Wow - lots of people here wanting to pontificate about the Emotiva T3+ speakers without ever having heard them…. Obviously, the things aren’t time coherent, and they only come in ugly black. With 8” woofers (even three of them), they’re not made for 100 dB plus stadium sound.
That said, at living room levels, the generous cone area should minimize excursion and provide low intermodulation excursion. Emotiva has lowered their sensitivity claim to just over 90 dB / 1w / 1m which should be more realistic. Actually, I think they traded sensitivity for lower bass extension (22 Hz), which means that these speakers really won’t need a subwoofer. Considering that savings, the T3+ price becomes even more reasonable.
I’d also argue against characterizing Emotiva as a “bargain basement” manufacturer. Their products are manufactured in China, but they usually offer a high performance to price ratio.
I’d like to hear the T3+ speakers and until then, I’ll withhold judgement.
Boomzilla - aka Glenn Young - Senior Editor, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity website