Let's talk powered speakers

jtwrace · « **Reply #20 on:** 21 Dec 2012, 10:08 pm »

Quote from: jackman on 21 Dec 2012, 10:04 pm

These speakers seem to be popular with everyone named Jason!

tonyptony · « **Reply #21 on:** 21 Dec 2012, 11:21 pm »

Quote from: tonyptony on 21 Dec 2012, 08:41 pm

Bought the Airmotive 5. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Holy cow! They shipped already!

hoxuanduc · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 01:01 am »

Actually the model Pez n Tyson talked about at the RMAF'12 was the Stealth 8, which I think is not shipping yet...

Duc

Rclark · « **Reply #23 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 01:22 am »

Yeah the Stealths (the one's that Tyson and Pez said sounded like cost no object, could have been 10K a pair for all he knew... not out yet). Guessing they will cost around $1500 for the big ones.

DavidS · « **Reply #24 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 01:26 am »

I have been looking for desktop powered speakers that I can run my John Kenny usb dac into. Was thinking about the EmotivaPro's but was also interested in the little B&W's which have a good reputation, are available locally, and don't hog so much desk space. Anyone with experience with these?

charmerci · « **Reply #25 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 04:43 pm »

Well, since you've got some recommendations for $400 - add the Polk PSW10 subwoofer for $100 on amazon. (They have a built in 50 watt amp.) They're really good - not great. I'd recommend starting with the output at the lowest setting and bump it up a little bit to suit your taste. Too much and they are too boomy.

Cacophonix · « **Reply #26 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 06:05 pm »

I see stealth 8 on their website - http://emotivapro.com/products/powered_monitors/stealth8.php ($749 each).

I picked up a barely used dynaudio bm5a mk2 recently, and was shocked at how good they sounded in my very small bedroom/office room. I owned audio engine A5 (great mids, soft highs), but the dynaudio is at another level altogether IMHO. I think if anyone is interested in setting up a C&C high quality playback system in a smallish room, powered speakers/monitors are a no brainer.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #27 on:** 22 Dec 2012, 07:27 pm »

Tony, get the Stealth 8's.

eclein · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 01:09 am »

Tony I've been looking at those for awhile.....please do tell us how they sound.......I wanna try something new soon.

jackman · « **Reply #29 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 01:19 am »

The Stealth 8's look really cool but they are above the op's budget. Those little monitors look to have the same type of tweeter. They don't go as low but you can get a small sub for cheap...and cheerful of course.

Those little B&W speakers look really cool. They have a built in dac and are very attractive looking. Has anyone actually heard them?

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #30 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 02:22 am »

Quote from: jackman on 23 Dec 2012, 01:19 am

The Stealth 8's look really cool but they are above the op's budget. Those little monitors look to have the same type of tweeter. They don't go as low but you can get a small sub for cheap...and cheerful of course.

Those little B&W speakers look really cool. They have a built in dac and are very attractive looking. Has anyone actually heard them?

Yes, they are more expensive but the op would get more of a full range monitor, dynamically linear and octave wise if he can squeeze it his budget. They may throw a bigger stage, too.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #31 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 02:49 am »

The Stealth 8s are 3X the OP's budget. Link says they are $750 each.

tonyptony · « **Reply #32 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 02:50 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 23 Dec 2012, 02:22 am

Yes, they are more expensive but the op would get more of a full range monitor dynamically linear and octave wise if he can squeeze it his budget. They may throw a bigger stage, too.

I have no doubt, Jim, but at $1500 they're way out of my desired price range. Plus their size would make it much more difficult to arrange in this room. I'll have to hear them at the next show.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #33 on:** 23 Dec 2012, 03:05 am »

Quote from: tonyptony on 23 Dec 2012, 02:50 am

I have no doubt, Jim, but at $1500 they're way out of my desired price range. Plus their size would make it much more difficult to arrange in this room. I'll have to hear them at the next show.

All the best, Tony.

DavidS · « **Reply #34 on:** 26 Dec 2012, 06:04 pm »

Here is another powered speaker I am considering and includes a 24/96 dac. Nice package although price is getting up there a bit more...

http://www.kef.com/html/ca_en/showroom/digital_music_solutions/x300a/fact_sheets/X300A_group/X300A/index.html

Guess the other consideration for me is that I really like the smaller size for my desktop application vs the Emotiva 5 which is actually quite large.

tonyptony · « **Reply #35 on:** 26 Dec 2012, 06:57 pm »

Other suggestions (for which I give my thanks) will have to wait, as the Airmotive 5s arrived just a little while ago! FedEx man dropped them off and back to the small listening room I went with the box... until I found the bottom of the box looked as though it had been sitting in ground coal. Filthy and grimy (not Emotiva's fault of course). Fortunately the speakers were double boxed, so no harm to either them or the rug - once I removed the inner from the outer box.

Speakers came well packed in a styrofoam frame, with each speaker in its own soft cloth bag. Power cords and both medium and small stick on nubbins for the speaker bottoms were supplied. A knuckle rap on each showed the boxes are less resonant than my Swan M200s - a good sign I guess. Apart from the Heil tweeter they otherwise look unremarkable. Hooked up quickly, although the power cord was a b!tch to insert in one of the speakers. I almost thought the power prongs in the speaker's power inlet were bent or offset but they were not. The cord was okay too; just took a careful but concerted effort to get that one plugged in. No issues with the other.

I just listened to them briefly. Can't really say one way or the other what I think. They sound a little tight so I think I'll let them play a while before I get too interested in how they sound.

Larkston Zinaspic · « **Reply #36 on:** 27 Dec 2012, 01:42 am »

This doesn't meet the requirements of the OP, but I thought it was a funny coincidence that I happened to be perusing the forum at IK Multimedia before visiting this topic here, and a guy over there posted a thread about a 'full range' system he put together consisting of a pair of Kustom KPC15P Powered Speakers, a pair of Kustom PA112S Powered Subwoofers, and a Behringer UltraCurve Pro DEQ2496 to flatten out frequencies below 250-Hz. Maybe it sounds good, maybe not; maybe it's Cheap & Cheerful...or just cheap, but I just thought it was an interesting idea, if it works. Low score on the WAF is certain, unfortunately.

DavidS · « **Reply #37 on:** 31 Dec 2012, 01:51 am »

I was back and forth on the many options on affordable powered speakers / computer speakers over xmas holidays. I really liked what I read about the Emotiva 4's but they are out of stock til first quarter 2013. What I really will use them for is listening to baseball games (MLB.com), online guitar lessons, and yes some music / things like online streaming tiny concerts (NPR) or CBC radio. So how high end do I really need when I have a 10K main system - so ended up buying Audioengine 5's. These are very available in Vancouver / Victoria. Mine arrived on Friday but just hooked up today.

They are largeish on my desktop. Have them hooked to a John Kenny dac which is hooked to my old pc. Well first hour of listening - have the Crosby Stills Nash demo cd spinning in itunes ... sound is so good I am thinking why do I need 10K of set amps, Well Tempered turntable, lamp dac. Hear these need some time to break in - may need to use my netflix subscription a bit over the next few days, and maybe step up to two hours a day of guitar lessons now that my fingers are getting the caluses will get them broken in.

Very nice and thinking the Emotivas, the KEF's would be another step up...recommended here - this digital audio is getting mighty good.

tonyptony · « **Reply #38 on:** 31 Dec 2012, 04:49 pm »

Here's my report on the Airmotiv 5 speakers after approximately 30 hours of a mix of music and the Isotek burn in tracks. Emotiva says 40 hours of music for proper loosening up of the woofer and so forth (I asked), so I figure with a good bit of that time being the Isotek tracks I should be pretty close.

The Airmotivs are, in a word, different from my Swans M200s. The Swans were smooth, a bit laid back, a bit soft in the low end, but liquid and musical. The soundstage fill was only okay - the images tended to stay closer to the speakers. The presentation was not clouded, but not the last word in transparent. Midrange sounds like guitar and vocals were realistic and "organic" for lack of a better word.

The Airmotiv 5s are more transparent, a bit more forward, tighter in the low end. The best way to describe it is that it has more energy from top to bottom. It also throws a bigger image so that the space between the speakers has a better fill. Not as organic as the Swans, but not harsh or metallic. Listening to the Swans was like listening to Mel Torme in his prime. Listening to the Emotivas is like listening to a young Tony Bennett. Both musical, but quite different.

The Airmotivs provide a different perspective, that's for sure. I haven't played with the bass and treble controls yet, but the placement seems pretty good. I'll admit I'm quite taken by their ability to do clean, open, and musical all at the same time. But the seductive smoothness of the Swans is something it had in its favor. Given the new M200 MkIII is more than what I paid for the Airmotiv 5, plus my sour experience with Swans, plus the very good sound the Airmotiv 5 is producing (yeah, they're different, but I think I can get used to them

), I think these new speakers will stay for a while.

jsm71 · « **Reply #39 on:** 7 Jan 2013, 05:47 pm »

Tony, thanks for your initial impressions. I ordered the Airmotiv 5s just yesterday but I haven't seen any shipping information yet. What's wrong with these people?

I'm not worried. My son has a full Emo HT setup and they have been amazing to deal with and fast with orders. Your impressions on the sound are exactly what I am looking for. I will be using these as computer speakers to replace an old and typical Logitech 3-way. I have waited far too long to pull this trigger, but given the advances in these kinds of offerings I'm glad I waited.

I likely won't be adding a subwoofer. For near field listening I was attracted to the Heil driver. I remember well during the 80s when this was a great way to get clean upper limit sounds. I value clarity and realism over warm and smooth. My main listening room has hybrid stats; I like clarity. Emotiva's main speaker line BTW leans to the warm and smooth. My son loves that. He feels my setups are too analytical. Each to their own.

I hope to be able to report on my findings shortly after they get some hours on them as well. I will also be trying the AudioQuest DragonFly DAC with this setup, bypassing my mediocre/stock sound card. This has to bring things up quite a few notches, and me into the 21st century

. We'll see.