Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Review (Bookshelf Speaker)

[howard416]

I wonder if putting some thick, low/medium-density acoustic foam (melamine or sponge) on top of the port opening would kill the effect on the frequency response. I'd be surprised if a few inches of absorption couldn't cut the SPL of the resonance peak by at least by 6-12 dB.

 

[gfinlays]

I've stuffed the ports on mine very tightly with wool felt. I expect that's taken care of the port resonance. Obviously it will have reduced the LF extension, but I'm using a sub with these anyway.

 

[howard416]

I've stuffed the ports on mine very tightly with wool felt. I expect that's taken care of the port resonance. Obviously it will have reduced the LF extension, but I'm using a sub with these anyway.

Right, that will damp the resonance inside the port, but the resonance will be heard outside the speaker obviously. So that output can be acoustically damped (blocked) outside the port as well.

Unless the impact on the response is from the resonant output passing through the woofer cone to the listening position...?

 

[gfinlays]

Right, that will damp the resonance inside the port, but the resonance will be heard outside the speaker obviously. So that output can be acoustically damped (blocked) outside the port as well.

Unless the impact on the response is from the resonant output passing through the woofer cone to the listening position...?

Stuffing the port with very dense wool (and by dense, I mean I struggled to get it in there) effectively turns the cabinet into a slightly leaky sealed box. The port is no longer a port and its resonance disappears.

 

[Shanahan]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Airmotiv B1+ two-way bookshelf speaker. It was kindly sent in for testing by a member and costs US $229 a pair. Currently Emotiva shows it as unavailable though so don't know if it is discontinued or what.

The B1+ looks like other Emotiva products which is to say somewhat industrial and bland:

View attachment 123312

Back panel is as expected in a budget speaker:

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Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

I performed over 1000 measurement which resulted in error rate of roughly 1%.

Testing temperature was around 60 degrees F.

Reference axis for measurements was the center of the tweeter (by eye). Grill was not used in either measurements or listening tests.

Measurements are compliant with latest speaker research into what can predict the speaker preference and is standardized in CEA/CTA-2034 ANSI specifications. Likewise listening tests are performed per research that shows mono listening is much more revealing of differences between speakers than stereo or multichannel.

Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker is and how it can be used in a room. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 123314

This is not bad! On-axis response is very good if one ignores a few bumps. Directivity is very good although flatter than one would want in a hi-fi speaker (could sound a bit bright). We can see the cause of the three bumps easily in near-field measurements:

View attachment 123315

The most obvious is the port resonance which interferes with woofer response. The high frequency one is caused by the unevenness of the tweeter.

Early window reflections are similar to on-axis due to good directivity:

View attachment 123316

Predicted in-room response is as we would expect:

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Impedance dips to 4.5 ohm which is typical of these bookshelf speakers:

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I was impressed with the low distortion of B1+:

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Horizontal beamwidth is smooth and even as predicted from spin data:

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You have a bit of freedom relative to how you align you ear to reference axis (center of the tweeter):

View attachment 123324

Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ Listening Tests
General performance and tonality here was good. As was the ability to play loud and I mean really loud. There is hardly any deep bass which helps with the small driver not bottoming out or getting overly distorted. Occasionally I would think the sound was a hair bright. And in general, a bit muddy. So I pulled out the EQ tool to knock down the resonant peaks:

View attachment 123325

Ah, now I had the clarity that I wanted to hear! Then again, could be imagination given the small corrections. If you have this speaker, try these and report back.

Conclusions
Looks like the money was put toward good engineering with Emotiva Airmotiv B1+. A port resonance is the main thing that is missed but otherwise, this is a good design that should sound good in many spaces due to nice directivity.

Overall I am happy to put Emotiva Airmotiv B1+ on my recommended list. With equalization, its score could even bump higher that what is awarded here.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

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Hi, Thanks for this information. Do you have any plans to measure the Airmotiv GR1? I know it is a headphone, but I figured that this method would give it better visibility. I am a relatively new member of the site so pardon me if I am speaking out of turn. That is one headphone that I would love to see measured. Thank you.

 

[GabrielPhoto]

I am trying to build a budget desktop speakers setup with a small sub and bookshelves max height 11".
How are these for near field? I'm also considering jam s 801 for example.

 

[Rick Sykora]

I wonder if putting some thick, low/medium-density acoustic foam (melamine or sponge) on top of the port opening would kill the effect on the frequency response. I'd be surprised if a few inches of absorption couldn't cut the SPL of the resonance peak by at least by 6-12 dB.

See the end of Erin’s review. This is not a port resonance so stuffing the port just reduces your bass. He also tried some cabinet damping but to no effect. So, he gave up.

 

[gfinlays]

I am trying to build a budget desktop speakers setup with a small sub and bookshelves max height 11".
How are these for near field? I'm also considering jam s 801 for example.

They work really well near-field. Have a pair on my desk with an Emotiva S8 sub on the floor. I stuffed the ports with some felt wool and they integrate with the sub really well.

 

[GabrielPhoto]

They work really well near-field. Have a pair on my desk with an Emotiva S8 sub on the floor. I stuffed the ports with some felt wool and they integrate with the sub really well.

Thanks!
I am going to grab a pair then with a small amp. Should be a lot better than any soundbar lol

 

[gfinlays]

Thanks!
I am going to grab a pair then with a small amp. Should be a lot better than any soundbar lol

If it fits within your budget, you could do a lot worse than the Topping PA5.

 

[tw 2022]

Just a heads up..the Dennis Murphy( b1) mod *should* work on the b1+.. I think Dennis has done the same mod on the + version with identical results... I have the mods.. They are pretty great...

 

[gfinlays]

Just a heads up..the Dennis Murphy( b1) mod *should* work on the b1+.. I think Dennis has done the same mod on the + version with identical results... I have the mods.. They are pretty great...

Would you be able to share the details of the mods?

 

[doug s.]

Would you be able to share the details of the mods?

websearch is your friend...
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-bookshelf-speaker.22366/page-6#post-742540

doug s.

 

[tw 2022]

websearch is your friend...
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ew-bookshelf-speaker.22366/page-6#post-742540

doug s.

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