Airmotiv XB1 Bookshelf Loudspeakers (Pair)

Some small speakers love to pretend they are huge. The good ones focus on getting the important stuff right.

The Emotiva Airmotiv XB1 are compact two-way bookshelf speakers built for real-world flexibility, from desktop speakers and near-field listening to shelves and speaker stands. They feature our Airmotiv folded ribbon tweeter with a rotatable waveguide you can orient vertically or horizontally for your placement, plus a 4 inch woven cone woofer for balanced, natural sound.

The rear-ported design extends down to about 65 Hz. They sound clean and honest on their own, and adding a subwoofer is the easy path to deeper bass when you want more weight and impact. The XB1 is 4 ohms nominal and safe with amplifiers rated for 8 ohm loads, and with 82 dB sensitivity they benefit from a solid amp if you like higher volumes. The braced, damped enclosure and magnetically attached grille keep things both clean and easy to live with. As part of the Airmotiv X lineup, the XB1 is designed to deliver high performance without making setup complicated.

Common uses

• Desktop or near-field listening on a desk, console, or shelf

• Small-room stereo on stands, with or without a subwoofer

• Surround or back surround speakers in a home theater system

Want a second set of eyes on placement, amp matching, or adding a sub? Contact us. Real humans, real answers, straight from the folks behind the gear.