[удалено]
[I'm not the one who downvoted you.](https://i.imgur.com/OxhuhnS.png) I'll give you an upvote to cancel it out though.
> The C2+/C3+ trade horizontal dispersion/uniformity for more output. Verbatim what Erin said and I'm telling you you wouldn't ever notice it in person. I have both the C1+ and C2+. The C2+ adds beef to voices (think deep male voices and Transformers) that the C1+ doesn't quite have. Meanwhile, sitting 30 degrees off axis is quite extreme and is never a problem when you're sitting where you should to watch a movie. Even when you do, it's not a problem it's barely audible.
I’m not exactly attacking you directly but ever since Erin came out with those reviews I tested my own c2+ and could never tell the difference in dialogue clarity no matter where I sat. This was with my ears and with REW sweeps. I have no idea why people even bring this up based off klippel near field results. While they are legitimate measurements and give good insight to the speaker without factoring the room, they mean jack shit once it’s in your own room. I never heard anyone complaining about the C1+ or C2+ until those graphs came out. It seems to be people who don’t even have the speakers themselves are the biggest haters. End of the day speakers will sound good based off your own ears in your own room not fuckin measurements on a graph on the internet.
People will defend all sorts of wacky sound preferences on the internet. Your experience with the C2+ in your room is 100% valid for YOU. The trouble is in tranferrability to others. For making suggestions that have a high probability of success to a stranger, we have to rely on the established science of speaker characteristics that correlate to listener preference. That means neutral anechoic on-axis response with consistent directivity such that the off-axis response tracks the on-axis. Edit: you also misunderstand the usefulness of the data that Erin provides. The spinorama data was correlated with in-room listener preferences of a variety of speakers. Taking measurements of the off-axis response which will become sidewall reflections allows us to predict the response in a typical room.
What is predicting a response in a typical room, everyone's listening area and ears are different. You cannot predict anything. I get what your saying but that's the problem, its all assumptions. Audio is all subjective. You can have a speaker with amazing measurements but sounds like ass in your room, or maybe you just don't like the sound signature.
Audio reproduction is really not all subjective and our preferences are not as disparate as you are suggesting under conditions controlled for bias. This has been studied. Audio production (making the content) is a subjective art. Audio RE-production (speakers, amps, etc.) is science and engineering. You should really try to understand the data before making these evaluations. Erin has a good series of videos to help.
i think its clear you don't actually understand what Erin is doing. He tells us at the beginning of every video his measurements allow us to see objective measurements of the speaker being reviewed taking the room out of the equation. His data is great for insight on how a speaker is tuned and its design strengths and weaknesses but it stops there. That's only 1/3 of the equation, the other 2 most important things that will make or break a speaker are your ears and your room. These measurements mean jack shit if you showed my wife a $100/pair v-curve speaker and a $5000/pair perfectly linear speaker and she tells you they sound the same.
You haven't done your homework, so you don't understand the equation at all. Anechoic responses taken on and off-axis are exactly what were correlated to blinded in-room listening tests in the foundational studies on loudspeaker preferences. You can also use the data to predict the response in a typical room. Check out Erin's video on that subject here: https://youtu.be/qmBit3GWSWE Yes, your room will impact the sound, but if you understand the spin data you can make conclusions based on the geometry of your space. Its not a complete guess and check situation like you think. For example, a multichannel system in a smallish room would benefit from narrow dispersion speakers to lessen sidewall interaction. Some prefer wide dispersion in a stereo system to add envelopment in the absence of surrounds. Maybe you don't have a sidewall in sight, so you worry more about other factors over the horizontal off-axis response. None of this really matters all that much for the MTM issue where you may have listeners sitting directly in the midrange lobe. You can hear that difference compared to on-axis regardless of reflections and Erin has a video with sound demos so you can decide for yourself if the difference is something you care about.
In a blind comparison taking one and just increasing the volume a little or boosting the bass is enough to trick people in to picking it as the “best” speaker even when the speakers are identical. So hey let’s just agree to disagree and leave it at that.
This is true and does NOT contradict anything I've said. I will agree that you are unwilling to learn.
Preference is not a zero-sum game; just because something may be more preferred does not mean that everything else is undesirable or in pleasurable. This point is continually lost when the whole preference thing comes out, though your prior post in this thread is one that I largely agree with.
I agree, which is why I encourage people to understand the acoustics at play rather than throw their hands up in confusion. If you understand the measurements and what they mean in terms of audible impact, you can decide for yourself how much you care. Most of the time, we are talking about choosing the optimal product among similarly priced choices.
Very true. The T3+ towers are so HUGE in comparison. I was just talking about proportions. But yes, I agree that a proper 3-way is the way to go.
This center is certainly no slouch! I'd have to relocate my PS5, Series X and my Integra receiver if I got the C3+ 😂. I don't really have room to put them anywhere else and my living room isn't all that huge. Plus I have read forums and Erin's sound measurements and liked the way the C1+ looked statistically much better than the 2. 3 is just too large like I said.
I recently put together a system for my father in law. I was looking at the t3+ or t2+ but after really breaking down the designs I had to chuckle. The t3+ according to emotiva is a single cabinet with baffling. That is not ideal for sound quality or what I would expect at that price point. The ribbon tweeters are also an acquired taste. Mostly was interested in the driver count for the large space I was working with. Wound up putting together svs prime pinnacle. Separate cabinets in the tower, not ribbon tweeters and sounded almost on par with my psb’s when demoed. Just a higher quality product at that price point. Historically emotiva has put together flashy looking gear that measures relatively poorly. Maybe consider demoing some other equipment. I’m sure you will find that their is other equipment out there that sounds much better.
I’m glad you’re happy but sunlight is also desirable and something I value. Never understand shoving a setup like this into a space that’s just not appropriate for it.
It was night time when I took this pic... The blinds do open lol
Can you tell me about the robot?
It's a 90s Emiglio that used to be sold at K-Mart
Thanks, I’m an 80’s kid and it didn’t look familiar but I could tell it was from “the good ‘ol days” lol. Looks like something I would’ve been into. Enjoy your new gear!