# emotivas new stealth 8 powered monitors any impressions?



## buson160man

I was browsing the emotiva pro website today and I came across their new model.The stealth 8 is a upmarket offering for emotiva.With This new model looks like emotiva is raising the bar for its powered monitors.The new model is 750 usd each.The new model is larger and has a eight inch woofer that goes along with their folded ribbon tweeter.The power on offer is a very substantial 400 watts rms(tweeter 200 and woofer 200) per speaker.This one will probably really rock.The low frequency figure is stated down to 30hz plus or minus 1.75 db.
    If anyone has heard one any impressions would be appreciated.I have a emotiva activ5 which works pretty well in a desk top situation but the stealth 8 looks like it is definitely a step up from the 5 let alone the activ6 which I was thinking about getting next year if my finances allowed it but now that they have raised the bar I am curious about this new offering and I may with a little sacrificing spring for the better model.That 30 hz lower end would really be tempting to use in my two channel home theater set up.
    So if anyone has bought a pair let me know what you think of them?


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## Tablix

While I have not had the chance to listen to these I would personally rather invest my money in Adam monitors for almost exactly the same money.  The Adam A8X should retail at the same price and I was VERY impressed with the A7 when I demo's them.  They may not match the specs exactly but Adams:-

 Frequency response: 38 Hz - 50 kHz
 THD 90dB/1m > 100 Hz ?0.5 %
 Woofer Amp. power RMS / music: 150 W / 225 W
 Tweeter Amp. power RMS / music: 50 W / 75 W

  Is pretty impressive and may be worth investigating.


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## zachchen1996

Have the airmotiv 4's and also curious about how the stealth 8s sound, especially in comparison to the kef ls50 and the comparably priced adam speakers.


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## buson160man

Quote: 





zachchen1996 said:


> Have the airmotiv 4's and also curious about how the stealth 8s sound, especially in comparison to the kef ls50 and the comparably priced adam speakers.


 
    I have the airmotiv 5s and they work pretty well as a desk top speaker.I doubt I could get anything larger that would have fit on my desk top.
  Oh by the way if i may be so bold but I purchased a pair of emotivas 6 foot iec power cables and I am using them with the airmotiv 5s and I got a sizeable improvement in the 5s sonic performance.You may want to check out a pair because emotiva has a sale on the power cables till january 15 ,2013.They normally go for about 70 dollars right now they have 6 foot cables for about 56 dollars.So it might be a good time to check them out and save some money on a pair of cords.I am sure you will be happy with the results if you spring for them.Just thought it might help to get the best out of your airmotiv 4s and save a bit of money.


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## MorbidToaster

I had the 6s and they were the best bang for your buck speaker I've ever heard. 
   
  I've really been wanting to hear the 8s as I could see them being even better, and that's hard to believe.


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## zilch0md

Having stumbled onto this thread, It took me way too long to find a link, so here it is (for the next guy who is as slow as me.)   
	

	
	
		
		

		
			




   
  http://emotivapro.com/


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## zachchen1996

The fact that these have their own built in amplification and such awesome bass extension, very tempting...haven't found any reviews on them yet though.


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## MorbidToaster

They're extremely new...and quite large for smaller bedroom and studio applications. I'm not surprised. 
   
  Quote: 





zachchen1996 said:


> The fact that these have their own built in amplification and such awesome bass extension, very tempting...haven't found any reviews on them yet though.


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## zachchen1996

Quote: 





morbidtoaster said:


> They're extremely new...and quite large for smaller bedroom and studio applications. I'm not surprised.


 
  true true. Based on the experience I've had with emotiva in the past (excellent excellent) and that the airmotiv 4s sound awesome for the price, I have faith these are probably wicked, might jump on em, hmm. Wondering if I should get these as an upgrade over my airmotiv 4s for my working out rig or put that money toward saving for a pwd mkii, m51, invicta, etc. for my future lcd3 rig.


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## MorbidToaster

Side Bar: The PWD didn't wow me at all when I had it in my home for a few weeks recently. Be very careful if you're buying blind.
   
  Consider this...Once you settle with a pair of powered speakers you're pretty much done. You can run these without a sub with no problems as they extend plenty low...Then run you can your balanced outs on whatever DAC you get right into them and run SE to your headphone rig. Or vice versa of course.
   
  They will scale up with a better DAC, too.
   
  Quote: 





zachchen1996 said:


> true true. Based on the experience I've had with emotiva in the past (excellent excellent) and that the airmotiv 4s sound awesome for the price, I have faith these are probably wicked, might jump on em, hmm. Wondering if I should get these as an upgrade over my airmotiv 4s for my working out rig or put that money toward saving for a pwd mkii, m51, invicta, etc. for my future lcd3 rig.


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## zachchen1996

Quote: 





morbidtoaster said:


> Side Bar: The PWD didn't wow me at all when I had it in my home for a few weeks recently. Be very careful if you're buying blind.
> 
> Consider this...Once you settle with a pair of powered speakers you're pretty much done. You can run these without a sub with no problems as they extend plenty low...Then run you can your balanced outs on whatever DAC you get right into them and run SE to your headphone rig. Or vice versa of course.
> 
> They will scale up with a better DAC, too.


 
  Why didn't you like the pwd?


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## bedlam inside

Hi,
   


zilch0md said:


> Having stumbled onto this thread, It took me way too long to find a link, so here it is (for the next guy who is as slow as me.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 

 These look nice. They have a ribbon tweeter just like my SD-1's. Not much can match these, not even the Dynaudio Esosomething Tweeter...

 Only question - how good are the amplifiers build in?


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## Tablix

I will say again look into Adam active monitors, similar price, similar design and a brand that is more likely to to give you ongoing support should you require it.... Adams also have XLR or RCA connection and are much easier to source in any global location.  You may pay a slight premium of $20 more but you can pick up a selection of matching subs that are designed to work with these, also available in 5" 7" or 8".
   
  http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products


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## zachchen1996

Quote: 





tablix said:


> I will say again look into Adam active monitors, similar price, similar design and a brand that is more likely to to give you ongoing support should you require it.... Adams also have XLR or RCA connection and are much easier to source in any global location.  You may pay a slight premium of $20 more but you can pick up a selection of matching subs that are designed to work with these, also available in 5" 7" or 8".
> 
> http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products


 
  Have you heard the stealth 8s?


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## bedlam inside

Hi,

 I had a look. Do you mean the Adam A8X?  I read it is supposed to be a german company? I don't know, at least on looks the Adam looks like cheap china made stuff, these cheap plastic ports, shiney plastic cones and controls and all.

 The Emotiva look much nicer and more solidly build. It also has more power, not sure if that matters.

 Has anyone listened?
   
  Cheers Rich


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## Tablix

I have not listened to the emotiva 8's but you can see from ADAM's homepage that they are certainly no part timers, almost industry standard for smaller studio's.  I provided the link so you could do your research, in Europe they are highly recommended from local suppliers as a budget entry to studio performance.  They are certainly MUCH better than KRK RP8's and have had won several awards for the A8X and A7X monitors over the last few years.  From my perspective emotiva have "cloned" the ADAM design not he other way round, the F series is the entry level "home studio" systems that were launched early last year iirc, the Aseries have been around a while.  If you got money and want to go for serious equipment you will be totally blown away by the S2X.  You also have options regarding subs' from a lowly 7" up to monsters 200w 12" monsters.
   
  I dont like to advise people to buy blind when spending their own money, I was just trying to offer an alternative to investigate.  There are distributers/suppliers worldwide and in EU you can source some though Amazon if you would rather that sort of supplier.  I always recommend listening first as active monitors are more for nearfield listening rather than room filling sound. 
   
  Regarding volume, I personally don't push my speakers to anywhere near full volume as I am listening within a couple of feet of the cones and I value my ears.


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## zachchen1996

Impressions on the STEALTH 8's from here
  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=110643.0
   
  "This is one of the best in show because they just sounded so wonderful and probably among the best 5 bookshelf sized speakers I have heard at this show ever. That's saying a lot as this show is saturated with bookshelves."
   
"They could have cost $10,000 for all I knew.  That should answer those questions of "Was it good for the $$, or just great, period?"  They were just great, period.  The fact that they are so inexpensive (which I found out later) is just gravy."
   
  More impressions
  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=110562.msg1141666#msg1141666
   
  "Bach great violin going on here. I love how organic it sounds. No overshoot at all... Wow room treatment who knew!!!! Mahler has deftness. Very natural sounding dynamic shading. Sweet spot hogs abound in this room nobody is relinquishing even when it's our music. Guitar on Ani sounds so effortless and smooth. Greatness here for sure. I can't find any fault thus far in this setup. Yorke has a HUGE sound very very impressive. Vocals are buttery smooth this is absolutely the best bookshelf type speaker I have heard in this show in years. Big thumbs up here. 


*Tyson Notes*[/u]
Mahler - Damn, it sounds like the basses are even bigger!  The quiet parts just disappear softly into the noise floor beautifully.  Scale?  Yeah, they did that pretty well too.
Bach - What, it's so good I almost forgot to start typing this.  Catches the emotion of the piece like nobodies business.  Smooth but also with the needed bite.
Ani DiFranco - Hey, nice - her voice is not overly sibilant, but isn't too soft either.  Guitar is slightly metalic, but at least it's not boomy!  Really good focus clarity.
Thom Yorke - Wow, amazing that this track sounds great in most rooms that otherwise suck.  But this time it sounds pretty poor in the current room, which is otherwise excellent.  Crazy!
General Room Notes - Yay, another room that understands the importance of room treatments.  Listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan and the notes just pop and drop with tons of speed.  And a super tiny itty bitty DC-1 driving these very cool Emotiva speakers.  IMO, when it is well implemented, there is nothing better than a ribbon tweeter.  It's well implemented here.  Only problem was the stupid people behind me asking if stereo can bet made to have surround sound, right in my ear. "
   
Impressions compared to airmotiv 6's
   
"the low end definitely goes lower and is more present without loosing accuracy. Kicks had that punch in the stomach feel you typically only get on systems with a good sub."
   
More impressions
   
"sounded better than any previous Emotiva gear I've listened to."
   
  http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f8-general-forum/relative-value-components-audio-chain-14384/index2.html
"Emotiva Stealth 8 powered studio monitors, hooked up to the fully balanced, true differential Emotiva ProDAC (as demo'd @ RMAF 2012) is what I'd be waiting for. The sound these studio monitors produce is comparable to what you'd expect to get for $10K, and no, I'm not exaggerating."
   
"I heard these at EmoFest 2012 and they were literally kick-ass."
   
"[size=small]We hears these at Emofest this year. In a word.. amazing! Fed from the ProDAC, the sound was full, clear and one was left wondering where the sub was hidden! If I didn't have the Airmotiv6s, I would get these in a heartbeat. For most rooms, these have enough power."[/size]
   
  [size=small]"[/size][size=small]Everyone who visited the room where they were being demonstrated was impressed."[/size]
   
  [size=small]"[/size][size=small]I was sitting about ten feet away from the Stealth 8 speakers and they were very convincing. In a small room they would challenge the sound quality of most tower speakers at double the price."[/size]
   
  [size=small]"They were so good, I had to repeatedly find an 'excuse' to listen to them over and over again. [/size]
  [size=small]The sound was so much like a live performance in a small venue. The cymbals and drums in the music sounded so real.[/size][size=small][/size]
 [size=small]Needless to say, I was very impressed!"[/size]
   
seems like a winner, plus, DAT BASS EXTENSION 30 Hz to 23 kHz + / -1.75 dB, is unheard at that price.


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## MorbidToaster

I knew they'd be fantastic. The 6s were just great and something that only makes it better? Sign me up.


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## zachchen1996

Quote: 





morbidtoaster said:


> I knew they'd be fantastic. The 6s were just great and something that only makes it better? Sign me up.


 
  you going to get em? btw how are the 6s with edm?


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## MorbidToaster

I listened to EDM almost exclusively with the 6s and didn't really have any complaints. A little more physical kick to the sound would've been nice and on maybe 2 songs the extension wasn't quite good enough...but that's about it. They were really great speakers. 
   
  I gotta say I was considering the 8s...but I just dropped an absurd amount of money on my Harbeths. I won't need other speakers for a long time.
   
  Quote: 





zachchen1996 said:


> you going to get em? btw how are the 6s with edm?


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## buson160man

Quote: 





morbidtoaster said:


> I listened to EDM almost exclusively with the 6s and didn't really have any complaints. A little more physical kick to the sound would've been nice and on maybe 2 songs the extension wasn't quite good enough...but that's about it. They were really great speakers.
> 
> I gotta say I was considering the 8s...but I just dropped an absurd amount of money on my Harbeths. I won't need other speakers for a long time.


 
   I bet your leben harbeth combination are really sweet.I used to own a pair of harbeth pe 3esl2s and they were nice for small scale music but I moved on from them because they just did not work well as a video speaker it just would not play load enough for me in that capacity.They were very inefficient took a lot to drive them and they would only play so loud and then they would start compressing.I went back to my older b&w 600 s2 because it could play a lot louder and were much easier to drive.I have since moved on to a emotiva airmotiv 5 which has been working as a dual purpose speaker in a computer desktop setting and part time video monitor speaker in my living room.I just purchased a 6 at the holiday sale price yesterday.I am waiting for delivery.I intend to use them in my living room for music listening and as a video sound speaker for my flat screen tv.They should work a lot better with the larger driver and a additional 110 watts driving power.


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## buson160man

Quote: 





tablix said:


> I will say again look into Adam active monitors, similar price, similar design and a brand that is more likely to to give you ongoing support should you require it.... Adams also have XLR or RCA connection and are much easier to source in any global location.  You may pay a slight premium of $20 more but you can pick up a selection of matching subs that are designed to work with these, also available in 5" 7" or 8".
> 
> http://www.adam-audio.com/en/pro-audio/products


 
   You are joking about the support because I have found emotivas customer service to be nothing less than stellar.I have called emotiva several times and got nothing less than complete satisfaction with their support.


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## Tablix

Why are you taking such a fanboi stance over these emotiva speakers?  I am just trying to point out that there are equally good alternatives from other brands.  Having a closed opinion about something and shouting others down is not doing anything other than making you look s little blinded.  Try researching outside this forum and you will find plenty of support for other brands such as K&H Adam Dynaudio KRK Genelec Sonodyne to name but a few and on those sites you will find little to no mention of emotiva's.  There is a reason, and I am just trying to highlight it.  I am sure Emotiva's offer a fine product but I am trying to suggest that nobody should buy blind, or deaf in this case.  Everyone's needs are different and from my researching, which I have done extensively, your money can be spent on other similar products without losing anything.  From the reviews I have found and read emotiva's offer a "flavoured" or "coloured"sound not suitable for music production, where a flat frequency response is required.  I am sure the emotiva's sound just fine for listening or gaming or watching movies but that is not everyones intended use.  The comments made here make these "entry level" nearfield monitors out to be the best thing money can buy and that is simply not the case.
   
  Never spend money without doing your research, that is my message.  Listening for 10mins is better than reading 10 articles.  I am not trying to troll this thread just offer insight to those that may be reading and are looking to buy in the future.  
   
  And to point out the floor in your argument I have had adam A7X for about 18months, prior to that Yamaha monitors and in both cases have not needed after sales support once.  But in both cases I know it was available locally through an authorised dealer.


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## buson160man

Quote: 





tablix said:


> Why are you taking such a fanboi stance over these emotiva speakers?  I am just trying to point out that there are equally good alternatives from other brands.  Having a closed opinion about something and shouting others down is not doing anything other than making you look s little blinded.  Try researching outside this forum and you will find plenty of support for other brands such as K&H Adam Dynaudio KRK Genelec Sonodyne to name but a few and on those sites you will find little to no mention of emotiva's.  There is a reason, and I am just trying to highlight it.  I am sure Emotiva's offer a fine product but I am trying to suggest that nobody should buy blind, or deaf in this case.  Everyone's needs are different and from my researching, which I have done extensively, your money can be spent on other similar products without losing anything.  From the reviews I have found and read emotiva's offer a "flavoured" or "coloured"sound not suitable for music production, where a flat frequency response is required.  I am sure the emotiva's sound just fine for listening or gaming or watching movies but that is not everyones intended use.  The comments made here make these "entry level" nearfield monitors out to be the best thing money can buy and that is simply not the case.
> 
> Never spend money without doing your research, that is my message.  Listening for 10mins is better than reading 10 articles.  I am not trying to troll this thread just offer insight to those that may be reading and are looking to buy in the future.
> 
> And to point out the floor in your argument I have had adam A7X for about 18months, prior to that Yamaha monitors and in both cases have not needed after sales support once.  But in both cases I know it was available locally through an authorised dealer.


 
   You missed my point about the customer service which I believed was suggested by the quoted highlite that the support for the product was less than stellar.I did not recommend the speaker over other brands.So I was not shouting down other brands was I?As far as buying blindly do the other brands offer a 30 day free trial period? The emotiva product is a mail order only product .So you really are not buying blindly or deaf in a sense and there are a lot of positive comments about the emotivas on this site as well as good reviews elsewhere.


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## zachchen1996

I can attest to the quality of emotiva's customer support, very friendly, were willing to help replace a speaker that was defective, etc. definitely one of the best I ever had to deal with.


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## C-WL87

It should be noted that the A8Xs mentioned above retail for $2,000 a pair, while the Emotivas run a full $500 less.


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## zilch0md

Noteworthy, indeed.


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## zachchen1996

c-wl87 said:


> It should be noted that the A8Xs mentioned above retail for $2,000 a pair, while the Emotivas run a full $500 less.




And the stealth 8's have superior bass extension, going a whole 8 hz lower.


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## zilch0md

Quote: 





zachchen1996 said:


> And the stealth 8's have superior bass extension, going a whole 8 hz lower.


 
   
  Equally noteworthy!  I'll take all the hurtz I can get!


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## Currawong

The Emotivas definitely look like excellent value and their customer service is fantastic. Regarding a previous post: They ARE Chinese OEM (I forget the original brand) but I've had a look inside my Airmotiv 4s and the quality is very good. They also respond very noticeably to the quality of what is feeding them.  That being said, I've relegated them to the livingroom and have ADAM ARTist 3s on my desk now. I'm thinking I should have gotten one of the front-ported models instead though as I had to partially block the ports on both sets of speakers when they were on my desk to stop it becoming a gigantic subwoofer.


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## zachchen1996

currawong said:


> The Emotivas definitely look like excellent value and their customer service is fantastic. Regarding a previous post: They ARE Chinese OEM (I forget the original brand) but I've had a look inside my Airmotiv 4s and the quality is very good. They also respond very noticeably to the quality of what is feeding them.  That being said, I've relegated them to the livingroom and have ADAM ARTist 3s on my desk now. I'm thinking I should have gotten one of the front-ported models instead though as I had to partially block the ports on both sets of speakers when they were on my desk to stop it becoming a gigantic subwoofer.




Wait, so emotiva didn't actually make and design the stealth 8s themselves??


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## kazsud

I think emotiva made the stealth 8s. I remember seeing something about certain audio engineers had them for evaluation purposes etc..


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## Currawong

I should have clarified, the Airmotivs appear to be OEM speakers. That's not to say any other range is, though I would imagine they get the drivers from the same source (at a guess!). Regardless of how they are going about designing and building them it wouldn't surprise me to find out they are good after my experience with the Airmotivs.


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## StratocasterMan

I don't know about the Stealth 8s. I know prior Emotiva speakers were available in China under the name "QMS."
   

  I found this link which possibly could be the manufacturer of some of the earlier models:
   
  http://www.diytrade.com/china/manufacturer/560136/main/Tekzone_Loudspeaker_Co_Ltd.html
   
  Like I said, I don't know about the Stealth 8s. I'm just providing a link I found so take it with a grain of salt, because I don't know where the Stealth 8s are made.


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## kazsud

Looks like they put a better front piece on and rebranded it :/
   
  But i guess how it sounds only matters...


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## buson160man

I was browsing the stealth eight and comparable models from other manufacturers and came across one that looked to me to be possibly and even better value that the emotiva.Lets not forget JBL which definitely knows a thing or two about professional sound.I came across a model which costs around the same price actually a hundred dollars more but given the added flexilbilty it looks to me to be an even better
  value.The JBL model is the JBL LSR4328P Pak and what makes this model more appealing is the automatic room correction capablity that the JBL has and they even include a mike for the price.With this feature you can tune the speaker to whatever room and or position you have the speaker set for maximum performance.
    I believe the power spec is the same and judging from the other specs it is very similar to the stealth 8.
  I had seen a blog about the Qms company before.


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## zachchen1996

buson160man said:


> I was browsing the stealth eight and comparable models from other manufacturers and came across one that looked to me to be possibly and even better value that the emotiva.Lets not forget JBL which definitely knows a thing or two about professional sound.I came across a model which costs around the same price actually a hundred dollars more but given the added flexilbilty it looks to me to be an even better
> value.The JBL model is the JBL LSR4328P Pak and what makes this model more appealing is the automatic room correction capablity that the JBL has and they even include a mike for the price.With this feature you can tune the speaker to whatever room and or position you have the speaker set for maximum performance.
> I believe the power spec is the same and judging from the other specs it is very sismilar to the stealth 8.
> I had seen a blog about the Qms company before.




NAH


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## Saril

[size=medium]I did have the opportunity to listen to the Stealth 8s at the Emotiva complex in Franklin Tn.  Here is my two cents. [/size]
   
_Attached - my wife with the Emotiva mascot - unfortunately I had to tell her Jackson was not for sale!_
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]First and foremost, visiting Emotiva was a very pleasant and informative experience.  Emotiva sales and engineering folks are world class – knowledgeable, extremely professional and courteous.  Both my wife and I felt relaxed and were treated like VIPs.  They took their time to demonstrate all the various products and answered the many questions I had.  This was actually no surprise given the experience I’ve had with them on the phone.  [/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]My original intention was to audition their amps and preamps – not monitors.  I was interested in the UMC-200 and XMC-1 (got to see but not hear) preamps along with the XPA-3 and XPA-2 amps for my HT overhaul.  My curiosity had the best of me after reading so many positive Emotiva reviews.  I just had to hear them myself.  So I jumped at the chance to actually listen to them at the Emotiva HQ in Tennessee.  All it took was a phone call and we were given the OK to stop by.  [/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]I am writing about the Stealth 8 monitors so I won’t say much about the amps, although I am very impressed – audio craftsmanship at its finest, period![/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]Again, I had absolutely no intentions of listening to Near/Mid Field monitors.  But it happened, I was given the chance to listen to the Stealth 8 monitors and they were quite a surprise.  Before I actually listened to them I had to touch, partially lift, fully examine, etc., and came to the immediate conclusion these had a solid high quality build.  OK, fire them up![/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]Wow, simply amazing!  The soundstage gave the feeling the drum kit I was listening to was hovering in mid air, right in front of me.  The lows were impeccable and powerful – wonderfully palpable.  Something I’ve missed from my current HT setup using Mackie 824s and 628s.  The Mackie combination worked in a smaller room, but I have since moved and now have a larger HT room where the SPL from the Mackie monitors gets swallowed up.   I even took the surrounds (624s) and paired with the 824s to get more SPL – did not help much.  I did not have time to audition vocals on the Stealth 8s, but what music I did hear blew me away.[/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]*Bottom line *– after listening to these I’m now considering ditching my pre/pro and amp separates with new tower speakers and matching center channel design to replacing the Mackies with the Stealth 8 monitors.  New preamp and Stealth 8s – done!  This eliminates the need for new cables and separate amps.  Just my thoughts.[/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]Mackie 824 has a woofer size of 8.75”, 100dB SPL @ 1meter and freq. response of 39Hz to 20K Hz +/- 1.5 dB.  Low –frequency amp is 150 watts and the high is 100 watts with THD < .035%. Weight: 32 lbs. S/N > 102 dB, reference to 100 watts into 6 ohms.  The 624s are similar and smaller.[/size][/size]
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]Emotiva Stealth 8 has a woofer size of 8”, 115dB SPL @ 1 meter and freq. response of 30Hz to 23K Hz +/- 1.75 dB.  Low –frequency amp is 200 watts and the high is 200 watts with THD not specified. Weight: 41.5 lbs. S/N not specified.[/size][/size]
  [size=medium][size=medium](specs summarized for convenience only – ref actual specs at corresponding web site[/size][/size]
   
   
  [size=medium][size=medium]_Attached - current setup with Anthem AV-2 pre driving Mackie 824s and 624s for fronts - consider replacing with the Emotiva Stealth 8s._[/size][/size]


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## MorbidToaster

If I could pick a second system at a reasonable cost it'd probably be a Bryston BP 26 Preamp, Stealth 8s, and my soon to be upgraded TT rig. Still may happen some day.


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## zilch0md

What's a TT rig?


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## Saril

Some folks recommend bypassing the pre and go with an Oppo 105. Another option to consider.


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## buson160man

I am using a audio research ls2 mkII preamp on my emotiva 6s and it really works well even in single ended output from the rca jacks.It would probably work a fair amount better with the stealth 8s I am sure.


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## buson160man

I was browsing emotiva pros website today and saw they slashed the price on the stealth 8s and the stealth 6s.The website said while supplies last I am wondering if emotiva is discontinuing the stealth line.Well I am taking advantage of the sale and I ordered a pair of eights.I am looking forward to getting them these should be a healthy step up from my sixes.
    I was interested in anyones opinion of them which I  read from at least one person.I guess I will be finding out about them myself.Tallyhoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## buson160man

Well darth vador has landed in my house.The stealth eights remind me of darth vader looking at its angular front panel.I just received them today and although _I_ have not hooked them up yet they do look like a serious speaker indeed.I will probably not get the chance this weekend because I am tied up with visiting family.Besides I have to figure out what balanced cable I need for hook up with my preamp.


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## buson160man

Well I have some balanced cables on order coming tuesday.I am peaked with anticipation on the peformance of this promising looking active monitor.


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## zachchen1996

buson160man said:


> Well I have some balanced cables on order coming tuesday.I am peaked with anticipation on the peformance of this promising looking active monitor.




Can you compare the EDM performance of the stealth 8s vs the airmotiv 5s?


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## buson160man

Well the cables came late tuesday afternoon, I hooked them up to my audio research ls2 mkII preamp yesterday and fired them up just using my old denon 3931ci universal player.I am not going to make any serious observations till I get used to the sound and some break in time on the new speakers and cables.My initial impression after a casual listen for a few hours is that the eight is definitely a step up from the airmotiv six. Even with the supreme fuse and emotiva iec power cord upgrade on my sixes the stealth eight sounds better with the stock power cables and fuses.
    It has better tonality and more body to the sound and better imaging.I have the bass ramped down by 6 db though it is tough beeing an audiophile while renting an apartment. You have to be considerate of your neigbors and especially the landlord.Hopefully next time the landlord and neighbor are away I can ramp things to the flat settings and let things fly so I can see what these speakers can really do.
    But even with the bass ramped down the eights have enough body to them to make them satisfying and that is only with a few hours on them.
   I am sure they will get even better with time. I just wonder what they will sound like with the fuse and power cord upgrade? Well that is later I have to let things settle in before I can make some definite observations of the stealth eights sound.Actually this is the first time that I have heard my audio research ls 2 mkII in balanced fashion and I like things already.With the balanced drive I need a noticeably lower volume setiing for a given volume.Those extra 6db I feel could come in handy even though I can not use them in my apartment.


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## zachchen1996

buson160man said:


> Well the cables came late tuesday afternoon, I hooked them up to my audio research ls2 mkII preamp yesterday and fired them up just using my old denon 3931ci universal player.I am not going to make any serious observations till I get used to the sound and some break in time on the new speakers and cables.My initial impression after a casual listen for a few hours is that the eight is definitely a step up from the airmotiv six. Even with the supreme fuse and emotiva iec power cord upgrade on my sixes the stealth eight sounds better with the stock power cables and fuses.
> It has better tonality and more body to the sound and better imaging.I have the bass ramped down by 6 db though it is tough beeing an audiophile while renting an apartment. You have to be considerate of your neigbors and especially the landlord.Hopefully next time the landlord and neighbor are away I can ramp things to the flat settings and let things fly so I can see what these speakers can really do.
> But even with the bass ramped down the eights have enough body to them to make them satisfying and that is only with a few hours on them.
> I am sure they will get even better with time. I just wonder what they will sound like with the fuse and power cord upgrade? Well that is later I have to let things settle in before I can make some definite observations of the stealth eights sound.Actually this is the first time that I have heard my audio research ls 2 mkII in balanced fashion and I like things already.With the balanced drive I need a noticeably lower volume setiing for a given volume.Those extra 6db I feel could come in handy even though I can not use them in my apartment.




Just wait unitl you have those babies burned in for several hundred hours. I remember when I first got my airmotiv 4s and when I first played them, they were muddy as crap, but once burned in, Woo!


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## kazsud

Quote: 





buson160man said:


> Well the cables came late tuesday afternoon, I hooked them up to my audio research ls2 mkII preamp yesterday and fired them up just using my old denon 3931ci universal player.I am not going to make any serious observations till I get used to the sound and some break in time on the new speakers and cables.My initial impression after a casual listen for a few hours is that the eight is definitely a step up from the airmotiv six. Even with the supreme fuse and emotiva iec power cord upgrade on my sixes the stealth eight sounds better with the stock power cables and fuses.
> It has better tonality and more body to the sound and better imaging.I have the bass ramped down by 6 db though it is tough beeing an audiophile while renting an apartment. You have to be considerate of your neigbors and especially the landlord.Hopefully next time the landlord and neighbor are away I can ramp things to the flat settings and let things fly so I can see what these speakers can really do.
> But even with the bass ramped down the eights have enough body to them to make them satisfying and that is only with a few hours on them.
> I am sure they will get even better with time. I just wonder what they will sound like with the fuse and power cord upgrade? Well that is later I have to let things settle in before I can make some definite observations of the stealth eights sound.Actually this is the first time that I have heard my audio research ls 2 mkII in balanced fashion and I like things already.With the balanced drive I need a noticeably lower volume setiing for a given volume.Those extra 6db I feel could come in handy even though I can not use them in my apartment.


 
  Nice!! I'm glad they are noticeably better.
   
  Are the tweeters in the 8s and bigger then in the 6s?


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## buson160man

I have been working at tweaking my set up the last couple of weeks.I have taken the plunge and purchased hifi tuning fuses for my stealth eights.The fuses have a difference the sound is more relaxed now and the sound has been getting better the last couple of days. I still will not be making any value judgements for a while because the speakers need time to breath and loosen up.
    Today I made another change to my set up I purhased some blue tack(dap adhesive picture and poster adhesive,much cheaper than bostik blue tack and very similar) from home depot.I added the blue tack to secure it to the speaker stand (four post sound anchors,two feet tall) and to provide some isolation as well from my speakers custom made granite tops which I added to the stands along time ago.
    Well I fired my set up up and set up my denon universal player and have started playing the avengers movie on the set up.Of course only the two channel mix down from the denons rca outputs.Wow the change was definitely worth the effort.The speakers definition has improved in general and there is more space to the sound now. Five of the stealth eights would make a pretty decent home theater set up.Add a subwoofer maybe the high end paradigm and you would have a serious home theater system.Five steath eights would give you two thousand watts rms that is two thousand active watts which makes for a lot less power loss through passive crossovers.These babies are going to be pretty dynamic once they have completly broken in.
     I am using my audio research ls2 mk II preamp running it balanced(only on the output side) to my stealth eights.I addeed a herbies audio labs tube damper to my audio researches input double triode tube last week to good effect.It displaced the two O rings that were supplied with the preamp  when I bought it used.The change was beneficial the preamp sounded a bit overdamped with the rubber O rings.The sound is a bit more open now and spacious with the new tube damper in place.The overdamped quality is largely ameliorated now.
    I am really enjoying the ride right now.I have to get back to the movie now.I will be making further comments as things progress in the break in process.


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## Sphinx

buson160man said:


> I have been working at tweaking my set up the last couple of weeks.I have taken the plunge and purchased hifi tuning fuses for my stealth eights.The fuses have a difference the sound is more relaxed now and the sound has been getting better the last couple of days. I still will not be making any value judgements for a while because the speakers need time to breath and loosen up.
> Today I made another change to my set up I purhased some blue tack(dap adhesive picture and poster adhesive,much cheaper than bostik blue tack and very similar) from home depot.I added the blue tack to secure it to the speaker stand (four post sound anchors,two feet tall) and to provide some isolation as well from my speakers custom made granite tops which I added to the stands along time ago.
> Well I fired my set up up and set up my denon universal player and have started playing the avengers movie on the set up.Of course only the two channel mix down from the denons rca outputs.Wow the change was definitely worth the effort.The speakers definition has improved in general and there is more space to the sound now. Five of the stealth eights would make a pretty decent home theater set up.Add a subwoofer maybe the high end paradigm and you would have a serious home theater system.Five steath eights would give you two thousand watts rms that is two thousand active watts which makes for a lot less power loss through passive crossovers.These babies are going to be pretty dynamic once they have completly broken in.
> I am using my audio research ls2 mk II preamp running it balanced(only on the output side) to my stealth eights.I addeed a herbies audio labs tube damper to my audio researches input double triode tube last week to good effect.It displaced the two O rings that were supplied with the preamp  when I bought it used.The change was beneficial the preamp sounded a bit overdamped with the rubber O rings.The sound is a bit more open now and spacious with the new tube damper in place.The overdamped quality is largely ameliorated now.
> I am really enjoying the ride right now.I have to get back to the movie now.I will be making further comments as things progress in the break in process.




Buson, 

What kind of music do you think sounds best out of these? I'm mostly into electronic but do listening to others also like Mike Oldfield etc.. I'm thinking of buying either the 6 or 8 and pairing it with my Totem Storm and hooking them up to my AV9.


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## buson160man

Well it is now almost august. I got side tracked on the break in process because I purchased a teac ud 501 dsd dac which I had been breaking in with my headphones for a while. Well I think my dac is probably pretty well fleshed in so I thought it was time to get back to breaking in my stealth eights. I have been using them for a little bit over a week  and with the new dac and things sounded a bit better. I did a power cord shootout with some of my power cords this week but I was restricted to the ones that were two meters in length. I tried three my harmonic tech ac-11,my emotive and my cable pro reflection power cables. And the winner was the cable pro reflection it gave the most spacious presentation and the best bass definition along with being more open sounding in general. So I ordered a pair of cable pros best revelation power cords to try with my stealth 8s. They were not inexpensive at 310.99 each(of course you need two) so they ran me over 600 dollars for two 8 foot cords(ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but I have the thirty day free trial period to see if they are worth the premium(around 200 dollars)over the less expensive reflection power cord that I presently own.
    We shall see. I am still trying to find the right combination that will reduce the speakers propensity in my set up for forward sound. I am trying to find the right combination to give me a more three dimensional result with more depth and move the sound back a bit so it is not as forward sounding . This is still a work in progress. I have to say I still do not think the speaker is fully fleshed in yet. I am hoping that as it does maybe that forwardness will be ameliorated. Time will tell.


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## zachchen1996

buson160man said:


> Well it is now almost august. I got side tracked on the break in process because I purchased a teac ud 501 dsd dac which I had been breaking in with my headphones for a while. Well I think my dac is probably pretty well fleshed in so I thought it was time to get back to breaking in my stealth eights. I have been using them for a little bit over a week  and with the new dac and things sounded a bit better. I did a power cord shootout with some of my power cords this week but I was restricted to the ones that were two meters in length. I tried three my harmonic tech ac-11,my emotive and my cable pro reflection power cables. And the winner was the cable pro reflection it gave the most spacious presentation and the best bass definition along with being more open sounding in general. So I ordered a pair of cable pros best revelation power cords to try with my stealth 8s. They were not inexpensive at 310.99 each(of course you need two) so they ran me over 600 dollars for two 8 foot cords(ouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) but I have the thirty day free trial period to see if they are worth the premium(around 200 dollars)over the less expensive reflection power cord that I presently own.
> We shall see. I am still trying to find the right combination that will reduce the speakers propensity in my set up for forward sound. I am trying to find the right combination to give me a more three dimensional result with more depth and move the sound back a bit so it is not as forward sounding . This is still a work in progress. I have to say I still do not think the speaker is fully fleshed in yet. I am hoping that as it does maybe that forwardness will be ameliorated. Time will tell.




Overall do you think the stealth 8 punches much higher than its $1280 asking price?


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## TooPoor

Just ordered a pair with a Schiit Modi (will also be using my VLink 192 UBS/SPDIF)... Pretty excited. Impressions in a week!


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## Sphinx

TooPoor can't wait to here your impressions? I think in 2 months if all goes well I'll be ordering a pair. I might even grab the DAC they offer, or a tube DAC if I find the right one with volume control


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## TooPoor

Its really unfortunate as I unloaded all my headphone gear including a great DAC to help fund a new car/house. I think the Modi will be perfect for starting off. I've had it before and liked it for what it is. I really was hesitant to pull the trigger on these as they are 'kind of' expensive with a lot of other active speakers to be had. But I didn't want to go through getting a receiver, amp, etc. My only concern is my new listening room might be too big for these...11'8x19'10. But I know NOTHING about speakers, only headphones...


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## buson160man

Well the cable pro reverie power cables arrived Thursday(wow I just ordered them Monday). I have hooked them up to my stealth 8s and have been playing movies to flesh them in. They seem to have very good spatial properties after a couple of days. The stealth 8s tendency to sound somewhat analytical has subsided somewhat. I only have about maybe 10 hours on the cable so far. the recommended break in period is between 100 to 200 hours as stated in the handout that came with the cable. The stealth sounds pretty accurate with respect to reproducing spatial effects in the movies I have played so far. Well I will be getting back to playing some more movies today and see what more time on the reverie power cables does to the sound of the stealth 8s. I will keep posting my observations while the cables are breaking in.


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## Sphinx

toopoor said:


> Its really unfortunate as I unloaded all my headphone gear including a great DAC to help fund a new car/house. I think the Modi will be perfect for starting off. I've had it before and liked it for what it is. I really was hesitant to pull the trigger on these as they are 'kind of' expensive with a lot of other active speakers to be had. But I didn't want to go through getting a receiver, amp, etc. My only concern is my new listening room might be too big for these...11'8x19'10. But I know NOTHING about speakers, only headphones...




I hear ya, I sold my headphone setup in my signature to put a down payment on my house. Now its time to get back into hifi...


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## buson160man

Well the cable pro reverie power cords seem to be getting better with more play time. I am very pleased with the steering effects on movies with the stealth 8s and the cable pro power cables. The speakers are starting to disappear and dynamics are improving with the new power cables hooked up to the stealth eights.


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## buson160man

Well I feel it is finally the time to comment on the performance of my stealth eights. It has been a long and at times uncertain journey. I had a pair of sixes I purchased in January which I was using and was pretty satisfied with their performance. About three months later I believe it was april I browsed the emotiva website and saw they had the eigths on sale. I decided to take the chance and bought them. When I initially hooked them up they had a forward presentation that was pretty analytical. For the most part they were not a easy listen. With some break in they started to relax a bit but they never seemed to lose the forward sound quality that they possessed. The first tweak I tried was to upgrade the stock fuses with hifi-tuning supreme fuses. Things improved somewhat the sound becoming more relaxed but I still found the presentation to be more forward sounding than desirable. There just was not much depth to the sound. Was it my equipment combination? But the sound with my airmotiv sixes was not as forward and there was a sense of some depth with my cds in my set up. I tried a few of my aftermarket power cables that I had that were long enough though barely at two meters length. I had a three way power cable shootout with my emotiva , my harmonic technology ac-11 and a cable pro reflection cable. The winner was the reflection it being to be the only cable that had a good sense of space to the sound and made the eight more open sounding. The bass also seemed to be better resolved as well with the reflection. I decided I would take my chances with their best cord. Besides there is a thirty day money back guaranty so I  ordered their reverie cords while they were not inexpensive at 310.99 for 8 foot lengths they were not as outrageously priced compared to my kubala and nordost cables.  Those would have easily cost at least a thousand dollars each which makes no sense on a pair of speakers that set me back a bit over 1300 when I bought mine(DAMN THEY LOWERED THE PRICE AFTER I BOUGHT MINE AND THE THIRTY DAY TRIAL PERIOD HAD EXPIRED) Well back to the review I hooked the reveries up initially in my desk top set up to my emotiva airmotiv 5s and after  a bit of break in they started to sound more spacious than I remembered them before.
     I got side tracked a bit later after I bought a teac ud-501 usb dsd dac. I spent some time fleshing the dac in on headphones and I got away from speaker listening for a period of time.
  After the dac was fleshed in sufficiently I moved it into service on my living room set up with the stealth eights .The  sound was an improvement but I still had that forward quality to the sound that was off putting.
    I was using my emotiva power cables on the eights in my living room set up. So I moved the new cable pro reverie power cables to the eights. After a little more break in the eights started to get a bit more spacious but still had some of that forwardness that I had sensed. I spent some time playing movies through the stealth speakers in my living room. As I played movies I noticed as time went by that the sound became more spacious yet and the audio effects on movies were being much better resolved. Yesterday I hooked my new dac up to my preamp and fired up the stealth 8s and played it some last night. Things were more spacious and there was now a sense of depth to the music. I let things warm up overnight and listened this morning. Well the eights had arrived and the cds have a much more vivid presentation while at the same time a more relaxed and natural sound .
    I have been playing reference cd after reference cd and I have never been more satisfied with any of them before.
    The eigths are winners but I strongly advise you to upgrade the fuse and power cords with the hifi tuning supreme fuse and a pair of cable pro reverie power cable. The combination is magical.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  9


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## Sphinx

Well after following this thread and hearing your many impressions I'm SOLD . I was thinking of getting the Focal Solo6 but for the same price I'll get the stealth and a DAC. Can't wait to pair them with my Totem Storm.


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## TooPoor

Long story short: Bought a pair. Started unboxing... One speaker had obvious shipment 'issues' with a dent next to the 8" woofer. The worst in me said, 'hey What, lets see if it works.' It didnt. But ******* if the other one didn't sound AMAZING. I filed a claim with FedEx and returned the other non-damaged speaker. I miss hearing just the one and will attempt to purchase these again sometime soon. The bass is phenomenal. Oh well....


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## buson160man

Quote: 





toopoor said:


> Long story short: Bought a pair. Started unboxing... One speaker had obvious shipment 'issues' with a dent next to the 8" woofer. The worst in me said, 'hey What, lets see if it works.' It didnt. But ******* if the other one didn't sound AMAZING. I filed a claim with FedEx and returned the other non-damaged speaker. I miss hearing just the one and will attempt to purchase these again sometime soon. The bass is phenomenal. Oh well....


 
   I am sorry to hear of your shipping problems. I have now bought three pairs of emotiva powered speakers and had experienced no such issues. The handler must have dropped it off a three story building or something because the stealth eights are double boxed which you can attest from unpacking them . Did you contact emotiva about the shipping damage because emotiva has very good customer service in my experience. Even though I did not have any reliability issues with any of the speakers the emotiva people answered all my questions anytime I made any type of inquiry about any of the speakers that I bought. I did have a few questions before I decided to purchase any of them and the questions were answered fairly and pretty quickly.
    The stealth eights in my experience are more revealing than the airmotiv 6s and as such I believe take more time to break in than the sixes.
  While the sixes are very good the eights are more resolved and I believe more revealing of the electronics that you hook them up to.
  They are probably more neutral than the sixes and given the healthy boost in onboard amplification they are probably more revealing as well. I have found them to be able to play somewhat louder than the sixes . In fact they can play loud and stay very clean.
   I hope you get your problem resolved soon. Be patient about the break in process as much as you can because the eights as I had stated before in my earlier impressions was not an easy listen at first.


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## TooPoor

Emotiva is aware of the situation. They do indeed come double boxed and I have zero idea how FedEx accomplished such a feat. I even tried playing he speaker and it sounded so bad... The working speaker overpowered it by avast margin. Looking at the air motive 5s for a work setup. Too much?


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## buson160man

Quote: 





toopoor said:


> Emotiva is aware of the situation. They do indeed come double boxed and I have zero idea how FedEx accomplished such a feat. I even tried playing he speaker and it sounded so bad... The working speaker overpowered it by avast margin. Looking at the air motive 5s for a work setup. Too much?


 
   I have a pair of airmotiv 5s for my desktop setup and they work quite admirably. I am using a peachtree decco 2 for my desk top set up and it works fine as both dac and preamp paired with the airmotiv 5s.But I have also tweaked the decco 2 with a hifi tuning supreme fuse which improved the sound noticeably along with a cable pro reflection power cable. But the headphone amp in the decco 2 has somewhat limited drive for my preferred akg 701 phone. Of course I do not use headphones usually on my desk top. I usually use the airmotiv 5s on my desk top.


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## buson160man

Well I have put some time on the stealth 8s now. I must say they are sounding pretty good these days. They seemed to have opened up a bit more and they are becoming more resolved. The bass is getting more detailed and I keep hearing details that I was unaware of before on a lot of cds that I have been playing lately. There is also a sense of soundstage that is becoming ever present. I also am noticing that the stability of the soundstage does not waver or change. I am actually beginning to appreciate the qualities of the stealth 8 monitors.
   I also think the midrange is becoming more resolved as well. I am thinking that the speakers take a fair amount of play time before you can actually hear what their considerable abilities are.
    There is also a sense of openness that is also becoming more apparent these days. Before I was unsure that the difference between the airmotiv 6s and the stealth 8 was worth the cost difference. But I can now put that notion to rest because the stealth 8s are really beginning to sing in ways that the airmotiv 6 can not match. They are simply a more resolving loudspeaker than the airmotiv models.
   I am still thinking that the break in process still may have some time to go before they are fully settled in at least I hope they will get better still
 with more play time.
    I believe the stealth 8s are a bargain for their very reasonable cost. I think this speaker would cost a lot more if it was marketed in a retail store.
 probably at least twice as much.


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## eugenius

Warning: do not trust two way bass reflex speakers that try for low bass extension and high SPL at the same time.


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## Sphinx

The AMT does a great job of with the 8" woofer. I can say from personal experience that everything that burson is saying is true. It took months for my stealthy to open up. But now the sound that I'm getting from them is spectacular. 

And if for some reason you are really afraid of the 8" just get the stealth 6 ...


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## buson160man

You may not need the storm. I am amazed at the amount of body that the stealth 8s produce. I have to say that these speakers take a fair amount of play time before they show their considerable abilities. I do have to add that I have replaced the stock fuses in the speakers with hifi tuning supreme equivalents.  I am also using some aftermarket power cables with them as well. I am using the Teflon jacketed cable pro reverie power cables.
   I have very much become smitten with the stealth 8s. They are by far the most resolute speaker I have ever owned. And I have owned quite a few including a pair of smaller harbeths and a stand mount proac. Neither come close to the stealth 8 in ability.


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## buson160man

I feel it is time for some more comment about the stealth 8. I am finding that this speaker has a uncanny ability to pick out unheard details in the sound mix on cds. They are almost microscopic in their resolution ability. I can understand why these studio monitors are used by professionals to monitor their work, it is like nothing gets by speakers like this. They really get you involved in the music. A lot of so called audiophile speakers just do not separate all the aspects of a performance like professional monitors. A lot of things get lost in the sound put out by a far amount of these audiophile speakers. There is a clarity and a matter of fact aspect that audiophile speakers can completely miss.


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## Benny-x

Nice to see an update in here. I hope all Stealth 6/8 owners keep them flowing from time to time.
  
 As for me, I'm not sure what to do. I'm a closet basshead, so I'm getting a sub for my monitors. In fact, probably 2 because I really want that enveloping and zero-node bass. That means that I don't need anything with a bigger woofer (Airmotiv 5S vs. Airmotiv 6S vs. Stealth 6 vs. Stealth 8). So what do you guys recommend? Is there still a reason to go Stealth 8 + subs, or would the new Airmotiv 5S + same subs meet my needs? Or one of the other 2 alternatives?


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## zachchen1996

I'm struggling to decide whether I should go for the Stealth 8's or the LS50's since they are around the same price.


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## kazsud

benny-x said:


> Nice to see an update in here. I hope all Stealth 6/8 owners keep them flowing from time to time.
> 
> As for me, I'm not sure what to do. I'm a closet basshead, so I'm getting a sub for my monitors. In fact, probably 2 because I really want that enveloping and zero-node bass. That means that I don't need anything with a bigger woofer (Airmotiv 5S vs. Airmotiv 6S vs. Stealth 6 vs. Stealth 8). So what do you guys recommend? Is there still a reason to go Stealth 8 + subs, or would the new Airmotiv 5S + same subs meet my needs? Or one of the other 2 alternatives?




A sub for the 6s or 8s? Lol I think my airmotiv 6s have plenty of bass if not too much some times. 

Btw does you feel the purifier is worth it?


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## kazsud

zachchen1996 said:


> I'm struggling to decide whether I should go for the Stealth 8's or the LS50's since they are around the same price.




I would definitely give the stealths a shot before the LS50s. The ribbon tweeters are incredible!!,


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## zachchen1996

kazsud said:


> I would definitely give the stealths a shot before the LS50s. The ribbon tweeters are incredible!!,


 
  
 Have you heard both?
 The stealth 8's _do_ seem the more tempting option, as I wouldn't have to get an amp + the stealth's have better bass extension.


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## kazsud

No but I've heard tweaterless speakers before.


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## buson160man

zachchen1996 said:


> I'm struggling to decide whether I should go for the Stealth 8's or the LS50's since they are around the same price.


 

  Well I can't say anything about the LS50 because I have only heard it in passing at the axpona show. It did sound pretty amazing considering its size. It sounded way bigger than it looks. But being a stealth 8 owner and the one who started this thread. The stealth 8 is a amazing speaker in its own right. But I can't help thinking you are comparing apples and oranges here. The LS50 is apassive design with no onboard amplification. Also the stealth 8 is a active design (with two 200 watt rms amps for the tweeter and woofer) primarily designed for use in a professional environment. After owning this speaker for awhile I am still finding things out about this monitor. It has a almost chameleon like ability to change its sound depending on what is north of it in the chain. I believe that is what a professional monitor is supposed to do it should be neutral in character and not add anything on its own to the sound. Is not that the goal of a professional monitor. I wish I was more affluent because while I am using a vintage audio research ls2 mkII preamp which is not too shabby. It would be nice to hear what the stealth 8s could do with a more modern really top notch preamp.
   I do not know what the low frequency ability of the kef speaker is but the stealth 8 is blessed by a low frequency limit of 30 hz plus or minus 1.75 db. Now that is not only pretty low for a speaker of this size it is also very accurate as well. I have heard some criticism from someone who criticized emotiva on the bass reflex design over a sealed box design like the adam. But the bass on offer is pretty tight with maybe a little of the bass reflex sound but the bass is not sloppy and or loose like what you get with a fair amount of the bass reflex designs. I feel the trade off with the design is well worth it when you hear how powerful and dynamic a sound you get from the stealth 8 and with the amount of bass extension. Plus there is ample adjustment with the adjustment controls on the back of the speaker. I have never heard bass as powerful as the stealths in any sealed box design in a speaker the size of the stealth 8.
   Dollar for dollar the stealth 8 is a tough act to follow for its very modest price. Where else are you going to a active speaker with 400 watts rms per channel for 1500 usd. I haven't seen it plus emotiva gives you a five year warranty. Now that is great deal. But my comment does not suggest that the stealth 8 is any way a cheaply made speaker. The stealth 8 is in fact a ruggedly constructed speaker designed to take the punishment that in a professional environment can sometimes happens.
    I can say this after having active speakers I am never going to go back to passive speakers again. The active designs are just a lot more convenient not having to worry about what amplifier is suitable for the speaker and what speaker wire is suitable to get the best sound. I am sure there is a lot of capability that my stealth 8 has yet to reveal to me.
    I hope the info is helpful to you in making your decision.


----------



## Sphinx

Figured I may as we'll chime in seeing as I've owned the stealth 8 speakers for almost a year now. As stated above the bass is something to take into consideration when buying these speakers. I was torn between the 6 and 8 for a while before purchase as I had a totem storm sub which uses a 8" woofer and 2 passive woofers. This made me believe that the 8 was overkill. What changed my mind though was the difference in power. I just didn't want to give up the headroom that the 8 was going to offer. In the end I sold the totem storm and haven't regretted it since. I do listen to a lot of bass dependent music which includes a tonne of psy-trance and dub-step. And these speakers just rock out as soon as I turn anything on, and they just keep going and going no matter how brave you get with the volume control. 

I'm using them with an arcam pre at the moment and the only thing right now that would change things for me would be a better dac to interface between the arcam and my PC. 

This should give those of you an idea of the ability of these speakers. I was thinking for a while of swapping them for a headphone amp combo but seeing as there aren't to many buyers in canada I may as we'll just keep enjoying them heh.


----------



## buson160man

sphinx said:


> Figured I may as we'll chime in seeing as I've owned the stealth 8 speakers for almost a year now. As stated above the bass is something to take into consideration when buying these speakers. I was torn between the 6 and 8 for a while before purchase as I had a totem storm sub which uses a 8" woofer and 2 passive woofers. This made me believe that the 8 was overkill. What changed my mind though was the difference in power. I just didn't want to give up the headroom that the 8 was going to offer. In the end I sold the totem storm and haven't regretted it since. I do listen to a lot of bass dependent music which includes a tonne of psy-trance and dub-step. And these speakers just rock out as soon as I turn anything on, and they just keep going and going no matter how brave you get with the volume control.
> 
> I'm using them with an arcam pre at the moment and the only thing right now that would change things for me would be a better dac to interface between the arcam and my PC.
> 
> This should give those of you an idea of the ability of these speakers. I was thinking for a while of swapping them for a headphone amp combo but seeing as there aren't to many buyers in canada I may as we'll just keep enjoying them heh.


 

  Touche rock on baby.


----------



## Benny-x

buson160man said:


> You may not need the storm. I am amazed at the amount of body that the stealth 8s produce. I have to say that these speakers take a fair amount of play time before they show their considerable abilities. I do have to add that I have replaced the stock fuses in the speakers with hifi tuning supreme equivalents.  I am also using some aftermarket power cables with them as well. I am using the Teflon jacketed cable pro reverie power cables.
> I have very much become smitten with the stealth 8s. They are by far the most resolute speaker I have ever owned. And I have owned quite a few including a pair of smaller harbeths and a stand mount proac. Neither come close to the stealth 8 in ability.


 
 Hey Buson, I'm still up in the air about the Stealth 6s vs. the Stealth 8s, but either way I'll be getting some of those Hi-Fi Tuning fuses. I've found out that the 6s take a Slo-blo 2A fuse, but I CANNOT find a word anywhere on what the 8s take. Would you be able to tell me what their rated fuse is? Thanks.


----------



## buson160man

benny-x said:


> Hey Buson, I'm still up in the air about the Stealth 6s vs. the Stealth 8s, but either way I'll be getting some of those Hi-Fi Tuning fuses. I've found out that the 6s take a Slo-blo 2A fuse, but I CANNOT find a word anywhere on what the 8s take. Would you be able to tell me what their rated fuse is? Thanks.


 
  Sorry I took so long to reply but I have been very enamored of my recent purchase of a recapped vintage receiver that sounds unbelievably great with headphones. I checked the fuse this morning and the fuse is a small 4 amp slow blow. I had the original airmotiv sixes before and moved on to the eights. The new airmotiv sixes have had some of the improvements brought forth by the stealth models. I imagine the cabinets changes have improved the sound . If I can remember the new sixes have even tighter specs in the frequency area . But I would like to add the extra 200 watts rms make a pretty large difference in how loud and dynamic things get. I think dollar for dollar the stealth 8s offer more bang for your buck than the stealth 6s. They are really not that much more considering the added low end capability and the additional power.


----------



## Mark K

I have been paying attention to this..and the previous QMS MH8 for years. Good to hear Emotiva rebadged it in a much better way.


----------



## zachchen1996

Finally ordered a pair, plan on pairing it with the Schiit Yggdrasil. Should be good!


----------



## kazsud

The airmotiv 6s sounded great w/ the yggdrasil


----------



## zachchen1996

That's good to hear! What do you use to control the volume on yours? The emotiva control freak?


----------



## zachchen1996

buson160man said:


> Sorry I took so long to reply but I have been very enamored of my recent purchase of a recapped vintage receiver that sounds unbelievably great with headphones. I checked the fuse this morning and the fuse is a small 4 amp slow blow. I had the original airmotiv sixes before and moved on to the eights. The new airmotiv sixes have had some of the improvements brought forth by the stealth models. I imagine the cabinets changes have improved the sound . If I can remember the new sixes have even tighter specs in the frequency area . But I would like to add the extra 200 watts rms make a pretty large difference in how loud and dynamic things get. I think dollar for dollar the stealth 8s offer more bang for your buck than the stealth 6s. They are really not that much more considering the added low end capability and the additional power.


 
  
 Do you have any recommendation on which fuse to use with the Stealth 8's?
  
 I'm deciding between the Synergistic Research Red Quantum Fuse, Audio Magic Premier Super Fuse, and the Hifi-Tuning Supreme.


----------



## kazsud

zachchen1996 said:


> That's good to hear! What do you use to control the volume on yours? The emotiva control freak?


 

 I must apologize I was drunk when I replied. I heard the yggdrasil --- audio research pre-amp --- amp (name I can't remember) --- nice bookshelf speakers. 
 I heard my hdva600 and hd800 with it as well and was invited back to hear the 6s but it hasn't happened yet. I feel they would sound great and would probably yield the most detail.


----------



## Benny-x

i was just on the now merged Emotiva+EmotivaPro website and the Stealth 6 is gone. Looks like the Airmotiv 6S crept up too close on its territory and called into question the price difference. If I was guessing anyway. What I've actually really been waiting on is a Stealth 8 refresh. That's got to be coming, i's been like ~2-3 years since they were released and lot more monitors with ribbon tweeters are on the market now. 
  
 So, here's to hoping for a new Stealth 8 with the same pretty price. And that's excluding the 2 woofer Stealth 8 that there are pictures floating around of.


----------



## zachchen1996

benny-x said:


> i was just on the now merged Emotiva+EmotivaPro website and the Stealth 6 is gone. Looks like the Airmotiv 6S crept up too close on its territory and called into question the price difference. If I was guessing anyway. What I've actually really been waiting on is a Stealth 8 refresh. That's got to be coming, i's been like ~2-3 years since they were released and lot more monitors with ribbon tweeters are on the market now.
> 
> So, here's to hoping for a new Stealth 8 with the same pretty price. And that's excluding the 2 woofer Stealth 8 that there are pictures floating around of.


 
  
 Highly doubt the Stealth 8 is going to get refreshed anytime soon when it is doing so well for them.
 They finally arrived this week and for the price they truly are a steal!
 Can't wait to see how the yggy will sound with them.


----------



## buson160man

zachchen1996 said:


> Highly doubt the Stealth 8 is going to get refreshed anytime soon when it is doing so well for them.
> They finally arrived this week and for the price they truly are a steal!
> Can't wait to see how the yggy will sound with them.


 

 Welcome to the club. I hope you check out the pm I sent suggesting the emotiva iec power cord for use with your stealth 8s  The power cords are a very worthwhile tweak for your new stealth 8 speakers.


----------



## buson160man

zachchen1996 said:


> Do you have any recommendation on which fuse to use with the Stealth 8's?
> 
> I'm deciding between the Synergistic Research Red Quantum Fuse, Audio Magic Premier Super Fuse, and the Hifi-Tuning Supreme.


 
  I use hifi tuning supreme fuses in both of my emotive speakers. They make a huge difference in the way the monitors sound. A absolutely essential in my opinion addition you need to make to get the best out of the emotiva speakers.


----------



## Tablix

A fuse affecting sound quality, this type of post makes me want to stop reading posts on these forums.  Honestly I am becoming so fed up with audiophile ******** it makes me wonder if anything posted is worth reading.   A fuse has ZERO to do with sound quality, and if anyone can prove me wrong I would be delighted to read the evidence..


----------



## Benny-x

It'll take a few months to get them, but I'll be on the Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 team in November/December. I'll report my findings after I get them and get them setup, though it's not going to be ideal for a while.


----------



## kazsud

They are 20% until January.
  
 Most likely will get them but will have to sell the 6s to my friend first and then someone else lol.
  
 Gonna re-read impressions


----------



## Benny-x

benny-x said:


> It'll take a few months to get them, but I'll be on the Emotiva Pro Stealth 8 team in November/December. I'll report my findings after I get them and get them setup, though it's not going to be ideal for a while.


 
 Well, I have received the Stealth 8s and holy sh!t do they ever sound good. The 2 setups I tried were far from ideal, but man are their mids ever clear, highs are smooth, and the bass is impactful, fast, and tight. These have some of the smoothest, clearest mids I've ever hear. Vocals on them were sublime, and I had no idea that was coming.  
  
 I will be trying them on my home system with a different PC source, DAC and pre-amp in several weeks, so hopefully that will answer my question about the fullness/bloom that I'd like to also be hearing in the bass. Right now they're just lacking a little plumpness that I'd like, as a bass lover, in the bass department. But I don't know if that was the DAC I had them on or what. We'll see.
  
 Anyway, happy Stealth 8 owner, right here.


----------



## kazsud

benny-x said:


> Well, I have received the Stealth 8s and holy sh!t do they ever sound good. The 2 setups I tried were far from ideal, but man are their mids ever clear, highs are smooth, and the bass is impactful, fast, and tight. These have some of the smoothest, clearest mids I've ever hear. Vocals on them were sublime, and I had no idea that was coming.
> 
> I will be trying them on my home system with a different PC source, DAC and pre-amp in several weeks, so hopefully that will answer my question about the fullness/bloom that I'd like to also be hearing in the bass. Right now they're just lacking a little plumpness that I'd like, as a bass lover, in the bass department. But I don't know if that was the DAC I had them on or what. We'll see.
> 
> Anyway, happy Stealth 8 owner, right here.


 
  
 I'll have my pair next week. I have the PS Audio PWD Mkii as well. it paired very well w/ the Airmotiv 6.


----------



## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> I'll have my pair next week. I have the PS Audio PWD Mkii as well. It paired very well w/ the Airmotiv 6.


 
 Awesome, looks like that ~20% off sale they've got going is what people needed. I'm definitely an Emotiva fan now :-D
  
 And that's good to hear that the PWD MkII paired well with your Airmotiv 6. I'm sure their sound signature has got to be similar enough to say they'd be a good pairing. If I understand the PWD MkII well enough though, it's big low end should fit well with making a studio monitor sound more musical/enjoyable. 
  
 Let me know how it goes after you get yours in


----------



## kazsud

They arrived yesterday and boy are they huge!! I need to get shorter stands or have mine cut at a metal shop.
  
 From a hour of low volume listening w/ nothing tweaked in the back I can say they fill up the room way more than the airmotiv 6s. They still have the same sound for the most part but better all around. Thinking about toeing them in some.
  
 I might have to trade for the stealth 6s if I don't change my mind.


----------



## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> They arrived yesterday and boy are they huge!! I need to get shorter stands or have mine cut at a metal shop.
> 
> From a hour of low volume listening w/ nothing tweaked in the back I can say they fill up the room way more than the airmotiv 6s. They still have the same sound for the most part but better all around. Thinking about toeing them in some.
> 
> I might have to trade for the stealth 6s if I don't change my mind.


 
 Good to hear you got them in :-D
  
 I'm looking at stands now, how tall were your originals and what're you looking at cutting them down to? And what's your listening position type and seat height + ear height?
  
 About trading for the Stealth 6, what do you mean? You think the 8 is too big for your room? The Stealth 6 was discontinued as far as I know, though, since the newly introduced Airmotiv 6S competed closely with it, but had a noticeable price difference.


----------



## oneguy

As Ben already knows I just received my Stealth 8 speakers 3 days ago. I think I have decided to keep them on my desk and get the Isoacoustics 200 series stands for them. I was considering the Ultimate Support MS-80 stands but they don't offer any elevation change and I am not a big fan of angle adjustment anyway. I think the Isoacoustics stands with their low risers should give me the 4-6" in height I am looking for.


My Airmotiv 5s compared to the Stealth 8:


----------



## kazsud

benny-x said:


> Good to hear you got them in :-D
> 
> I'm looking at stands now, how tall were your originals and what're you looking at cutting them down to? And what's your listening position type and seat height + ear height?
> 
> About trading for the Stealth 6, what do you mean? You think the 8 is too big for your room? The Stealth 6 was discontinued as far as I know, though, since the newly introduced Airmotiv 6S competed closely with it, but had a noticeable price difference.




My current stands are 27" high which I just toe'd in about 5 degrees. I'm thinking 5-6 inches shorter would be perfect. The speakers are set up with the tv with the couch about 8 feet away. Sitting down my ears are around the bottom of the woofer.


----------



## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> My current stands are 27" high which I just toe'd in about 5 degrees. I'm thinking 5-6 inches shorter would be perfect. The speakers are set up with the tv with the couch about 8 feet away. Sitting down my ears are around the bottom of the woofer.


 
  
 Thanks for that. I was looking at 30" stands and I sit a fair bit higher, so it sounds like they might line up alright. 
  
 When I tried them out I definitely had to line my ear up more level with the tweeter to get its magic. And man do I ever find these have a nice, natural top end to them.


----------



## kazsud

So a bit after watching some Netflix there was complete silence for about an hour then the woofer began to make a bass noise and move very fast. When it happened I thought someone was rolling a bowling ball on the floor above me. So I turned the speaker off and when I did I noticed the back of the speaker felt hot along with the heat sink. I felt the back of the other speaker and it was only mildly warm.

Is the amp going bad on me or is static build up of some kind?


----------



## Mr Rick

kazsud said:


> So a bit after watching some Netflix there was complete silence for about an hour then the woofer began to make a bass noise and move very fast. When it happened I thought someone was rolling a bowling ball on the floor above me. So I turned the speaker off and when I did I noticed the back of the speaker felt hot along with the heat sink. I felt the back of the other speaker and it was only mildly warm.
> 
> Is the amp going bad on me or is static build up of some kind?


 
 Most likely a problem with the electronics within the speaker. Time to contact Emotiva.
  
 If you disconnect any inputs to the speaker and find it still occurs you will have eliminated all other possibilities.


----------



## kazsud

mr rick said:


> Most likely a problem with the electronics within the speaker. Time to contact Emotiva.
> 
> If you disconnect any inputs to the speaker and find it still occurs you will have eliminated all other possibilities.




Thanks I'll try that next time it happens.


----------



## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> So a bit after watching some Netflix there was complete silence for about an hour then the woofer began to make a bass noise and move very fast. When it happened I thought someone was rolling a bowling ball on the floor above me. So I turned the speaker off and when I did I noticed the back of the speaker felt hot along with the heat sink. I felt the back of the other speaker and it was only mildly warm.
> 
> Is the amp going bad on me or is static build up of some kind?


 
 I also read about this recently in another guy's system (non-Stealth) and it was a short in the RCA connection feeding the speaker. Try like the other guy said or try a different source and see what happens.
  
 Good luck, I hope it's not the speakers.


----------



## kazsud

It happened to the same speaker when I turned it on. So I turned it off then unplugged the xlr then turned it on again and it still happened. Then I unplugged the power cord and then plugged it back in and it didn't do it again. The power cords and power strip are on a big thick throw rug and the speakers are on stands on hardwood flooring. 

Should I buy one of these to see if something funny is going on?

https://emotiva.com/products/accessories/cmx-2

https://emotiva.com/products/accessories/cmx-6


----------



## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> It happened to the same speaker when I turned it on. So I turned it off then unplugged the xlr then turned it on again and it still happened. Then I unplugged the power cord and then plugged it back in and it didn't do it again. The power cords and power strip are on a big thick throw rug and the speakers are on stands on hardwood flooring.
> 
> Should I buy one of these to see if something funny is going on?
> 
> ...


 
  
 I think I'd start with a new power cord. Maybe the one you've got, or the IEC connection, is bad? Anyway, I'd start there and see if the issue popped up again. There might also be some detector that you could buy to test for the issue before investing in a corrective solution. 
  
 As for the DC offset thing, it is true and does happen, but when why with only one of the 2 speakers?


----------



## oneguy

Stealth 8's up on Isoaccoustics stands


----------



## oneguy

After about a week of having the Stealth 8 on Isoacoustic stand I am thoroughly enjoying the combo. Even though the stand are undersized compared to the base of the Stealth 8 I don't feel like there are any instability issues. The unforeseen benefit of having the bases smaller than the speakers is it allows me to tuck some of my audio equipment under the overhang of the speakers and gain back some desktop real estate. It may seem like a minor thing but with speakers this big a lot of people are turned off by their size and this should help allay their fears somewhat. The desk in the pictures above is 60" wide to put things in perspective.


----------



## Benny-x

oneguy said:


> After about a week of having the Stealth 8 on Isoacoustic stand I am thoroughly enjoying the combo. Even though the stand are undersized compared to the base of the Stealth 8 I don't feel like there are any instability issues. The unforeseen benefit of having the bases smaller than the speakers is it allows me to tuck some of my audio equipment under the overhang of the speakers and gain back some desktop real estate. It may seem like a minor thing but with speakers this big a lot of people are turned off by their size and this should help allay their fears somewhat. The desk in the pictures above is 60" wide to put things in perspective.


 
  
 Good to hear that things have been going well with the new stands. I've got a monitor stand that I use similarly, getting the extra real estate on the desk is always nice.
  
 For min, since the baby I haven't even touched mine until this afternoon. It killed me to look at them sitting there half unpacked for the past 2.5 months, but that's all I could do. I got in about 30mins on them today and found out the room is destroying them. The reflections are washing out the sound quite a bit, the bass is slightly too boomy, but some how lacks body and depth, and the cardboard boxes that they were shipped in just aren't going to cut it as stands anymore. More projects for myself. More dollars. More fun?


----------



## kazsud

benny-x said:


> Good to hear that things have been going well with the new stands. I've got a monitor stand that I use similarly, getting the extra real estate on the desk is always nice.
> 
> For min, since the baby I haven't even touched mine until this afternoon. It killed me to look at them sitting there half unpacked for the past 2.5 months, but that's all I could do. I got in about 30mins on them today and found out the room is destroying them. The reflections are washing out the sound quite a bit, the bass is slightly too boomy, but some how lacks body and depth, and the cardboard boxes that they were shipped in just aren't going to cut it as stands anymore. More projects for myself. More dollars. More fun?


 
  
 I'm probably gonna design a pair or get one of these two. My design will be like the epos but with bigger square tubing like the pangea ones.
  
 http://www.audiolab.com/Epos_ST_15_Speaker_Stand_p/epost15.htm
  
 http://www.amazon.com/Pangea-Audio-DS300-Speaker-Inches/dp/B00GM0CO2O/ref=sr_1_25?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1450894880&sr=1-25&keywords=SPEAKER+STAND&refinements=p_n_material_browse%3A316589011


----------



## KewlMunky

Ordered my set today from Amazon warehouse deals for $560. Condition was marked very good and this paid didn't have any issues listed (ex: some said damaged packaging or slight cosmetic defects on the enclosures) so I'm assuming they were just tried out and return. They should be here Friday.
  
 I'm excited to have my first quality set of home speakers. I've done car audio and headphones, but for home speakers I've only ever had systems such as the Logitech Z5500 and Z2300. Now that I have my own place it's time I move into some real home audio.


----------



## oneguy

kewlmunky said:


> Ordered my set today from Amazon warehouse deals for $560. Condition was marked very good and this paid didn't have any issues listed (ex: some said damaged packaging or slight cosmetic defects on the enclosures) so I'm assuming they were just tried out and return. They should be here Friday.
> 
> I'm excited to have my first quality set of home speakers. I've done car audio and headphones, but for home speakers I've only ever had systems such as the Logitech Z5500 and Z2300. Now that I have my own place it's time I move into some real home audio.




$560 for a pair of Stealth 8s? I hate you right now. I already have a pair but I don't think I could pass on another set at that price. Post some pics when they arrive!

EDIT: I see it was $560 each on the Amazon website. My mistake. Still a great deal though


----------



## KewlMunky

I'm wondering what to do about a stand. I have a nice little three drawer stand to the right of my TV to place one on, but on the other side I have a bookshelf that sits higher up than it does. I also have room between the TV and the bookshelf to put a stand. So either I'd get a really tall stand to match the height of the nightstand on the right, or a small stand to bring the right side's speak up to the height of the one on the left. I'll have to do some listening at both heights and decide which I prefer.
  
 Anyway, could someone recommend some stands that would actually hold these monsters? Most of the stands I find don't have a very large base and I'm fearful of them being knocked off (I have a toddler and a soon to be crawling baby in my house).


----------



## Benny-x

kewlmunky said:


> I'm wondering what to do about a stand. I have a nice little three drawer stand to the right of my TV to place one on, but on the other side I have a bookshelf that sits higher up than it does. I also have room between the TV and the bookshelf to put a stand. So either I'd get a really tall stand to match the height of the nightstand on the right, or a small stand to bring the right side's speak up to the height of the one on the left. I'll have to do some listening at both heights and decide which I prefer.
> 
> Anyway, could someone recommend some stands that would actually hold these monsters? Most of the stands I find don't have a very large base and I'm fearful of them being knocked off (I have a toddler and a soon to be crawling baby in my house).


 
  
 Read the last ~2 pages in this thread. We've been talking about stands. 
  
 I'm not sure from your description whether you're looking to go with something to add a little height to them and you'll still use the nightstands or if you're going to go full on, purpose built stands. There's talk of both over the past 2 pages though. 
  
 On a side note:
  
 Emotiva released a bunch of new stuff at CES this year. New, passive Airmotiv speakers and 10" and 12" active, Airmotiv subs. After I tame my room issues, whenever in the distant future that'll be, I'll find out if I still need a sub. I was having a great laugh remembering from my initial Stealth 6 inquiry that an Emotiva rep told me they'd be released a new Airmotiv sub really soon in "Q2". That was back in 2012... Hahaha.


----------



## KewlMunky

Okay so I made a noob mistake. I thought the order I placed was for a pair of monitors, but after looking through questions on Amazon I discovered they are sold as single units. I know most monitors are, but the product listing says monitors and the description made no mention of it being a single unit. So anyway I quickly placed another order for an amazon wearhouse deals one for $586 that only had packaging damage listed as a defect. Both should be arriving Friday. I'm really glad I caught that, otherwise I would have been very sad to sit with one monitor until Monday.


----------



## Orpheus

oneguy said:


> Stealth 8's up on Isoaccoustics stands


 
  
 you don't actually sit there to listen do you?


----------



## kazsud

Since I'm designing my I decided to model the speaker so I will have a better chance w/ the aesthetics of the stands design.
  
 I still need to figure out the chamfer/radius thing.
  
  
 I'll probably share the stand design to anyone who wants it or sell a pair.


----------



## oneguy

orpheus said:


> you don't actually sit there to listen do you?




I do infrequently. More often than not, I use them fill the room(s) up with music when we are eating together or when I am cleaning the kitchen. My 6 year old daughter also loves to dance with me in the family room (where my desk is located) so they are the source of music for that.

My HE1000s are my preferred music source of choice while at my desk but the speakers are my preferred source for movies/TV shows at my desk.


----------



## Orpheus

oneguy said:


> I do infrequently. More often than not, I use them fill the room(s) up with music when we are eating together or when I am cleaning the kitchen. My 6 year old daughter also loves to dance with me in the family room (where my desk is located) so they are the source of music for that.
> 
> My HE1000s are my preferred music source of choice while at my desk but the speakers are my preferred source for movies/TV shows at my desk.


 

 ah okay... cause i was gonna say i doubt at that distance speakers of that size become a point source adequately.  but yeah, as general loudspeakers for the whole room that would work.


----------



## KewlMunky

Yesterday Amazon finally Fedex overnighted the first monitor I ordered, however this morning I discovered they canceled my order for the second one due to it not being available. In the process of having them return the first. 

 I'm either going to order two new ones directly from Emotiva or else look into a different speaker solution. I was so looking forward to today, too


----------



## oneguy

kewlmunky said:


> Yesterday Amazon finally Fedex overnighted the first monitor I ordered, however this morning I discovered they canceled my order for the second one due to it not being available. In the process of having them return the first.
> 
> I'm either going to order two new ones directly from Emotiva or else look into a different speaker solution. I was so looking forward to today, too


 
 Emotiva's refubished option on eBay:
 http://www.ebay.com/itm/231820725748?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
  
 Stealth 8 factory refurbished by Emotiva and sold by Emotiva. Comes with a 1 year non-transferrable warranty. From what I have gathered from the Emotiva forum they accept reasonable offers so you can get them cheaper than $580 no problem. 4 available at the moment.


----------



## KewlMunky

Anytime I've searched "emotiva" those have never come up. I searched "emotiva stealth 8" and then they showed up. Rather strange. Anyway I just put in an order for two new ones from Emotiva. 
  
 Does anyone know their average shipping time for the free shipping?


----------



## oneguy

Yeah I found out that they don't show up when you search earlier today as well.
  
 I don't have any current info but when I bought my stuff from them in late 2014 it was well inside a week to Oklahoma for the free shipping.


----------



## KewlMunky

oneguy said:


> Yeah I found out that they don't show up when you search earlier today as well.
> 
> I don't have any current info but when I bought my stuff from them in late 2014 it was well inside a week to Oklahoma for the free shipping.


 
  
 Well being I put in the order this morning hopefully they get them dropped off to the carrier today and will be able to get them to me next week.


----------



## kazsud

Well the Stealth 8 that I had the amp replaced in just died or something. The led is a constant red............ 
  
 I turned it off and pulled the cord for a while like the website says for a red blinking led but still the same problem. No sound.
  
 The heatsink wasn't even warm.


----------



## KewlMunky

kazsud said:


> Well the Stealth 8 that I had the amp replaced in just died or something. The led is a constant red............
> 
> I turned it off and pulled the cord for a while like the website says for a red blinking led but still the same problem. No sound.
> 
> The heatsink wasn't even warm.


 
 Still under warranty?


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## kazsud

kewlmunky said:


> Still under warranty?


 
 Yes I bought them in this past November. I just hate that this happened again. I just got new stands not even a month ago


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## KewlMunky

kazsud said:


> Yes I bought them in this past November. I just hate that this happened again. I just got new stands not even a month ago


 
 Very unfortunate. Hopefully this doesn't continue for you.


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## kazsud

kewlmunky said:


> Very unfortunate. Hopefully this doesn't continue for you.




So on my way home I thought of checking the fuse. I get home and plug it in and turn it on before checking the fuse and it's working again.

I wonder if it's because I have everything connected to a crappy power strip. Which is connected to another power strip that has a modem, cable box, tv and wireless router....

I think I'm gonna pick one up this weekend or order one.


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## Benny-x

buson160man has talked of the benefits of swapping the fuses in the Stealth 8s for ages. I had an opportunity to buy some HiFi Tuning Silver Supreme fuses for a bit of a discount last week, so I've got them now. Hopefully I can install them in the coming week. I'll report in on any changes after I've had some listening time. 

Still have lots of room reflections to deal with, but that's not cone ng anytime soon. And I know that's the biggest issue I have to take care of. Potentially with my entire system.


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## coli

How do they compare to the JBL 305?


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## buson160man

tablix said:


> A fuse affecting sound quality, this type of post makes me want to stop reading posts on these forums.  Honestly I am becoming so fed up with audiophile ******** it makes me wonder if anything posted is worth reading.   A fuse has ZERO to do with sound quality, and if anyone can prove me wrong I would be delighted to read the evidence..


 

 This is an old thread but one I thought I would respond to. If you have not heard the effect that a premium fuse can have on something you really should not be making comments about it being hogwash . The effect is easily heard and discernible sonically speaking .
    I really think your comment is very close minded . Until you hear it you should not be dissing it . But from a engineering point of view it might make sense . The changes are not something that would probably be measured .
     The pricing of these premium fuses is a bit ridiculous though I do use them liberally  wherever . The prices are definitely a bit steep for what you are getting . But price gouging is definitely something that is a readily practiced thing in the audiophile tweaking industry so that is nothing new .


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## coli

buson160man said:


> This is an old thread but one I thought I would respond to. If you have not heard the effect that a premium fuse can have on something you really should not be making comments about it being hogwash . The effect is easily heard and discernible sonically speaking .
> I really think your comment is very close minded . Until you hear it you should not be dissing it . But from a engineering point of view it might make sense . The changes are not something that would probably be measured .
> The pricing of these premium fuses is a bit ridiculous though I do use them liberally  wherever . The prices are definitely a bit steep for what you are getting . But price gouging is definitely something that is a readily practiced thing in the audiophile tweaking industry so that is nothing new .


 
 If a premium fuses has effect on sound quality then that equipment was beyond poorly designed. I have tried one before, and it made no difference what so ever.


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## islewind

I had a chance to listen to the Stealth 8 and they were very impressive, definitely competitive for near field listening with anything in the same price range.


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## kazsud

So after repeated problems with one of my speakers I started to audition potential replacements.
  
 I listened to kef ls50, r300 & r500. 
  
 Then I heard dynaudio xeo 4 and excite x18.
  
 A pair of russel k monitors and the theil tm3 which costs 4k
  
  
  
 So my end result is that I like the stealth 8s better than all the above mentioned. The soundstage and clarity of the s8 couldn't be matched. 
  
 The closest to the sound signature were the dynaudio excite 18x and theil tm3.
  
  
 All were powered by my ragnorak except for the dynaudios. Which I am going back to hear w/ it. The others were also heard w/ marantz and audio research amps as well.


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## Benny-x

kazsud said:


> So after repeated problems with one of my speakers I started to audition potential replacements.
> 
> I listened to kef ls50, r300 & r500.
> 
> ...




Sorry for your troubles, but that's music to my ears~~

Unfortunately i bought mine online and never compared anything else, so i don't know how they place and of course there's always that lingering "what about..."


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## pulmonq2

buson160man said:


> I was browsing the stealth eight and comparable models from other manufacturers and came across one that looked to me to be possibly and even better value that the emotiva.Lets not forget JBL which definitely knows a thing or two about professional sound.I came across a model which costs around the same price actually a hundred dollars more but given the added flexilbilty it looks to me to be an even better
> value.The JBL model is the JBL LSR4328P Pak and what makes this model more appealing is the automatic room correction capablity that the JBL has and they even include a mike for the price.With this feature you can tune the speaker to whatever room and or position you have the speaker set for maximum performance.
> I believe the power spec is the same and judging from the other specs it is very similar to the stealth 8.
> I had seen a blog about the Qms company before.


 
  
 Regarding the LSR4328P, you're neglecting one important fact:
  
  

*Frequency Response*+/-1.5 dB: 50 Hz – 20 kHz
  
  
 The frequency response is nowhere close to the Emotiva in terms of low end extension.
  
  
  

*Amplification*150 w/ 70 w
  
 Nowhere close to the Emotiva either.
  

*Weight*13.1 kg (29 lb)
  
 A full 12 pounds less in materials.
  
  
 You almost might as well go with the much cheaper LSR308 with the advanced waveguide tweeter (which sounds amazing).


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## pulmonq2

tablix said:


> Why are you taking such a fanboi stance over these emotiva speakers?  I am just trying to point out that there are equally good alternatives from other brands.  Having a closed opinion about something and shouting others down is not doing anything other than making you look s little blinded.  Try researching outside this forum and you will find plenty of support for other brands such as K&H Adam Dynaudio KRK Genelec Sonodyne to name but a few and on those sites you will find little to no mention of emotiva's.  There is a reason, and I am just trying to highlight it.  I am sure Emotiva's offer a fine product but I am trying to suggest that nobody should buy blind, or deaf in this case.  Everyone's needs are different and from my researching, which I have done extensively, your money can be spent on other similar products without losing anything.  From the reviews I have found and read emotiva's offer a "flavoured" or "coloured"sound not suitable for music production, where a flat frequency response is required.  I am sure the emotiva's sound just fine for listening or gaming or watching movies but that is not everyones intended use.  The comments made here make these "entry level" nearfield monitors out to be the best thing money can buy and that is simply not the case.
> 
> Never spend money without doing your research, that is my message.  Listening for 10mins is better than reading 10 articles.  I am not trying to troll this thread just offer insight to those that may be reading and are looking to buy in the future.
> 
> And to point out the floor in your argument I have had adam A7X for about 18months, prior to that Yamaha monitors and in both cases have not needed after sales support once.  But in both cases I know it was available locally through an authorised dealer.


 
  
  
 Disclaimer:
 This is not meant as an attack, but rather as needing to put someone (who is near-trolling this thread and then trying to pawn it off as being sincerely concerned) in their place.
 Also, I am not an Emotiva 'fan', per se. I only own two of their products: Stealth DC-1 and XPS-1.
  
 What I AM a fan of is well engineered gear that comes with a reasonable pricetag, and I don't like when people bash something good without good reasons.
  
 Ok, let's start!
  
  
 Tablix, read the title of the thread:
  
emotivas new stealth 8 The only context other manufacturers and speakers should have in this thread is in deference to the above -- in terms of price, sound, and spec.
  
 You yourself are guilty of being the very fanboi you scold others on here of being when it comes to the Adam brand. You keep bringing them up. I've heard the A7X -- they sound very good but nothing that stood out significantly from the others I demo'd that day. All of the 8" monitors had deeper, more natural low end (as one would expect).
  
 There are all sorts of things wrong with your post. How exactly can you define "equally good alternatives"? Do you have another speaker for a similar price with a similarly flat sound and low end extension? Stop insinuating without substantiating.
  
 This thread is for information on the Emotiva Stealth 8, so why do you seem to feel the need to only direct interest into other brands? I'm pretty sure everyone here is aware that Emotiva isn't the only manufacturer out there.
  
 ". . .you will find little to no mention of emotiva's.  There is a reason. . ."
  
 You failed to highlight any specific reason, but I'll tell you the reason that was already mentioned to you and that you should already know for yourself -- Emotiva is an internet direct only company and does not have a store presence anywhere. They are naturally going to be a lesser known brand. The Stealth 8 is relatively new and priced too high for most commoners to consider (not even Z Reviews has covered them) . Plenty of people do know about their Airmotiv line, or do you not realize that?
  
 " From the reviews I have found and read emotiva's offer a "flavoured" or "coloured"sound not suitable for music production, where a flat frequency response is required.  I am sure the emotiva's sound just fine for listening or gaming or watching movies but that is not everyones intended use.  The comments made here make these "entry level" nearfield monitors out to be the best thing money can buy and that is simply not the case."
  
 Here it is clear that you have an agenda against Emotiva and that you are fishing for any reasons not to like them -- even making things up! For instance, anyone can go to the Emotiva site and view the plot graphs and will see that they are remarkably flat down to around 40 hz. You're going to have to substantiate the 'flavor / color' that you describe, since you admit that you haven't even heard them yourself. You also flashed "entry level" in double quotes, which is puzzling -- your tone suggests you believe them to BE entry level, but your use of those quotes would imply an ironic twist, or that you don't believe it to be the case. So, which is it?
  
 The essence of what I'm getting at is that you are a bane on this forum and you are not helpful at all. You frequently make claims and sweeping statements without offering specifics to justify or substantiate them. Why even bother? Unless you don't want there to be something better sounding and better value than the decision YOU made? So, what, that means your recourse is to hint at alternatives that cost way more money and probably don't sound any better?
  
 LOL
  
 Genelec? Seriously? Almost $5000 for a set of 10" monitors that still doesn't hit the 30hz claim of the Emotiva. Try again.
  
 Even the Event Opal is twice as expensive and still not rated down to the same low end extension as the Emotiva.
  
  
 Can you actually name anything with the frequency response and price point that Emotiva offers?
  
 Otherwise, please take your Adam 'fanboi'dom and your drivel elsewhere.


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## oneguy

pulmonq2 said:


> Disclaimer:
> This is not meant as an attack, but rather as needing to put someone (who is near-trolling this thread and then trying to pawn it off as being sincerely concerned) in their place.
> Also, I am not an Emotiva 'fan', per se. I only own two of their products: Stealth DC-1 and XPS-1.
> 
> ...


 

 No offense intended but you do realize you are responding to a post that happened over 900 days ago


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## Benny-x

So, I'm starting to think about painting the Stealth 8s. I've seen a few pairs of MDF near field monitors painted a gloss red, while keeping the drivers their standard black colour, and they looked pretty awesome. 

I figure if I did do it I'd take them all apart and it'd give me a chance to "upgrade" anything I figure I find wanting inside at the same time. 

What are your guys'thoughts on painting the Stealth 8s a different colour? And if you did, what colour? 

Then what about potential upgrades inside? I think on the EmotivaPro site you can see an internal shot of the amp and some of the cabinet/foam. Any ideas?


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## oneguy

I like red or sunset orange myself.


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## Benny-x

oneguy said:


> I like red or sunset orange myself.


 
 I'm a fan of the red too. That sunset orange you mentioned looks really nice too.
  
 Have a look at these, they're called Dali and made by ArtVibes Audio. I think the paint scheme is really cool, there're better pics on their site.


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## oneguy

Here's an odd story:
  
 So I get back home and cut on my stealth 8. It won't cut on because the fuse is blown. It turns out it had a F500maL250v in it. So it's been running off of a fast blow 500ma fuse this entire time?!? I decided to swap in a F1AL250v until I can get the correct T4L250v slow blow 4 amp fuse. Well it doesn't work with the F1AL. Very interesting...I have had these speakers since September and the 500ma fuse has worked but it won't even power on with the 1A fuse. I put in the T4L from the other speaker so I know its a fuse issue but that is pretty odd. What do you guys think?


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## Benny-x

oneguy said:


> Here's an odd story:
> 
> So I get back home and cut on my stealth 8. It won't cut on because the fuse is blown. It turns out it had a F500maL250v in it. So it's been running off of a fast blow 500ma fuse this entire time?!? I decided to swap in a F1AL250v until I can get the correct T4L250v slow blow 4 amp fuse. Well it doesn't work with the F1AL. Very interesting...I have had these speakers since September and the 500ma fuse has worked but it won't even power on with the 1A fuse. I put in the T4L from the other speaker so I know its a fuse issue but that is pretty odd. What do you guys think?



I think I'm gonna check my fuses... That is super odd, I hope you get themback in action soonand all is well


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## oneguy

My 4A should be here tomorrow. I ran across the 1A fuses that came with the speakers that are meant to be used with 220v power. I popped one in and it works. The label on the fuse is T1L250V.


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## pulmonq2

I have a set of Stealth 8's alongside a pair of JBL SLR308's. I got the JBL's because I love the imaging of their waveguide tweeter design.
  
 The Stealths deliver the bass, though and the JBL's sound thin by comparison, but together they absolutely rock!
  

  
 I have a pair of SVS PC13Ultras nearby, as well, but with the amount of low end this setup throws out, I don't miss or need them. The only real benefit of the SVS's would be to eliminate the nulls in the room. And no, I'm not selling them! I have future plans...
  
 All I know, is when I have another $1300 lying around, I wouldn't think twice about ordering another set of Stealth 8's for a doubly killer sound!


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