Bookshelf Speaker Reviews

Emotiva BasX Speaker System
L/C/R Sensitivity: 88 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz
Surround Sensitivity: 86.5 dB from 500 Hz to 2 kHz

This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the BasX LCR corrected for boundary gain (purple trace), BasX S12 subwoofer (blue trace), and BasX Sat surround corrected for boundary gain (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grilles at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes.

The LCR’s listening-window response (a five-point average of axial and ±15° horizontal and vertical responses) measures +1.25/–2.87 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. An average of axial and ±15° horizontal responses in vertical orientation measures +1.80/–2.34 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. An average of axial and ±15° horizontal responses in horizontal orientation measures +0.94/–3.97 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The –3-dB point is at 73 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 64 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 6.85 ohms at 8.9 kHz and a phase angle of –65.00° at 154 Hz.

The Sat’s listening-window response measures +1.41/–4.19 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The –3-dB point is at 65 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 59 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 5.08 ohms at 298 Hz and a phase angle of –58.93° at 139 Hz. The S12’s close-miked response, normalized to the level at 80 Hz, indicates that the lower –3-dB point is at 27 Hz and the –6-dB point is at 20 Hz. The upper –3-dB point is at 114 Hz with the Crossover control set to maximum.—MJP

Emotiva MC-700 Surround Processor
Analog frequency response in Direct mode:
–0.08 dB at 10 Hz
–0.02 dB at 20 Hz
–0.08 dB at 20 kHz
–0.46 dB at 50 kHz

Analog frequency response with signal processing:
–0.29 dB at 10 Hz
–0.09 dB at 20 Hz
–0.12 dB at 20 kHz
–28.10 dB at 50 kHz

The above chart shows the frequency response of the left (aqua), center (green), LFE (purple), and left surround (red) channels at the preamp outputs of the Dolby Digital decoder. The left channel measures –0.02 dB at 20 Hz and –0.08 dB at 20 kHz. The center channel measures –0.03 dB at 20 Hz and –0.01 dB at 20 kHz, and the left surround channel measures –0.07 dB at 20 Hz and –0.11 dB at 20 kHz. The LFE channel, normalized to the level at 40 Hz, is –0.01 dB at 20 Hz, reaches the upper –3-dB point at 118 Hz, and reaches the upper –6-dB point at 121 Hz.

There was no multichannel input to measure. The analog THD+N was less than 0.007% at 1 kHz with a 100-millivolt input and the volume control set to “0.0”. Crosstalk with a 100-mV input was –89.26 dB left to right and –99.59 dB right to left. The signal-to-noise ratio with “A” weighting was –130.63 dBrA.—MJP

Emotiva A-500 Amplifier
Two channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 112.9 watts
1% distortion at 125.0 watts

Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 78.8 watts
1% distortion at 93.5 watts

Frequency response:
–0.26 dB at 10 Hz
–0.07 dB at 20 Hz
–0.02 dB at 20 kHz
–2.97 dB at 50 kHz

This graph shows that the A-500’s left amplifier channel, with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1% distortion at 112.9 watts and 1% distortion at 125.0 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 174.8 watts and 1% distortion at 202.2 watts. An input level of 97.90 millivolts was required to produce an output of 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load, indicating an overall gain of +29.24 dB. THD+N from the amplifier was less than 0.004% at 1 kHz when driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load. Crosstalk at 1 kHz driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load was –80.97 dB left to right and –83.17 dB right to left. The signal-to-noise ratio with an 8-ohm load from 10 Hz to 24 kHz with “A” weighting was –114.28 dBrA.—MJP