[Bubo]

 
 
Behringer has a product that is also very similar near the same price point, also ranked highly on head-fi's Head gear pages.
 
Sanyo was making and shipping ribbon tweeter speakers 30 years ago if memory serves me correctly.
 
It would be nice if someone could do a shootout with the four versions of this speakers we have now listed from 4 manufacturers.
 
 
 
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-B3031A-Reference-Monitor-Speaker/dp/B001F1ZMHY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328797505&sr=8-1

 

[Nepenthe]

I'll have my airmotiv5s this Saturday. Fed Ex / Emotiva requiring a direct signature, no way I can provide that (I work 75 hours per week).
 
The Behringer looks interesting for the price. I see the two high frequency driver technologies as distinct, however. They have very different design parameters, dynamic qualities, dispersion characteristics, and sound production methods.
 
I owned the original ESS AMT "Great Heil" from the early 70s. Excellent sound.
 
By the way, I think there are quite a bit more than four. I've got a list at home on a spreadsheet and I think it's more like ten or twelve manufacturers using AMT technology.

 

[airs]

I am positive I want some Airmotivs, but I'm not sure which model to get between the 5 and 6.  I'm going to be using them as PC desktop speakers, connected to a dedicated dac.  I'm worried the 6 will be too large and take up too much space, but the 5 doesn't have as much amp power and doesn't extend nearly as low...
 
Anyone have pics of the 5 or 6 on their desk?

 

[Nepenthe]

I am positive I want some Airmotivs, but I'm not sure which model to get between the 5 and 6.  I'm going to be using them as PC desktop speakers, connected to a dedicated dac.  I'm worried the 6 will be too large and take up too much space, but the 5 doesn't have as much amp power and doesn't extend nearly as low...
 
Anyone have pics of the 5 or 6 on their desk?

I'll have the 5s on my desk tomorrow, will try to take a couple pics. Fed Ex guy delivered them yesterday after all, was going to post a quick hit review but spent so much time listening to them it got too late (and this is with them on the floor!). I'm waiting to set them up, since my brand new desk comes in tomorrow morning from CEVA freight. Also I just picked up my Denon PRA-1500 preamp that I won on eBay, haven't implemented it yet.
 
I'll put my "on the floor" impressions up a little later. Synopsis: Wow!
 
 

 

[airs]

Well I couldn't wait...
 
 

Product Code	Item	Qty	Price	Grand Total
airmotiv6	airmotiv 6 (pair)	1	$799.00	$799.00
DSC-14	NAMM 2012	1	-$119.85	-$119.85

 

 

[dvzzz]

How are you, guys, planning to deal with power consumption on these speakers. They have no standby, power save features. I am very interested in them but if they do not sleep (and I know they do not) how do you plan to turn them off for the night? Any ideas on the switcheable power strip?

 

[Nepenthe]

So here are my impressions from Thursday and Friday. I'm still awaiting my desk (not to mention my ED A3S-250 sub, XLR cables, speaker stands, damping materials, rug, new chair, beanbag footrest, etc.).
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fed Ex guy hooked me up. I had left a note on the door with my signature and sure enough when I got home they were there. I still don't have my preamp, new chair, new desk, subwoofer, rug, XLR cables, etc. but I hooked up them up to an old Sony CD player on the floor to try them out. Played some Menomena, Oceansize, Three Mile Pilot, Beta Band, Cursive, The Autumns, Elbow, Catherine Wheel, Kino, A Perfect Circle, Leaves, Cooper Temple Clause, St. Vincent, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack.
 
1.  Okay, they're not ESS AMTs. But those had HUGE air-motion transformers, that went down to 600 or 800 Hz, and which were set up as dipoles. These don't quite have the inimitable "clear as light" sound the ESSs had. Not a big surprise, really.
 
2.  The bass. Is this what things have come to? These perform a real magic trick as far as bass production. The bass is extremely tight and has really sensational detail, but it's the presence and authority I wasn't expecting. These rock. Am I regretting ordering the sealed sub? No, but I hope it can blend well enough and contribute. Of course, these impressions are with the speakers sitting on the floor.
 
3.  The 3D. Granted I have to contort my body quite a bit to get my ears into a suitable sweet spot (they're on my floor), but the 3D effect, both the spread from left to right and the feeling of layers going back is really astonishing. And addictive. The separation between instruments is everything I could ask for. The ambient detail that gets teased out of the recording is wonderful. These AMTs are pretty directional, especially vertically, but if I can manage to get my desk set up advantageously, that shouldn't be a problem for personal listening.
 
4.  There is a definite sense of hearing things in a different way than I have before. Many sounds and passages have already taken me aback. I'm noticing things all over the place that even with detailed headphones I never remember hearing like that. The sound is balanced but *extremely* energetic. Sounds appear to leap out of the transducers. This is also addictive and fun and very musical.
 
Overall I'm impressed so far and not regretting the purchase at all. I think these will fill the "desktop concert" nearfield concept nicely.

 

[wiinippongamer]

Anyone who has heard this and HD600 OR K701 could give me a comparison in sound qualities between them? I am currently torn between those two headphones with a matching amplifier OR if a good set of speakers for around the same price ( I have $600 to spend) can match or exceed the 'phones, I'd prefer the speakers.
 
Nepenthe, could you give a comparison between the airmotiv5's and the HE-500? I'd highly appreciate you guys' advice on this.
 
 

 

[Remonster]

Not sure on the HD600s, but I have HD650s and the Airmotivs are not even slightly close. They sound very good, I had them for the 30 day audition period but decided to return them. I didn't feel the 6s were really competitive in the $800 price range, but if they were priced as Audioengine competitors (I also own Audioengine A5s) I would have probably kept them.
 
The bass is very deep for a 6" speaker, though, I even had 8" M-Audio studio monitors at the same time and the Airmotiv6 could get almost as low as the M-Audios (though the bass was boomy and lacked detail compared to the cheaper M-Audios).

 

[classicalguy]

How can you compare headphones and speakers? Totally different. Sure headphones are going to give you less ambient noise and more detail, but no real sense of space and image. And you're wearing an appliance on your ears. A couple hours is all I can take with phones. Speakers can go all day.

Sent from my Ainol Novo 7 Advanced with Tapatalk

 

[wiinippongamer]

I can go all day on both headphones and speakers

 

[Nepenthe]

Nepenthe, could you give a comparison between the airmotiv5's and the HE-500? I'd highly appreciate you guys' advice on this.

That's pretty tough. The HE-500s and I didn't get along that well, sonically. I listen, especially to headphones, at very low volumes, and felt the HE-500s to be missing a bit of the high frequency wetness or sparkle. They also were a little more refined and a little less energetic than I was looking for. In the end I couldn't justify the price and returned them.
 
Now, the bass is still really tight and nice on these airmotiv5s, but up off the floor they aren't the all-conquering beasts I heard the other night. I'm really glad I have the Elemental Designs sealed subwoofer on the way (it's in production). I think it will complement these guys nicely.
 
I like the amount of non-fatiguing sparkle these have. I just find them very balanced top to bottom and exceedingly revealing. I'm at home listening to Evil Bee by Menomena at this very moment and just loving the 3D feel, the separation, and the way these seem to bring forth textures and wrinkles in the sonics that I've never had the privilege of noticing before.
 

 

[Nepenthe]

I have run into some issues with placement and my new Legare desk. These pics are pretty roughed out. I have a beanbag footrest, left and right desk extensions, an office floor rug, etc. on the way.
 
The first pic shows the airs on my desk. I was not satisfied with how they sit (power cord up against the rear raised edge of the desk), how low they were, how they robbed desk space (but it's tough when your monitors are dual widescreens, used to not have this problem when I had one 19" CRT), and most importantly how the sound was compromised.
 
The second pic depicts the airs on my tower speakers, which are about 40" high. The desk is out from the wall a couple of feet. This has fixed most of the problems: the power cord isn't squished, the monitors are a little further away and at ear height, I have more desk space, and most importantly the 3D sound and cohesion has returned. I was a bit worried about reflections off the monitors, but if it's there I'm not being bothered by it. The sound is delicious.
 
Luckily I don't have any WAF to worry about. It's my house and all I really care about is sound and practicality. Where I have my desk is a bit... unconventional. But obviously I can't leave my towers there, so I'm looking to buy a couple of these: http://www.amazon.com/Quiklok-BS300-Monitor-Speaker-Adjustable/dp/B0006Z8FTM/ref=pd_cp_MI_0
 

 

 

[Remonster]

Quote:

How can you compare headphones and speakers? Totally different. Sure headphones are going to give you less ambient noise and more detail, but no real sense of space and image. And you're wearing an appliance on your ears. A couple hours is all I can take with phones. Speakers can go all day.
Sent from my Ainol Novo 7 Advanced with Tapatalk

Yeah, it's very difficult and I definitely prefer speakers to headphones. I was just trying to give the guy and idea of how they compare in terms of detail, top-to-bottom coherence, neutrality, etc. Obviously I don't have measurement equipment so I just gave him a subjective opinion based on headphones I've owned for 6 months to a year and speakers which I owned for a few weeks and sent back.
 
As I said, they are impressive speakers but I didn't feel they were worth the price. To me, they sound like Audioengines with deeper bass extension, more of a bass hump, and a (much) better tweeter. If the Airmotiv6s were like $500 I would have kept them, but I like my cheaper Jamo C 803s a lot more.

 

[wiinippongamer]

Quote:

Yeah, it's very difficult and I definitely prefer speakers to headphones. I was just trying to give the guy and idea of how they compare in terms of detail, top-to-bottom coherence, neutrality, etc. Obviously I don't have measurement equipment so I just gave him a subjective opinion based on headphones I've owned for 6 months to a year and speakers which I owned for a few weeks and sent back.
 
As I said, they are impressive speakers but I didn't feel they were worth the price. To me, they sound like Audioengines with deeper bass extension, more of a bass hump, and a (much) better tweeter. If the Airmotiv6s were like $500 I would have kept them, but I like my cheaper Jamo C 803s a lot more.

And how's the quality of the airmotiv's tweeter compared to the Jamo 803?