I’ve always suggested ELAC bookshelf speakers to friends, but that might be changing thanks to the Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ speakers.
I live in Nashville and buy a lot of audio gear, both new and vintage. During the pandemic I decided to buy a new amp and bookshelf speakers from Emotiva.
Emotiva is located in Franklin, TN, just about 40 miles from where I live. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the company the past few years, but haven’t purchased any of their products.
During the holiday season, my wife and I decided to remodel our living room instead of buying each other gifts we really didn’t need. We moved into our house six years ago and still hadn’t painted the walls or hung any of our framed concert posters. I had an old entertainment center that held my vintage stereo components along with the flat screen TV sitting on top. I wanted to mount the TV on the wall and make room for more stereo components on the shelf underneath.
I thought this would be a good time to introduce new pieces of gear into my stereo system and Emotiva seemed the right company to try out after reading many positive reviews and being impressed with their affordable prices.
My Stereo System
My current stereo system includes a mix of new and vintage components.
First, my turntable is a vintage Pioneer PL-560 that I bought several years ago and use daily. At the beginning of the year, I installed an Audio Technica AT-VM95SH shibata stylus on the turntable.
Next, the very first piece of vintage audio gear I purchased was a Marantz 2270 receiver. I bought the receiver when we moved into our house six years ago. Since then, the left channel on the amp board is producing very weak audio which probably means I need the amp boards rebuilt, a common issue with these 22XX models.
I put the Marantz away for awhile, using a Harman Kardon HK 430 receiver, but decided to buy an Emotiva Bas-X 100 amplifier and use the Marantz as a preamp only.
So my current set up has the Emotiva B1+ speakers powered by Emotiva’s Bas-X 100 amp while my audio sources run through the Marantz 2270 preamp.
Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Design
I watched YouTube reviews of the Emotiva speakers and a few of the reviewers were not fans of the sharp edges on the upper right and left hand corners of the speakers.
Personally, I think the edges give the speakers a more dramatic effect compared to the regular box styled speakers I’ve been buying my entire life. Honestly, the edges aren’t that noticeable when sitting across the room to listen.
Another fun design quirk includes magnetic covers for the speaker grilles. You can easily remove the grilles and simply “stick” them back on.
I’ve joked with friends that they look like speakers you might see on the Death Star.
How Do The Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Speakers Sound?
Before I explain what I like about the Airmotiv speakers, I think it’s important to understand the speakers I used for years before switching to Emotiva. This requires a brief story about the illusion of vintage gear and not necessarily finding the right fit.
When I first got into vintage audio, I started looking for JBL Classic 100 speakers. Of course, they are always expensive to find and I lamented that fact to a friend who told me I should instead look for Pioneer HPM-100 speakers. According to him, the engineer who designed the Pioneer HPM-100s, originally designed the JBLs. After leaving JBL under not so happy circumstances, he upgraded the JBL 100 design and used them at Pioneer. Few people were aware of this (at the time) so you could find a great sounding pair of HPM-100s for half the price of JBL 100s.
While on spring break vacation in Tampa, FL, I was searching Craigslist and found a pair of HPM-100s for just $400. I drove to the pick up the speakers, not realizing how big they were, and barely fit them in the car for the 13 hour drive home to Nashville. We had to unpack our suitcases and wedge our clothes around the speakers in order for them to fit in the car. Here is a picture of me carrying them inside when we got home from Florida.
I used those large vintage speakers for a few years but always knew deep down inside that they were too big for my listening room. One issue was the 12″ woofer provided too much bass for my small room. Everything sounded muddy to me, no matter what receiver I paired it with.
I decided to try using a pair of bookshelf speakers in place of the large Pioneers and that’s what led me to buying the Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ speakers.
The Airmotiv B1+ Ribbon Tweeter
The Airmotiv speakers contain a 32mm Airmotiv folded ribbon tweeter which is the first thing that stood out to me.
Compared to the Pioneer HPM-100s, the Airmotivs produced a very clean and detailed sound. As I mentioned above, the Pioneers always sounded muddy to me. The Airmotivs produced sound that I had never heard before.
When bass is overpowering in your system, you are not hearing the upper range as intended by the artists who recorded the music. This seems obvious, but I see so many people buying huge vintage speakers and monster receivers in order to “wake the neighbors” that I wonder if they know what they are missing out on.
For instance, I listen to a lot of jazz and the B1+ speakers allowed me to hear new details in the upper register of the instrumentation. I would recommend these speakers to fans of jazz or classical music, but also to friends who like to rock out. I haven’t played a style of music yet that the B1+ speakers haven’t been able to properly handle.
Emotiva B1+ Bass
Bookshelf speakers, in general, get a bad reputation for lacking in bass performance. If you have bookshelf speakers and are lacking bass response, try putting them on stands and moving them away from the wall. This will help improve the overall bass response.
The B1+ speakers have plenty of bass response for my listening room. My room is skinny but long and I’m able to position the speakers on stands, toeing them in properly for me to sit in the sweet spot for listening. I first had the speakers sitting on my record shelf, not far from the wall and once I put them on stands, the bass came to life.
Simply put, don’t worry about a lack of bass response on the B1+ speakers.
Emotiva Airmotiva B1+ vs ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2
I own a pair of ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 bookshelf speakers that I purchased in 2018. These were the speakers I recommended to friends looking to buy bookshelf speakers for under $300. But, after listening to the B1+ speakers, I’ve started recommending Emotiva more often.
The main reason I now prefer the Emotiva speakers is the ribbon tweeter. The Emotivas sound smoother to me than the ELACs. There is more clarity and detail in the upper range on the Emotivas. I find the B1+s more interesting to listen to than the ELACs.
The Emotivas also produce better bass in my system than the ELACs. This was the first thing I noticed when I removed the ELACs and started using the Emotivas…more bass. And that was before I mounted the Emotivas properly on stands.
Lastly, a lot of my friends are new to buying audio equipment and are often on a tight budget. The Emotivas are $250 shipped direct from their factory in Franklin, TN, while the ELACs are often on sale for $275 on Amazon but actually retail closer to $400. If you are interested in audiophile listening but are on a strict budget, buy the B1+ speakers and get your foot in the door to hearing music played back as it should be.
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