(I forgot the camera so there are no photos of installed speakers)
System (list $1843) $858
EMP HTP-351 5.1 (bookshelf) Speaker System (list $1319) $489 (AH Store)
2 pairs of EF30 Bookshelf Speakers
1 EF30C Center Channel Speaker
1 E10s Powered Subwoofer
Onkyo TX-SR606 Receiver (list $499) $339 (Amazon.com)
Monoprice .com cables $30
Audioholics Website; “The EMP EF30T tower and EF30 bookshelf speakers are virtually identical to the highly acclaimed TK-5CT towers and C bookshelf speakers from RBH Sound.”
RBH TK-5C review comparable to EMP EF30 bookshelf
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/bookshelf/tk-5c
Thread leading to purchase decision:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50541
Audioholics Store EMP December Special Sale
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/emp-speaker-package-blowout-sale
Specifications:
Receiver Specifications
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_580TXS606B/Onkyo-TX-SR606-Black.html?c=4&tp=179&avf=N
Center Channel Specifications
Woofer: 5.25” (133 mm ) Poly Graphite
Tweeter: 1” (25 mm) Fabric Dome
Recommended Power: 120 Watts
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Frequency Response: 60 Hz - 20 kHz
Sensitivity: 89 dB
Dimensions: 20.75” W x 7.25” H x 8.5” D
Weight: 16 lbs (7.2 kgs)
Bookshelf Specifications
Woofer: 5.25” (133 mm ) Poly Graphite
Tweeter: 1” (25 mm) Fabric Dome
Recommended Power: 100 Watts
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Frequency Response: 63 Hz - 20 kHz
Sensitivity: 86 dB
Dimensions: 7.25” W x 12.75” H x 8.5” D
Weight: 10 lbs (4.5 kgs)
Subwoofer Specificatons:
Watts: 100
Frequency Response: 30Hz-150Hz +/- 3dB
Driver: 10” aluminum
Cabinet color: black
Grille color: black
Dimensions: 13” H x 14.5” W x 14.5” D
Weight: 30 lbs
Warranty: 1 year amplifier, 5 years components
Packaging
My brother had already stored the packaging in his basement before I arrived so I didn’t see it. Everything arrived without damage so it must have been effective.
Layout
The layout is a rectangular room 30’ wide by 20’ deep. The four bookshelf speakers are on the two sidewalls (30’ apart) on top of flat surfaces 8.5' tall. They face parallel to the wall. The center speaker is on the left side of the room in a cabinet with the door open. It is about 6 feet off the floor and the speaker faces parallel to the front wall. The door blocks the direct path of the center speaker to the seating position in the center of the room. The subwoofer is also in the left corner of the room about 2’ out from each wall. The TV is in the left side of the room under the center speaker and extended out from cabinets with a pivot arm so it can be seen in the seating position.
I had sent my brother the standard 5.1 layout two years ago when he prewired the room. I guess he didn’t want to take any doors off the cabinets (WAF) so he elected to put the front speakers on the front sides. None of the speakers were aimed directly towards the listening position. They were all aimed about 8’ high and perpendicular to the walls. The ceiling is at least two stories high and extends over the perimeter of the rooms on the sides and on the back over a kitchen which is just 8’ partition walls. Also adjacent to the kitchen is an open dining room. For subwoofer sizing I would guess there is about 8000 cu ft.
Setup
The house had been pre-wired for speaker placement and my brother had all the speakers in place and connected to the receiver. He could not determine if wire was positive or negative so he just hooked then up randomly. On my receiver’s YAPO, one of the first automatic setup tests is speaker polarity, so we marched on to Audyssey setup expecting some error messages on speaker polarity. We set up the enclosed microphone on the top of the couch and followed the prompts on the TV display. We went through the first test with no errors, so I am guessing Audyssey compensates for polarity errors. We completed the three Audyssey tests for left, center and right. We went through with no errors. I think we pressed the select button only twice each test. It was the easiest setup I have seen. It basically took only the time it took Audyssey to complete its tests and adjustments. It was a pleasant surprise to both of us.
Listening Tests
We went to try the system out, so I remembered he had ‘The Incredibles’ (because one visit he said he had watched it so many times with his kids that he said he was sick of it) and that the movie had a lot of deep bass sound effects. We watched about 20 minutes of it. The first and most impressive surprise was the sound quality of the subwoofer. I had not been expecting much bass because of the room size, but somehow the 10” subwoofer was producing deep and loud bass at the seating positions. The movie explosions were realistic and were producing a WOW effect on my brother and I. I would never have believed a 10" woofer could sound that good in a room as big as this if I had not heard it myself. I would be happy with this subwoofer in my setup. All the rest of the sound in the movie sounded good. There was no distortion, voices were clear, everything seemed to sound good. The sound wasn’t skewed toward bass, midrange or treble from what I could tell.
The next test was music. Choices here were very limited, the musicals “South Pacific” and “Mama Mia.” I tried to get Manheim Steamroller Christmas music that they had played on a previous visit, but it was long lost.
We listened to “South Pacific” and “Mama Mia” for three or four songs each. The vocals, which dominated the sound, were very clear and everything seemed in balance. I think Audyssey was very effective in making compensations for the linitations of the speaker location and aim problems as well as the system being in a large listening space. I could hear one possible anomaly – The sound spacial characteristics were like you were sitting in the center of a large movie theater. It was more realistic than any DSP mode I have heard. We were still running on whatever the out-of-the-box settings were and had not tampered with any control settings. I suspect that the sound reaching us had a lot of reflected sound from the speakers aim being off, the speakers being up so high and being aimed well over our heads, and the center channel being partially blocked. I thought the system sounded remarkably good in spite of the setup flaws. The listening room was pretty wide 30’ and the speakers are roughly 15’ from the listening position, so there is also the possibility that the setup and room characteristics just naturally produce that larger room sound.
Near the end of our music listening session, I turned the volume up to 95 dB or maybe higher. It was much louder than either of us would ever listen to. All the speakers remained clear and undistorted so I conclude they are suitable for a very large room. I now realize I should have also tried the max volume test using “The Incredibles” to see the limits on the subwoofer, but I only thought of that just now. Also, it might have been good that I didn’t try it because if I did push it to its limit, there might have been damage. All I can say is it that it sounds good as loud as we cared to listen to it – maybe 85 dB average and whatever peaks SPLs in a large room. All my SPL estimates are based on using the RS SPL meter in the past on my subwoofer. I didn’t have an SPL meter available.
Conclusions
Audyssey is awesome in compensating for a flawed setup and I would not buy another receiver without it. The Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver amplifier was powerful enough to fill a large room using the EMP HTP-351 5.1 (bookshelf) speaker system and was a good match to the speakers.
The EMP EMP HTP-351 5.1 speaker system has the inherent capability to play very good and clear in a very large room. The EMP subwoofer can fill a large room with good bass and the subwoofer alone is worth the $489 speaker system price - the EMP HTP-351 5.1 (bookshelf) Speaker System is definitely worth the sale price.
The EMP HTP-351 5.1 (bookshelf) Speaker System did a great job with “The Incredibles” and I would judge it well suited to home theater.
I did not have good enough music to make a conclusion on how good the system is for music. That will have to be left for someone else or refer to the comparable RBH bookshelf review. What limited music there was in the soundtrack and musicals sounded good.
My brother was pleased with the system. His wife was objecting to having black boxes on top of the white walls. Rather than return the speakers, my brother is going to wrap the speakers in white speaker cloth for the WAF. I felt good about getting my brother into a quality system at such a good deal.
