Emotiva T-0 Speaker Review

October 5th 2019

Small towers of Audiophile goodness under $500? Read on to find out. The Emotiva T-Zero towers have been provided to me by Emotiva. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

How Do They Sound?
The T-Zero is a compact two-way loudspeaker, built round the Airmotiv platform. The Airmotiv tweeter, is their take on a folded ribbon tweeter. The Airmotiv tweeter provides airy and spacious detail in the upper frequencies without ever being shrill, staying smooth up to 28Khz. This is due, in part, to the design of a folded ribbon. The first album I threw on to test the Zero’s was The Division Bell, from Pink Floyd. For speakers that come in at under $500 I was shocked at the amount of detail I was hearing. From the subtle continuous reverb of Gilmour’s voice, to the effect of him “flying” through space, which is something that most Pink Floyd albums have but was enhanced here. Only one negative comes to mind with the tweeter and that is that it has a slightly smaller depression pattern due to the 32x25mm beam. With this, extra time is required during setup of the speakers the amount of toe is critical.

Next, I tried another Prog-Rock album, Identify from Airbag, which was well recorded, if I might add. The vocals had an enveloping feel throughout that was taught, but not deep in this album.

Then I took a journey to Mark Knopfler’s album - The Road Wherever. I chose the song, Nobody Does That. An excellent mix of bass, guitar, and Mark’s baritone vocals. The Zeros do an excellent job of reproducing each of these elements without getting lost in the shuffle. Mark’s voice remained pronounced because these are rear ported speakers. The vocals sounded smooth, natural and never congested. This is due to the design of the dust cap of the upper woofer being smaller. Yes, both woofers are crossed over at 2,500Hz, but being built like this they act like a quasi 2 and 1/2. Quite a clever mechanical choice from Emotiva.

Next we tried another Prog-Rock album Identify from Airbag, well recorded I might add. The vocals had an enveloping feel through out. The taught, but not deep in this album.

Then I took a journey to Mark Knopfler’s The Road Wherever. Specifically, I chose the song, Nobody Does That. Excellent mix of bass, guitar, and Mark’s baritone vocals. The Zeros do an excellent job of reproducing each of these elements without getting lost in the shuffle. Mark’s voice remained pronounced because these are rear ported speakers. The vocals sounded smooth, natural and never congested. This is due to the design of the dust cap of the upper woofer being smaller. Yes, both woofers are crossed over at 2,500Hz, but being built like this they act like a quasi 2 and 1/2. Quite a clever mechanical choice from Emotiva.

Setup and Adjustments to Make Them Come Alive
For the Zero’s I set them up 14 inches away from the back wall to allow them to breathe, since they are rear ported. This also allowed them to go down to the 48Hz without sounding bloated in my 12’x15’ room. I spun up the Cecile Verny Quartet – Memory Lane, which is one of my go to recordings. The two 5-1/4’s were able to handle the low notes of the album quite handily – this is a song I usually reserved for bigger drivers. Now, could it go into the sub octave territory? No. What else can I use? How about Dave Matthews Band – Before Crowded Streets? This song also sounded fantastic!

Up until now, I had not used my subwoofer. I added an SVS SB-3000 (800 watts continuous/ 2,500 watts peak audiophile sealed sub - https://www.svsound.com/collections/3000-series/products/sb-3000). After adding the sub, the entire sound experience changed and for the better. I brought the sub down to match the T-Zeros, which are 87db, and crossed the sub at 55Hz. At this point one-word crossed my mind - WOW! Now we have a show as the SVS goes flat to 18Hz.

The Downside

There are a few minor qualms or some down sides to the T-Zeros. Having the Airmotiv tweeter is fantastic, but the dispersion pattern is limited when it comes to a regular dome style tweeter. The other item is that the bass is accurate based on measurements, but it is limited to 48Hz. This can easily be remedied by adding a sub for around the $500 mark. Since these are 4 Ohm speakers, you will need to make sure that your source can drive them. It is best to drive these from a dedicated power amplifier to see the maximum potential.

My Recommendation

What negatives I mentioned are minor and are greatly outweighed by the positive. Overall the experience with the T-Zero was a satisfying one and they can make for an excellent sub $500 pair of Audiophile towers. Would these make for a great pair of speakers for a person who was new or just entering the Audiophile market? The answer to this question is “yes.” In the end, I can hands-down recommend this product.

Additional Specifications