[spidey]

x
 
Just finished setting up.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

Good to see, Spidey. Well how is they?

 

[spidey]

Right out of the box, they were not really impressive, they sounded closed in and boomy. But after a week, they sound more airy and natural. The bass has firmed up noticeably as well.
 
I would say they are really good for vocals, instrumental music, and rock in general, but not so much for electronics. YMMV.

 

[Rainbow Randy]

Ironically, I've read these aren't very good at emoting emotions or artists' motives. How is they with movies? A glorious soundstage!

 

[Audiophile1811]

Quote:

Ironically, I've read these aren't very good at emoting emotions or artists' motives. How is they with movies? A glorious soundstage!

Really? That's interesting, where did you read that?
 

 

[Mauricio]

Quote:

If you can please have a look at yamaha hs50m. In terms of feature they are the same as airmotiv4, in terms of sound I consider them the ER4S of monitors. 

 
I owe a pair of Yamaha HS50M (plus the sub).  At $400/pair, they (along with the JBL and KRK competitors) are the active monitors to beat at that price point.  Having said that, I would not recommend them without the sub for their bass extension is not pronounced.
 
 

 

[Audiophile1811]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauricio /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I owe a pair of Yamaha HS50M (plus the sub).  At $400/pair, they (along with the JBL and KRK competitors) are the active monitors to beat at that price point.  Having said that, I would not recommend them without the sub for their bass extension is not pronounced.

Emotiva claim their Airmotiv 6's reach down to 40Hz. I know they're twice the price of the HS50M's but do you think they'd make up for it with their bass extension or would you still desire a subwoofer? Thanks

 

[Mauricio]

In general, I think that only speakers with at least 8" drivers can begin to plausibly claim that they have sufficient low end extension and obviate the need for a sub.  
 
For $800, I'd skip the Emotivas altogether and get me a pair of Yamaha MSP7 Studio (-3dB point at about 60Hz from its 6.5" driver).  No, they don't look as flashy with a trendy ribbon tweeter or the hyped up specs , but in all likelihood they are the more accurate and well-imaging speaker.  That's what I'd get.
 
 

 
 
Alternatively for about $700/pair, if you want a little more flash and bass extension, I'd go with the Yamaha HS80M (-3dB point roughly at 55Hz) with 8" woofers:
 

 
Better even, if you are after bass, is the following 2.1 setup which will go down to the upper 30Hz range with honesty:

JBL and KRK also offer similar set-ups for the same price.
 
 
 

 

[Jottle]

I've owned these speakers for about two weeks now. They really do open up after some use. I'd say the tweeter and bass definition/extension on these are excellent. Compared to my audio engine A5's, I prefer the lushness and beautiful reproduction of guitars and singers' voices of the airmotiv 4's. To my ears these speakers are better for classical, jazz, and acoustic music. They do rock pretty well, but they don't quite have the midrange oomph that the AE A5's have. That being said, their pluses over the A5's really to make them a more refined speaker. As for speaker hiss, some people may have an issue with it. My a5's hissed almost imperceptably when powered up but not connected to a source. Once you connected and activated a source, the hiss would rise to an audible level at near field listening along with an annoying amplifier hum (not a ground loop issue). Unfortunately, the hum was just a part of the A5's earlier (non 5+) design. I lived with it, but didn't like it. The airmotiv 4's have the same amount of almost imperceptable low level hiss upon power up (with no source connected). However, when the source activates, the hiss grows to a level that's slightly higher than the A5's. It's not really noticeable unless you're pretty close to the speakers. I sit 2' away from them (pointed to my ears), so I can pick out the hiss immediate in my low ambient noise room. But take it with a grain of salt as all active speakers hiss. I guess it depends on what level you find acceptable. You can minimize the hiss by turning down the gain on the front of the airmotiv 4's and then turning up the volume on the source. I have no idea if this is not recommended given that you're essentially turning down the amp in the speaker (?) Can someone chime in here and let me know if I shouldn't do that and just deal with the hiss and gain at 100%?
 
All in all though, I do really think these are a good value. And I'm going to be selling my Audio Engine A5's in the near future. The airmotiv's are definitely voiced differently than them.

 

[cooltunes]

There are some other ways of possibly minimizing the hiss. 1) upgrade the power cables 2) use high quality RCA interconnects ( or XLR cables) 3) Use some form of power conditioning.
 
I had a similar issue with my KRK Rokit 5's and KRK 10s sub. I bought a Furman linear power conditioner  for about $200 on Ebay. That reduced the hissing/ static by 50%. However, the biggest reduction of hiss/static was accomplished by simply plugging my iMac into a different power outlet.
 
just a suggestion

 

[Headzone]

Quote:

There are some other ways of possibly minimizing the hiss. 1) upgrade the power cables 2) use high quality RCA interconnects ( or XLR cables) 3) Use some form of power conditioning.
 
I had a similar issue with my KRK Rokit 5's and KRK 10s sub. I bought a Furman linear power conditioner  for about $200 on Ebay. That reduced the hissing/ static by 50%. However, the biggest reduction of hiss/static was accomplished by simply plugging my iMac into a different power outlet.
 
just a suggestion

 
 
1) You kidding, right??
 
2) As for the RCA cables, any regular shielded cable is good enough to not cause hiss
 

 

[Jottle]

My house does have awful wiring. So that may be the issue, but I've only really heard bad hiss with active speakers in my setups. I doubt my issue is the cabling as I'm using coaxial cables for interconnects, and they already have higher shielding than regular analog interconnects.
Quote:

 
 
1) You kidding, right??
 
2) As for the RCA cables, any regular shielded cable is good enough to not cause hiss
 

 

 

[cooltunes]

Quote:

 
 
1) You kidding, right??
 
2) As for the RCA cables, any regular shielded cable is good enough to not cause hiss
 

Not the house wiring !!
 


Quote:

My house does have awful wiring. So that may be the issue, but I've only really heard bad hiss with active speakers in my setups. I doubt my issue is the cabling as I'm using coaxial cables for interconnects, and they already have higher shielding than regular analog interconnects.


 

I am referring to the power cables plugged into the Airmotiv 4 speakers !! Not the house wiring.
 
 

 

[KimLaroux]

In theory, using balanced XLR should eliminate noise picked up my the transport cable. It's the whole point of balanced audio, after all.
 
But hiss can have many sources. The hiss can even be from the amplifier itself. When this is the case, then the best way of lowering the hiss is to lower the amplifier gain/volume and increase the source's output volume. I believe this will give you the best audio quality, but I might be wrong. My experience with car audio has told me that lower gain on the amplifier just sound cleaner. The only way I can see the opposite being better is if you have a very bad source.

 

[spidey]

I'm lucky that I'm not experiencing any of the hissing even when the computer is turned off.
 
I am using a 3-pin UK plug. There's a section in the manual under "Avoiding Hum and Noise" which points out several causes for hums and hisses in the system; have a go at them.
 
Just curious, do you guys leave the speakers ON when powering the computer or just leave the speakers on irregardless?
 
I emailed EMOTIVA support and they say it's ok to leave te speakers on and they consume very little power on idle.