PreSonus E5 XT Active Speaker Review

[andreasmaaan]

@amirm it's very nice to see dual distortion measurements, at 86 and 96dB. Thanks.

 

[dinglehoser]

Honestly, with a minor bit of EQ, these things wouldn't be too bad nearfield. Very nice directivity, narrow-ish dispersion, and you can't really argue with the price. The distortion profile makes it look like the amp is too weaksauce to handle the nasty part of the impedance/phase angle curve plus whatever internal DSP or analog correction it's doing, but as-is, you'll get low 90s sustained clean output with a pair of these at a typical computer desk listening position. Cross them over to a sub at 120Hz and I bet you'd be looking at a clean 100dB.

 

[amirm]

@amirm it's very nice to see dual distortion measurements, at 86 and 96dB. Thanks.

Yeh, it double and triples the amount of work but I thought it is the only way to do it as otherwise comparisons become very difficult.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Yeh, it double and triples the amount of work but I thought it is the only way to do it as otherwise comparisons become very difficult.

Well at least one person here is greatly appreciative

 

[raif71]

You should ask @BYRTT for a correction file and see if you'll enjoy them even more

Well Mr @BYRTT , I'm all ears

 

[wwenze]

The JBL LSR305P is going for just US $109 which is $50 cheaper than the E5 XT. It sounds hi-fi in the way that E5 XT simply doesn't. It lacks a bit of bass but I think you could boost its response there and maybe get the same thing as E5 has.

In Singapore (In Singapore dollars)
305P MKII $480
PreSonus Eris E5 XT $385

Well guess it should be quite clear that if you live in NA, PreSonus is probably not optimal.

 

[LTig]

Power amplifier specs by Presonus are 45 W for LF and 35 W for HF.

And I think that the biggest flaws of the FR can be fixed with Acoustic Space (bass) and High Frequency (treble) adjustments. Especially taming the bass hump should also improve its max SPL capability.

 

[pavuol]

I made some comparison for available studio monitors in EU market lately. As many are available worldwide, anyone interested can take a look..
If I had to chose direct competitor/candidate for measurement (front ported, approx. same price), I would pick RCF Ayra Pro 5. It would account for a nice "EU-US battle" as well (italian manufacturer). It has more power, "pro look", some "DSP magic" and published measurement in datasheet.

As for prices, looks like for US it is advertised for 149$ (links to shops just for reference - 1 / 2 )
Availability may be a little worse this time due to Italy being bad struck by coronavirus..

 

[q3cpma]

I was so excited due to the Neumann-like waveguide, but you must make a good speaker before it becomes useful. The distorsion and resonances topping the cake make it even worse.
So there's still no nearfield budget monitor to recommend, it's either hiss or all around bad speakers.

I made some comparison for available studio monitors in EU market lately. As many are available worldwide, anyone interested can take a look..
If I had to chose direct competitor/candidate for measurement (front ported, approx. same price), I would pick RCF Ayra Pro 5. It would account for a nice "EU-US battle" as well (italian manufacturer). It has more power, "pro look", some "DSP magic" and published measurement in datasheet.

As for prices, looks like for US it is advertised for 149$ (links to shops just for reference - 1 / 2 )
Availability may be a little worse this time due to Italy being bad struck by coronavirus..

Nice! I didn't spot the datasheet. But I do want to see third-party measurements, now, as the horn looks very diffraction happy and there are no distorsion measurements in the sheet.

 

[Itay]

A waste of a good waveguide imho. and to think people buy these thinking they are flat and neutral monitors when they are clearly not. the same people then use these "monitors" to mix their music and the end results are based on that...

 

[ripvw]

I wrote the following review of the earlier Eris E5 monitors in combination with the Presonus T10 sub:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/presonus-eris-e5-temblor-t10-review.4089/

I thought the combination sounded pretty good for the price - $500 for the complete system - but later when I had to shut down the subwoofer due to complaints from family members I found the monitors themselves much less impressive on their own and soon ended up with the JBL 308P MKII and no subwoofer:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...8-inch-2-way-monitors-first-impressions.7977/

Too bad Amir and his trusty Klippel weren't around when I made that first purchase. It also illustrates a sad fact about our other sources of testing for speakers. I had scoured the Internet looking for reviews on both the monitors and sub prior to purchase and found the usual subjective "pro" reviews with no measurements to back them up. Outside of this website it is truly a wasteland of useless information no matter whether you're looking for consumer or pro speakers.

Thanks again, Amir for investing all the money, time and effort into making these reviews...

 

[edechamps]

I have added the PreSonus E5 XT to Loudspeaker Explorer where it can be compared to other speakers.

Good directivity within the listening window, except a dip when listening below axis. Worth noting that listening 30° off-axis makes the treble less aggressive:

 

[milosz]

I have added the PreSonus E5 XT to Loudspeaker Explorer where it can be compared to other speakers.

Good directivity within the listening window, except a dip when listening below axis. Worth noting that listening 30° off-axis makes the treble less aggressive:

View attachment 63940

Man that's a HECK of a project you've got going there! WOW! A TON of work, on top of all the work Amirm does. So much work! Whew. I've got to take a nap now just thinking about all that work. But seriously, thanks to all who toil so we can learn!

 

[mhardy6647]

Thank you -- a really interesting review. I particularly appreciate the comparisons to the JBL for context. Heck, now I am thinking of "investing" in a pair of the JBLs!

 

[martijn86]

They look like a Mackie with a KRK slot. I had to check their product lines to see if it wasn't a replica. It's definitely targeted at the same audience as the smaller, more affordable 'multi-media' monitors from Mackie and KRK.

 

[digicidal]

Seems the reviews based on these measurements assume "in room" listening, farfield listening as it were. However, many monitor speakers are placed a fair distance from any room boundaries and quite close to the listener, so are used nearfield. The reflections would be less important to the listener in such a scenario.

When I think of "monitor speakers" I think of up-close nearfield monitors for a mixing console in a room with significant wall treatment to minimize reflection, not domestic HiFi speakers for my living room.

These speakers won't sound good in either case.

Not to mention the fact that if the woofer/LF amp are struggling in a nearfield environment... one has to wonder just how small the room would have to be in order for "in room" to even remotely sound better (though it seems @amirm likes it LOUD). Even the 305P's struggle outside of a nearfield situation, they just fail more gracefully in that regard. In my 10' X 12' office however, they're just about perfect for the money and have plenty of bass when corner-reinforced in that room at comfortable levels for me - which are likely called "nap-time levels" for Amir (~80dB). LOL.

 

[BYRTT]

You should ask @BYRTT for a correction file and see if you'll enjoy them even more

Well Mr @BYRTT , I'm all ears .....

Sure and as soon time allow intend to EDIT post 13 and attach IR wav-file corrections at various sample rates into that post with the visual predictions so stay tuned

 

[QMuse]

Well that is just about how they sounded when I've heard them. Hump at both ends and a dip in between.

Sure it does. But let's also note that this speaker can be EQ-ed very effectively due to it's smooth Di curves and then it would be a completely different story.

EDIT: Ah, @BYRTT already beat me to it.

 

[QMuse]

I have a pair of these monitors for desktop usage. I hope the measurements do not in any way impede how I enjoy the monitors.

Try applying this filter and I'm pretty sure it will comfort you.

P.S. rename filter extension from txt to wav before using it. Filter needs attenuation of 2,7dB.

PIR corrected:

LW/ER/SP corrected:

 

[617]

Worth nothing these speakers are quite small and will fit where the lsr do not