Rolling the Dice

I swore I'd never buy speakers without auditioning them first, but the temptation was too great to perhaps snag some active monitors that by all accounts punch way above their price point. A big decision and potentially a bad one, but I went ahead and ordered a pair of Emotiva Stealth 8's. (Thanks to Sycraft for tipping me off to them in the first place. If they suck I won't blame you.)
 

There's a 30-day money-back return policy, because these are only sold direct from the manufacturer. Worst-case scenario is I have to pay to ship them back. I won't be tossing out the shipping cartons right away. But reviews have been 100% gushing positive, so I'm optimistic.
 
The specs sure look good: 200W top & bottom, flat to 30 Hz (-1.75 dB). They offer detailed measurements, which do indicate a fairly narrow sweet spot - as expected from a ribbon tweeter - but wider than my ADAMs. I had intended to get ADAM A8Xs, since they'd likely be closest to what I was used to. But they're 2 grand for a pair vs. $1,498 for the Emotivas, which are better spec'd. Recording Magazine compared them with $5,000 KRK Exposé E8Bs.
 
It's a leap of faith, I know. I'll post back here once they've arrived and I've had a chance to give them a workout.

brave lad.
 
we all benefit if your gamble is a good one,
share the wealth or cry us a river.
 

Oooo. Let us know how that works out. Hopefully this has a happy ending. I'm guessing it will.

bitflipper

drewfx1

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Last time, it was listening to familiar music in a treated room with an A/B switch to compare the candidates I could afford against some that I knew I could not afford.

Same way I bought my last (hopefully) car...I drove everything on the lot that I couldn't afford, and then bought a Forester!

bitflipper

drewfx1

bitflipper 
It's a leap of faith, I know. 

How do you conduct your normal auditioning process so that it's not a leap of faith as well?

Last time, it was listening to familiar music in a treated room with an A/B switch to compare the candidates I could afford against some that I knew I could not afford.

I would say that there are some leaps of faith there as well (at the risk of the people who have made the leap vehemently disagreeing).
 
And what I mean to say here is that we can't sweat things too much in an imperfect world and choosing monitors is an imperfect art.

Flattened the boxes. No way I'm ever parting with these speakers!
 
I'm comparing these with the ones I know best, my previous ADAMs, and I have no doubt I've stepped up my rig.
 
And I spent far less money than last time. The ADAMs + M-Audio sub came to $2700. These were $1500, but are easily in the same league with most of the high-end monitors I've ever heard. The mids and highs remind me of Focal Twin6. I'm listening to The Eagles' Hell Freezes Over, the same record I auditioned the Focals with. I'd still rate the Focals slightly better, but those Twin6s will run you around $3,500 for a pair.
 
I feel like the guy who found a '59 Les Paul at a garage sale for fifty bucks.
 
[/thread]
 
 

Right on.. looks like you rolled the dice right!
 

Somebody already threw my ADAMs in the trash.
 
They were stolen and sold to Guitar Center. When I spotted them at GC they were all banged up, as if they'd been rolling around in the trunk of somebody's car. They had a price tag of $350 for the pair. Not wanting them back in that condition, I just kept quiet about finding them and took the insurance money instead. Even though I got seriously burned on that: USAA gave me $50 for both the ADAMs and $112 for the M-Audio sub. 

bitflipper
 USAA gave me $50 for both the ADAMs and $112 for the M-Audio sub. 

Insurance companies are supposed to be playing the odds. It never turns out that way. We forget that word in the fine print. Depreciation.

When I had my music store I dealt with a couple of insurance claims. One was a house fire the other was a B&E> 
The fire resulted in heavy smoke damage to this guys old Traynor bass amp and a Gibson ( Grabber?) bass. 
The lucky dude had replacement value. The equipment in perfect condition might have sold for well under $1,000. His might have fetched $800 for the pair. 
He got to spend the replacement which was $3,000. 
 

Bit
I have several of their stereo amps, driving in wall speakers in my living room, dining room, bedroom and balcony.  While I cannot attest to their speakers, Emotivia is a great company from a customer service perspective.  I had one of my several amps blow an output transistor (funny - it was the one controlling the speakers on my covered but outdoor patio on the 3rd floor so a short could have been the cause).  They were fast at diagnosing what they could via phone and sent a UPS sticker for drop-off.  I had the amp back in - maybe 2 weeks - maybe 3.  Customer service is solid.  And my son has an Emotiva driving his B&W speakers (the bookshelf sized). Lots of bang for the buck at that company.  

Yes, here in Washington (laws vary a lot across the country) Guitar Center has to abide by the same rules as pawnshops. That means photocopying a driver's license and taking a thumbprint. They also have video cameras over every point-of-sale terminal. Of course GC knew exactly who the sellers were.
 
However, burglary is a highly organized criminal enterprise. The person who sells the stolen property is usually at least two degrees removed from the person who committed the burglary. The robber will immediately transfer the goods to a "wholesaler", who then parts the loot out to specialists based on the type of item. They in turn hire a flunky to assume the only risky part of the process, selling the stolen items. This'll often be a drug addict, teenage runaway or homeless alcoholic desperate for cash, someone who does not even know the name of their employer.
 
Of course, a dedicated detective could follow the chain back, but that would take a lot of time and effort. In my city, there are only two property crime investigators and they receive 10 to 20 new cases every day. The best they can do is patrol the pawnshops and try to match some serial numbers. They have about a 5% recovery rate.
 
Even if they find it, though, pawnshops (and music stores) are not obligated to give the stuff back to its rightful owners. Strange, I know. When I spotted my two stolen amplifiers at GC, I thought I could just walk out with them. Nope. Those amps are in storage somewhere. If I ever do get them back, I will have to pay for them.