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.