For the first time in its history, the Emotiva company is offering a full entry-level surround sound system called the BasX (Basic-X) line.

I find this particularly interesting because I’ve previously reviewed (and bought with my own money, and for full price) the Emotiva BasX stereo gear, including the PT-100 preamp and A-300 stereo power amp. Both were excellent on an absolute basis, and particularly excellent for their modest prices! Can the BasX surround sound system possibly be as good? I want to find out!

Emotiva BasX Surround Sound System

For review, Emotiva provided a full surround system minus only the disc player (I used my new Oppo UDP-205). The surround swag included the MC-700 surround sound processor, A-500 5-channel power amplifier, LCR front and center speakers, four SAT surround sound speakers, and two S12 subwoofers for a complete 7.2 setup. The system as reviewed costs just $2,740, but can be had for around $2,000 by eliminating one subwoofer and a pair of the surround speakers, making it a 5.1 system.

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The BasX surround group is 4K/HDR-video-ready, and plays all the newest surround formats just fine, save Dolby Atmos that requires more height channels. The system will be evaluated both as a movie-system and as a high-end audio system.

My room measures 28 x 15 x 9 feet (3,780 cubic feet). Could the little Emotiva speakers play loudly enough to provide movie-volume sound in such a large space? We will see…

Some of the components I am particularly interested in are the processor (how good is this latest generation of Emo-Q room-correction?), and the subwoofers (I already own a good pair of 15-inch subs – can the budget Emotivas compete?).

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Some of these BasX components rival the competition costing two or three times as much. Which ones are the stars of the line? Watch this space for my full BasX surround system review coming soon. I was VERY surprised by some of the BasX gear, and I think you will be too!

See the complete review of the Emotiva BasX Home Theater Audio System