Emotiva ER 5.0 Speaker System Review

MapleSyrup

MapleSyrup

Audioholic
Ps

Also, Deadwig and The Complex were superb choices for testing these speakers. I love both those discs (have them both in DTS and standard stereo CD formats). The kids get them confused. "Is this Blue Man group?" "No, its Porcupine Tree." "Oh"...later on, "Is this Purcupine Tree?" "No, it's Blue man Group". "oh." The oldest used her brain and just started asking, "Is this Porcupine Tree or Blue Man Group?":)

I love being a Dad!!!:D
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
I love Tom's reviews, especially the humour he injects. Saying the 'sock' around the speaker packaging is like 'fighting with a pissed off fish' is just too funny and the strange thing is I understand just what he is saying. You just cannot get a grip on and handle something enclosed in a sock, but it does show that they care a little bit about making sure the product you receive arrives in pristine condition.

I don't actually have to contend with WAF but am conscious, at least a little bit, about decor issues. If they offered these speakers in a more room friendly color like Cherry, I'd write the check tomorrow.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
One thing I thought I might mention was about the comment that few speakers in the price range use aluminum baffles, and that is not entirely true. Mordaunt Short has used more complex aluminum front baffles for years.
 
jnmfox

jnmfox

Audioholic
Hey Tom,

I understand your comments, personally I think they do exactly what they were designed to do and that is disapear in the theatre. Just my 0.02 :D

That aside, I highly respect your review and comments (always have) and will tell you that if you want to test the subs (when I finish them), you will be the first to get them. :D
Lonnie,

Do you have an ETA for the subs? :D
 
Doug917

Doug917

Full Audioholic
Try and remain patient on the subs. The dual sub system is definitely worth the wait. :)
 
Doug917

Doug917

Full Audioholic
I had my eye on Ascends but as of late that may have canged. I like Emotiva and was pleasently surprised when they did announce a speaker line not too long ago. I'm very pleased to see their quality and value are doing their ther products justice.

I really don't care how they look. I like sound. The wife might disagree but she leaves the HT stuff primarily in my hands. Sucks doesn't it?;)
I saw these speakers recently and thought they looked great. I have always hated the way the cherry Klipsch speakers reflect light in the front of my room and the Def Tech BP2X speakers I have on surround duties are white due to having them in our old house where I had restrictions implemented by the wife. I am going to be thrilled to hang these black babies in my HT room. I thought they looked great and mine will be going up with no grills as I really liked the way they looked without them.

The sound of these speakers is excellent!
 
tomd51

tomd51

Audioholic General
Great review, Tom. While I'm quite pleased with the performance of my current setup, I'm always interested in squeezing that much more performance out of it without putting myself in the poor house.

Having owned the QS8s, having been more than happy with their performance and having only changed them out for cost reasons, I might just have to at the very least take the ERD-1s out for a good test drive.

If the build quality of these are as you've described and offer anything like the performance of my MMC, I may find myself with a room full of Emo-quipment, which at this point might not be such a bad place to find myself in... ;) -TD
 
surveyor

surveyor

Audioholic Chief
Great review Tom.
As you say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
After all, I like the looks of these speakers.
I am contemplating buying these speakers.
I will always remain in the poor house!:)
 
darien87

darien87

Audioholic Spartan
So when is Emotiva going to start making TV's? That way I could put together an entire Emotiva system.

Emotiva TV
XMC-1 processor
XPA-5 amp
Emotiva speakers
Emotiva sub
 
zhimbo

zhimbo

Audioholic General
Heck, maybe Emotiva will start making a microbrew, too, for the truly complete home theater experience!
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Heck, maybe Emotiva will start making a microbrew, too, for the truly complete home theater experience
I'd be all over that. Heck I'd even recommend they use my bro as he is quite an accomplished microbrewer :)
 
N

norm962

Audioholic Intern
emotiva's

I've been waiting for these for a little bit and I can't say that I'm jumping on the ugly-bandwagon---black and rectangular, what more do you want?! From the review they sound like a steal at $1246 though. Any plans to do a review with the subs in the near future?
 
Doug917

Doug917

Full Audioholic
I've been waiting for these for a little bit and I can't say that I'm jumping on the ugly-bandwagon---black and rectangular, what more do you want?! From the review they sound like a steal at $1246 though. Any plans to do a review with the subs in the near future?

They are actually even cheaper than that with the 10% off on preorders and free shipping for a complete 5.1 or 7.1 channel set they announced on their Site today.

The subs are amazing. I had a chance to check the dual sub setup out last week and was really impressed. My thoughts are in the VIP section of Emo's Site currently and should be made available to anyone on their Site soon.
 
D

davef

Audioholic Intern
Gene,

Only similarities I see are box color and driver topology. The cabinet materials and drivers, build quality, etc are in different leagues and should be considering the Emos are double the price.
I find that a personally insulting and rather "bold" statement to make, especially considering you have zero experience with our HTM-200 SE.

Regarding cabinet materials:

Our HTM-200 has used 5/8" MDF since its introduction 9 years ago.

Regarding drivers:

The woofers we use are also a composite cone material (custom to Ascend), CAST aluminum frame and are in a league of their own for a 4" woofer. Yes, the Emotiva woofers are larger. Our HTM-200 is slightly less than half the size of the ERM-1, as this was the plan for this speaker.

Regarding our tweeters:

The world-class engineers at SEAS of Norway (some of the finest and most respected in the world) would be extremely insulted if they read your post, they worked on our tweeter for well over a year (also custom to Ascend)... And, if I may be so bold to say, few tweeters -if any- in this tweeter class (compact soft-dome neo) hold a candle to what we use in our HTM-200 SE.

Nothing against the fine folks at Emo, I recommend their electronics nearly every day, but your statement is based on either hearsay or your own opinion and lacks any factual data to warrant such a bold statement.


Here is a picture of the HTM-200 SE woofer: http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showpost.php?p=25714&postcount=61

Here is a picture and info about our SE tweeter, being used in our HTM-200 SE
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showpost.php?p=14293&postcount=1

And finally, here is a pic of the speakers themselves:

http://swbg1.tripod.com/200se_front.jpg
 
BloggingITGuy

BloggingITGuy

Audiophyte
Comparison of the Emotiva ER5 vs Ascend Accoustics CMT-340SE?

I'd like to see a head to head between these speakers and the Ascend Accoustics CMT-340SE.

Particularly since both speakers are about the same price and both seem to have taken a lot of the principles of THX into their designs. Although I think the CMT-340SE is probably more likely to pass THX Ultra 2 certification since it uses D'Appolito array to control vertical directivity, which is one of the requirements of that spec, as far as I know. The Emotiva does not appear to be designed for this as much...at least it's not a true D'Appolito array.
 
jnmfox

jnmfox

Audioholic
The subs are amazing. I had a chance to check the dual sub setup out last week and was really impressed. My thoughts are in the VIP section of Emo's Site currently and should be made available to anyone on their Site soon.
Doug,

I read your thoughts on Emo's site and considering I have a very similar sub, Hsu VTF 3.2, to your Outlaw LMF-1 I was wondering if you could post a few other thoughts comparing the two. I have a family room with cathedral ceilings that is open to the kitchen and entry-way so am curious to hear a little more how the DSA-1 performed.

Currently I am debating between a pair of MFW-15's for $998 plus shipping and maybe adding a BFD. Or the Emotiva DSA-1 for $999 plus shipping.

My guess would be the MFW's would be better a pressurizing a room, giving me that "slam" for movies, and playing at higher SPLs.
But on the flip side, it would cost a little more for the MFW's, I'm not just after hight SPLs, and the DSA-1 definitely would win the WAF category...decisions...decisions.
 
Doug917

Doug917

Full Audioholic
I can't say enough good stuff about the DSA-1 package. After hearing a sealed sub, I will never be satisfied with a ported one. The sealed subs from Emotiva are just so controlled and sound so clean. Dan had a pretty big room (at least 2-3 times the volume of my room) and the sub system had no problem whatsoever pressurizing the room. Also, keep in mind the package I saw had the original prototype amp and the one that will ship with the actual package will have quite a bit more power.

There is also no boominess like I sometimes get with the LFM-1. It is actually quite seductive and just blends into the entire mix beautifully, yet the system can get aggressive when need be, but it still does this with more control than I have ever heard in a sub before. I am just counting the days before I can put this package in my setup. I will be selling my LFM-1 and SMS-1 to upgrade to the DSA-1 package.
 
Soundman

Soundman

Audioholic Field Marshall
Gene,



I find that a personally insulting and rather "bold" statement to make, especially considering you have zero experience with our HTM-200 SE.

Regarding cabinet materials:

Our HTM-200 has used 5/8" MDF since its introduction 9 years ago.

Regarding drivers:

The woofers we use are also a composite cone material (custom to Ascend), CAST aluminum frame and are in a league of their own for a 4" woofer. Yes, the Emotiva woofers are larger. Our HTM-200 is slightly less than half the size of the ERM-1, as this was the plan for this speaker.

Regarding our tweeters:

The world-class engineers at SEAS of Norway (some of the finest and most respected in the world) would be extremely insulted if they read your post, they worked on our tweeter for well over a year (also custom to Ascend)... And, if I may be so bold to say, few tweeters -if any- in this tweeter class (compact soft-dome neo) hold a candle to what we use in our HTM-200 SE.

Nothing against the fine folks at Emo, I recommend their electronics nearly every day, but your statement is based on either hearsay or your own opinion and lacks any factual data to warrant such a bold statement.


Here is a picture of the HTM-200 SE woofer: http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showpost.php?p=25714&postcount=61

Here is a picture and info about our SE tweeter, being used in our HTM-200 SE
http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/showpost.php?p=14293&postcount=1

And finally, here is a pic of the speakers themselves:

http://swbg1.tripod.com/200se_front.jpg
WOW! Don't mess with Dave's Babies. He will throw down some serious smack!! :D
 

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