Buy THIS instead of REL Emotiva Airmotiv S8 Flex subwoofer Review

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Video Creator’s Channel Zero Fidelity

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So Who Doesnt Like A Little Bit Of Bass

today? I’m here to talk to you about this little guy The emotiva S8 flex, subwoofer and word on the street is that not only does it offer good performance for the money, but some people consider it to be a good affordable alternative to rel subs. So today. I’m here to talk to you about it, but first let’s go over some boring specifications. So this sub retails for 299 dollars each. It features a downward firing 8-inch active driver with a 8-inch passive on the front as you can see right there on the back.

We Have A 200 Watt Class D Amplifier

and it’s rated at digging down to 33 hertz, which I can confirm it can do with authority, but soon afterwards it kind of falls off a cliff so now let’s take a closer look to. You get the cabinet overall is sturdy, but light it’s made of MDF material. We have the typical vinyl wrap that you’ll see on all emotiva speakers. This is going to be our eight-inch passive driver paper cone surround with a rubber material. Let’s take a look on the underside here.

This Is Going To Be Our Active

driver pretty much the same thing. We have plastic pillars with this rubber pad on the bottom of them to help dampen the subwoofer and I don’t mind saying when I took this out of the box. One of the pads was already off of the unit. So this is definitely a you get what you pay for proposition so now let me awkwardly turn it around while holding the camera. This is why we call it zero fidelity guys and this is the back so let’s go over what you.

Get Starting From The Bottom Lets

work our way up so we have the IeC inlet. We have our master power switch above that we’re going to have another power switch and basically, this allows you to leave it in either auto-mode, where it turns off automatically with no signal or you can just leave it on at all times. We have our face switch. This is where we adjust the volume the crossover point and then up above. This is where things get interesting so this sub has high pass.

In Fact, This Is Going To Be Our

crossover filter for that. We We have an RCa out an RCa in an LFe in and this is going to be our high level end. So this is going to be great news for those of you who have a preamp or an integrated amp and you don’t have a dedicated pre-out Well. This is how you connect the sub to your system is that you just run wire directly out of your amplifier to the subwoofer Not only does this offer a higher quality solution but the great news is that you don’t need to use fancy audiophile cords. In fact, emotivo recommends thin gauge wire something that’s like say 18 gauge because all the sub-needs is the signal and then the amplifier will do the rest so overall a cool feature set for the money.

So Now Lets Talk About How It Sounds

all right so this evaluation is going to. short and sweet in fact, I’m only going to do it in one take because let’s face it. This is just a subwoofer, a fairly uncomplex one at that and it only has one job to do so. Most of you tuning into this video. Right now you only want to know a handful of things.

You Want To Know Who This Product

is best suited for you want to know about the quality of the sub how easy or difficult it is to integrate with speakers. Some of you will want to know about boom boom or what kind of authority you can expect from this sub and then lastly some of you will want to know if it’s true. If the S8 serves as an affordable alternative to more expensive solutions from rel so let’s get right to it so Ultimately, I think the S8 is best suited. for music enthusiasts for people who want to add a little bit of bass to their stereo system and you don’t want to break the bank in the process. The reason why I say that is that the S8 is more about quality over quantity.

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So If Youre A Home Theater

enthusiast and you want more of that visceral experience well. I would advise going either with something else or moving up the emotiva line and going with a bigger sub with bigger drivers, But ultimately I would say if you’re in a small to medium-sized room and or you’re looking for a good desktop companion to augment your bookshelf speakers. This is a good way to go and now let’s talk about the quality of the base. So this is definitely going to be the highlight of the product. In fact that’s really its main selling point is.

That Well Number One Its Easy To

integrate with a wide variety of speakers. In fact, I didn’t really have a whole lot of trouble finding the sweet spot between the volume and the proper crossover point. Regardless of the speakers. It actually even did a fairly decent job pairing up well to the sound artist Ls35as that I’ve reviewed not long ago, which is actually a pretty big accomplishment for an affordable sub because Ls35A-type speakers can be rather tricky to deal with when it comes to base augmentation anyways. The bottom line is this what you’re going to get out of the S8 is something that has good tone to it.

It Is Easy To Integrate With Speakers, But

there is going to be coloration to the sound which is expected because let’s face it it uses a thin MDF box it’s not exactly the most inert. Cabinet in the world and to drivers they’re good, albeit paper drivers you combine that together and it is going to have a sound that airs towards the warm side of neutral. So no matter how good you are at setting up a subwoofer in a room or subwoofers. You’re going to still hear a little bit of warmth at that crossover point now for me that’s perfectly fine. I actually prefer that over something that just sounds a little bit too thin like there’s just not enough meat on the bone.

Ultimately It Makes For A Fun Listening Experience

now one of the torture tests that I have for subwoofers is kill Switch engages as daylight dies and that album definitely is not for everybody, but the reason why I turned to that album for testing subwoofers is because not only does it have a lot of deep authoritative. bass but the subwoofer needs to be quick. So it needs to have that kind of ballsy sound to it, but at the same time it needs to be able to keep up and a lot of affordable Subs really struggle with that they can sound kind of muddy and disjointed and while this one definitely has a warm sound to it. It can actually keep up fairly well and depending on how you tune it and configure it within your room. It can also have pretty good authority down low.

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I Also Think Its Very Good

with other genres of music like classical, for example, I think it can integrate very well, although look let’s face it it has a drop-off point of 33 Hertz. It does drop off a cliff beyond that point. So if you’re really into like pipe organ music, then yeah you’re gonna find. it a little bit lacking but for most others. It’s actually not too bad jazz.

I Think Jazz And Acoustic In

particular is a really good test of tone, and it has good tone. Yes does have a little bit of warmth to it, but it can still track those complex bass notes fairly well again for the money it’s very good in that regard now let’s talk about boom boom, what kind of authority can you expect well. I think it depends on your reference points. So for me I like to play it safe and just say it’s going to be best for medium to small size rooms and at volumes that are reasonable in nature. So if you want to really crank the volume and fill the base, or you want to fill a big space with a lot of low end.

I Dont Think Its Going.

to be the best solution for you. I think it’s going to be decent for most individuals, but you got to keep your expectations realistic. It’s a small inexpensive sub that only uses a single eight-inch active driver at the end of the day, so it’s not going to deliver again that visceral effect that some people may want and ultimately that leads me to the last thing, which is is it a good alternative to rel. Ultimately, I would say yes I don’t think it’s anywhere close to as good as a rel.

I Think The Build Quality Is Not

even in the same ballpark and I think the quality of the bass isn’t quite there because the rel will integrate way more seamlessly. In fact, what a rel will do is it can actually enhance the overall sound of your system, not just with the bass but. It can also make your main speaker sound a lot better when you set them up right this subwoofer doesn’t have the same effect. It just adds more low end with a little bit of coloration and it can make for a more pleasant experience. When you set it up right, but it doesn’t have the same kind of impact, But then again you’re not paying the same kind of money because you can buy two of these and still be under the cost of the equivalent Rel T7I, which is a thousand dollars so anyways guys that’s going to be my take on the subwoofer I actually do think it’s a very good solution.

In Fact, I Dont Mind Saying

I think it may be one of if not my favorite emotiva products so far. It brings quality bass from a package that’s easy to move around at at. a very affordable price so anyways that’s my take on this little subwoofer as always guys thanks for watching and until next time peace.

Summary

The emotiva S8 flex, subwoofer and word on the street is that not only does it offer good performance for the money, but some people consider it to be a good affordable alternative to rel subs . The cabinet overall is sturdy, but light it’s made of MDF material . It features a downward firing 8-inch active driver with a 8-in passive on the front as you can see right there on the back.& We have a 200 watt class D amplifier and it’s rated at digging down to 33 hertz, which I can confirm it can do with authority, but soon afterwards it kind of falls off a cliff so now let’s take a closer look to the cabinet overall . We have plastic pillars with this rubber pad on the bottom of them to help dampen the sub woofer and I don’t mind saying when I took this out of the box, one of the pads was already off of the unit.& So this sub retails for 299 dollars each….. Click here to read more and watch the full video