My New Home-Office Speakers

[sholling]

I am really spoiled by the quality of the speakers in my master bedroom and especially by those in my family room - so a few weeks ago I decided it was time to replace the modded Behringer B2030Ps in my home-office. The problem of course is finding a pair of speakers that sound really good up close. The progress has been from Klipsch’s Promedia 5.1 Ultra computer speakers, to an old Pioneer VSX-1014 receiver driving Energy C-100 bookshelves, to factory stock Behringers, to modded Behringers. Each step was a bit better than the last. The Klipsch did a good job for computer speakers. I still think they’re some of the best dedicated computer speakers ever made but they're still computer speakers and could get fatiguing after extended listening. The Energies and a TSC T250 sub were a big improvement but while decent budget speakers the C-100s were still fatiguing when seated up close. Not quite as fatiguing as the Klipsch but still fatiguing. The 2030Ps were a big improvement. They're homelier than a monkey’s butt, but they sound good up close. Just for grins I modded the Behringers using what I could piece together of WmAx’s instructions. I’d describe the change as making them a tiny bit warmer and less boxy sounding. For the price I can recommend the Behringers for use as budget near-field monitors or as low budget bookshelf speakers in a small to medium sized room.

The Behringers were fun but I wanted something really special in there. I have Usher S-520s in my master bedroom and Salk Song Tower RTs in my family room and frankly I’m spoiled rotten. I’ve been going through the Audioholics’ Pro Reviews for a couple of months while working on other projects. They're just about the only pro reviews that I’ve found that I have a whole lot of faith in. Naturally I've also been reading every relevant individual post that came up. One of those pro reviews was Gene’s glowing report on the EMP VT-40.2 & 41-SE/B tube amp and speaker bundle. I've been intrigued since I first read it almost a year ago. I must have reread it a dozen times but since I had no need for the bundled amp I kept on looking. Then a couple of weeks ago Gene jumped into a speaker thread with this stellar praise:

In a small room or office the EMP 41-SEB's are the best sounding bookshelf speakers I've heard regardless of price. Under the RBH name they would sell for over $1k/pair b/c of the Beryllium woofers.

That lead me to rereading the review for the umpteenth time and then credit card in hand I surfed over to EMP’s site. I finally realized that I could buy just the speakers and ordered them on the spot. Five days later a small box arrived. The 41-SEBs are as tall and deep as the 2030Ps but because they're narrower and have an attractive front to back taper they’re not as bulky as the Behringers. They're also beautiful with a nicely done piano black finish. I pulled out my oldie-moldy VSX-1014 and slid in a TX-SR606 (former bedroom receiver) onto the shelf next to my desk and hooked up the EMPs. The room is only 12x12x10 and I’m running a pair of level matched TSC T250 (10” 250w RMS) subs that will be the subject of my next upgrade.

Gene covered all of the test points so well in his review that all I can really say is yes I agree! I love them! It’s been really hard to drag myself out of that room since the upgrade. I'm crossing over at 80hz and the bass from the little 4" woofer is tight and solid, and the detail and imaging are simply amazing. These are the perfect small room speaker. Hopefully someday they'll decide to do a 5" or better yet a 6" version with the same wonderful sound.

 

[vikebrian84]

Thats a nice setup and you are very spoiled with the song towers.

 

[Buddy17]

i like the background on your desktop! that website can keep me entertained for a long time!

 

[sholling]

i like the background on your desktop! that website can keep me entertained for a long time!

I love Wicked Weasel!

 

[its phillip]

I have those speakers on my amazon wish list. I really like my rc-10s though

 

[sholling]

I really like my rc-10s though

You have every reason to love them. RC-10s are good speakers.

 

[KEW]

The little EMPs are something special!
Sometimes I wonder if I would have spent more on a speaker if I had run into these before I tried more expensive speakers.

When I A-B'ed the Paradigm Studio20's vs. the RBH 61LSE, I was frustrated. The 61-LSE had great detail and articulation, but just didn't have the HF extension which I wanted. The Studio20's aluminum dome tweeter had the extension, but it was just a little on the sizzling bacon side of things and it lacked the detail of the RBH. That set me on the quest to find a speaker that offered both.

Had I next heard these EMP's, I think I would have found exactly what I was looking for! The tweeter is better than the Studio20 (to my ear) and the mid-range detail is better than the 61-LSE!

As it happened, I came to the conclusion that I would have to go with a Be or ribbon tweeter to get the clarity and extension I was after.
I don't know where EMP found this tweeter, but I have never heard such good extension from a soft dome! It is not quite the equivalent of the Be and ribbon I have (I've A-B'ed them), but it is good enough that I would have been content (it easily outclasses the tweeters of the RBH 61LSE and the Studio 20's)!

As for detail, I think it beats both, my S-2's and SongTower's. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this since you also have the ST's to compare.

Don't get me wrong, I like the overall sound of the S-2's and Songtowers better than the little EMP's (which just don't seem to be able to keep up as well in a medium-larger room), but the EMP's offered enough more than the Studio20 and 61-LSE that I don't think I would have kept looking into more expensive speakers had I heard them before the Signatures (and thereby, the Salks).

Cheers,
Kurt

 

[sholling]

As for detail, I think it beats both, my S-2's and SongTower's. It would be interesting to hear your thoughts on this since you also have the ST's to compare.

I have Song Tower RTs which are supposed play flat so far beyond human hearing its ridiculous. I've spent the last hour running from room to room playing the same material and I'd describe the ST-RT as as crisper and a bit more detailed without exaggerated highs. Detail without brightness. That's supposed to be the forte of the ribbons. And the EMPs are quite detailed but ever so slightly bright at my 4 foot listening distance. Not an annoying brightness or a fatiguing brightness, but just enough to be noticeable. That brightness would probably be gone by 8-10 feet but I have too much junk in that room to get any further away.

I don't know the name of the instrument but I'm guessing it's sticks or wooden blocks intimating a crisp finger snap sound. You tell me... Bueno Funk off of Peter White's Glow. But here the STs pull away and you hear it in amazing detail and crispness. Just like it the impact was right next to your ear. At high volume this sounds ever so slightly harsh and slightly muddied with with EMPs. Not where most people would give it a second thought but I'd just heard the same cut through the Song Towers and where I hadn't noticed it before it stuck out like a sore thumb. But we're comparing $2500/pr (w/RT option) speakers with a $400/pr speakers. I think the little E41s held their own quite well - especially with how hard I drove them in places.

Steve

 

[KEW]

DOH! I meant to say the EMP's mid-range detail beats the ST mids (to my ear). No doubt, the ribbon has more detail than the soft dome!

Cool!
I really thank you for doing that.

From my listening spot, the SongTower ribbon tweeter beats the EMP tweeter in every category - the ST's ribbons are better across the board.

I'll see if I can find a copy of the Peter White album and set my A-B back up. I'll also look for some specific spots in ubiquitous recordings where I perceive better detail from the EMP mid.

 

[jamie2112]

Nice !!! Major is really happy with his as well.........good buy, it seems I may have to have a listen .......

 

[sholling]

DOH! I meant to say the EMP's mid-range detail beats the ST mids (to my ear). No doubt, the ribbon has more detail than the soft dome!

Cool!
I really thank you for doing that.

From my listening spot, the SongTower ribbon tweeter beats the EMP tweeter in every category - the ST's ribbons are better across the board.

I'll see if I can find a copy of the Peter White album and set my A-B back up. I'll also look for some specific spots in ubiquitous recordings where I perceive better detail from the EMP mid.

I'm really pleased with the EMPs (and STs ) but I'm a bit confused now. It turns out that the slight muddiness in the EMPs were from pushing them a bit hard. I backed off and they cleaned right up. But what confuses me is listing to the 41s I could swear I'm hearing a real finger snap, while with the STs sound is too crisp for that. More like two pieces of wood hit together. Now I don't know which did better with that piece of the puzzle. the other piece is my family room is acoustically treated and my home-office is just bare walls behind bookcases and shelves.

 

[KEW]

Well, I need to put this on hold for now. I've been listening in an A-B configuration intermittently for a couple of days, but alas, life (and some up coming travel) keeps getting in the way of really sitting down and taking the time needed to establish the differences the way I want.
I keep getting contradictions - one thing sounds better on the EMP's and something else sounds better on the Salk's.
Overall, the Salks have better sound (as you would expect), but I do think the 4" mids of the EMP's with the smaller cabinets are seriously up to the task of challenging the Salk's midrange.

Cheers,
Kurt

 

[alphaiii]

Well, I need to put this on hold for now. I've been listening in an A-B configuration intermittently for a couple of days, but alas, life (and some up coming travel) keeps getting in the way of really sitting down and taking the time needed to establish the differences the way I want.
I keep getting contradictions - one thing sounds better on the EMP's and something else sounds better on the Salk's.
Overall, the Salks have better sound (as you would expect), but I do think the 4" mids of the EMP's with the smaller cabinets are seriously up to the task of challenging the Salk's midrange.

Cheers,
Kurt

Kurt,

Ever heard the ACI Emerald XL's?

I wonder how the EMP's compare to them in the mids department. Those Emeralds had an amazing midrange... damn I miss those speakers.

 

[KEW]

Kurt,

Ever heard the ACI Emerald XL's?

I wonder how the EMP's compare to them in the mids department. Those Emeralds had an amazing midrange... damn I miss those speakers.

No, I had not even heard of ACI!

 

[alphaiii]

No, I had not even heard of ACI!

Well, they're no longer around since the owner/designer, Mike Dzurko, retired.

Anyway, many of their speakers have been well regarded, and the last 2 designs, the Emerald XL and Sapphire XL, were raved about quite a bit.

The Emerald XL's didn't have much low end at all, but the mid-range was outstanding, and the highs were very nice as well. A very neutral, clean speaker... my favorite speaker, within it's limitations of course... even over my Energy RC-10's or the Ascend Sierra's I once owned. Let me repeat... "within their limitaions of course."

Definitely interested in hearing the EMP E41 though...

 

[KEW]

I looked and Audiogon doesn't have a history of ACI or "Audio Concepts"
But it does look like they are still available ($650/pair):
http://www.audioc.com/speakers1/emeraldxl/emeraldxl.htm

 

[alphaiii]

I looked and Audiogon doesn't have a history of ACI or "Audio Concepts"
But it does look like they are still available ($650/pair):
http://www.audioc.com/speakers1/emeraldxl/emeraldxl.htm

Nope, no longer available....
http://www.audioc.com/aboutaci1/news.htm

Only way to buy is used... and they don't come up often. I saw a pair of Sapphire XL's a few weeks ago, but haven't seen used Emerald's since the pair I bought/sold.

 

[KEW]

Nope, no longer available....
http://www.audioc.com/aboutaci1/news.htm

Only way to buy is used... and they don't come up often. I saw a pair of Sapphire XL's a few weeks ago, but haven't seen used Emerald's since the pair I bought/sold.

Hmm, that is a bit troubling, I just went to the site I linked and added a pair of Emeralds to my cart and got all of the way to "submit order" (even going into and back out of PayPal to the ACI site). I chickened out at this point, since clicking "submit order" may close the deal, and I don't need another pair of speakers right now.

Everything functions and looks as if they are operational on their website shopping system.
In the AudioCircles ACI thread, he complains about people still trying to order from him!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=74226.msg731507#msg731507

 

[alphaiii]

Hmm, that is a bit troubling, I just went to the site I linked and added a pair of Emeralds to my cart and got all of the way to "submit order" (even going into and back out of PayPal to the ACI site). I chickened out at this point, since clicking "submit order" may close the deal, and I don't need another pair of speakers right now.

Everything functions and looks as if they are operational on their website shopping system.
In the AudioCircles ACI thread, he complains about people still trying to order from him!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=74226.msg731507#msg731507

Not sure why he doesn't just remove the ordering options from the ACI website... seems like a simple solution

 

[goonstopher]

Sorry if I missed it but for a budget HT which would you prefer 2030p or EMP?