Emotiva Nostala LB-12's in the house!

jdmccall

jdmccall

Super Member
This pair is from the first batch available. They were delivered right around Christmas '25 and arrived stretch-wrapped on pallet. The doubled boxes looked fine. The delivery driver left and I unwrapped them only to discover some serious looking holes punched through the cardboard. One appeared to almost certainly have been a fork truck puncture. Luckily, the speakers survived without a scratch.

I know placement does not look ideal, but after our move to a smaller house last summer, set-up options are limited. Performance though, is quite satisfactory. Bass is powerful and clean despite speaker locations close to large doorways. Highs never call attention to themselves. They just always seem right, limited mostly by program material. Mids are honestly perhaps the best I've ever heard from any speakers I have owned; open, clean and room-filling.

I was more than a little apprehensive about going back to a soft dome tweeter after years of compression drivers and horns, but this tweeter does not sound like a soft dome. It doesn't sound like any metal dome that I've heard either (no experience w/ berylliums). Maybe the most neutral tweeter I have experienced.

Comparisons to similar speakers of the past and present abound, particularly JBL L100's, Klipsch Heresy's and KLH Model 5's also. Fitting, for sure, but I can't help but wonder how they would compare to similar designs from say, ATC. They might get spanked, but maybe not!

Overall, they strike me as an excellent value in their price range. Build quality is very, very good with fit and finish being superb.


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Solid as a rock down to 40 Hz, rolling off gradually into the 30Hz range, below which they drop off quickly. I think that 30-40Hz area could be picked up significantly with placement closer to corners. These are in our living room, which measures about 16 x 22 with a coffered ceiling 12 or14' at the peak. The speakers sit more or less centered along the long wall of the room, with the backs just 5-6" from the wall. Each speaker is directly adjacent to a large doorway, one into the kitchen and the other into the dining room. So, not an optimal setup to promote bass extension! Over all though, the sound is very, very good. The quality of the bass is excellent. Not acoustic suspension tight, but they do hit hard and clean. Scary hard sometimes:eek:. Just a minor bit wooly occasionally, compared to the best quality bass I've heard (klipschorns, 1986, Flip's Stereo in StL, Paul Simon's "Graceland"). But that's a high bar. In their price range, I think they are extremely competitive.
 
If they are tuned low, they will easily take boost at FB if you have any sort of EQ (Wiim etc.) in your system.
I have small 12" subs and I give them +3db at 32 Hz with excellent results. Some rooms/placements need
it others no.
 
Pete B said:
If they are tuned low, they will easily take boost at FB if you have any sort of EQ (Wiim etc.) in your system.
I have small 12" subs and I give them +3db at 32 Hz with excellent results. Some rooms/placements need
it others no.
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As a matter of fact, I do use a Wiim streamer, but only as a streamer, not as a preamp. So, I only have the eq functions available while streaming. Deep bass is definitely extended and lifted, subjectively, at least. I have not tried any measurements, but that might be interesting.
 
fredgarvin said:
How do they compare or contrast with the Arendals?
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Oh wow....hard to say! I haven't had the Arendals for a while now. I went back to the JBL Studio 590's after selling the Arendals, and then bought a pair of JBL Studio 698's and ran those until I bought the Emo's in December of '25. Let me put it this way: I enjoyed both pairs of JBL's over the Arendals, even though the Arendals measured better and were built way better. Go figure. Now the Emotivas are built more closely, but not quite equal to the quality level of the Arendals. The Emos are much better looking, though. Just my humble opinion, of course, but looks do matter...to me at least. Again, I would have to say the Arendals are technically superior to the LB12's, but not by much. But I enjoy the Emo's more. It's the bass slam and power and the gorgeous mids. That's their two aces. The treble is just...right. Never calling attention to itself. Not sparkly, not dull, never bright, never dark. Unless it's just in the recording, of course. Put another way, after owning the Arendals a whille, I found myself not listening to music as much. With the Emotiva's, that's not been the case at all. Three months in and I'm still plowing through my collection every chance I get, and I'm loving what I'm hearing.
 
Thanks for the good answer. There is always something to say about an engaging sound, not every product can deliver even if they have better specs, as you said. those are sure are good looking.
 
fredgarvin said:
Thanks for the good answer. There is always something to say about an engaging sound, not every product can deliver even if they have better specs, as you said. those are sure are good looking.
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Thank you! I think I had grown tired of skinny black towers. :boring: I wanted a real wood veneer in a compact, affordable form factor. The Emotiva's came along at just the right time. I also needed, due to room and placement limitations, a speaker that did not necessarily "need" a subwoofer. Again, the LB12's fit the bill. JBL L100's would have been a top contender, but they are $2500+ higher and the Emotiva's got bonus points for the mirror-image driver layout, magnetic grille attachment and the fact that Emotiva gives you two different color grilles. Pus, they outweigh the JBL's by 12.5 pounds.
 
Your assessment of these speakers is very helpful, similar to various online/YouTube reviews but from an owner's perspective, not a reviewer, thanks very much.

I currently have Klipsch Forte I and II speakers in a large unfinished basement area. Someday, I would like to frame in some of that unfinished space and have a 15x25 room. I've had these speakers for 10 or 15 years and switch between the Is and the IIs a couple times a year. Both sound surprisingly good in this space, the IIs seem to have an edge. Do you have any experience with either of these Klipsch speakers and thoughts for how the LB12s might compare?

Thanks
 
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