EMP Speakers

[BoredSysAdmin]

Dear Audioholics members,
I'd like to share with you my concerts and confusions regarding EMP speakers in general.

First thing that made me a bit suspicious is poorly designed web site.
Secondly - striking similarity to RBH made speakers (yet no there to be found any info indicating its a RBH subsidiary - however later I personally confirmed it - EMP is RBH subsidiary)

So now we coming to main point of this post : Why the hell would such known and trusted brand as RBH create new brand?

To make and sell value oriented products?? Not true - EMP speakers cost same/more than RBH (I got quote from official dealer showing over $100 less on TK-5CT than EMP EF30T). Im really confused here - how cheaper finish , cheaper woofer material and less known brand can justify higher price ???

(Really confused how woofer made from different material can have "Identical Performance" according to Audioholics store...)

To sell products online? I guess I'm coming closer here - Most Hi-End speaker manufactures stay away from internet sales like from wild fire, and RBH isn't much different. Unfortunately real RBH can be bought only from official dealers, not so conveniently located 1-2h hours away....

Any options??

 

[Matt34]

Dear Audioholics members,
I'd like to share with you my concerts and confusions regarding EMP speakers in general.

First thing that made me a bit suspicious is poorly designed web site.
Secondly - striking similarity to RBH made speakers (yet no there to be found any info indicating its a RBH subsidiary - however later I personally confirmed it - EMP is RBH subsidiary)

So now we coming to main point of this post : Why the hell would such known and trusted brand as RBH create new brand?

To make and sell value oriented products?? Not true - EMP speakers cost same/more than RBH (I got quote from official dealer showing over $100 less on TK-5CT than EMP EF30T). Im really confused here - how cheaper finish , cheaper woofer material and less known brand can justify higher price ???

(Really confused how woofer made from different material can have "Identical Performance" according to Audioholics store...)

To sell products online? I guess I'm coming closer here - Most Hi-End speaker manufactures stay away from internet sales like from wild fire, and RBH isn't much different. Unfortunately real RBH can be bought only from official dealers, not so conveniently located 1-2h hours away....

Any options??

The EMP brand was developed by RBH as an internet direct option AFAIK. Same performance in a less costly finish. I'm almost positive Clint or Gene already addressed this. I really don't see the smoke and mirrors you are alluding too.

 

[Matt34]

Here, I even found the thread....

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40516&highlight=EMP+speakers

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Sorry, I guess I missed this post while I was searching.

Originally Posted by surveyor View Post
Why are the EMP EF30T Tower Speakers - same as RBH TK-5CT almost double the cost of the RBH?

They aren't. The price above is per pair. The EMP tower speakers are around $100 cheaper than the equivalent TK-series.

Nether the less, according to my own research - positioning EMP speakers RETAIL price 100$ lower than RBH MSRP price seems incorrect. In fact real life price (from official dealer) for RBH TK towers is $100 cheaper than Audioholics EMP retail. Should I pay extra for convenience of online purchase? maybe... Should I sacrifice looks AND brand recognition - doesn't makes sense to me.... (Not to mention cheaper finish and woofer material)


edit:
p.s: Would I pay ... say $550-600 for pair of these? Of course....

 

[fmw]

Sorry, I guess I missed this post while I was searching.



Nether the less, according to my own research - positioning EMP speakers RETAIL price 100$ lower than RBH MSRP price seems incorrect. In fact real life price (from official dealer) for RBH TK towers is $100 cheaper than Audioholics EMP retail. Should I pay extra for convenience of online purchase? maybe... Should I sacrifice looks AND brand recognition - doesn't makes sense to me.... (Not to mention cheaper finish and woofer material)

I agree with you there. If were in the market for these speakers and if there were an RBH dealer anywhere near me I would pay full retail for RBH just to have better resale value. $100 isn't enough difference to make the change for me. Reality is that millions of people in the U.S. are nowhere near an RBH dealer or a dealer for any other specific brand, for that matter, so the on-line availability is just the ticket for those folks.

As an aside, I'm not sure your feelings about web site quality are a reasonable measurement for the quality of a business. It wouldn't take much for a scam to put up a slick web site.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

As an aside, I'm not sure your feelings about web site quality are a reasonable measurement for the quality of a business. It wouldn't take much for a scam to put up a slick web site.

Hmm, good point. Who am I kidding, even RBH sound website itself isn't exactly a design showcase but who am I to judge

 

[gene]

To make and sell value oriented products?? Not true - EMP speakers cost same/more than RBH (I got quote from official dealer showing over $100 less on TK-5CT than EMP EF30T). Im really confused here - how cheaper finish , cheaper woofer material and less known brand can justify higher price ???

RBH recently had a price increase so the TK-5CTs retail for $950/pair. The audioholics e-store is offering virtually the identical speaker for $854/pair with FREE shipping! There simply isn't enough margin in these products to go lower in price. That being said, if you can get the RBH versions for less than what the Audioholics Store is selling them, by all means GO FOR THEM!

As for the conspiracy of EMP and RBH, I don't think we could make it any clearer that these are one in the same including a recent press release we posted.

http://www.audioholics.com/news/press-releases/emp-partnership-store.audioholics.com

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Like I said in previous post - I missed original discussion thread: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...t=EMP+speakers

I wasn't aware of price raise... my quote was somewhat dated...

from Audioholics Press release: (which I also originally missed)

Working in conjunction with product engineers and designers from high performance home audio manufacturer RBH Sound, EMP Tek manufactures

From EMP web site:

Engineered Music Products (EMP) was founded in 2007 by Industry professionals with over thirty years experience in designing, engineering and manufacturing high performance loudspeakers for companies such as ParaSound, McIntosh, JBL, RBH Sound, Destination Audio and Fosgate...

No Gene,sorry, this information doesn't make it crystal clear that EMP is RBH subsidiary. For example take a look at www.linksys.com - can't be more clear who's the boss (and BRAND) around there ... Why won't EMP publicly say on the web site who's subsidiary are they ??

Clint mentions this

EMP = RBH Sound's Internet-authorized division.

Which is buried in forums.... THE only time it was made crystal clear to me ...

And fmw still have a very valid point - I'd rather pay SLIGHTLY more for RBH brand and have resale and brand recognition value.

 

[Matt34]

Like I said in previous post - I missed original discussion thread: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...t=EMP+speakers

I wasn't aware of price raise... my quote was somewhat dated...

from Audioholics Press release: (which I also originally missed)



From EMP web site:



No Gene,sorry, this information doesn't make it crystal clear that EMP is RBH subsidiary. For example take a look at www.linksys.com - can't be more clear who's the boss (and BRAND) around there ... Why won't EMP publicly say on the web site who's subsidiary are they ??

Clint mentions this

Which is buried in forums.... THE only time it was made crystal clear to me ...

And fmw still have a very valid point - I'd rather pay SLIGHTLY more for RBH brand and have resale and brand recognition value.

So how many times exatcly must it be posted so it comes in crystal clear?

Just because you missed the press release the first time it's considered, "buried in the forums"?

 

[Audioholics]

OK, now I guess it's crystal clear.

Just so everyone understands - we don't decide what EMP says on their site or about their company. They are free to hide or show their relationship to RBH Sound in any way they see fit. We're just trying to make it perfectly clear who they are to our readers.

As for resale value - we encourage anyone to buy RBH Sound speakers from any dealer they'd like. Especially if they also offer free shipping, lifetime tech support and a 30-day money back guarantee like the Audioholics Store does.

Great thread - good questions!

 

[tomd51]

No Gene,sorry, this information doesn't make it crystal clear that EMP is RBH subsidiary. For example take a look at www.linksys.com - can't be more clear who's the boss (and BRAND) around there ... Why won't EMP publicly say on the web site who's subsidiary are they ??

And fmw still have a very valid point - I'd rather pay SLIGHTLY more for RBH brand and have resale and brand recognition value.

Had you peformed a Google search on EMP and RBH, you'd find information pointing to EMP's site prior to it's re-design a few weeks ago. It's still on a Google search cache:

"EMP TEK, Inc. is a new division of West American Corporation and a sister company to RBH Sound, Inc., a 29 year old company that has been designing, engineering and building loudspeaker systems for quality home theater entertainment and commercial use."

There could be lots of reasons EMP no longer states this on their website, however Gene may or may not be able to furnish this information. I would pose this question directly with EMP if you'd like concrete evidence beyond what you've found out.

Regardless of whether you'd rather spend slightly more on the EMP brand as opposed to RBH, many others wouldn't. If I have the choice of buying product 'A' and product 'B' and the performance is almost identical, but the price for product 'B' is more than 10% less than product 'A', I'd take product 'B' 10 times out of 10. That is, of course, if I wasn't buying for brand name and to "show off" to others... -TD

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Thanks for all replies and info, I guess now this topic is fully covered and I'm no longer confused

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

RBH recently had a price increase so the TK-5CTs retail for $950/pair. The audioholics e-store is offering virtually the identical speaker for $854/pair with FREE shipping! There simply isn't enough margin in these products to go lower in price. That being said, if you can get the RBH versions for less than what the Audioholics Store is selling them, by all means GO FOR THEM!

http://www.audioholics.com/news/press-releases/emp-partnership-store.audioholics.com

This is probably the last post I'm ever going to make before I'll get kicked out of this forum with permanent-ban

A little update:
This morning I received NEW quote from same official RBH dealer:
"RBH TK 5CT: Floor standing speakers.
$750 pair "
FREE shipping is NOT included.

No comments.

 

[Matt34]

This is probably the last post I'm ever going to make before I'll get kicked out of this forum with permanent-ban

A little update:
This morning I received NEW quote from same official RBH dealer:
"RBH TK 5CT: Floor standing speakers.
$750 pair "
FREE shipping is NOT included.

No comments.

Sounds like a hell of a deal they're giving you!

 

[majorloser]

This is probably the last post I'm ever going to make before I'll get kicked out of this forum with permanent-ban

A little update:
This morning I received NEW quote from same official RBH dealer:
"RBH TK 5CT: Floor standing speakers.
$750 pair "
FREE shipping is NOT included.

No comments.

Well, are you going to share the link or contact info for the RBH dealer (or send me a PM)?
I'd LOVE to get a killer deal on the RBH T-30LSE's and the T-1 in walnut burl
Hopefully they'd be willing to ship to Florida.

 

[tomd51]

This is probably the last post I'm ever going to make before I'll get kicked out of this forum with permanent-ban

A little update:
This morning I received NEW quote from same official RBH dealer:
"RBH TK 5CT: Floor standing speakers.
$750 pair "
FREE shipping is NOT included.

No comments.

Not sure why you'd be banned for posting that you were able to get a great deal from an RBH dealer, but...

That is a heck of a deal and you should obviously go for it, good for you... -TD

ps
And regarding the "No comments", your post is a comment...

 

[armaraas]

I'm being a little too lazy here to double check the facts, but didn't I see a press release recently for the Audioholics store in the last week, and as a result they offered 10% (or was it 15%? it was probably 10%) off virtually everything in store for the day or a couple of days. Heck maybe it's still going on. Anyway, my point is that it appeared from what I saw that EMP was included, which would have made these speakers about $770, free shipping, probably no tax, it seemed like a good deal to me. I could be wrong and maybe EMP wasn't included, but if they were, pick your poison....

 

[Gern Blanston]

Since the 30 day return policy was mentioned, I have to say that the restocking fee pretty well eliminates the value of a return policy for me. When I saw the EMP package deals that are currently being offered, I was ready to take the plunge since I could return them if the wife hated them (WAF is a big deal since they're going in the main family area). However, when I saw that there was a restocking fee PLUS return shipping (which is substantial), an in-home audition, which is the only way to hear these speakers, is not feasible: it will significantly reduce my speaker budget if they're not acceptable. I'll have to stick with Etailers who don't charge restocking fees.

I understand why Audioholics charges such fees, but there are plenty of other sellers who don't use this tool to limit returns.

 

[nova]

Yup, like many companies, RBH has many faces.
RBH Sound
Status Accoustics
Destination Audio
EMP Tek

So,.. what's the big deal?
I heard some company named Harmon International has a couple different brands too

 

[photoeye]

EMP Impression E5Bi Bookshelf Speakers

Hi,

would you get a pair of the EMP Impression E5Bi Bookshelf Speakers for $200
or save up for a pair of Usher S-520's? The ushers have many reviews and proven to sound great.

the E5Bi, never heard of it or seen any reviews. Great looking burlwood though, very attractive to me

btw, any idea how long these prices are good for?

Thx