[auee]

For a computer based desktop system, I am torn between these speakers and the Adam A3Xs, which are more expensive and not magnetically shielded but have front ports. I expect that the farthest I can place the speakers from the back wall is 6". Will this be enough considering that the Emotiva speakers have a rear port? Also, I cannot place the speakers more than about 6" from one of my hard drives. Is this far enough to avoid any adverse effects on the hard drive, such as de-magnetization resulting in data loss and vibration? Thanks. 

 

[john57]

I have a desktop system with the CPU on the floor. You should not have a problem whatever if a speaker or monitor is shielded. Shielded speakers were at one time important when speakers were placed next to a CRT monitor that can affect color purity but since CRT monitors are no longer used it is no longer relevant if the speaker is shielded or not.  You should not have any concerns if an unshielded speaker happens to be next to the CPU it will not de-magnetize your hard drives and I have five drives running at the same time in my setup.  Heavy vibration can be more of issue to the hard drives but if you use isolation pads on the bottom of the speakers on the desk I do not think you will have a problem.  
There are some disadvantages to front ports that can you can sometimes hear some boxy coloration sounds coming out from the ports directly to your ear.  A lot depends on the kinds of music playing. I just received my Airmotiv6 not quite a week ago and I am not much farther from the wall than yours and the back wave is not causing me any issues. I had a few tricks that I use to reduce any negative issue that could arise from using speakers that have back ports. You  can use  the Low-frequency Equalization control if you are getting too much bass reinforcement from the back wall. You will still see many active monitors still using back ports. In any rate you should buy speakers from a seller that has a good return policy if the speakers will not work well in your room.

 

[auee]

John, thanks for great response.

 

[auee]

Purchased the Airmotiv 4s based on price and magnetic shielding. Will post impressions following delivery. 

 

[buson160man]

 I upgraded the fuses in my airmotiv 5s about a month ago and I went with the hifi-tuning supreme fuses.I am also using emotivas iec power cables instead of the stock cable supplied with the airmotiv 5s.I have run the fuses in for at least a couple of weeks of good use and things are sounding much better.The sound is becoming way more relaxed and the tonality and soundstage has expanded a great deal.The speaker now disappears in even my desktop setting.The sound is way more spacious and very natural sounding. You will be amazed at the change in the sound when you replace the stock fuse.The potential of this speaker is not realized till you upgrade the fuses.I am not kidding this speaker becomes a real world beater for close monitoring for computer sound.The sound becomes much larger more like a much larger speaker.
  I implore anyone using the emotiva powered monitors to explore the avenue of fuse upgrades the journey is definitely worth the effort. i am sure you will be ecstatic with the change just like I am.The fuse value for the emotiva five is a small slow blow 1 amp fuse and of course you need two of them one for each speaker.I also previous replaced the stock fuse on my airmotiv 6s with similar improvements in the sixes performance.The fuse value for that speaker is a small 2 amp slow blow fuse.
  I had tried the synergetic quantum fuses and sent them back prefering the sound of the hifi tuning supreme fuses I had been using.

 

[auee]

Quote:

 I upgraded the fuses in my airmotiv 5s about a month ago and I went with the hifi-tuning supreme fuses.I am also using emotivas iec power cables instead of the stock cable supplied with the airmotiv 5s.I have run the fuses in for at least a couple of weeks of good use and things are sounding much better.The sound is becoming way more relaxed and the tonality and soundstage has expanded a great deal.The speaker now disappears in even my desktop setting.The sound is way more spacious and very natural sounding. You will be amazed at the change in the sound when you replace the stock fuse.The potential of this speaker is not realized till you upgrade the fuses.I am not kidding this speaker becomes a real world beater for close monitoring for computer sound.The sound becomes much larger more like a much larger speaker.
  I implore anyone using the emotiva powered monitors to explore the avenue of fuse upgrades the journey is definitely worth the effort. i am sure you will be ecstatic with the change just like I am.The fuse value for the emotiva five is a small slow blow 1 amp fuse and of course you need two of them one for each speaker.I also previous replaced the stock fuse on my airmotiv 6s with similar improvements in the sixes performance.The fuse value for that speaker is a small 2 amp slow blow fuse.
  I had tried the synergetic quantum fuses and sent them back prefering the sound of the hifi tuning supreme fuses I had been using.

Would you be kind enough to identify the specific  hi-fi tuning supreme fuse needed for a pair of Emotiva Airmotiv 4, how many and where I can find instructions for changing out the fuses?

 

[auee]

I have had the Airmotiv 4s up and running for less than a week so not yet broken in. I have not yet gotten a quality 2 meter interconnect RCA cable  I also do not have a frame of reference for comparing them to other similarly sized powered monitors. With that said, I do not have any regrets about my purchase. They are attractive in an industrial way and fit perfectly on my smallish desktop on the stands sold by Audioengine. The sound is coherent and well balanced, the resolution, imaging and sound-staging even in the very near field is very good. I am just enjoying the music and notice my foot tapping; that is the best recommendation I can give.
 
It is nice to be able to free my head from headphones periodically. Now all I need to do is avoid the urge to purchase for comparison purposes the Adam A3Xs.
 
By the way, they need to be used with a pre-amp or a DAC with volume control because the volume control on each monitor is independent and a flimsy plastic knob to boot and I can foresee problems balancing the volume and breaking the knob with frequent use.
 

 

[Chuck E Darwin]

I recently "up-graded" from Airmotiv4s to Airmotiv5s for use in my small living room. The difference in bass extension is greater than I expected, and the 5s do play louder, but, even at a low to moderate volume, the 5s have significantly more body and presence than the 4s. The 5s project better into the room and sound more at ease with the signal they are being fed.
 
That said, if the speakers were on my desktop or were a few meters from my ears, I would definitely opt for the Airmotiv4s.
 
BTW: I have no choice but to locate the speakers on a bookshelf with just about an inch between the rear port and the wall. I use the bass cut on the back panel of the Airmotivs. I usually prefer acoustic suspension over bass reflex speakers because I frequently find the latter to sound slow or boomy. I don't find this to be a problem with the Airmotivs, despite their far less than optimal placement.  (I admit that there are now so many good bass reflex speakers--and so few acoustic suspension speakers currently in production--that the exception is becoming the rule. My point remains: Don't fear the Airmotivs if you have to place them close to a rear wall.)

 

[blitzxgene]

Running the airmotiv 4's off the rca out of the reference 10 until I get some xlr in the next week or so. After much trial and error I believe I've found an ideal position with the tweeters at ear level (thanks to a stack of books), slightly angled upwards and oriented to play music to my ears/just by them (not done experimenting just yet). While they sound great without going through the trouble of getting them to ear level, they disappear on some material as I have them set. They are only 8 inchs off the wall and the bass is turned down to -2 (-4 was anemic on drum hits), but they sound superb. I'll probably upgrade to better cords and swap the fuse if that's easy enough to do. Very full sounding and as transparent as the LCD-2s I owned for 2 weeks. Soundstage is decent but I could see how it could be better. The lightness/ease of the treble is intoxicating as I've never heard a speaker or headphone that could compare (yet). Bass is controlled and powerful yet doesn't travel very far (which is great as I'm living with others) and I'm not sure how someone could call it lacking, as it passes with flying colors on material ranging from Mezzanine to the Dark Knight Rises to Brahms 1st. Sitting 3 - 4 feet away based on sitting posture while the airmotivs are about 3 feet apart. They sound very good at lower volume levels and better louder, but I haven't had a chance to truly test how well they can play loudly. The dynamic range is very good as well but I've not been paying nearly as much attention to it as to other aspects. Detail retrieval is not as good as my denons, but is by no means a slouch (compression is very noticeable, as well as a thinness on certain recordings that are no fault of the aimotivs). They are very smooth but can still bite when the need arises. 
 
Key thing I've noticed that I want to make a point of emphasizing is that positioning is very important to get the most out of these speakers. While they sound very nice when listening from further away, they become something special when you find their sweet spot. The heil tweeter and woofer blend together into what I find to be a fantastic and involving experience. Also, Amnesia becomes scary as ****. Nope.
 
(edit: Listening to Inertia Creeps from Mezzanine album, midway through (2:15) the song sounds like it is playing to the left and almost behind my head. Made me stop what I was doing and turn. 

)

 

[john57]

[size=medium][size=medium]I agree that the heil tweeter and woofer blend very well together. I believe the ESS company that started to use the heil tweeter many years ago stated it was a challenge to get a good sound blend with the drivers. I have the Airmotiv6 and I am not far from the wall with the back ports. I have a secondary wall three inches from the primary wall that just goes up to and below the rear ports. This means that I get much less bass reflections from the primary wall since the second wall which is part of the upper desk blocks the refection to a great degree. The Airmotiv6 is raised to a level that the bottom of the tweeter and the top of woofer is more in line with my ears.   This also helps to block more of the remaining rear reflections from the ports.  I am happy with the results and the tweeter has plenty of horizontal dispersion capability to make this work and I do not use toe in with the Airmotiv6. Knock on wood!

[/size][/size]

 

[anoxy]

Are these still considered a good buy at $315?

I'm trying to find the best <$500 bookshelf speakers for my desktop station.

edit: nevermind i am way too impatient. just ordered them

 

[john57]

Good for you!

 

[bdr529]

I called Emotiva and got some factory refurbed 5s for 399 a couple weeks ago. These sound really nice, I am still finding new music just to listen on them . The tweeters definitely have a sweet spot, but its not hard to find. My PC jack was kind of harsh and the adapter I had caused some buzzing noise so I got a Modi DAC which has straight RCA output. 
 
Question for the group, do you leave them on all the time or turn them off at night? The back plate always feels a little warm so i figure turning them off wills save money on the electric bill at least.

 

[john57]

The key is not to turn them off and on too many times during the same day. I would always turn them off at night however. Some of my tube amps needs a cooling down period if left on too long. My airmotiv6 has a extra large heat sink that almost never gets warm at the end of the day.

 

[anoxy]

Well I've listened to mine for a few hours now running out of my Audio gd NFB12. Not really blown away coming from Klipsch 2.1. Maybe my room sucks or I need stands for them.