# Emerald Physics CS2P



## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

With the $2500 speaker compare-oh happening this weekend I thought I'd start a side-bar conversation about the Emerald Physics speakers that are in the evaluation. Has anyone here heard them yet or any other Emerald Physics speakers? I love the way the CS2P's look albeit very unconventional. Very curious how these will stack up against the Maggies and the Paradigms specifically :huh:

Anyone have any thoughts on these guys?

Scott


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## Mike0206 (Jul 14, 2013)

I'm in the same boat as you. Interested in thoughts on these as well. Haven't heard them but their design is very intriguing.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

This is my first experience with the CS2P model, however I did hear two other more expensive models at RMAF. I think these might sound better than either of those setups at the show... and _without_ the DSP module, as it is NOT needed in this room. Of course they had some real challenges getting those setup in their respective motel rooms. They would also likely sound MUCH better in this room.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Excellent thanks for the info Sonnie! Really looking forward to the review panel's thoughts on these. Looks wise/fit and finish how do they look? Are they the fancier finish or the standard base finish?


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Well... these are not a new pair, but they are still nice looking. I like the look of the open baffle design anyway, but these are impressive looking.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Ahh got ya. They're a pretty small company so my guess is their "loaner gear" stash is probably limited to one of each speaker 

The open baffle design and the way one of the 15's is flush and the other is rear mounted is very intriguing/cool as well. I'd think they'll have just wickedly fast dynamics which for HT especially would be perfect. 

Really interested to hear how the midrange is on these. After listening to the Focal 1028BE's this week and how lush and textury (that's a real word I promise) the midrange was on those its got me on the hunt :reading:


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Very anxiously awaiting more listening impressions from this weekend on these speakers!!

Scott


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

skeeter99 said:


> Very anxiously awaiting more listening impressions from this weekend on these speakers!!
> 
> Scott


Scott,

Just a heads up - we have a lot of info to put together, so it will probably be a week or two before we get something posted up.

Joe


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Got it no worries at all!


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Without the full details, which obviously are yet to be completed, they are very good sounding speakers and definitely worthy of consideration for a two-channel setup. I was respectably impressed, although not overly "wowed" like I have read from some others. I think if someone purchases them and sets them up properly, they will be tickled pink. However, if they had other speakers there to compare at the same time, they might have a difficult choice to make, depending on what exactly they are looking for in their sound.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Interesting. Well we'll just have to wait and see the full results and analysis  Not a bad thing for sure!


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I believe these are right up there with the best of anything in that price range and should be considered.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

I just got a call today from my local Focal dealer that they'll have the new Aria 926's in stock in about two weeks and they want me to come in and help "break them in". . After listening to the new Aria (which will probably be very similarly priced to the CS2P's) it'd be really interesting to listen to the CS2P's shortly after. I've loved Focal's sound for a long time. I wonder if there are ANY Emerald Physics speakers in Washington or Vancouver, BC or Oregon?

Scott


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

Sonnie said:


> This is my first experience with the CS2P model, however I did hear two other more expensive models at RMAF. I think these might sound better than either of those setups at the show... and _without_ the DSP module, as it is NOT needed in this room. Of course they had some real challenges getting those setup in their respective motel rooms. They would also likely sound MUCH better in this room.



Sonnie - I am waiting for that CS2P review from you guys .  



> I think these might sound better than either of those setups at the show.


My eyes are opened :blink:

OP- 
I did hear the same Emerald speakers @ the RMAF as Sonnie did and what I didn't care for the other two models that were @ RMAF because they needed subwoofers and separate amps on each driver to make them functional. Unlike the CS2P's they do not need separate amps for each driver or subwoofer to make them sound wonderful. Oh and the greatest thing of all, they were the less expensive models than what was shown @ the RMAF.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Picture_Shooter said:


> OP-
> I did hear the same Emerald speakers @ the RMAF as Sonnie did and what I didn't care for the other two models that were @ RMAF because they needed subwoofers and separate amps on each driver to make them functional. Unlike the CS2P's they do not need separate amps for each driver or subwoofer to make them sound wonderful. Oh and the greatest thing of all, they were the less expensive models than what was shown @ the RMAF.


Yeah that was my thoughts on the upper models as well. I really like running my mains full range with no sub for music listening. If I just want to rock out with a ton of bass I'll engage the subs in stereo mode but generally I run in Direct or Pure Direct mode when listening to music. I like not HAVING to have subs just to get the full sound. Just my 2cents too. 

Scott


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## o2audio (Oct 2, 2012)

Hi All,

First - I am affiliated with Emerald Physics so please note this when reading my reply. 

I'd like to make two quick points. One, the CS2.3 MKII's at the RMAF as displayed by Wyred 4 Sound did not have subwoofers. The 2 x 15's in the 2.3 MKII *ARE* the (sub) Woofers. Tremendous bass response with these twin OB Woofers. 

Second - the CS2P's are our Entry Level product and they really do display a "wide band - top-to-bottom" response as shipped with the passive crossovers. That said - when we add the DSP 2.4 the heart of the loudspeaker is truly unveiled. We can tailor the eq to the speaker and to the location of the loudspeakers in the room. In many cases this can really allow you to find the last ounce of performance with this loudspeaker. 

Scott - these are really very much a full-band loudspeaker as shipped and I think you would love them :wave:

Thanks -

Mark


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## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Having been one of the reviewers at Sonnie's recently, I can say with certainty that describing them as a full range loudspeaker is fair. Quite an impressive product for an entry level speaker.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

o2audio said:


> Hi All, First - I am affiliated with Emerald Physics so please note this when reading my reply. I'd like to make two quick points. One, the CS2.3 MKII's at the RMAF as displayed by Wyred 4 Sound did not have subwoofers. The 2 x 15's in the 2.3 MKII ARE the (sub) Woofers. Tremendous bass response with these twin OB Woofers. Second - the CS2P's are our Entry Level product and they really do display a "wide band - top-to-bottom" response as shipped with the passive crossovers. That said - when we add the DSP 2.4 the heart of the loudspeaker is truly unveiled. We can tailor the eq to the speaker and to the location of the loudspeakers in the room. In many cases this can really allow you to find the last ounce of performance with this loudspeaker. Scott - these are really very much a full-band loudspeaker as shipped and I think you would love them :wave: Thanks - Mark


Mark,

Thank you for your thoughts. I didn't know the drivers in the 2.3 WERE the subs, that definitely makes a difference. I do really look forward to reading the results of the comparison and how the CS2P's faired against the others. Even better is to hear them in one's own house of course but with the wide variety of evaluators the impressions should match what my own thoughts would be to some degree or another. Still, I do love OB and horn loaded driver sound  

Are there any shows coming up on the west coast that the CS2P'S will be at? 

Scott


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Interesting results from the $2,500 speaker comparison. I realize not all the results are up so I'm only going off of limited info now but it looks like close placement to both back wall and listener are not good for these speakers? Mark can you comment on this? I wonder if there will be any pictures of the speakers from their final placement in the comparison to get a better idea?

I sit in an almost perfect equilateral triangle with my speakers. They are about 8' apart and I'm about 8' from them. My current speakers are a MLTL of sorts front ported speaker and work excellently in this position. I wonder how well the CS2P's would work like this? Front of the baffle could be about 2' out from the wall but that's max. 

Hmm ...

Scott


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The pictures are up now.

They did better out from the wall, but not so good close to the wall. Not terrible, just not all that good. I would not like them close to my wall.

They will be fine if you pull them out, as long as you can get a little bit of distance from them. Equilateral distance is good, but only if you can get them out wide enough to get a good soundstage, just before the imaging starts to fall apart. That is generally the best width.

I think that is way to close for the proper depth of soundstage for any speaker. If depth acuity is not that important to you, which it sounds like it may not be if you are happy with your current speakers where they are, then they might work out for you. You may want to purchase the DSP and have them program it for placement close to the wall.

Why are you limited to only 2' from your wall? Is there no way to pull them out from the wall while listening? And if you are not doing critical listening, it probably won't matter near as much, but then I would not be buying new speakers either.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Sonnie said:


> The pictures are up now.
> 
> They did better out from the wall, but not so good close to the wall. Not terrible, just not all that good. I would not like them close to my wall.
> 
> ...


The speakers I have now seem to be wide enough, I get a very good center image, depth isn't there though as would be expected. Luckily for me depth isn't the most important thing as I know it is for you Sonnie 

When I say 2', I meant the front baffles are roughly 2' away. My living room is very shallow as it has the entrance to the house right there. I can't move the couch back any further unless we don't want people to get into the house :bigsmile:

Here are pics of the current setup:








I don't necessarily have a big PROBLEM with the speakers I have, more was curious about the CS2P's and how they'd do for 2-channel as well as HT bc as you can tell, its primarily focus is TV and movies. What my current speakers really do well is midrange yummyness (real word I swear) and imaging. Being single driver speakers they don't hit very hard (although the do go down to the 30's). When I listen to music I like to listen without the subs engaged and would like speakers that have more visceral impact while adding more of a lushness to the midrange that the metal cone drivers don't produce. 

Scott


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

That's a tough situation there, especially with the wood floor. You would have to be very careful pulling them out from the wall for two-channel listening, but I bet a lot of things would get better if you did.

I would be curious if the CS2P's would fit, as they are fairly wide.

As previously stated, I know they can program that DSP model for near wall placement, but I am not sure how much that is going to help with soundstage and imaging, which seem to be more of a challenge when speakers are that close to the wall. The only way to know would be to try them and see.


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

Yeah the wood floor LOOKS nice but not exactly the most sound friendly  Eventually this will be the secondary system after I get my HT set up in the basement though. I plan on moving the big subs downstairs and running dual 10's or something up in the living room. Getting rid of the MFW's will give me a lot more leeway WRT placement but I still wouldn't be able to pull the speakers out much and the left side has that large bay window. Not the best area for critical 2-channel for sure 

Oh and the rug has moved since then so its now centered. It was bothering me before


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## o2audio (Oct 2, 2012)

skeeter99 said:


> Mark,
> 
> Thank you for your thoughts. I didn't know the drivers in the 2.3 WERE the subs, that definitely makes a difference. I do really look forward to reading the results of the comparison and how the CS2P's faired against the others. Even better is to hear them in one's own house of course but with the wide variety of evaluators the impressions should match what my own thoughts would be to some degree or another. Still, I do love OB and horn loaded driver sound
> 
> ...


Scott,

Appreciate your note back. I can certainly speak with Walter about CS2P's on the West Coast. I'm not 100% sure. 

Thanks again,

Mark


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## o2audio (Oct 2, 2012)

skeeter99 said:


> Yeah the wood floor LOOKS nice but not exactly the most sound friendly  Eventually this will be the secondary system after I get my HT set up in the basement though. I plan on moving the big subs downstairs and running dual 10's or something up in the living room. Getting rid of the MFW's will give me a lot more leeway WRT placement but I still wouldn't be able to pull the speakers out much and the left side has that large bay window. Not the best area for critical 2-channel for sure
> 
> Oh and the rug has moved since then so its now centered. It was bothering me before


Scott - quick comment here if I may.

I have personally run these speakers two feet from the rear wall with very good results. Again though, I would like to see you get the DSP2.4 as this allows us to tailor the results for a given parameter. 

Thanks for your note as well 

Very best wishes,

Mark


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

o2audio said:


> Scott,
> 
> Appreciate your note back. I can certainly speak with Walter about CS2P's on the West Coast. I'm not 100% sure.
> 
> ...


Great thank you Mark, if anyone has any on the West Coast I'd love to hear them  Even if I have to wait a bit that's fine, still need to drum up a few pennies if I decide to make a move :T



o2audio said:


> Scott - quick comment here if I may.
> 
> I have personally run these speakers two feet from the rear wall with very good results. Again though, I would like to see you get the DSP2.4 as this allows us to tailor the results for a given parameter.
> 
> ...


Great to know, thanks! Can you share more information about how the DSP works and how it tailors the results?

Also, are acoustic panels recommended for placement behind the speakers in situations like mine? I have bay window to the left and open to the dining room on the right. I can put up panels if need be, just don't know if they're recommended for this type of design.

Scott


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## skeeter99 (Jan 24, 2007)

For those that didn't see them, here are a few pics from the event:




























I really love love the way these things look, they're so unique! Do they have a slight backwards tilt or is that just the picture?

Scott


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Yes, they have a backwards tilt.


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