Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Scenario 1) If you've ever walked into an audio store before, you may feel somewhat intimidated by the looks you get when you tell them your budget of 300 dollars a pair. They'll show you the puniest little bookshelf speaker, and proceed to compare it to maybe a 600 dollar speaker. The 600 dollar speaker will sound fuller, and fill the room better. The small, cheap bookshelf will feel inadequate, especially to the average person accustomed to listening in a tiny little car or something of that sort.
The reasons for this are simple physics and economics. They want you to buy the bigger, pricier speaker so they'll probably make it louder, and the bigger speaker will get louder more smoothly because the speaker driver moves more easily without the stiff air spring of a small box.
Now the dealer suggests using the small speaker as a surround and the bigger one as a front.He gives you a quote and it's virtually double what you expect. It sounds good, but you're not an audiophile who knows what those reviews ever even talk about when they get enchanted by the precision imaging and encompassing soundstage and warm blanketing bass and muddy, dark midrange. If you just read that and thought "huh" then you're right. You're not an audiophool. You're just someone who wants it to sound clear, right, and not have to sell your car to do it. So you give up and you're about to buy a Home Theater in a Box because your conclusion after scenario 1 was that a true home theater is too expensive. You don't need to settle for par just because of your budget. There are options out there. This is one of the best ones.
Let's start with WHY:
When you audition a speaker, you're sometimes impressed by things in audio that you think you know. The bass, the treble, the fullness. Can you really say what about those things during an audition impresses you? Most speakers in this price range are made to impress. You'll be shocked to hear what you perceive as great bass out of a little bose satellite, for example. Unfortunately, you're wrong. Exaggerated bass and great bass are totally different things. Movies and music are mixed on $5-15,000 monitor speakers that send out what they get in, not exaggerating or underemphasising any particular part of a sound. If they want an explosion to bang on their monitor, it should not "double bang" on yours. That just ends up sounding unnatural.
Likewise with voices. You can probably tell the difference between a voice in real life and a voice on a speaker in this price range. There's many reasons for this, but coloration is the main one. What is coloration, you ask? It's when a speaker adds its own signature to a sound. 99% of speakers are guilty of coloration, in any price range. The scientific methods to remove colorations are very impractical and weigh a lot. Your goal in buying a speaker should be minimal coloration. You don't want to buy a TV with a green tint, so why buy a speaker with a bass boost around 250hz and treble boost at 4000hz? It's just an injustice to the source material. Real life does not have bass boost and treble boost, nor do recording microphones have bass cuts or treble cuts.
That brings us to this speaker. It excels in its smooth frequency response in the midrange. In doing so, it presents to you the part of most movies and music we actually hear in their similar to how it's intended to be presented. And that in turn brings a new life to audio. What you're hearing is no longer exaggeration common in most speakers, but just the wholesome goods. It's as uncolored a speaker as you'll find in the price range. And that will bring you clarity and realism. At worst, there might be just a slight bit of cabinet resonance adding a hint of warmth to the upper bass, but that's not always a bad thing. It's not my ideal thing, but it won't be nearly as colored as what you'll find in the price range.
That brings us to the question of Timbre. People often wonder if they can pair their x brand speaker pair with y brand center. This is an issue because colorations can cause different voices. In this sense, relatively uncolored is its own timbre. You can match this speaker with other relatively uncolored speakers for a smooth transition. The best choice is the EMP E5Ci of course, as it's designed by the same people, is part of the same line, and uses the same drivers. Another option, if your setup allows, is to place a single E5Bi in the center above or below your TV. Vertical centers, while impractical, can have the best sounding results.
So the mids are uncolored and the treble and bass are level matched to them. How are the treble and bass? The bass is tight up to its tuning, and then falls off dramatically. Paired with a quality subwoofer, this simply won't be an issue. The tweeter used in this speaker is a nicely detailed, easy to listen to tweeter. You can point them directly at your ears and it won't sound harsh. The tradeoff however is that it does roll off the upper treble somewhat. You may find cymbals and triangles to sound a bit quieter than you're used, as most speakers in particular don't just have a flat treble response, but instead a hyped treble response. The highs on this speaker are relaxing. Clear and unhidden, but not completely flat. This can be a good thing, as some recordings have some high frequency information which isn't meant to be heard by anyone but the mixer. IT can be a bad thing, as it's not perfection. I'll take a slightly rolled off treble over an exaggerated treble any day. If you so desire, you can always EQ this to be flat with your receiver.
Next we have to get to this speaker's ability to center an image. This is more important in 2-channel stereo than it is in 5 channel surround, but basically, it's regarding the speaker's ability to place voices at the center between them. And when the voices move, they move smoothly and distintly. It's tough to describe, but basically a stereo pair of speakers should be able to bounce a sound between and often around them. Many speakers fail to do this, and instead have sound a single "field" between them, no matter the signal being fed. I have to give this guy a thumbs up.
Soundstage. Where does it feel the sound is? I'd say it feels like it's in front of me, where the speakers are as well as behind them and well wide of them. These speakers do soundstaging well. They won't bring the sound right to your face though.
Next we have to look at off-axis response. Some speakers sound good if you're listening dead-on, but highs can be lost as you shift seats. Most living rooms aren't dedicated home theaters, and most poeple spending this much money are using their living rooms. I can safely say that the off axis response of the E5Bis is excellent. Luckily this speaker has very nice off axis response, so every seat will sound very similar. Indeed, it's got a very wide "listening sweet spot".
Finally we'll consider dynamics. Quite simply, don't expect cinematic dynamics out of ANY bookshelf speaker, especially one with a dome tweeter. Don't expect gunfire to knock you out of your seat out of any bookshelf at any price range. You need huge speakers with compression drivers to get that cinematic experience. Towers will always best bookshelves in this regard too. Bookshelves are a compromise for the most part. They can be great, but don't expect total magic. For its size, this speaker seemed to have quality dynamics. It won't sound nearly as compressed as many of its competitors.
Pros:
Excellent instrument distiction and clarity. Music sounds wonderful and real.
Vocal excellence. SIngers and actors will sound very close to the real thing.
8-ohm impedance means you can match it with just about any receiver without any concern.
Extention down to 80hz means you can use the optimal blend to your subwoofer.
Weighs only 7.5 lb
Very beautiful finish.
Excellent detail,
Sharp imaging.
Cons:
It can take 100 watts and get loud, but don't expect cinematic reference levels of loudness. You need bigger, badder speakers for that.. like JTR Triple 8s
Not a satellite speaker.. it's a proper bookshelf. Satellites are VERY small. HSU and EMP both offer some quality satellites.
Somewhat resonant to the touch. If I could, I would probably open it up and line it with rigid fiberboard so the box vibrates less.
Not perfect with an 80hz crossover, which is reasonable given the price point. It's doable, but it won't be as flawlessly smooth as maybe a 100hz crossover. Audio theory suggests a 60 or 80hz crossover to a sub for the most seamless integration. With a 100hz crossover, you may find the subwoofer to be slightly localizable at times.
Rear Ported makes it somewhat questionable to wall-mount but again, it's very doable.
Low sensitivity means you may have to push your receiver a bit harder than usual to get good volume, but any 30-100 watt receiver will do fine in a moderate sized room.
It's still a bookshelf speaker. Pairing it with a subwoofer is a must.
It's not its big brother, the made-of-stone Status Acoustics Decimo! LOL!
Other recommended speakers in this general price range:
EMP e55ti (the tower for this. It's just excellent)
EMP E41-B (the limited edition step up model from the e5Bi)
Emotiva ERM 6.2 (Just be wary as I believe it's a 4-ohm speaker. Weak electronics may struggle with it)
Behringer 2030p (possibly the best deal in the world if you want accuracy for a low price)
Usher S520 (very well built speaker, looks and sounds like it's twice the price. Just be wary that the...Read more›
Click Here to see more reviews about:
EMP Tek E5BiB Bookshelf Speakers
Click here for more information about EMP Tek E5BiB Bookshelf Speakers
