Emotiva Reaches Out to Budget-Minded Audiophiles With Low-Priced Line

Emotiva launched the entry-level BasX audio component line Tuesday in an effort to win budget-minded consumers interested in high-end audio, President Dan Laufman told us on a media trip in New York. Components of the BasX line are a preamp/tuner with phono preamp that supports moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges and digital audio file resolution up to 24 bit/96 kHz ($299); a tuner amplifier that adds a 50 watt amplifier ($399); integrated amplifier ($199); and four amplifiers ranging from $299 to $599. Warranty on the BasX line is three years vs. five years for the company’s standard and pro-level gear. The products are manufactured at the company’s manufacturing facility in Nashville with parts sourced globally, Laufman said. Rising labor costs in China enabled the company to bring manufacturing stateside with “close” cost parity, Laufman said. Bringing manufacturing local allows the company more control over manufacturing, he said. The company plans to take its lifestyle Emersa line to market later this year after tooling is complete at the end of Q2, Laufman said. The stylized Emersa line uses downsized components measuring 1-¾ inches high vs. the standard components measuring 6-8 inches tall, he said. Emotiva has a distribution ratio of 70-30 between its e-commerce site and retail, he said. Emotiva exhibited at the Axpona high-end audio show last week outside of Chicago where MQA announcements made a splash. On Emotiva’s plans for Meridian’s Master Quality Authenticated Hi-Res audio technology, Laufman said the company’s development team in Canada is “up on it.” If there’s enough market demand for product, along with music label support, “we’ll embrace it,” he said. “But there has to be a market for it.”