Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater ERD-1's Versus QS8's

I am wondering what anyone's thoughts are on these 2 surround speakers.

Other than looks, I am wondering why one would spend almost $200.00 more for the QS8's. Below are some quotes from a review of the ERD-1's...

"The Axiom QS8's are a very highly regarded rear "quad" pole speaker (a top and bottom woofer and two side angled tweeters - one on each side all firing in phase). I was surprised to find that the ERD-1s bested the Axioms on almost every metric I could come up with."

"While I've always found the Axioms to be a fine surround speaker, the ERDs are in an entirely different class."

A different class? Really? As I search more reviews, seems the ERD-1's are highly regarded, like the QS8's are as well.

No doubt the QS8's look alot better and I'm sure have a better build quality, but wow, what a price difference. For $160.00 more, one could get 4 ERD-1's instead of 2 QS8's and have a 7.1 system. Without actually comparing the 2 side by side, I guess it's hard to judge. I just find it shocking that the ERD-1's could possibly be that much better than the QS8's.

I mean heck, if this is for real, I don't know that I could fork out $200.00 more just so I have matching speakers, looks or timbre matching or not. That review seems like someone is in love with Emo and always has been...I mean to say the ERD-1's are "in a entirely different class." I don't know guys, seems like bias bull**** to me...

Where does the info come from? Never heard of the EDR-1s.

Could you post the links to the other professional reviews of the ERD-1s. I was quite intrigued by that Audioholics review but then no more pro reviews of them came out for at least a year and a half at which point I stopped looking. I got very suspicious of that first review since if they were such a “game changer” then everyone else would be getting sent review samples or buying them to review. There was also a lot of initial hype at AVS about all their speakers but then I started reading more and more posts about people selling them for something else (might have been mostly the mains not sure if they kept the ERD-1s). Please don’t waste your time posting links from Emo fanboys they are just as bad as the AV123 bunch use to be. But I really would love to read some other pro reviews to help substantiate that first one.

Also if you buy from Emo I wouldn’t count on them being around for a long time. Based on what I’ve read over the years they are a very poorly run business. I would be hard pressed to buy anything from them as they don’t pass the smell test with me. That’s not to say some of what they offer isn’t worth the price but IMO it’s not worth the risk in the long run. I’ll stick to companies with a longer track record and that don’t keep over extending themselves or offering steep discounts on continuing product lines (tell me what the real price is). Just my opinion here.

Emotiva ER 5.0 Speaker System Review

Shows how much I venture over to other sites.

Sadly you’re not missing all that much.

Well grunt, I certainly agree with you! What happened a few months ago - I read a public post of one of their disgruntled employees (the post doesn't exist anymore) so I can't quote it. To put it nicely I would personally never buy from them, period IMHO! They have that similar cultish AV123 vibe of the past.

Here's another review of the complete system. Seems like the reviewer finds some fault with center speaker, but glows about the rest...hmmm.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/home-theater-speakers/618-emotiva-ert-83-tower-speakers.html?start=3


And yes Grunt, I fully agree with you about Emo, if you remember I was the guy who had 2 failed amps from them...:)

Realistically speaking, and most of us would agree, when one looks at any particular product's website, the people commenting, generally speaking, no matter what, have a preference for that particular product. The problem is, time and again, when I read a comment comparing a similar use product as these two, about it being "in another class" or "blowing it away", then you have to roll your eyes and understand that individual has their own agenda.

When you are talking about surround speakers and "ambient" sound I don't know how one possibly make that kind of judgment, even if you were capable of doing a "side by side" comparison!

Over the years, I have had a number of surround speakers and given what they are designed for, the large "perceived" differences, just don't exist.

Thanks for the link nice review with measurements too. IMO the only way to tell if paying the extra for the QS8s is worth it is to order both them and the ERD-1s and A/B compare them. My gut instinct tells me that for most people the extra cost of the QS8s wouldn’t be justified especially if you could get the ERD-1s on sale, but w/o a direct comparison that’s just supposition. I would not however, ever recommend any Emo product to someone though I might be inclined to try something if for no other reason than morbid curiosity and if I did it would likely be the ERD-1s, as the return shipping shouldn’t be to steep.

Yeah Doc I followed that as it happened. Interesting stuff before it all got deleted. Have they still locked down their forum? At one point you couldn’t even view it if not a member and you could only become a member after your request was “vetted” no automatic membership creation at the time. Though it’s mostly died down there is still some commiserating about Emo at AVS mostly about the UMC-1 but also about the direction the forum has gone.

I followed the emotiva forum with the UMC release to see what would happen - my gut was telling me that it would be a problematic product as well as over-hyped so it made me interested. After the public drama, it wouldn't allow people to view the forum unless you were a member. To be honest I have not followed anything since that time.

So what exactly is the knock on Emotiva then, their customer service? I'm just curious, as I haven't seen much complaining about them besides the incompatability between some of their amps and the M80's. Dave you say you had two failed amps, did they give you the run-around when they went bad?

I'm only asking because if the amp failures are a deal breaker for you then you may also want to steer clear of Axiom subs as I've read dozens of complaints about Axiom subwoofer amp failures in the 16 months I've been on this forum, and experienced 3 of them myself.

However no matter what problems I experienced with my equipment, Axiom was always quick to rectify the situation. Failures are just part of the wonderful world of electronics unfortunately. How the company you're dealing with handles the situation determines how frusterating the whole ordeal will be.

Micah,

Emo was very professional and worked with me on the amps, ended up giving me a full refund. They do have great customer service.

"So what exactly is the knock on Emotiva then, their customer service?"
No knock at all here...

However, call me paranoid but would I buy from them again? I'm not sure really. It's kinda like when you have a bad meal at a restaurant...you hesitate to go back. But with the customer service I got from Emo, when it came right down to it, like a restaurant, I would probably give them another shot...

Remind me, Dana. Did you get your Odyssey amps from Randy?

No, at the time Randy did not know I was looking @ Odyssey. I bought the Khartago mono's new from Odyssey. Had Randy known I was looking at the Khartago's and had I known he was selling them, I would have bought them in a heartbeat! I'm very happy with them thou. Even today, they still freak me out, love them!

They're very pretty and seem to be a good deal. Here's hoping I get the chance to experience them sometime.

Emo's CS is just as good as Axiom's by all accounts I have read.

Micah,

It's funny you bring up Axiom subs. I have the EP350 and I haven't had any issues with it. However, some here don't hesitate to say there are many better value/performance subs out there.

I am one of them. I really have kinda been underwhelmed by my EP350 ever since I bought it. That being said a few weeks ago I started looking at other subs to add to my EP350, cause I want 2 subs in each corner. I have over 4500 cuft to fill.

So here's what I did. For $290.00 (retail $329.00) bucks I purchased a BIC PL-200 Subwoofer.
It's the new big brother of the highly regarded value sub, the H100 which kinda of has a cult following if I dare say...
Here it is...

http://www.bicamerica.com/showpage.php?brand=1&type=8&spkrID=86

Now, please keep in mind I love my Axioms, But, I have to just say this...for the money, and I have to repeat, for the money spent on Axiom subwoofers, I don't think they are a great value, nor do I think now (after buying & testing a cheap PL-200), they perform all that great. Again for the money spent...

So, don't take this that I think they are crap or don't perform. Top of the line Axiom subs do very well, even high rankings on Craigsub list. I just can't see spending that kind of money on Axiom subs when there are so many choices out there.

Now, back to the BIC PL-200. I took a chance on this thing cause there is not much information out there on them, just a few users who seem..well..how do I put this.."younger".

Anyway, below is my comparison of the PL-200 versus the EP350 that I posted over at avs as well as amazon. I really am blown away by this sub...

"Well, I finally got my PL-200 today. I have been testing and calibrating for the last couple hours.

As promised, I said I would report back with a comparison of the PL-200 versus my axiom EP350 sub. PL-200 = $329.00 and my EP350 = $758.00

The results surprised me, but not so much really. I will just go ahead say this. The PL-200 kicked my EP350's arse!

Now, keep in mind, I have much more testing to do. I first adjusted both subs to 75db using my digital sound level meter. C weighted & set to slow. The first thing that caught my attention was while running my test tones starting at 80HZ down to 15hz for each sub independently, was my EP350 would not even register any decibels at 22hz. The PL-200 easily hit 76db @22hz. I knew then the Axiom sub was in trouble.

Then I went on and ran MCACC at full auto, tweaked my levels, then ran MCACC advanced mode keeping the speaker settings.

I first played a lot of favorite songs, from the deep bass of "Peg" from Steely Dan to Dream Theater to Queensryche to Metallica's Black CD. The PL-200 filled out my room (4500cuft) nicely, no boominess, no muddiness, just clean well rounded tight bass. Kick drums hit hard and in my face. I pretty much compared a lot of songs with and without the Axiom sub.

I have each sub in the far corners of the room right outside my axiom M80 towers. I must say I'm lovin the PL-200 so far.

Unfortunately, I only have 1 Blue ray disc at this time and it was Twilight New Moon. Not the best movie for lows. But, I'll have to wait for some more movies from Netflix to test the PL-200 further.

But what I did hear (both subs running) was nothing short of amazing. I can't imagine how Dark Knight or Transformers will sound. Because some of the wolf fighting scenes in Twilight rocked the house, everything was shaking. I could "feel" and hear the walls rattle.

So to summarize the PL-200 with just a couple hours of use, I would say this:

If I had to do this over again, I would have just bought 2 PL-200's instead of the Axiom and saved some money. The PL-200 is an incredible value and when cranked up some, will produce test tones down to 20hz and 18hz nicely. The Axiom EP350 just can't do that, and it's more than twice the price. I'll try to report back here when I get some more bass intense movies, plus I need to tweak some more.

As a side note, I'm really thinking about replacing the PL-200 stock amp with the 500 watt Bash amp, just for fun. But believe me, the stock amp rocks! This is more than enough low end thunder that I will ever need. I just can't see investing $1200.00 plus for a high end sub. One of the reasons I went for the PL-200 to begin with was I wanted 2 subs and I can spend the money I saved, on the Velodyne SMS-1 Sub Eq. I should be ordering the SMS-1 in a couple weeks. This will round out my system for awhile."

So anyway, to keep this thread on topic, this is kinda the reason I posted about the Emo ERD-1 Surround speakers. Seems there "may" be better value and performance in surround speakers as well, again.."for the money" Just my opinion all...

Dana

I’ve read at least 3 cases at Audioholics where Emo did not honor the trial period or some warranty issue or so the posters claimed all those threads were deleted. One long time member (don’t remember who now) opined that a couple of his friends also had return CS issues with Emo.

They constantly announce products w/delivery dates only to push them back again and again. Their current problem is their UMC-1. They routinely fail to deliver on promised firmware updates. Not good CS IMO.

According to Emo lounge members posting at AVS the owners make fun of people on their forum who are having problems with their products. The moderators (no not Emo employees but representing them) are now some of the most rabid fanboys who now heavily moderate negative posts after they became so prevalent that the forum fanboys couldn’t shout them down any more and they lost their IT guy.

AV123 also got great marks on CS until. . . .

I see way to many similarities between those companies. Including who Emo got it’s start with. Having done background investigations I can assure you that who one associates(d) with tells much more about them than almost anything else.

I’m not saying that no one should buy Emo, hell if AV123 has something you want buy it. Just do so with a full understanding of the situation.

Dana, it may be that the the ERDs are in fact "in an entirely different class" from the QSs. They appear to be a fairly routine dipolar design, while the QSs use upward and downward in-phase firing mid-woofers(possibly inspired by Allison designs of the 1970s)which uniquely combine very wide dispersion with an element of directness to suit various source materials well.

Well Dana (I'm sorry I called you Dave earlier), this hobby is nothing if not all about personal opinions. Please don't feel you need to appologize for having differing opinions that some others may have.

As for the bad restaurant experience, I do understand where you're coming from there too. I suppose if I hadn't had 5 other Axiom speakers that worked flawlessly to keep my faith alive in Axiom as a company, then the troubles I had with the EP800 may very well have turned me against them as well.

Glad you found something that blew you away... In both cases.

Yea John,

One strange thing about them too is they have switches in the back to go from Bi to Di polar and vice versa. I was reading the Emo and avs forums and the thing is, some do not like the switches are on the back. The bracket is for wall-mounting and then the switches are covered up. So it's a pain when experimenting with them, you have to remove them from the bracket to get to the switches...




Looks like a swivel type wall/ceiling bracket would be best...

Dana, Dave, Dan, Don, Damon...I answer to all... WHWHAHA!

Yeah, I kind of get the feeling that all of us Axiomites are kind of going a little knee jerk here. Maybe the ERD-1s are better than the QS8s. I find it hard to believe, but I've never heard them.

This post pains me a great deal.

For the most part there is a ton of happy Emotiva customers - no denying that. They do make nice products but there is still reasons why I wouldn't purchase from them.

1) Quality Issues - As I mentioned in a previous thread, internet companies do not have a great history with electronics. I have read one to many issues with their products. Their products are well received but they also come with a lot of overblown hype IMO.

2) Stringing customers along with release dates/pre-orders - The UMC-1 was the latest example.

3) How a company reacts during adversity (probably the most important for me) - I don't find they handle public issues very well or in some cases not promptly enough - UMC-1 as the latest example. Deceptive in their handling of issues and customer complaints IMO (censorship).

4) Controversy over cutting corners on testing of their electronics to meeting government regulations. Why I could see a company doing this is to try to gain competitive advantage. Especially when dealing with the low price points they are trying to hit. Again if something like this is true, that is bad/deceptive business practices and hurts the competitive ability of companies playing by the rules.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1148961

I have not been able to get through the whole thread, but I have not read a response from the company to refute those claims.

Were is the knee jerk? I’ve been the most vocal critic of Emo in this thread but even I said:



Nor has anyone take Dana to task for preferring the PL-200 to the EP350.

My issue with this is based on reading Emo fanboys citing that original Audioholics review for two years w/o any other corroboration. This particular line from the review has been quoted by Emo fanboys for a couple years now:



Even the excellent review linked by Dana doesn’t seem to rave about the ERD-1s the same way. Like I said in a previous post if they are really that good then why after this long aren’t all the review sites raving about them?

Note I almost bought a set of the original Emo speakers based on that review but decided it would be prudent to wait and see what others had to say and for the longest time there was only silence. I even recommended them on several forums based on that review but as time when on and no one else was reviewing them I pulled back from doing that. Since then the best thing’s said about them seem to indicate that they are a good value and nothing more.

Maybe I’m projecting from one of the various dust ups I’ve had with Emo fanboys over this issue, but I can say that in each instance they couldn’t back up the hyperbole they were posting about the ERD-1s.

I’m inclined to agree with what case01 seems to be saying that with surround speakers you reach a point of diminishing returns quickly, and for the original sale price which was usually under $300/pair I imagine it would be hard to justify the QS8s or anything else for that matter.

Even though many people suggested years ago that I get an axiom sub, I couldn't justify the price especially when the performance is compared. I think this is generally true for most of axiom's "lower" end subs. I have a friend though who has a system that I think would benefit from an EP125v2. But that is a very special situation. I do however think that their EP800 is an excellent sub from everything I've read about it. Honestly though, the EP800 is far out of my price range.

You should have your friend check out the PL-200, it's less money and a way better sub. It's also designed with the help of the HSU research team. The plate amp is identical to the HSU STF-2, only more wattage...

The problems are that she needs high level inputs, a fairly high crossover (120hz?) and small form factor. I was looking at their site earlier. I'll have to look a bit more but I looked into many lines and the EP125v2 is the best fit so far.

Its important to remember the fact that its hard enough to create one speaker design that the masses will love and buy enough of them to keep a company in business. It's only that much harder to create unique and competetively performing speakers to fullfill every need in a home theater environment. Every company has its strengths and weaknesses. If I had to pick out Axioms strenths based on feedback from this forum I would have to say people are most pleased with the M80's, M22's & QS8's performance. Also based on feedback from this forum I would say their weakness is with their center channel offerings, and to a lesser degree, their subwoofer department.

I say lesser degree because their subs are truely polarising... most seem very happy with them, and can't believe the amount of bass they put out and usually turn them down quite a bit. But then there are those who are completely underwhelmed by their performance. But IMO (and I could be completely off base here), I tend to think that a large majority of those unsatisfied customers come from a pool of individuals who grew up in the car audio scene. People used to being able to fill a car easily with extreme amounts of SPL intense bass, hard hitting midbass, and just that whole body encompasing, heart pounding lower octave sound wave nirvana. When that's what you're used to, its hard to get that experience in a living room environment period, let alone get it with a company that designs their subwoofers to deliver clean, accurate bass notes, not hyper-extreme, FAT midbass, over the top stuff that drowns most everything else out. It's very hard to go from one end of that spectrum to the other without being somewhat let down by the results. And again I'm not saying this accounts for everyone who's ever been less than satisfied with an Axiom subwoofer. But my guess is that a large portion of them are. I know that was one of the things that I had to get past when building my HT, because I was one of those guys who drank car audio as his life's blood all through my teens & twentys.

That's why I'm of the opinion that while I love all of my Axiom speakers, I don't get too upset when someone comes on here stating a preference to somebody else's product in a certain area. "Yeah my M60's kick ass, but the VP100 sounds really flat"... personally I'm just happy the guy likes his M60's. It would be great if everyone were thrilled with all of Axiom products, but thats just never going to happen.

I think over all, Axiom has done very well for itself in this market,all things considered.

QC issues for the Axiom subs' amps notwithstanding, I've always figured that when there's a pretty big disparity in results of a particular sub model, it's likely coming down to placement.

Not to sound condescending, but many who have the money for HT equipment, but don't yet have (or don't care to have) the knowledge about the equipment and acoustical issues, are just likely to plop a sub wherever their wife says is OK and then write a review about mediocre performance.... never understanding that the location within and the dimensions of their room is extremely important to the end result.

That sentence is too long, but it says what I want!

Indeed you are on to something. Let me stress the fact that I'm drawing my conclusions from public opinion, not scientific data that shows Axiom has poor center channel speakers and subwoofers. These are the area's I've seen people complain about the most.

The unfortunate thing about it all is this, public opinion is all that matters when it comes to sales. Because a company flat out can't sell the public something they won't buy no matter how fantastic it is. And clearly the public is often uninformed, and makes the wrong choice. Great companies, with amazing products have gone under while other companies with lesser products have flourished for no other reason than consumer ignorance.

That's the way the ball bounces, and I can only imagine how frusterating it must be for a company with a great product that isn't selling to pull their hair out screaming, "LOOK YOU FOOLS, THIS THING IS THE SHIT"!!!!

And just like the old saying goes, "it don't matter how fool proof you make something, someone else will just go out and make a better fool".

Mark & Micah,

I hear ya guys, but again, to stay on topic. No one (at least not me)is saying that there is a "performance" issue with Axioms center, surrounds or the subs. What I am wanting to debate and talk about is "for the money spent" for the performance. With Axiom, the more you spend, the more performance you get, like anything I guess.

The issue is "that maybe" you can get the same, and better performance for less money. And I'm not talking about Bass heads, car audio freaks, or wife whipped about placement issues.

This is what has been fascinating me, other products. This is an extremely competitive market. It has to be brutal to stay on top for any audio company.

For me, the M80's are unreal for the money, what a value! Even my VP100 is a dramatic improvement for $255.00 If money was no issue, I certainly would get 4 QS8's and 2 EP500's. I just can't justify spending that much $$$ right now, and maybe, just maybe...there are other products out there that perform the same or better for whole lot less $$$.

This is a good debate, love it. I find it fascinating to research and try different audio stuff, it's fun and it's a learning experience!

Respectfully,

Dana

That was my point Dana about my sub purchase. The price/performance was more favorable on other brands of subs when looking at Axiom's lower end models. That's why I chose the one I did and I am very happy with my choice. I always tell people that when I'm looking at audio equipment, that I look for something that has a high "bang for the buck". In other words, something that sounds absolutely amazing when you consider the price of the product(s).

Exactly, well said...

Dana

Oh well certainly there are so many audio companies out there in this market today that anyone looking for the best 'bang for the buck' could literally spend years and years ordering, comparing, and finding what they feel is the absolute best value out there. The problem is, that conclusion is 100% subjective. Once YOU have gone crazy spending many years of your life researching all the different options, spending all your money for return shipping and all the rest of it until you've finally pieced together the best system you could ever possibly hope to find for the money spent... you can't come back here in 2025 and say, "ok guys I finally did it, everyone here needs to go out and buy XXX, I guarantee you won't find anything better for the price". You just can't do it, because ultimately while you might get lucky enough to find some that might agree with you, others will completely disagree with you.

So this is why the vast majority of people just go with something that fits their needs as close as they can find, without going through all of the drama involved with comparing every single choice available out there. That would simply be more trouble than it's worth for most audio consumers.

I feel Axiom makes a great product at a very competetive price over all. Have you ever priced Paradigm's top of the line surround speakers? They make the QS8's look like an absolute steal, I don't care how good they sound. And yet Paradigm sells them, proving that there are those who feel they're worth the money spent. And who am I to argue with them? I can't do that anymore than someone who has a pair of the ERD-1's can argue with me about my decision to purchase the QS8's. So to answer the question are there any surround speakers out there that I might discover sound as good or better than my Axioms for a lower price if I were to compare them? I'm quite sure of it... if I looked hard/long enough. But I'm not worried about it because for the money I spent, I'm more than happy with the performance I got. They are worth the money to me, which is 100% a personal opinion. Ditto with my EP800, I feel the performance I get out of it makes it worth the price tag. But I will admit that 5 years ago, I would never have dreamed I'd ever spend $2000+ dollars on a subwoofer, NEVER! It just so happened that I had the money to spend. The EP800 happened to be in the right place at the right time, and so the stars aligned and I got it. Are there subs out there that could do this for me at a lower price? I am absolutely positive there are. But for me the whole ordeal of purchasing all of the options I have to choose from, comparing them all to the one I currently have, then comparing them to the other one's I like and so on and so forth... the whole thing just becomes too tedious to be worth it to me. Call me lazy I suppose. On the other hand if I could quit my job and compare subwoofers for a living, then I'd be all for it! Hell if my living was to compare different brands of speakers all day long, I can pretty much state with much certainty that my personal HT would be comprised with a different manufacturer in every catagory. In other words my mains would be X brand, my center a different brand, my subwoofer yet another different brand, and for all I know my side surrounds might even be different from my rear surround speakers. I say this because I honestly don't believe any one company could possibly be the best at more than one thing. There is just too much competition to accomplish that towering feat.

But don't let me talk you out of anything here friend, if you want to purchase a few competitive brands to compare your QS8's to then knock yourself out, I'm not mad at ya at all. I'd be more than happy to hear your evaluations. If you find that Emotiva makes a better surround speaker for the money in your set-up, then I for one will be happy for you. Just don't expect it to become a universal opinion, because nothing in this hobby is universal.

Micah, to expect that would be ridiculas. We're just debating bang for buck, nothing more. The best bang for buck is as different for you, as it is for me and everyone else.

And believe me, you don't have do alot of work to find best bang for the buck, it's already on the net for the most part. And Axiom is well know for value and performance. So are alot of other companies.

When you bought your Emotiva amp, did you research it? Do you think it's the best bang for buck? If you can yes to both, then job well done! I think we all do that.

Now, go hug your EP800 and chill out...just kidding Micah! Take care...

Excellent post Mark!

Dana. When you compared the two subs, did you do so from the same location? As Mark pointed out, positioning will have a huge effect on a subs performance.

The kick-drum punch you get has nothing to do with how low the sub plays. As Mark pointed out, thats the mid bass. Jay did what I think is the most thorough review here of various subs and dug into the 'why' of what he heard more than any place outside of the DIY sub-geek crowd.

A lot of time, that punch that some like so much comes from a mid bass hump. Its much like the 100Hz hump that gives the impression that the M3 puts out more bass than the M22 even though its the other way around.

After all that, if you find more value in the BIC sub, then its the right one for you.

Going back to the original quote with the review of the ERD's, something in that review has always bugged me...

"I recalibrated the system fully using the Velodyne SMS-1 Subwoofer Parametric EQ System. Generally I wouldn't do that except that I had moved the furniture and some of the absorptive panels around a bit and felt it might have changed the room acoustics. When I was done, I ended up with a flatter response than I had ever experienced before"

So he moved some furniture and panels which as we all know will change the room acoustics and then gushes that the ERDs are better in every way than the QS8. I always felt he needed to recheck the system with the QS8s in place of the ERD's to justify that statement.

Yes, that's the very first thing I did. After what I went thru when I first got my EP350, placement is critical.

Fred, keep in mind what really got me was the PL-200 played the 20hz test tone and the EP350 did not, in the same location! Of course the specs (for what's worth) reflects better low end than the EP350 anyway. The other thing is the BIC volume is at 10:00 o'clock and the EP350 has to be at 2:00 o'clock to keep up, so both are calibrated to 76db.

Like I said, for $290.00 the PL-200 is an incredible value "for me" (not trying to convince anyone). Now with both subs the EP350 and the PL-200, music and movies are freakin awesome. I've got even distribution of the lows in my room now.

Dana

To be honest I really didn't look all that far into it with the Emotiva. I read as much on their products as I could, but a lot of it (found here mostly) was not all that favorable. So in the end I actually took a rather big risk (knowing I had 30 days to decide yay or nay) in buying it.

When I say I didn't look that far into it, I mean I only looked at a handfull of competitors. The amp market is just as saturated as the subwoofer market. I do love to research things like this thoroughly, however I start to get overwhelmed if I dig too far into it. I started with 5 or 6 candidates for the job, and then stumbled upon Axiom by accident when looking for surround speakers. I liked what I saw, but when I started reading up on Axioms on other sites, I started getting the same negative feedback I got on Emotiva. So in a way I was also taking a chance when I bought my Axiom HT package. But it was a risk that paid off for me nicely, just as the Emotiva purchase did.

And to me that's the only problem with researching things over the internet, the inconsistancies in the feedback you get. The fanboys will praise the product in question, while others who very likely have never even been in the same room as the product will spew negativity about it. So it makes it hard to read between all the bullshit.

Therefore my approach has been to find something that catches my attentiuon. Do as much research on it as I can. Keep an open mind about everything in the meantime. And then just go with my gut instinct and hope for the best.

So far I've kept a faily good track record.










+h, and I hug my EwP800 everyday fyi!

Good for you, that's what it's all about!

Dana