What about the EMP E5CI?

[SJTrance]

So, I'm really interested in getting myself the E5ti towers for my apartment. I have the TV up on the wall and the towers to the Rt and Lt with the center on a media cabinet. The speakers will be away from the wall so the ports will have enough space to "breath." You can click my sig to view my home theater so far. It has pics of where the speakers will sit in relation to the wall. Here's what I have so far...

Receiver: Pioneer Elite VSX90TXV
Center: Paradigm CC170
Front: Paradigm Mini MK3
Surround: Paradigm Atom V.2
Subwoofer: Hsu VTF3 MK3

The problem that I have with the setup so far is that I want the sound to be a little less warm. I am missing that clarity. It doesn't have much in the way of high end. I don't want the sound so bright that my ears bleed, but I would like a lot more clarity. Most of the speakers are pretty dated and old. I'm wondering if EMP will give me what I want.

From the reviews, I think that the towers are a no-brainer... especially for the money. I've been reading mixed reviews about the center channel, though. I've done a lot of searching on this site, but I haven't been able to find any real posts of people who've had the center for some time and giving a proper review of it after it's had a chance to burn in.

 

[GranteedEV]

With an 80hz / small crossover (Audessey will set it at 60hz and large btw)

-On axis it's clear and detailed, but off axis (and by that I mean like 50-60 degrees) you do sometimes strain to hear some whispered or breathy dialogue. Such is the fate of any Mid-Tweeter-Mid center speaker. With that said however it prolly does reduce interference with mains to have that sort of speaker design, so sound placement between the front stage is always well defined. It's all a tradeoff I guess.
-In pink noise at least, it doesn't quite sound timbre matched to the mains
-It's reasonably dynamic. True, I'm amplifier limited but about 8 feet away I don't hear much strain at reference level movie watching.
-I opened up the binding post cup and shoved a handful or two of polyfill in it. It seemed to take away a bit of chestyness that was present at first.
-I found I got very nice performance taping 8 layers of weather stripping onto the front feet to make angling stands. It put my ear on axis with the tweeter which I found made an audible difference.


So my advice? Go with an E5Ti center if you somehow can, but if you're limited, the E5Ci is a nice center. If aesthetics matching or perhaps budget are not the biggest concern, look into a quality WMTW center... I'd bet the Revel C12 would be great with those mains!

Anyways, I don't know about the E5Tis, but the E55tis have a detailed yet laid back top end. It'll never be in your face but it'll always be present and pleasant.

 

[SJTrance]

Wow! Thanks so much for the detailed impressions on your center. It doesn't sound that promising, though... but at the price point, I might as well try. If I don't like it or if I like my existing center, I'll just end up swapping it out and return the E5CI.

By the way, what do you mean by "WMTW Center?"

 

[GranteedEV]

wtmw means a tweeter atop a midrange like any old bookshelf flanked by closely spaced woofers on either horizontal side. mtm means mid-tweeter-mid instead. the later option is great for a vertical loudspeaker but more limited in a center channel. take a look at a pic of the revel c12 and the emp e5ci to compare deiver layouts.