When I looked at the price sheet taped on the wall in the Emotiva room, I blinked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. An audio show doesn’t showcase entire sound systems for $4796. But that was the total cost of the system in the Emotiva room (excluding the cables). The all-Emotiva system included a pair of Airmotiv XT3 tower speakers ($1999/pr), an XPA-DR2 Differential Reference power amplifier ($1899), a XDA-3 Differential Reference preamp/DAC ($699), a CMX-6+ AC line filter ($166), and cabling ($various, but all low-priced).
If you think the system must have sounded like the price tag might suggest, think again. What I heard was sound that was powerful, massive, and crisply defined. It was detailed, but non-fatiguing. It delivered the sort of bass I’d expect from a subwoofer, but there was no subwoofer.
But I encountered a problem. I couldn’t quite locate the singer in the soundstage, which was important to me. Then I realized I was sitting too far away from the speakers. So I moved my chair closer to form a near-unilateral triangle with the two speakers. And voilà! The singer suddenly stood right in the middle. Another lesson learned: never judge a system without considering where you are sitting.
After that, I was fully immersed in the two songs they played: “The Ragpicker’s Dream” by Mark Knopfler and “Feet on the Ground” by Pernille Rosendahl. It made me realize how little money is needed to enjoy our hobby.
As an audiophile and a voracious listener of all kinds of music, Jonson believes that the experience of being immersed in music is often something spiritual. Born and raised in Korea, he cut his teeth on western music mostly through the music of the 80s and the 90s. As of today, names that make his heart beat a little faster include Vladimir Horowitz, John Coltrane, Youn-Sun Nah, Francis Poulenc, Leonard Bernstein, Tannoy, and Magnepan. Jonson also runs a podcast and a YouTube channel about language learning, called SpongeMind.
As you might know, PMA is an independent consumer audio and music magazine that prides itself on doing things differently. For the past three years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to bringing you an authentic listening experience. Our commitment? Absolute authenticity. We steer clear of commercial influences, ensuring that what you hear from us is genuine, unfiltered, and true to our values.
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