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melie said:

That's what I thought. I can't really imagine 0,75" (16,66% increase) makes that much of a difference. Anyone who has heard them both for closure on this?
Also, for nearfield, I don't think I will need anything more then 50watts RMS. I have M-Audio AV40's atm, which are 40watts RMS, and I never go past half way the max volume.

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FYI the full frequency response graphs are available on the website.
 
a6
 

 
a5
 

 
however, apparently the a4 speaker is showing the same graph as the a5. even same title. tisk tisk.
 
 

Quote:

skoobs said:

FYI the full frequency response graphs are available on the website.
 
a6
 

 
a5
 

 
however, apparently the a4 speaker is showing the same graph as the a5. even same title. tisk tisk.
 
 

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Yeah I saw that. Both the a4 and a5 link to the same image. But sound is mostly more than just graphs or technicatlities. For example, I could hear a clear difference between the M-Audio Bx5a and the Bx8a. Both are the exact same technologie only has the one a 5" woofer and the other an 8" one. Now this is a 3" difference so I guess it makes sence to hear a noticable difference. Was just wondering if a 0,75" difference is noticable and, if so, worth the 200$ extra.
 
 

I have the A4s on my desk and I quite like them. I have them facing out rather than pointing towards me and amp using my Phoenix as a pre. The first pair they sent me were the wrong voltage, but rather than ask for them back, they let me keep them, so I sent them to a friend in Australia for the cost of shipping. Considering his current speakers were a crappy pair of Sonys, he was very happy with the upgrade.
 
I figured they were cheap, mass-produced stuff from China, but they are much better built than what such a fact would suggest. They don't have the visceral thump for what I call "club" music at the quieter volumes I listen at (maybe I just need to turn up the volume?), but their more polite presentation is very pleasant with the acoustic varieties because of the tweeter.
 
I'm thinking of replacing my living room speakers with the A6s now, though unfortunately that would mean the IC to one speaker and its power cable running alongside each other, which isn't ideal.

Ever since your review Steve (thank you by the way,) i have been obsessing with these for some reason.  I don't even know if i should be but for some reason i can't get them out of my head.  I think i'm going to go with the Airmotiv6's connected to the Emotiva USP-1 stereo preamp via xlr cables. Ont top of that a  DacMagic Plus with xlr's. I think i'm going to have to settle with this set-up for probably 3 more years until i can afford my rotel and B&W CM9's.    I hope i am pleased with this set-up.

More than a few words:
 
I have a pair of Airmotiv 4's hooked directly to a Squeezebox Touch in my living room. The speaker setup is contrary to almost all of Emotiva's recommendations. The speakers sit horizontally within a set of very shallow bookshelves, below ear level, with the rear ports about 3/4 inches from the back wall, with no toe-in, and with an overhanging shelf about a foot above.
 
Even with these compromises, the speakers sound spectacular. At alternate times, I thought the speakers bright and forward--or warm and reserved. My conclusion is that they are unusually neutral.They are glorious in revealing detail (echoes, the attack and decay of instruments, slight vocal inflections and volume changes, etc.), but they don't exaggerate the defects of a poor recording. They will sound slightly brash with recordings that merit such a sound; sweet and reserved with music that should not sound aggressive. The pace and pitch of the music always sounds spot on. No recording suffers by being played on the Airmotivs.
 
I think less about Emotiva's mark-up over a pair of ODMs than the fact that they sound much better on vocals and brass than my far more expensive B & W Nautilus 805s.They might not match the 805's in conveying the full body of a recording--I haven't yet tested the speakers with highly complex material. But, in overall tone and character, the Airmotivs sound more like my old Dunlavy SC-IIIs than the somewhat sterile 805s. (My SC-IIIs were great in my old loft apartment; they did not work well as I started to move around.)
 
For those concerned about ribbon tweeters or the use of a near field monitor in a living room: The speakers do not sound overly directional. There is one place in the center of the room where the speakers sound ideal, but the music does not lose coherence and the high frequencies do not disappear as you move off axis.
 
My major concern about the Airmotivs is their appearance.  The speakers are not unattractive for most settings, but, even with their small size, they look brutish when set in a minimalist living room, and the constant blue glow around the volume control knobs looks very gee-whiz. As an alternative to returning the speakers, I have wondered if it would be practical for me to transplant their innards to a different set of cabinets. I would void the warranty, but, if the speaker components and I survive the operation, I would be able to keep the speakers.

This Teeter type has been around since the 70's and I have owned 3 different ESS speakers with the Heil tweeter. Used variants of the ESS can be had used for under $200 if patient with your searching and can provide an amazing sound experience with some modding to the weak woofer section.

Is the Martin Logan "Folded Motion Tweeter"  that is in some speakers such as the Motion 12's the same design?
 

Yes, the ML FMT uses a similar air-motion-transformer design.
 
Yesterday I wouldn't have known what you were talking about, but in the past 24 hours I've been researching Adam (pro and home), Emotiva, Elac, and ML Motion series (among others, including the revamped CA-based ESS company) like crazy. I'm pretty heartened to see this design becoming more widely used. It's too bad I didn't discover these new generation AMTs earlier though.
 
The original ESS AMT-1s are partially responsible for getting me interested in playing music (guitar, keyboards), discovering new music, and being interested in hifi. Truly loved the quality of the sound. I'm also a fan of the RX-7 rotary, which is responsible for getting me interested in autocrossing, following motorsports, and being interested in sports cars. Felix Wankel and Oskar Heil are my heroes.
 
I'm leaning toward these little airmotiv4s + one STF-1 for my desk system, and the Tensor Deltas + stands + dual STF-2s for my main system.
 
I always wondered why the AMT was not more widely used, given how great I found them. Now I don't have to wonder. But I still wonder why the AMT has only been used once in a headphone application. It has some great qualities, and a full-range AMT with good bass extension would be incredible.

I know this isnt the best way to hear speakers, but I thought this little clip was impressive:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFggYcxYk0g

So other than nice highs from the folded tweeter, is there anything special about the kevlar woofer?  Are there any good three way active speakers?  I have seen the Adams audio speakers but haven't found a price on them.  They use a 9" woofer for bass and for the highs and mids they each have there own folded motion devices
 

wohhhhhh on the price of the Adam's lol.   $10650
 

Quote:

doctacosmos said:

So other than nice highs from the folded tweeter, is there anything special about the kevlar woofer?  Are there any good three way active speakers?  I have seen the Adams audio speakers but haven't found a price on them.  They use a 9" woofer for bass and for the highs and mids they each have there own folded motion devices
 

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The Adams are in a very different price range. The ones you're talking about, the Adam Audio S3X-V, cost 2.000€ a piece here in Europe..
 

I was talking about the Tensor series Delta.
I was thinking of getting the emotiva usp-1 stereo preamplifier.  I just notied it doesn't have balanced xlr output or input.  Does anyone know of any stereo receivers with these options?  I could run the AM6's with just the dacmagic but i was really wanting to run a sub eventually too.  Can i do that with the dacmagic by using the digital coax out?
 

I'm still curious for some comparisons. How do these compare to the Adam AX serie? Or to the Swan M200MKIII? If it is true what some people say and they can combine the analytical precision of the Adams with the musicalness of the Swans, I think these speakers would be pretty perfect...

The Tensor Delta is Adam's home audio unit that has the dual AMT (small AMT tweeter, medium AMT midrange) setup. The S3X-V uses a conventional cone midrange driver. The Tensor is pricey too though.
 
A good comparison (back on the pro side) is the Adam A3X and the Emotiva Airmotiv4. Both are two-ways, both have 25+25 watt amps, both have 4.5 inch LF drivers, both have small AMT tweeters crossed over at the same frequency, they even weigh almost exactly the same. Street price for A3X is $658 free shipping, for Airmotiv4 it's $399 free shipping.
 
Is the Adam 65% better?
 
Of course then there's the Martin Logan Motion 4. $500 and smaller, lighter, with a 4.0 inch LF driver but similar in some ways.