PreSonus E5 XT Active Speaker Review

[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

Have edited post 13 to include attached filters for download.

 

[wwenze]

If that peak in treble and bass is caused by variation due to poor quality potentiometer (for the treble and bass knobs at the back) then everyone's optimal correction would be different..

 

[Promit]

Can someone please supply Amir with an Adam T5V? I'm too busy listening to my set (of the T7V) 8-12 hours a day to give them up.

 

[layora0128]

With that directivity index it screams for some EQ, if Amir has interest and a convolution engine in his player i can share that correction as IR wav-file and into various sample rates for listening test and many thanks another great acoustic review here at site.
View attachment 63889


EDIT: Thanks request and some like to try out the anechoic correction filter seen above so lets attach some convolution filters to this post .

Think any users shall remember its based on anechoic response of Amir's sample so it would probably be good make some measurement before and after to document we on track using other samples, also it would be nice if we can get some objective and subjective feedback here in thread how filter perform on paper and feels on sound.

There is two zip-folders attached for above correction that transform acoustic listening window into a smooth bandpass 7th order Butterworth @57Hz to 20kHz 2nd order Butterworth, one is ordinary 24bit PCM wav-files and the other is 64bit IEEE wav-files that work well in for example 64bit version of JRiver Media player, and as can be seen below there is support for sample rates at 44,1/48/88,2/96/176,4/192kHz:

View attachment 64071
View attachment 64073



For users that want to combine with sub woofer i also made below version using 4th order Linkwitz Riley slope at 100Hz instead of the above 7th order Butterworth at @57Hz because theoretical Linkwitz filters sum smooth where Butterworth often have some ripple:
View attachment 64089
There is two zip-folders attached for sub woofer correction that transform acoustic listening window into a smooth bandpass 4th order Linkwitz Riley @100Hz to 20kHz 2nd order Butterworth, one is ordinary 24bit PCM wav-files and the other is 64bit IEEE wav-files that work well in for example 64bit version of JRiver Media player, and as can be seen below there is support for sample rates at 44,1/48/88,2/96/176,4/192kHz:

View attachment 64094
View attachment 64096


EDIT: Looks Amir tested with below settings on back of enclosure so that combination should be dialed in when one use the correction filters attached here.
View attachment 64141

First of all, thank you so much for reviewing E5 XT Amir!! I greatly appreciate it.

Also thanks for sharing correction files Ricky!! It made a huge difference

This is my E5 XT FR graph after applying Ricky's files. [ measured by UMIK-1]

I have a huge window right behind my speakers so below 100hz is kinda messed up

Hopefully I can do something about it after buying a sub woofer.




This is my FR graph without EQ which was measured a month ago or so.

After applying Ricky's files, It almost sounds like different speakers LOL

Huge improvement!

 

[QMuse]

MF and HF are looking perfect but there is a drop down in LF as @BYRTT lowered bass below 200Hz, which IMHO shouldn't be touched for any speaker, especially the small ones - that range is better left for room EQ to solve.

@BYRTT maybe you can post a filter variant that doesn't touch anything below 200Hz?

 

[richard12511]

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.

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.

JBL 305p looks pretty good. Not perfect, but it seems good for a budget speaker. I'm listening to the 308p right now, and they sound good(to my ears, at least).

 

[richard12511]

First of all, thank you so much for reviewing E5 XT Amir!! I greatly appreciate it.

Also thanks for sharing correction files Ricky!! It made a huge difference

This is my E5 XT FR graph after applying Ricky's files. [ measured by UMIK-1]

View attachment 64208


I have a huge window right behind my speakers so below 100hz is kinda messed up

Hopefully I can do something about it after buying a sub woofer.




This is my FR graph without EQ which was measured a month ago or so.

View attachment 64211


After applying Ricky's files, It almost sounds like different speakers LOL

Huge improvement!

Looks much improved. I bet it sounds much better.

 

[BYRTT]

MF and HF are looking perfect but there is a drop down in LF as @BYRTT lowered bass below 200Hz, which IMHO shouldn't be touched for any speaker, especially the small ones - that range is better left for room EQ to solve.

@BYRTT maybe you can post a filter variant that doesn't touch anything below 200Hz?

Ha ha come on having a speaker that perform smooth in anechoic analyze is technical king and a bragging right, now if any real world position dependant nasties creep in for non anechoic enviroment they can be handled from there on.

 

[QMuse]

Ha ha come on having a speaker that perform smooth in anechoic analyze is technical king and a bragging right, now if any real world position dependant nasties creep in for non anechoic enviroment they can be handled from there on.

That peak at 90 Hz exists with pretty much every speaker measured here. Do you really think that part of the curve is accurate enough to do speaker correction based on it?

I really see no reason to reduce woofer LF output based on this measurement. I think it's better to leave it as it is and let room EQ handle it.

 

[BYRTT]

That peak at 90 Hz exists with pretty much every speaker measured here. Do you really think that part of the curve is accurate enough to do speaker correction based on it?

I really see no reason to reduce woofer LF output based on this measurement. I think it's better to leave it as it is and let room EQ handle it.

For case think its speculation from your side about how low end reach is for Amir's NFS system analyzes, that 90 Hz peak is not a case in other reviews and while room EQ is a normal thing for you and HiFi lowers its not a normal feature so a reference response curve is a smooth performer tested in anechoic enviroment, good enough you really see no reason touch LF and let room EQ handle it but thats because you have that room EQ thing is interested and this hobby is to your heart

 

[QMuse]

For case think its speculation from your side about how low end reach is for Amir's NFS system analyzes, that 90 Hz peak is not a case in other reviews

So would you also hammer down the peak at 100Hz of this little guy?

 

[BYRTT]

So would you also hammer down the peak at 100Hz of this little guy?


View attachment 64263

Relative to a reference curve yes and also relative to integration with a sub because that slope is theoretical not summing very well, stand alone it can be it gives LF authority in lack of sub support but a reference curve is more smooth.

 

[QMuse]

Relative to a reference curve yes and also relative to integration with a sub because that slope is theoretical not summing very well, stand alone it can be it gives LF authority in lack of sub support but a reference curve is more smooth.

This was exactly my motive to leave that dip untouched.

But at the end, yes, with room EQ it can be fixed.

 

[infinitesymphony]

A coworker had a pair of PreSonus Eris E5s (non-XT, the last generation). After around 2-3 years of occasional use they both went kaput within 1 month of each other. The fuses were blown and opening them up revealed damage to the power input section:

You can see heat damage on the cloth-covered leg of the rectifier chip. The C200 position in line with it had a brown ceramic capacitor that was so brittle it disintegrated on touch leaving the metal legs behind. Hopefully, these issues have been fixed with the XT because judging by the forums this issue was widespread.

 

[ernestcarl]

I think I was the one who badgered you into testing these. I was primarily interested them due to their small size and low cost as a computer speaker. They may perform well for some people but the performance here doesn't really establish a reason to buy them instead of the JBL, although I think the presonus products look nicer.

The presonus lineup of monitors and audio interfaces (and software - they sell a DAW now) is very appealing due to the design and simplicity, but I was concerned nthe performance wasn't there. They also sell some coaxial monitors which use a horn in a woofer, reminiscent of Urei monitors, but after seeing this review I see no reason to believe they are anything special.

It is a shame personus doesn't publish any measurements (or provide them on request) but perhaps now we know why.

Having said that the FR is not that bad, but the limited output dissapoints me. The 305 is not bad in this respect but there are limits to what can be done with a small speaker.

I would be interested in seeing a review of the Presonus Sceptre S8. I doubt it’s anywhere near as good as other implementations like Genelecs or Geithain, but I really like the sound I’m getting from them. The advantage of the point source effect is quite obvious to me, and more SPL is advantageous in my movie watching couch area. XO set to 120Hz and sub(s) properly placed and EQ’d — which I can’t do right now — they do sound great. Worth it for the price, IMO.

 

[arn]

I had the jbl 308, i did not like at all, it had a boxy sound. Then the adam t5v, which is a very exceptional speaker for the price. I have tried out in the living room, worked very well - much better than many similar sized hifi speakers - now i use them on my desk for simpler recordings.

i bought an Smsl m500 dac as preamp, and try to replace my hifi system with active studio boxes. in the first round i planned a cheap pair to get some experiences, then buy later a middle field 3 ways adam or neumann.

I was thinking about the adam t7v, but i did not really liked on the youtube compared to the t5v (weak middle section), and i found the eris 8xt quite good in a russian review. Thomann and the russian channel also recommended the 8xt over the t7v. Ok... lets try

again... it is a subjective music listening test in my livingroom. So in the first month i simply wanted to send back the 8xt. It sounded muddy, no middle section, it was much less exciting like the adam t5v. It needs a lot of burn in time, then it started to open. it has a tons of power, which was really impressive in some cases, but without a control.

i started to play with the placement, stand heights, materials, tone balancing. i found it has a front port, but more placement sensitive, than a back ported speaker, what i tried. another issue the stand, on softer materials, or on a mopad it is simply bad, a simple ikea hard wood furniture was the best. I also set the acoustic space to the middle position, and calibrated to 85db. The result? At higher sound levels it is amazing... opened, fresh middle section (but less informative), with a lot of energy - i rediscovered my old rock albums. It is not so sophisticated speaker, but well balanced, and very enjoyable, i prefer over the t5v in my living room - which is a smaller, thinner sound. I put back my old hifi, some way it is better, more honest, balanced - i will stay in this studio speaker way.

 

[Maiky76]

First of all, thank you so much for reviewing E5 XT Amir!! I greatly appreciate it.

Also thanks for sharing correction files Ricky!! It made a huge difference

This is my E5 XT FR graph after applying Ricky's files. [ measured by UMIK-1]

View attachment 64208


I have a huge window right behind my speakers so below 100hz is kinda messed up

Hopefully I can do something about it after buying a sub woofer.




This is my FR graph without EQ which was measured a month ago or so.

View attachment 64211


After applying Ricky's files, It almost sounds like different speakers LOL

Huge improvement!

Hi,

If you are so inclined, you could try the EQ I have designed.
Note: I used a corrected calculation for the PIR, not the direct data from the NFS which is wrong.

They are based solely on optimizing the score using genetic algorithms.
There are no predetermined targets, I just used the flat ON EQ as initial seed for the population.
The algorithm optimized the EQ based on the predicted the score by itself.
The main difference with the other EQ is that the HF seems to be shelved down to achieve a better PIR.
It seems that's what the metric, as currently calculated, is driving towards.
Score noEQ: 3.6
Score EQ01: 5.9
Score EQ02: 6.0

You can import the coefficient into Rephase and re-export with the format you need.
format freq/gain/Q

EQ02=[
    95.0 ,     -3.70,   1.13,...
    437.0,     -1.15,   4.45,...
    536.0,      0.60,   2.00,...
    658.0,     -2.53,   3.62,...
    1500.0,    -0.80,   0.48,...
    1688.0,    -1.00,   1.48,...
    2180.0,    -0.90,   0.71,...
    3451.0,     3.37,   2.15,...
    4450.0,    -0.70,   1.38,...
   16140.0,    -7.75,   0.71];

EQ01 = [
    93.5 ,     -4.00,   1.21,...
    443.0,     -0.90,   4.50,...
    540.0,      0.85,   4.50,...
    647.0,     -2.66,   3.05,...
    2132.0,    -0.60,   0.48,...
    1635.0,    -0.66,   2.90,...
    2590.0,    -1.10,   0.74,...
    3479.0,     3.65,   1.96,...
    4310.0,    -1.15,   3.85,...
   16436.0,    -7.90,   0.71];

Cheers
M

 

[Maiky76]

Hi,

Revised EQ to be more in line with what's being discussed here:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nechoic-measurements-community-project.14929/

Format: Freq/Gain/Q
Score: 5.95

EQ3 [
91.5 , -4.60, 0.98,...
438.0, -1.32, 3.35,...
552.0, 1.13, 5.50,...
647.0, -2.65, 2.55,...
2132.0, -0.80, 0.48,...
1630.0, -0.87, 4.15,...
2590.0, -1.44, 1.00,...
3479.0, 3.65, 1.96,...
4310.0, -1.15, 5.45,...
16436.0, -6.90, 0.71];

Gain would need to be adjusted for A/B comparison as the EQ is softer than the original speaker.

 

[thewas]

Review and measurements of the 8" brother Eris E8 XT:
https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/presonus-eris-e8-xt/conclusion

 

[anmpr1]

Review and measurements of the 8" brother Eris E8 XT:
https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/presonus-eris-e8-xt/conclusion

Thanks for the link. Good review.

The ‘Mid Frequency’ knob may seem like a strange way to be able to adjust the response since changes from the 12 o’clock position could only result in a bad sound, but PreSonus explained to me that is basically the point of that control; it is for recording engineers to check how their mix translates to cheap speakers that can often have a peakish midrange response like clock radio speakers or older car speakers.

That's kind of a new one on me. But if that's the reason for it then that's the reason. But it that's it, why not put the control on the front where you can easily switch?

We get a nicely flat response with great off-axis correlation.

Given their form factor and intended purpose, would anyone likely be listening to these off-axis? I mean it's good they have that, but my guess is that they will be aimed directly at the listener, on axis at at ear level.

The article didn't mention amplifier hiss, so I presume it wasn't an issue with these powered speakers.

From my experience and FWIW, Presonus are good value at the price point, rather 'dry' and 'clinical' from a sonic perspective (if that makes sense), often requiring some mid bass/low mid-range attenuation.

Also, FWIW, I find that 'the ears' adjust to most loudspeakers pretty easily, and after a few days what once was quite noticeable is not so much, anymore. I think it's what some folks attribute to 'break in'. My guess is that nothing breaks in, but the listener simply becomes used to the 'new' sound.

In any case, at these prices and for what they offer, the range of small monitors sold at guitar stores are easy enough to buy, carry home, try out, and then decide if they fit your needs.