Emerald XL

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Dave Roark

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Emerald XL
« on: 19 Sep 2007, 10:31 pm »
Greetings,
 
I hope this note gets to Mike.
 
My name is Dave Roark (I was friends and graduated from High School with Mike). I now reside in Tennessee and recently purchased a new condominium. I used to own a Titan in Wisconsin but that now resides with the ex. So I am familiar with ACI product. My B&W 805's are just a bit too much for a condo so I decided to find a condo friendly speaker. After reading the specifications on the new Emerald it sounded perfect. The -3db at 70hz would eliminate the all too familiar 65hz (approx) standing wave I have heard in almost every conventional room.
 
I received them yesterday. I am very familiar with break in and such but I just had to send this note. These speakers have no right to sound this good out of the box. The mids are amazing and the soft dome extremely revealing. They also pack much more bass punch than I would have expected. The "between the speakers imaging and depth" is already very good I can't wait to hear them after break in.
 
The finish is the finest I have ever seen on a speaker (at least in my normal price range).
 
What a great value at $750. It is like they were designed with my application in mind and that brings me to the main point of this note. Market these gems to Condo owners. They are perfect. I know the La Crosse area isn't exactly an economic mecca but around here they can't build enough to satisfy demand. From multi million dollar condo's in downtown Nashville to every price range and type in the feeder cities - there is no end. The Emerald XL offers looks and sound that is scalable (add more or add a sub), at great value.
 
This is just a suggestion but I bet you could sell thousands of them. (of course you would need a new building :)
 
Sincerely,
 
Dave Roark

WEEZ

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #1 on: 19 Sep 2007, 11:09 pm »
Dave,

You need to register here! It's free!

WEEZ (up the road in Cookeville)

Dave Roark

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #2 on: 19 Sep 2007, 11:16 pm »
Hi,

I know where Cookville is but register where and for what?

By the way the Emeralds are on in the next room. Playing Beck's Sea Change on SACD. Partially distracted, I thought that the Force XL that arrived today sure fills in the bottom - until I remembered I haven't hooked it up yet!

 

WEEZ

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #3 on: 19 Sep 2007, 11:27 pm »
Just click on the the blue 'register' button up top....

WEEZ

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #4 on: 21 Sep 2007, 01:21 am »
Well,

I have the Emerald Xl's broken in I think. Images are stable. They are imaging nicely to the outside of the enclosures. I have had no desire to hook up the Force yet. The Emeralds are captivating all on their own.

I don't know how Mike did this but as they break in the enclosures start to sound much bigger and then just disappear. When he says break in is important for this product, it is very critical.

If I mis-spell forgive me, I was never very good at that - being taught to read phonetically.

Anyway, just an update. This weekend the Force goes in.

These are incredible speakers.

DR

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #5 on: 22 Sep 2007, 01:35 am »
Good Evening,

Well tonight was the night to add the Force XL to the Emerald XL's (Please keep in mind that this is a Condo project). The Emeralds are as broken in as one can get. The Force is not.

The Emeralds are now repositioned 21 inches from the rear wall on Target 24 inch stands filled with white sand (Menards, Lowes). They are spaced 6 1/2 feet apart straight ahead. The Force is slighty to the right of the the left Emerald eight inches from the back wall. They are driven by an Adcom 5500. (200 watts RMS 8 Ohms)

The Emeralds are running full (no plugs, cross overs) and the Force is set to 0 degrees phase, 65 hz crossover and about 1/3 gain. I arrived at this for initial placement after about 2 hours of playing around.

First, the Emeralds have to breath. The more space I give them the better they sound. Had to get that in.

The Force is seen and not heard at this placement. What I mean by this is it is filling in where necessary but I am able to avoid the "listening to the subwoofer syndrome".

Phase adjustment is having almost no effect and walking around the room I am not getting a hot spot.

This is just preliminary but this setup blends so easy it is hard to believe. Did I mention the Emeralds are captivating?  :lol:

More later..... 
 

Zero

Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #6 on: 22 Sep 2007, 01:44 am »
DR,

Welcome to audiocircle - and congrats on bringing home a great pair of speakers. It's great to see you enjoying the music on a whole new level. It's almost like your ole Highschool buddy knows what he was doing eh!?

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #7 on: 22 Sep 2007, 02:10 am »
Hey Zero,

He always new what he was doing. A group of us guys used to go hunting (drinking) in the woods of Wisconsin twice a year. During the early years we packed a gas generator and a pair of ACI speakers that can only be described as PA speakers for the home.

The forest has never been the same  :D

DR   

Zero

Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #8 on: 22 Sep 2007, 02:35 am »
DR,

Nature, good friends, good drinks, good tunes - not much more a guy could want. Ok, well, there are a couple more things.  :icon_twisted: Although it is entertaining to imagine the Mike of today, limping through the woods touting a pair of Sapphire XL's. I don't think the ole guy's got it in him anymore!  :lol:


DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #9 on: 24 Sep 2007, 01:21 am »
Just to clarify Mike was not on the trips, just his speakers were. Sticking to Hi-fi........

My brother came by today to audition the set up as it now stands. His claim to fame and fortune is that he used to run MTX (now a part of a company that I can't remember) and is one of the foremost experts in car audio.

My little brother brought his CD's and we listened to a variety of music. His only comment was  an apparent lack of dynamics particularly in the lower midrange region. To me that is a duh? 4 " drivers are 4" inch drivers. The Force Xl was no issue and as usual with one of Mike's subs - what's to complain about?

It is going to be a fun journey to get this dialed in for Condo owners but it's going to work. I hope little brother gets on the thread.

DR     

Mike Dzurko

Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #10 on: 24 Sep 2007, 07:03 pm »
DR,

Nature, good friends, good drinks, good tunes - not much more a guy could want. Ok, well, there are a couple more things.  :icon_twisted: Although it is entertaining to imagine the Mike of today, limping through the woods touting a pair of Sapphire XL's. I don't think the ole guy's got it in him anymore!  :lol:



You'd be surprised what this "old" guy has in him  :lol:

Mike Dzurko

Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #11 on: 24 Sep 2007, 07:14 pm »
Dave:

You are spot on w/ your listening observations. We had many goals for the Emerald XL and one of those was that it would be a great choice in relatively small spaces . . . and balanced such that subwoofer was an option and not a must. And of course we wanted it to easily blend w/ a sub.

Since moving into a new home in July, I have spent a lot of time with Emerald XLs  . . .  started with Sapphire XLs but that particular pair sold less than a week after I set up the living room system. Didn't have another set available but did have Emerald XLs which I've now had running for about six weeks. This is an open space (living room, open to dinning room and kitchen, with two open hallways leading away and doorway to a bedroom). When I set them up, I figured I'd want to get a sub in there ASAP, and that was six weeks ago! Yes, I want a sub, but we've been trying to keep up with orders so it hasn't been a high priority and even in that size space they sound darn good!   

WEEZ

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #12 on: 24 Sep 2007, 07:23 pm »
DR,

You have a mesage...

WEEZ

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #13 on: 26 Sep 2007, 01:21 am »
Greetings,

I spent a couple of days trying to figure out this dynamic range thing. First, the Emeralds are now 5 and 1/2 feet apart, 21 inches from the back wall. 4 or more side to side. The Force Xl is now in the left corner per Mike's suggestion.

He is always right isn't he?  :duh:

When my brother was over, he was using mostly pop recordings. My library is full of it and I love them but you can't set a system up with them.

Right now I landed on a recording that if you have not heard it you should.

Liverpool Oratorio - Composed by Paul McCartney and recorded by he, EMI and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Now that is a bunch for me to get through without a spell checker. I will add to this over the next few days - we will just leave it as I have solved the problem, these speakers are out of this world. The ulimate Condo set up is happening.

DR   

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #14 on: 29 Sep 2007, 12:31 am »
Good Evening,

These posts will get fewer and far between because I am really tweaking now. If I don't have anything to say, then I won't.

Tonight I am on my second hour with the Emerald XL's minus the force. I am intrigued by these things and enjoy how they change with every hour of use. Right now Steve Earl is singing in a recorded reverb environment and the sound is enveloping. Upright bass, banjo, acoustic guitar all out bare. The Emeralds seem to be one of those rare speakers that distract one from what ever one is doing - even demanding attention.

That's all for now.

DR

     

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #15 on: 15 Oct 2007, 11:35 pm »
Greetings from Tennessee!

Here is an update on the ideal Condo. system project. The entertainment center is in place. The Emeralds are 26" from the rear wall and 6 ' apart no toe in as of yet. 3 1/2 feet from the sidewalls with the Force finding it's final spot directly behind the left Emerald. The corner loading wasn't to my taste. Although, it is kind of corner loaded in that it is next to the entertainment center. I use the force for everything but Pop or Rock and it blends remarkably easy. The Emeralds can handle popular and rock music fine by themselves. 

I will soon attach a picture and detailed settings but the past couple of weeks have been spent listening and tweaking. One thing that may come as a surprise is that for the Emerald's, the Audioquest Type 4 cables have been replaced with Lowe's 12 guage multi stranded speaker cable. The tweater or my pre-amp likes it better for some reason.

This is a Jazz machine. I can't believe the sound of drums and piano recorded as far back as the 50's.

So I thought I would just put an update out here. A complete review yet to come.

DR aa

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #16 on: 24 Oct 2007, 01:00 am »
Well,

This is getting painful. It has nothing to do with the ACI product - I am just picky. I don't know what your opinions are, but speaker wires (not interconnects) can be tone controls. I removed the AQ type 4's because they were choking the highs. I added basic Lowe's cable just to see what it would do.

The highs are fine but I completely lost the center stage. I mean gone, gone gone. I am confident in the placement of the Emerald's and the Force XL's but now must await the Silver Sonic from Mike.

To be continued......

DR

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #17 on: 17 Nov 2007, 03:00 am »
Hey!

I have been gone for a while due to a personal thing. In fact I spent a couple of weeks up in Mike's neck of the woods. The Silver Sonics are in and I have been listening for a few days and I will recommend this -they are such a perfect match for the Emeralds just do it. The character of the Emerald low frequency driver changes to that of an absolute animal. The highs are great and the center image perfect. The Force XL and all components are connected with AQ Diamond Backs.

I still owe an official review but just wanted to let everyone know that this works. By the way, I used to own a Titan sub and would never have believed this Force XL could be as musical. It is! Mike said I would have fun with it and I am.

DR

griller

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #18 on: 19 Nov 2007, 08:49 pm »
Hey DR, I agree with you. It is often the details that make all the difference in the world. Sounds like you love your Emmies almost as much as I love mine  :lol:

DR

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Re: Emerald XL
« Reply #19 on: 20 Nov 2007, 01:39 pm »
Yeah you could say that! I bought the least expensive Silver Sonics to boot. I had Horowitz' last recording on last night. It is all solo piano and the guy's pretty good   :green: The Emerald Force combination sounded amazing.

DR