EMP Tek Impression Series E55Ti Tower Speakers First Look

[LATE2WORK]

Setup

Hi everyone!

Eddie, you’re more than welcome and I’m glad I could be of help. Yes, the EMP speakers look awesome!

I just hooked up my 2nd pair of EMP E55Ti Tower Speakers. I’m using these speakers for one of my computers. It’s taken some time to go through my gear to see what works well with these speakers, since I have a lot of gear to play with. The EMPs sound great with my Emotiva XPA-2 Amplifier the Emotiva RSP-2 Pre-Amp, and MIT cables. However, I did find that the Emotiva XPA-1 Mono-block Power Amplifiers are really overkill for this setup.

All power is going through the PS Audio which cleans it up nicely. I’m using two of the Aperion Audio Bravus 12D Subwoofers, one on each side of the room. This set-up sounds dialed in, simple, and straightforward. I’m running through the Aperion Home Audio Link System using Pandora. I’m going to use this system for games and music. All in all, I’m very happy with this system.

I’ve been building custom high-end gaming systems since 1994, and one thing I really like is high-quality sound for playing games or just general listening. On another computer system I use the Paradigm Reference Signature S1 Version 3 speakers with the P-Be tweeters. I think these bookshelf speakers sound awesome for their size and have exceptional drivers. I feel that the Scanspeak Illuminator series are my favorite at this time. I’m working on a full 24-bit self-powered system now with these drivers, and I think this set-up will turn out wonderful.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with my two new sets of EMPs. Great value, great looks, and great sound!

Here’s to finding the magic between the measure.

LATE2WORK

 

[Flyinace2000]

Speakers are currently en-route from the mail room to my apartment....by mail room i mean my parents house! ;-) Gotta love parents for when your away from home and you need someone to sign for a large speaker delivery!

 

[Flyinace2000]

Time to rock the apartment

But first need to eat! Then coming back to set up the rear bookshelfs and the StarFire12

-Will

 

[LATE2WORK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfr6jmJOGA8

 

[walker17]

Iwould really like to hear your thoughts as to the sound compared to others in a simular or above price range. I am seriously considering these speakers!
walker17

 

[Flyinace2000]

Not only do i love them, but Liz (Fiancee) even said they sound amazing. So not only do i get audio goodness but the lady friend likes them. Thats like bonus points!

Last night we watched several parts of several movies.

Awesome Scenes:

Apollo 13 - Launch of Saturn V rocket. Wow
Star Trek (Lens Flare edition) - The opening scene and where Star Fleet warps away to save Vulcan.
Quantum of Solace: Again the opening car chase.

Besides all the big scenes the rest of the movie all sound really good too. Sounds we could never hear like subtle sounds of metal ripping.

We also listened to a bunch of music. It was like the first time i listened to real headphones (my Grado SR-80s). Music never sounded so good.

On that note, is there a how-to calibrate my speakers and sub so they all play nice together?

Thanks!

 

[LATE2WORK]

The Lord's Brew

Flyinace2000, I’m glad you love your speakers and are enjoying them. The pictures you put up are great! After 16 oz. of the Lord’s Brew I think you’ll find that everything will come into calibration, and I don’t even drink! If you still feel it’s out of sync, you might want to try another 16 oz. and see if that lifts the fog so that everything finally comes into focus.

Joking aside, you could try making the distance of your listening position from the speakers equal to the distance that your speakers are separated by, say 8 feet. I also have my speakers toed in, so you might want to try this, as well. My listening position is the same height as the tweeters, which you might find helpful, and a second sub in the right place will typically improve the sound, too. In my home theater I run six subs, so that it’s very smooth throughout the room.

Good luck with everything and enjoy the process,

LATE2WORK

 

[Flyinace2000]

I live in an aprtment so I don't have much space which also means q second sub is out until we have a bigger place. I will try moving the towers out a few more feet.

I guess what I was really asking was about the cross over knob on the sub. How do I know where to set that. Is there a good calibration disk for audio? I have used the basic THX tool included on most movies for video. I would love to get a similar tool for audio. I would also have no problem buying a sound leveler from radio shack

 

[sterryo]

Flyinace2000, I’m glad you love your speakers and are enjoying them. The pictures you put up are great! After 16 oz. of the Lord’s Brew I think you’ll find that everything will come into calibration, and I don’t even drink! If you still feel it’s out of sync, you might want to try another 16 oz. and see if that lifts the fog so that everything finally comes into focus.

Joking aside, you could try making the distance of your listening position from the speakers equal to the distance that your speakers are separated by, say 8 feet. I also have my speakers toed in, so you might want to try this, as well. My listening position is the same height as the tweeters, which you might find helpful, and a second sub in the right place will typically improve the sound, too. In my home theater I run six subs, so that it’s very smooth throughout the room.

Good luck with everything and enjoy the process,

LATE2WORK

late2work
have you spent much time adjusting the toe-in and if you have what results did you discover (especially in soundstage width and depth)

thx in advance

 

[audiok]

I mainly listen to jazz and have been considering a pair of PSB T5. Is the e55ti good with jazz and classical stuff? I like the big soundstage and smooth high end of the T5. But the look of this e55ti is amazing

 

[sterryo]

I mainly listen to jazz and have been considering a pair of PSB T5. Is the e55ti good with jazz and classical stuff? I like the big soundstage and smooth high end of the T5. But the look of this e55ti is amazing

they sound great with both jazz and classical, very good detail and sound stage. for jazz i use the sacd tricycle from flim and the bb's, and my test classical is a dvd-a of 1812 overture, I've listened to several others but on cd or internet.
the sound stage didn't open up until it was played for at least 50 hours.

 

[evandy]

Just ordered a pair of these myself. Can't wait to get them and see how they sound.

 

[sterryo]

Just ordered a pair of these myself. Can't wait to get them and see how they sound.

which model did you purchase?

 

[evandy]

which model did you purchase?

Do you mean which finish? Since the black ash is on backorder for 6-8 weeks, you can probably guess which one I went with.

If you mean which speaker... look at the thread title.

 

[sterryo]

Do you mean which finish? Since the black ash is on backorder for 6-8 weeks, you can probably guess which one I went with.

If you mean which speaker... look at the thread title.

ok... dumb question...my bad.......... it took about 50 hours for my 55's to really bloom, the soundstage really opened up and the bass became tighter and lower.... make sure you give them some time before you do any critical listening you will much happier......

 

[evandy]

ok... dumb question...my bad.......... it took about 50 hours for my 55's to really bloom, the soundstage really opened up and the bass became tighter and lower.... make sure you give them some time before you do any critical listening you will much happier......

I'm with Tom on this one: What's changing isn't the speakers, but rather your ears and expectations. Speaker "break-in" doesn't take more than a couple seconds.

 

[sterryo]

I'm with Tom on this one: What's changing isn't the speakers, but rather your ears and expectations. Speaker "break-in" doesn't take more than a couple seconds.

I have heard both arguments. what my ears heard was from the previous speakers the sound appeared to stretch horizontally to at least 60 degrees from center on both sides. the 55's were placed in the same location as the old speakers were and immediately the soundstage shrunk to where the sound didn't seem to emanate outside the physical boundaries. they seemed to stay that way for first day or two, then on the third day after cranking the speakers to a level not usually listened to for about 90 minutes. Afterwards the sound appeared to come from a much wider stage.

Maybe it's me, but it sure seemed that way to my ears.....

 

[typh00n]

The EMP Tek's are my first set of real speakers so I don't have the experience or ear yet to fully appreciate their subtleties and I'm sure i'd enjoy whatever I ended up buying.
I can say mine do sound very good to me, though I don't believe they've changed since I set them up and agree that break-in seems mostly psychological.

 

[evandy]

Yay, my wife says that they've finally been delivered, after FedEx lost, and then found, them. Now I just need to wait until the end of the day so I can get home to set them up.

Apparently, the cats are already enjoying perching on top of the boxes.

 

[eddie]

Guys,

I have good news and bad news.

The good news is EMP is sending me their first pair for review. I plan on putting them up against a few hot internet direct speaker towers as I mentioned in another thread. This should be interesting.

The bad news is they have already sold 1/2 of their first production run of black cabinets to their international distributor. They are receiving numerous preorders right now. I fear by the time I publish my review, there may be a long lead time for ordering product. Just a heads up.

When I do my first listen, I will post my impressions (no pun intended) here.

Gene, how is the review progressing? Are these speakers as good as you anticipated? I keep checking the main website daily expecting to see the review posted. I guess patience is not my best quality!!!