if you are looking for towers and a center you are probably not looking for audiophile quality. The JBL Stage A170 with A135c is in the same price range and would likely have a better WAF. Also since the Emotiva's are 4ohm, they will likely need a separate power amp to go with that Onkyo?
I got a pair of cherry appearance Klipsch RP280 FA for $640 and a Definitive Technology Pro Center 1000 for about $100 as part of a Def Tech package and everything sounds great together to me anyway.
@@Daminlk I’ve been powering them off the onkyo and my 50 watt per channel Marantz NR1711. But what the hell do I know. I’ve only reviewed every speaker that Emotiva makes.
@@cheapaudioman didn't mean to sound like I was doubting you. was asking the question since some entry/mid grade receivers say only L and R can be 4ohm. but looks like this Onkyo has a good power supply
@@alvarsantini2653 I really like it. Can get a little bright up top on some things (not often), but overall, clear and detailed 👌 worth every penny to me.
@@bacnguyen8352 I have since swapped to elac debut reference's, so I could pass my emotivas to my mom, but it has been a great experience with everything I've tried from Emotiva. I would still recommend those in a 3.1. That tweeter is something special, imo. I'm not as impressed with the highs from the elacs, though they are still pleasing enough.
Been happy with my Emotiva atmos speakers and xpa3 amp. Always wanted to try these in place of my klipsch rp280f and 504c front stage. Great review as always!
Another great video ... I just purchased the T1+' for my office stereo, looking forward to it. Also, GREAT comment on picking the best center channel speaker for your multi-channel system, even if it doesn't match your L/R. Your right, people get "bent" if you mention that, but it doesn't really matter in my years in this Home Theater / 2-channel hobby. I've never sat in my Home Theater and thought to myself, man, I wish the L/C/R were timbre matched ... not once. I know some high-end theater installers that start selecting speakers with the center channel, get the best one you can afford as it's the most important speaker in your multi-channel system. Thanks again ... always enjoy your videos.
Infinity 3-way towers in either a five or six regularly come down from five and six hundred each to $150 and $200 regularly. They’re awesome. Infinity is way overlooked at the budget level. I prefer the six inch towers to my wharfedale 4.3’s for home theater. The 4.3’s carry music duty instead.
Infinity and Yamaha were my first set of speakers. I also got a large set of Acoustic Researches early on. They are worth more today then when I bought them...lol I love Infinity for Car Audio. Their Kappa and Kappa Perfect line are my favorite.
Randy, I really enjoy your content and your presentation! Im hoping one of your next videos can be sponsored by the movie Halloween 3, the most underrated Halloween Movie! Keep up the great work man also waiting for your next podcast w/ Ron!
I need a larger center for my surround. My fronts are 95db and my centers are like 86db. It is very hard to match them up. I have to crank the center cannel up several db and when I do it starts sounding hollow. I saw their new center, it's huge. I aint trying to break the bank on a center, I only use them for movies.
Great review as usual. How would you consider T1+ with Evo 4.3 or T2+ with 4.4? Or even B with 4.2? Because price of Evo towers in here is just 15-20% higher than equivalent Emotiva.
I have the T2+s in a 12 x 18 room. It has a big impressive sound, but the bass is sometimes too prominent and hard-hitting. This sounds fine with rock, but with tone controls I tune the bass down a few dbs for a better balance with jazz and other music. I have a subwoofer in the room, but I never use it with the T2+s!
I'm a bit confused about calling these "budget" speakers... I've never heard anything bad about them but everything I have read was 4 ohm speakers will require a way more expensive receiver and/or a separate amp, which is exactly what us budget guys don't want to do. I have the understanding if you are just going to run a receiver with no amp stick with higher sensitivity speakers? I bought some used stuff and seems to have worked out great... Denon X3500H & and some Klipsch towers that are like 15yrs old... They are 8ohm and like 98db sensitivity? I just watched a 3yr old Audioholics video where Gene was talking about you need to spend a lot of money to get a good reciever to drive 4ohm speakers. Maybe this only matters if you try and go very loud?
As always it seems too many companies are making 3 and 4 way towers and still crossing over the tweeter in the vocal range. Cross over to the tweeter higher, use an extended range driver for the entire vocal region, and THEN cross to the tweet.
I wonder how the Emotiva t1+ would be against the JBL studio 580? I own the 580 and happy with them, honestly. Like happy enough I don't really feel a need for anything else but...I kinda just want the Emotivas. 😂 I'd most likely be keeping them both in different rooms.
I bought these the T1+ with the C1+ after seeing this video with 5 year warranty. I had the Mordaunt shorts as floor standing and fosgate fa62.0 . Should have stuck to them. For the sake of an upgrade and lots of good things i heard from cheapaudioman i bought them. I paired the 3 with anthem 740 receiver. Watched movies for 3 months wasn't blown away with the sound at all. But when one pays one justifies. 3 months down all the mid range drivers stopped working, the ribbon tweeters of the T1+ became back. Dealer says no warranty and they are over driven and the replacement and repair will cost me 735$s. I had not over driven them, did see a movie loud but not loud enough to blow the drivers. The main distributor who is new says they had not sold these to the dealer , dealer says they were bought from the previous distributor. Possible to get the replacement drivers from Parts- express. They are refusing to even tell me the specs of the drivers that are blown. Once repaired will install them in my office replacing my 5 year old locally made speakers.
What amp from emotiva would pair best with these 3? What would be everything I would need to build a full system if I buy all emotiva? Amp, processor... What are your thoughts Mr. CAM
Are there any speakers (tower) that are recommended that can be placed a few inches from the wall? I need to mount some speakers in the corner of a room and need something that won't sound awful.
Thank you for the review! I recently "auditioned" the Martin Logan 40i towers and matching center at Best Buy. Even in that environment I was impressed with the crisp highs and clear midrange. To anyone who might know, do these Emotivas compare?
@@ufarkingicehole Thanks for the reply; no but took a chance and purchased the Emotiva T1+ towers, C2+ center, B1+ bookshelves and A1 heights. Big upgrade in sound and I do believe they compare in my room, glad I did!
In anyone's opinion that cares to comment, how different are these emotivas' compared to the Elac Debut F6 ( The original, not 2.0).? Thank you Thank you in advance. :-)
I thought I had this down, but I guess not. Four active drivers is a three way? Is that only because the two larger drivers are the same size? And they are both active, correct? 🤷🏻♂️
Two woofers are basically acting as one driver and receiving the same frequencies. If they handled 4 different frequency bands it would be considered a 4 way speaker. Woofers in parallel are often used to improve efficiency and just make the overall package smaller while still moving a lot of air if that makes sense
You mention the C1+ at the begging but when you talk about Bass/Midrange/Treble you only said T1, T1 but never mentioned the C1+ not even in final thoughs, now to make it short does the C1+ sounds like the tower? even if they have smaller Drivers? Does it have and ok base? how about the mids or treble are they like the T1+?
@@cheapaudioman I just got the new POLK ES30 Amazon put it on special for $175 for like a week and then i saw this video xD still was a good price but dying to compare C1+ to the ES30
Dude, I dunno how you do it, but every review you do is both super entertaining and extremely informative. Can't wait for your next review sponsored by Soft Sound Audiophile-grade beauty products!
This. It's the Sith Audio. Awesome audio review sauce, by Sith Audio. When you need awesome, in a sauce. Just smear it all over your UA-cam channel. Awesome audio review sauce, by Sith Audio.
Great review. Your pinned comment is almost my setup. Onkyo TX-NR676 just the older version and I'm running Emotiva T1+ speakers and Emotiva C2+ center channel. I've been super impressed with the sound quality. I agree highly recommended.
I have the T1+ towers but I opted for the C2+ center to go with them. Emotiva told me that the C2+ would pair well with the T1+ towers. They weren't wrong. Sounds damned good.
I have the T1+s, and I agree; I've found that the center image gets even stronger when they're facing nearly forward with only very little toe-in. All rooms are different of course. The three-way design with that dedicated midrange really does something though. I have the B1+ also, and the T1's vocal imaging is definitely a step up. The bass response is noticeably more extended as well, which I appreciate. Some manufacturers' towers don't really add appreciable bass extension compared to their bookshelf equivalents. Definitely keeping the B1s around to be rear surrounds though in case I ever have space to do 5-channel.
Love my Emotiva 3.2 set up. Emotiva T-Zero towers Emotiva C-1+ center Emotiva SE8 subs x2 Yamaha tsr-700 (rx-v6a) avr Looking to add a pair Emotiva A1 To finish my living room set up at 3.2.2 DFW guy here. 👋
As of today I own the T1+ and C1+. I have an outlaw 5000 powering them from a Denon x3200. Honestly I think the x3200 could have done it fine. I agree with your assessment on placement of the T1. I don’t know whether I should thank you for the accurate and honest translation of listening impressions or curse you for all the money you’ve gotten me to spend over the last 6 months. Thank you for bringing me aural joy.
@@alvarsantini2653 They sound the same as in they have the same timbre. But they don’t have the same frequency response. When I ran room EQ the Denon set the T1+ to full range/crossover at 40hertz. It set the C1+ to 80 hertz. It’s kind of hard to compare them, because they really do two different things. When in 5.1 the sound is slightly more forward than when run in 2 channel. The center does a really good job with clarity and highs. The T1+ in stereo sound fuller/fatter than the 5.1 where the C1+ is more featured. Hope that helps
They went from $699 to $799, now $899. It took me so long and many many months of research to finally narrow my decision down to these (I even watched this video back when it was "newer") but when they were $699, I didn't have the money. Now at $200 more a pair......ahh, Idk.
i actually ordered these, the C2, B1, and the A2s back in December when Emotiva was offering 20% off if you spent $2k…im happy with all of these speakers…they sound great and they’re really stylish and well built…they also offer a payment plan if that helps…much respect
Well they are on sale for $500 right now... I'm a bit confused about calling these "budget" speakers though... I've never heard anything bad about them but everything I have read was 4 ohm speakers will require a way more expensive receiver and/or a separate amp, which is exactly what us budget guys don't want to do.
That’s super Duper funny the way you’re trying to go through all your sponsors and credits LOL amazing video so all three of these or a four on speaker so I would need a pretty good amp to drive them?
Mr. Cheapaudio man, you're reeeaaallly starting to piss me off! I just spent gobs of money on these two speakers this week! (I'm a poor man). This time I found out I can use the link here...so I did, for the T1+ speakers. Sorry about not using link for C1+...didn't know I could do that. I'm old, cut me some slack. Great reviews. Thank you for sharing your talent and experience. Keep it up. If you see an old guy under the freeway overpass, in a tent, with three Emotiva speakers...that's me.
I'm liking that power supply on the Onkyo! Just wish it had preouts for at least the front soundstage and the ability to turn off the internal amps when using them.
I have a pair of Elac Reference towers (699ea) sitting next to my Emotiva T1+s (699pr) for comparison. While the Elacs are good the Emotiva's are even better in my opinion The highs are comparable on both however I prefer the ribbons on the Emotiva's. The mids are more laid back on the Elacs while the mids seem a bit forward on the Emotiva's with the vocals clear,warm and smooth. The mid and bass on the Emotiva's shine compared to the Elacs., All running with a Denon x4400h for pre and powered by an Anthem 30 for my front stage.
I have since then replaced my definitive 8040 center with the Elac C2+ and what a difference, but again this center is huge. But now the dialog is much cleaner and fuller.
I've always hated center channels. I always use a phantom center. My old mains were kirksaeter speakers from 1975 hard to match a speaker like that. Now I'm running xls encores . Maybe I will try a center one day again.
Emotiva is the ugly duckling that doesn't get the loving it deserves. So glad you mentioned bad audio mixes of movie soundtracks through streaming services. I often have to crank the volume just to understand the dialog, then when there's an explosion or something else it blows me out of the room. My older Pioneer receiver doesn't let me fine tune the center channel. Emotiva is on my upgrade wishlist.
youtube must do the same thing because i always listen thru a 5.1 system and i always have to turn it down every time the music comes in for 'let's talk about treble' and 'let's talk about bass'. on some channels i just have to tell them 'please download audacity and normalise the audio'! i particularly hate loud intros/outros and whisper-quiet dialogue in between. i have over-sensitive housemates and i also just like level audio. the struggle is real.
Some amusing songs you can hear on UA-cam. The lyrics can also be easily looked up. *Nobody-from the album Jazz by Ry Cooder *Twisted-Joni Mitchell from the album Court & Spark *A Boy Named Sue-Johnny Cash *What's He Building?-Tom Waits *Shaving Cream-Benny Bell
Randy, Thanks for the in-depth review on these speakers. It was plenty interesting. I have been eyeing them right up until I inherited a pair of JBL Century L100s. Yeah. They are really old but have low hours and sound amazing. Im putting together a home theater. should i even use these for that? I was wondering if you feel they would work for a home theater set up, would the Emotiva C1 be a decent center channel... or maybe the Polk ES35? Anyway, i have watched enough of your videos this week that Im going to support your work on Patrion. In the meantime have a cup of coffee on me. Cheers
Picked up for $449.00 today as I found these at a great price to add onto my system, going into rear surround position. I rarely buy "brand new", so good find.
I have a Polk Audio CS10 centre mated to a couple of Jamo E855 towers in my HT. They work really well together although not from the same manufacturer. The Polk is still available, the Jamos are 15 years or so old. You can get the CS10 on sale for $100 here in Canada. At that money, it's a bargain. I like the looks of the Emotiva products and they are well reviewed. Unfortunately, not directly available in Canada and so have to be ordered from the States which complicates things with shipping and import duties to consider. With exchange rates as well, prices on Emotiva products get pretty steep quite quickly which here in Canada which blunts their value proposition when compared to, say, Fluance which have comparable products.
Not too many centers in that $250 spot that come close to that. Only I can think of is the Polk Lsim 704c which is currently $250 on amazon but that's a discontinued speaker so who knows how long that will be available.
Randy thank you for reviewing these speakers in a manner that beginning audiophile can understand! Are you saying that emotiva is the way to go for towers in thos price range
Hey brother, been watching your channel consistently improve. You have a great no B.S. way of laying down your reviews. Keep it up. We need to see what kinds of decent sound options are available for average working class people. I definitely don't like the term audiophile, kind of cross references to audio insanity.( It's too costly to be an audiophile, lol)
Good review. On the cymbal question on the tweeter the impact happens in the midrange and the tweeter only handles harmonics. AMT’s might change the time domain between the midrange and tweeter. Certainly the hits are in the midrange domain so the crossover point might be wrong. We all think tweeters handle high frequencies and they do but it’s actually harmonics. Most instruments are well into the midrange.
Great info, which do you feel have the best sound stage horn loaded tweeters or ribbon tweeters for a wide variety of rock, jazz, progressive music in 2 channel
ribbons have a tendency to mess with the soundstage with certain frequencies. everything will be in place until there's a cymbal crash or something else and it will come forward for a moment. depends on the speaker and the room but as a rule of thumb they can both soundstage very well but a ribbon can, but not always, image strangely at certain frequencies in my experience.
I have the C1+ and it is a fantastic center channel speaker. I have four center channel speakers and the C1+ is by far the best of all of them. I am hoping to earn the $$ for T-Zero towers or B1+ bookshelf speakers soon. I dream of a complete Emotiva HT set-up!! But, for now I an running the C1+ between a pair of Sony SS-CS5 bookshelf speakers and the front stage is just fine. I also have an Emotiva SE8 Flex sub in the front and it works well, but a second one would be even better. Randy, When you talked about the dialog being hard to hear when only using only a right and left speaker while watching TV had the same problem. It was with my first AVR. Being a "NOOB" at the time I didn't know enough to turn off the center channel or set the unit for "stereo" output. I was dumb then and only a little less dumb now. Hehehe
Kevin, I'm debating my fronts as SSCS5 with C1+ Center channel...OR JBL Stage a130's and a125 Center. Have you compared the JBL center with the C1+? The JBL Center sounds "good" but I'm wondering how that C1+ would sound with either the Sony's OR the JBL's as fronts. Any suggestions?
@@garyhuber6325 Hi Gary, I'm so sorry to say that I have not heard the JBL speakers, but I have had my Sonys with my C1+ for over a year. I enjoyed that pairing just fine until I installed a pair of T-Zero+ towers. Having a tone matched front stage puts the spot light on the music/movie and the gear goes away. As good as the Sonys worked with the C1+ I have to recommend from now on that a matching front LCR is best at any decided budget. It sounds like you have the JBL center and I would get the A130 pair to go with it. However, If your goal, like mine, was to have an all Emotiva set-up, then the C1+ is a great place to start. Or, get the B1+ bookshelf or T-Zero towers first and leave out the center channel for now and be darn sure the center channel is turned off in the AVR or there will be next to zero dialog. I hope this helps and I'm glad to share my experiences.
I think for home theater the center channel really is the most important. I stop at 5.1 though. No room for 7.1, Atmos or anything that elaborate. Also the auto calibration on these HT receivers have gotten a lot better for setting things up.
I just wonder if either way I will need subwoofer for home theater setup then maybe instead of C1+ and T1+ I should get 3x B1+ and some better subwoofer? I wonder how it will compare.
This is not cheap i like 300 400 € on SPEAKERS end like 300 a 400 € on amplifier thats a littel bit max fore me stil like €1000. € is 10% more then dollar
Has anyone tried the T1+ with an amp like the SMSL DA-9 or AO200? I have a pair of T1+’s inbound and am a little worried I may need more power than the AO200 puts out. I will also have a powered sub at play. Any thoughts are appreciated.
So I have a stupid, impossible question...still with me? :) I can afford the Polk Reserve line. I want to replace my front stage. If you were me what makes more sense Polk or Emotiva? I listen to a fair amount of music also. I only ask because I'm cheap! Good Stuff!
Hi, building a system from scratch. With the T1+, what would be the “best” power source, knowing that I would later add a center, and eventually 1sub, so cost (and wife acceptance) is of concern. Any additional channels added to this would understandably also include an upgrade in the power source, many years later. Thank you
I have the C2+ and T2+ and they sound amazing. I am running them off of an Emotive BasX 7 channel connected to my Denon AVR-X3300. In stereo mode sitting at roughly ear level, I kept having to check to see if my center channel was playing. My kids said the same thing. I also have the E1+ surrounds and the Vaultas in ceiling for Atmos that I havent installed yet. I am very impressed with these so far, especially with the price.
hi,..great review....always love ur honest view of audio gear.....i was wondering have u ever review the retro pioneer Sp Fs51 LR tower speakers?,,,i heard so much praise among reviewers and those who has em,some even rank them as the undisputed champ in budget tower speakers.......i saw a local deal selling it here in malaysia...im really please to know your opinion and what do you think of it...Thank you,,,and rock On...
I paused and listened to The Rooster. The vocals were distinct during harmonies, and all was good with my Jamo's and life in general. Thank you for that Randy.
Hey Randy. Have you tried playing with your receivers dynamic range compression setting? This can tame those dynamic peaks and valleys in movies. I lord of the rings trilogy. Which goes from whispers to blasting in .5 seconds making you crap your pants. Ha.
Like listening to your points in your reviews. You stopped short on recommending the surround speakers to go with the C1+ and T1+. Would you go for the B1+?
Would u recommend these for a second set speakers for studio am looking for a good pair of speakers to add to my studio and they would fit in with my adam studio monitors
What is the Best Tower and Center Channel Under $1000???????
Emotiva T1+ bit.ly/37VDqlp
Emotiva C1+ bit.ly/3j1s85B
Onkyo TX-NR696 amzn.to/3j0fVhq
if you are looking for towers and a center you are probably not looking for audiophile quality. The JBL Stage A170 with A135c is in the same price range and would likely have a better WAF.
Also since the Emotiva's are 4ohm, they will likely need a separate power amp to go with that Onkyo?
I got a pair of cherry appearance Klipsch RP280 FA for $640 and a Definitive Technology Pro Center 1000 for about $100 as part of a Def Tech package and everything sounds great together to me anyway.
Jbl 590
@@Daminlk I’ve been powering them off the onkyo and my 50 watt per channel Marantz NR1711. But what the hell do I know. I’ve only reviewed every speaker that Emotiva makes.
@@cheapaudioman didn't mean to sound like I was doubting you. was asking the question since some entry/mid grade receivers say only L and R can be 4ohm. but looks like this Onkyo has a good power supply
I love my C1+, T0's, e2+ and se12. They all sound great together.
Good review Randy.
Hows you liking your C1+?
@@alvarsantini2653 I really like it. Can get a little bright up top on some things (not often), but overall, clear and detailed 👌 worth every penny to me.
@casey I'm thinking about the c1+ paired with the t0's for a 3.1 setup. do you still like your set up?
@@bacnguyen8352 I have since swapped to elac debut reference's, so I could pass my emotivas to my mom, but it has been a great experience with everything I've tried from Emotiva. I would still recommend those in a 3.1. That tweeter is something special, imo. I'm not as impressed with the highs from the elacs, though they are still pleasing enough.
I would love to see a side by side comparison of the C1+ and the C2+.
Got the t1+ refurbished on close out, great saving and already using for the past few days. $449.00 ✅
Been happy with my Emotiva atmos speakers and xpa3 amp. Always wanted to try these in place of my klipsch rp280f and 504c front stage. Great review as always!
So you like the emotiva Xpa3 + speakers over the klipsch rp line?
Another great video ... I just purchased the T1+' for my office stereo, looking forward to it. Also, GREAT comment on picking the best center channel speaker for your multi-channel system, even if it doesn't match your L/R. Your right, people get "bent" if you mention that, but it doesn't really matter in my years in this Home Theater / 2-channel hobby. I've never sat in my Home Theater and thought to myself, man, I wish the L/C/R were timbre matched ... not once. I know some high-end theater installers that start selecting speakers with the center channel, get the best one you can afford as it's the most important speaker in your multi-channel system. Thanks again ... always enjoy your videos.
Infinity 3-way towers in either a five or six regularly come down from five and six hundred each to $150 and $200 regularly. They’re awesome. Infinity is way overlooked at the budget level. I prefer the six inch towers to my wharfedale 4.3’s for home theater. The 4.3’s carry music duty instead.
Infinity and Yamaha were my first set of speakers. I also got a large set of Acoustic Researches early on. They are worth more today then when I bought them...lol I love Infinity for Car Audio. Their Kappa and Kappa Perfect line are my favorite.
...and the Infinity speakers sound great. The only problem is it looks like they are all discontinued.
Randy, I really enjoy your content and your presentation! Im hoping one of your next videos can be sponsored by the movie Halloween 3, the most underrated Halloween Movie! Keep up the great work man also waiting for your next podcast w/ Ron!
I need a larger center for my surround. My fronts are 95db and my centers are like 86db. It is very hard to match them up. I have to crank the center cannel up several db and when I do it starts sounding hollow. I saw their new center, it's huge. I aint trying to break the bank on a center, I only use them for movies.
I have my eyes set on this for a few days (vs DIY) :)
Great review as usual. How would you consider T1+ with Evo 4.3 or T2+ with 4.4? Or even B with 4.2? Because price of Evo towers in here is just 15-20% higher than equivalent Emotiva.
I have the T2+s in a 12 x 18 room. It has a big impressive sound, but the bass is sometimes too prominent and hard-hitting. This sounds fine with rock, but with tone controls I tune the bass down a few dbs for a better balance with jazz and other music. I have a subwoofer in the room, but I never use it with the T2+s!
I'm a bit confused about calling these "budget" speakers... I've never heard anything bad about them but everything I have read was 4 ohm speakers will require a way more expensive receiver and/or a separate amp, which is exactly what us budget guys don't want to do. I have the understanding if you are just going to run a receiver with no amp stick with higher sensitivity speakers? I bought some used stuff and seems to have worked out great... Denon X3500H & and some Klipsch towers that are like 15yrs old... They are 8ohm and like 98db sensitivity? I just watched a 3yr old Audioholics video where Gene was talking about you need to spend a lot of money to get a good reciever to drive 4ohm speakers. Maybe this only matters if you try and go very loud?
As always it seems too many companies are making 3 and 4 way towers and still crossing over the tweeter in the vocal range. Cross over to the tweeter higher, use an extended range driver for the entire vocal region, and THEN cross to the tweet.
These are 4 ohm though… can I run them with the Yamaha Rx-V4a which is 6 ohm rated ??
Awesome video!!
The reminder that the diaper should be "unused" is great advice! 🙂
I already liked you. Then you said you enjoy The West Wing.
I may be obsessed now 😁
These are now about 30% more expensive now, $900 per pair.
Nice Interview...... a bit WORDY! CCC Austin, TX
I wonder how the Emotiva t1+ would be against the JBL studio 580?
I own the 580 and happy with them, honestly. Like happy enough I don't really feel a need for anything else but...I kinda just want the Emotivas. 😂 I'd most likely be keeping them both in different rooms.
I bought these the T1+ with the C1+ after seeing this video with 5 year warranty.
I had the Mordaunt shorts as floor standing and fosgate fa62.0 .
Should have stuck to them. For the sake of an upgrade and lots of good things i heard from cheapaudioman i bought them.
I paired the 3 with anthem 740 receiver. Watched movies for 3 months wasn't blown away with the sound at all. But when one pays one justifies. 3 months down all the mid range drivers stopped working, the ribbon tweeters of the T1+ became back.
Dealer says no warranty and they are over driven and the replacement and repair will cost me 735$s. I had not over driven them, did see a movie loud but not loud enough to blow the drivers.
The main distributor who is new says they had not sold these to the dealer , dealer says they were bought from the previous distributor.
Possible to get the replacement drivers from Parts- express. They are refusing to even tell me the specs of the drivers that are blown.
Once repaired will install them in my office replacing my 5 year old locally made speakers.
Emotiva sells direct only. You likely got a used pair.
One always needs a sub, two of them actually 😁😁
What amp from emotiva would pair best with these 3?
What would be everything I would need to build a full system if I buy all emotiva? Amp, processor... What are your thoughts Mr. CAM
Dear teacher, what would you choose to set up a good Atmos Home Theater that also has music listening capabilities? Emotiva or Elac Debut 2.0?
Are there any speakers (tower) that are recommended that can be placed a few inches from the wall? I need to mount some speakers in the corner of a room and need something that won't sound awful.
Where do you get audiophile diapers and what brand sounds the best?
How do these speakers compare with Polk’s reserve series?
Thank you for the review!
I recently "auditioned" the Martin Logan 40i towers and matching center at Best Buy. Even in that environment I was impressed with the crisp highs and clear midrange.
To anyone who might know, do these Emotivas compare?
Did you ever get an answer?
@@ufarkingicehole Thanks for the reply; no but took a chance and purchased the Emotiva T1+ towers, C2+ center, B1+ bookshelves and A1 heights. Big upgrade in sound and I do believe they compare in my room, glad I did!
Wot value for money power amp do u recommend pairing d emo?
Nice review. Can you tell me where these are manufactured? Sticker on the back is hard to read but looks like China.
China, sadly. Sure would be great if they were made in the USA for the price and quality.
They are made in Indiana USA
Oh, unused diaper. OOPS!
In anyone's opinion that cares to comment, how different are these emotivas' compared to the Elac Debut F6 ( The original, not 2.0).? Thank you Thank you in advance. :-)
I thought I had this down, but I guess not. Four active drivers is a three way? Is that only because the two larger drivers are the same size? And they are both active, correct? 🤷🏻♂️
Two woofers are basically acting as one driver and receiving the same frequencies. If they handled 4 different frequency bands it would be considered a 4 way speaker. Woofers in parallel are often used to improve efficiency and just make the overall package smaller while still moving a lot of air if that makes sense
@@cheapaudioman Yes!! Thank you so much! I was missing the frequency part! Thank you Randy!
@@cheapaudioman And hence the need for a phase plug? Keeps them in our out? Firing together?
I wanted to buy the emotional T2 + in Europe, but it is impossible. :(
Yeah but what do you REALLY think about these speakers. You were pretty ambiguous and coy with your opinions.
So jealous of your American prices, in europe they are $1283
You mention the C1+ at the begging but when you talk about Bass/Midrange/Treble you only said T1, T1 but never mentioned the C1+ not even in final thoughs, now to make it short does the C1+ sounds like the tower? even if they have smaller Drivers? Does it have and ok base? how about the mids or treble are they like the T1+?
C1+ is a sealed design and sounds great for a center. Crystal clear dialogue. Bass down to maybe 70hz
@@cheapaudioman I just got the new POLK ES30 Amazon put it on special for $175 for like a week and then i saw this video xD still was a good price but dying to compare C1+ to the ES30
If I watch reruns of your vids am I a fan or a groupy lmaro
Dude, I dunno how you do it, but every review you do is both super entertaining and extremely informative. Can't wait for your next review sponsored by Soft Sound Audiophile-grade beauty products!
This.
It's the Sith Audio.
Awesome audio review sauce, by Sith Audio. When you need awesome, in a sauce. Just smear it all over your UA-cam channel. Awesome audio review sauce, by Sith Audio.
👌✌️
Great review. Your pinned comment is almost my setup. Onkyo TX-NR676 just the older version and I'm running Emotiva T1+ speakers and Emotiva C2+ center channel. I've been super impressed with the sound quality. I agree highly recommended.
Man, those must be some magical speakers!!! I know when you get excited about a product that it is something special!
Sir, I agree. 100%
I have the T1+ towers but I opted for the C2+ center to go with them. Emotiva told me that the C2+ would pair well with the T1+ towers. They weren't wrong. Sounds damned good.
I'd love to see a head-to-head between the T1+/B1+ and the Monoprice/Monolith T6/B6 series...very nice pricing (especially on the bookshelf). Thanks.
I tried the Falcon Chickenhawk Audiophile lightbulbs last year, I still prefer my lightbulbs from Sith Audio.
Well obviously you need a $3,500 power conditioner and oxygen free wiring right to the pole.
I have the T1+s, and I agree; I've found that the center image gets even stronger when they're facing nearly forward with only very little toe-in. All rooms are different of course. The three-way design with that dedicated midrange really does something though. I have the B1+ also, and the T1's vocal imaging is definitely a step up. The bass response is noticeably more extended as well, which I appreciate. Some manufacturers' towers don't really add appreciable bass extension compared to their bookshelf equivalents. Definitely keeping the B1s around to be rear surrounds though in case I ever have space to do 5-channel.
Have the same plan in the future when i want to/can spend the monry to buy the towers
"Plug the port"??? - you Navy guys, I swear...
We need an Emotiva vs Fluance vs Jamo ‘old school’ shootout. Great review
Emotiva would win
Love my Emotiva 3.2 set up.
Emotiva T-Zero towers
Emotiva C-1+ center
Emotiva SE8 subs x2
Yamaha tsr-700 (rx-v6a) avr
Looking to add a pair Emotiva A1
To finish my living room set up at 3.2.2
DFW guy here. 👋
howdy from Austin! you still like your emotiva set up? I'm thinking thinking about T0's and C1+ for a 3.1 set up
@@bacnguyen8352 yes I do and still in love with them.
👍🏽 Please more H.T. reviews !
As of today I own the T1+ and C1+. I have an outlaw 5000 powering them from a Denon x3200. Honestly I think the x3200 could have done it fine. I agree with your assessment on placement of the T1. I don’t know whether I should thank you for the accurate and honest translation of listening impressions or curse you for all the money you’ve gotten me to spend over the last 6 months. Thank you for bringing me aural joy.
He didn't mention anything about the C1+ not bass/midrange/treble does that mean it sounds like the T1+ even with smaller drivers?
@@alvarsantini2653 They sound the same as in they have the same timbre. But they don’t have the same frequency response. When I ran room EQ the Denon set the T1+ to full range/crossover at 40hertz. It set the C1+ to 80 hertz. It’s kind of hard to compare them, because they really do two different things. When in 5.1 the sound is slightly more forward than when run in 2 channel. The center does a really good job with clarity and highs. The T1+ in stereo sound fuller/fatter than the 5.1 where the C1+ is more featured. Hope that helps
Glad to hear you are doing some home theater videos. I love music and home theater about 50/50 so I need a system that does both.
Great, now I'm going to get another email from Emotiva telling me about this review lol.😄
They went from $699 to $799, now $899. It took me so long and many many months of research to finally narrow my decision down to these (I even watched this video back when it was "newer") but when they were $699, I didn't have the money. Now at $200 more a pair......ahh, Idk.
i actually ordered these, the C2, B1, and the A2s back in December when Emotiva was offering 20% off if you spent $2k…im happy with all of these speakers…they sound great and they’re really stylish and well built…they also offer a payment plan if that helps…much respect
Well they are on sale for $500 right now... I'm a bit confused about calling these "budget" speakers though... I've never heard anything bad about them but everything I have read was 4 ohm speakers will require a way more expensive receiver and/or a separate amp, which is exactly what us budget guys don't want to do.
That’s super Duper funny the way you’re trying to go through all your sponsors and credits LOL amazing video so all three of these or a four on speaker so I would need a pretty good amp to drive them?
Mr. Cheapaudio man, you're reeeaaallly starting to piss me off! I just spent gobs of money on these two speakers this week! (I'm a poor man). This time I found out I can use the link here...so I did, for the T1+ speakers. Sorry about not using link for C1+...didn't know I could do that. I'm old, cut me some slack. Great reviews. Thank you for sharing your talent and experience. Keep it up. If you see an old guy under the freeway overpass, in a tent, with three Emotiva speakers...that's me.
I'm liking that power supply on the Onkyo! Just wish it had preouts for at least the front soundstage and the ability to turn off the internal amps when using them.
These are 900 now :( a little too rich for my blood.
This man speaks plain and true, while being naturally entertaining.
Thank you sir.
I have a pair of Elac Reference towers (699ea) sitting next to my Emotiva T1+s (699pr) for comparison.
While the Elacs are good the Emotiva's are even better in my opinion
The highs are comparable on both however I prefer the ribbons on the Emotiva's.
The mids are more laid back on the Elacs while the mids seem a bit
forward on the Emotiva's with the vocals clear,warm and smooth.
The mid and bass on the Emotiva's shine compared to the Elacs.,
All running with a Denon x4400h for pre and powered by an Anthem 30 for my front stage.
hey which Elacs? I have uf52s so I'm curious about your point of reference.
Uni Fi Reference UFR 52
I have since then replaced my definitive 8040 center with the Elac C2+ and what a difference, but again this center is huge.
But now the dialog is much cleaner and fuller.
I've always hated center channels. I always use a phantom center. My old mains were kirksaeter speakers from 1975 hard to match a speaker like that. Now I'm running xls encores . Maybe I will try a center one day again.
36k plus subscribers? Congrats Randy! Hardest working man in cheap audio!
Finally a reviewer who sees the awesome benefits of speakers that represent encroaching robots well, lmao, u-d-man!!
Emotiva is the ugly duckling that doesn't get the loving it deserves. So glad you mentioned bad audio mixes of movie soundtracks through streaming services. I often have to crank the volume just to understand the dialog, then when there's an explosion or something else it blows me out of the room. My older Pioneer receiver doesn't let me fine tune the center channel. Emotiva is on my upgrade wishlist.
youtube must do the same thing because i always listen thru a 5.1 system and i always have to turn it down every time the music comes in for 'let's talk about treble' and 'let's talk about bass'. on some channels i just have to tell them 'please download audacity and normalise the audio'! i particularly hate loud intros/outros and whisper-quiet dialogue in between. i have over-sensitive housemates and i also just like level audio. the struggle is real.
Some amusing songs you can hear on UA-cam. The lyrics can also be easily looked up.
*Nobody-from the album Jazz by Ry Cooder
*Twisted-Joni Mitchell from the album Court & Spark
*A Boy Named Sue-Johnny Cash
*What's He Building?-Tom Waits
*Shaving Cream-Benny Bell
Randy, Thanks for the in-depth review on these speakers. It was plenty interesting. I have been eyeing them right up until I inherited a pair of JBL Century L100s. Yeah. They are really old but have low hours and sound amazing. Im putting together a home theater. should i even use these for that? I was wondering if you feel they would work for a home theater set up, would the Emotiva C1 be a decent center channel... or maybe the Polk ES35? Anyway, i have watched enough of your videos this week that Im going to support your work on Patrion. In the meantime have a cup of coffee on me. Cheers
Picked up for $449.00 today as I found these at a great price to add onto my system, going into rear surround position. I rarely buy "brand new", so good find.
I have a Polk Audio CS10 centre mated to a couple of Jamo E855 towers in my HT. They work really well together although not from the same manufacturer. The Polk is still available, the Jamos are 15 years or so old. You can get the CS10 on sale for $100 here in Canada. At that money, it's a bargain. I like the looks of the Emotiva products and they are well reviewed. Unfortunately, not directly available in Canada and so have to be ordered from the States which complicates things with shipping and import duties to consider. With exchange rates as well, prices on Emotiva products get pretty steep quite quickly which here in Canada which blunts their value proposition when compared to, say, Fluance which have comparable products.
1200€ for the T1+ in my European country :-\
Not too many centers in that $250 spot that come close to that. Only I can think of is the Polk Lsim 704c which is currently $250 on amazon but that's a discontinued speaker so who knows how long that will be available.
Randy thank you for reviewing these speakers in a manner that beginning audiophile can understand! Are you saying that emotiva is the way to go for towers in thos price range
Hey brother, been watching your channel consistently improve. You have a great no B.S. way of laying down your reviews. Keep it up.
We need to see what kinds of decent sound options are available for average working class people.
I definitely don't like the term audiophile, kind of cross references to audio insanity.( It's too costly to be an audiophile, lol)
Once you have a center it’s the most important speaker. Please try the Zeos test of listening to 5min of a movie with your L&R mains unplugged.
Good review. On the cymbal question on the tweeter the impact happens in the midrange and the tweeter only handles harmonics. AMT’s might change the time domain between the midrange and tweeter. Certainly the hits are in the midrange domain so the crossover point might be wrong. We all think tweeters handle high frequencies and they do but it’s actually harmonics. Most instruments are well into the midrange.
Do you think the T1+ is worth $500 more than the Tzero as they are priced today if you already have a solid subwoofer?
Great question. I'd love ro hear an answer to this.
Yea me too
37 Hz is *not* "low bass." If that's the best this system can do, then it needs a subwoofer.
Great info, which do you feel have the best sound stage horn loaded tweeters or ribbon tweeters for a wide variety of rock, jazz, progressive music in 2 channel
ribbons have a tendency to mess with the soundstage with certain frequencies. everything will be in place until there's a cymbal crash or something else and it will come forward for a moment. depends on the speaker and the room but as a rule of thumb they can both soundstage very well but a ribbon can, but not always, image strangely at certain frequencies in my experience.
I have the C1+ and it is a fantastic center channel speaker. I have four center channel speakers and the C1+ is by far the best of all of them. I am hoping to earn the $$ for T-Zero towers or B1+ bookshelf speakers soon. I dream of a complete Emotiva HT set-up!! But, for now I an running the C1+ between a pair of Sony SS-CS5 bookshelf speakers and the front stage is just fine. I also have an Emotiva SE8 Flex sub in the front and it works well, but a second one would be even better.
Randy, When you talked about the dialog being hard to hear when only using only a right and left speaker while watching TV had the same problem. It was with my first AVR. Being a "NOOB" at the time I didn't know enough to turn off the center channel or set the unit for "stereo" output. I was dumb then and only a little less dumb now. Hehehe
Kevin, I'm debating my fronts as SSCS5 with C1+ Center channel...OR JBL Stage a130's and a125 Center. Have you compared the JBL center with the C1+? The JBL Center sounds "good" but I'm wondering how that C1+ would sound with either the Sony's OR the JBL's as fronts. Any suggestions?
@@garyhuber6325 Hi Gary, I'm so sorry to say that I have not heard the JBL speakers, but I have had my Sonys with my C1+ for over a year. I enjoyed that pairing just fine until I installed a pair of T-Zero+ towers. Having a tone matched front stage puts the spot light on the music/movie and the gear goes away. As good as the Sonys worked with the C1+ I have to recommend from now on that a matching front LCR is best at any decided budget. It sounds like you have the JBL center and I would get the A130 pair to go with it. However, If your goal, like mine, was to have an all Emotiva set-up, then the C1+ is a great place to start. Or, get the B1+ bookshelf or T-Zero towers first and leave out the center channel for now and be darn sure the center channel is turned off in the AVR or there will be next to zero dialog. I hope this helps and I'm glad to share my experiences.
For home audio, is the T1 worth the upcharge from the T0?
I think for home theater the center channel really is the most important. I stop at 5.1 though. No room for 7.1, Atmos or anything that elaborate.
Also the auto calibration on these HT receivers have gotten a lot better for setting things up.
I have had a pair of the T1+ speakers, and C1+ for about a year and a half now. Just love them!
Did they start to sound warmer the more they run in.
How do we know if harshness and boominess are an amp or speaker issue?
iis denon avr-s760h enough ro run these?
I just wonder if either way I will need subwoofer for home theater setup then maybe instead of C1+ and T1+ I should get 3x B1+ and some better subwoofer? I wonder how it will compare.
This is not cheap i like 300 400 € on SPEAKERS end like 300 a 400 € on amplifier thats a littel bit max fore me stil like €1000. € is 10% more then dollar
Randy, have you heard the JBL Studio 590's? I'm just wondering your opinion of the JBL'S vs these Emotiva's of the larger T2+. Thanks.
Has anyone tried the T1+ with an amp like the SMSL DA-9 or AO200? I have a pair of T1+’s inbound and am a little worried I may need more power than the AO200 puts out. I will also have a powered sub at play. Any thoughts are appreciated.
So I have a stupid, impossible question...still with me? :) I can afford the Polk Reserve line. I want to replace my front stage. If you were me what makes more sense Polk or Emotiva? I listen to a fair amount of music also. I only ask because I'm cheap! Good Stuff!
Hi, building a system from scratch. With the T1+, what would be the “best” power source, knowing that I would later add a center, and eventually 1sub, so cost (and wife acceptance) is of concern. Any additional channels added to this would understandably also include an upgrade in the power source, many years later.
Thank you
I have the C2+ and T2+ and they sound amazing. I am running them off of an Emotive BasX 7 channel connected to my Denon AVR-X3300. In stereo mode sitting at roughly ear level, I kept having to check to see if my center channel was playing. My kids said the same thing. I also have the E1+ surrounds and the Vaultas in ceiling for Atmos that I havent installed yet. I am very impressed with these so far, especially with the price.
hi,..great review....always love ur honest view of audio gear.....i was wondering have u ever review the retro pioneer Sp Fs51 LR tower speakers?,,,i heard so much praise among reviewers and those who has em,some even rank them as the undisputed champ in budget tower speakers.......i saw a local deal selling it here in malaysia...im really please to know your opinion and what do you think of it...Thank you,,,and rock On...
I paused and listened to The Rooster.
The vocals were distinct during harmonies, and all was good with my Jamo's and life in general.
Thank you for that Randy.
Hey Randy. Have you tried playing with your receivers dynamic range compression setting? This can tame those dynamic peaks and valleys in movies. I lord of the rings trilogy. Which goes from whispers to blasting in .5 seconds making you crap your pants. Ha.
“Mess my trousers” LOL
I would’ve loved these but I don’t think my Dennon S960 could handle them in a 5.1.4
How would these speakers compare to Dali Opticons and Monitor Audio Silvers. Thank you.
Humans are geared towards the human voice. Get that right and everything else falls into place
Hey Randy, do you think there are DIY kits that will get you better results for under 1000?
Like listening to your points in your reviews. You stopped short on recommending the surround speakers to go with the C1+ and T1+. Would you go for the B1+?
Would u recommend these for a second set speakers for studio am looking for a good pair of speakers to add to my studio and they would fit in with my adam studio monitors