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**Official EMP Owner's Thread** - Page 45

post #1321 of 1652
2/6/13 at 7:50am
Pulled the trigger and ordered E55Ti's with the E65Ci center. I really wanted to pick up some paradigm monitor 11's, but so many good things are said about these and the 30 day return I figured what the hell. Chances are I'll probably bring them to a local speaker shop to do some comparisons soon.

Will post picture when they arrive wink.gif
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post #1322 of 1652
2/6/13 at 8:17am
Cool. Interested to hear your personal opinions on how they stack up with whatever other speakers you hear. Any idea's what speakers you'd like to compare them to? I know one guy over at HTShack compared the e55ti's to the Paradigm Studio 100's and said that they really weren't all that different. Quite a complement! cool.gif
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post #1323 of 1652
2/6/13 at 9:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ousooner2 View Post

Cool. Interested to hear your personal opinions on how they stack up with whatever other speakers you hear. Any idea's what speakers you'd like to compare them to? I know one guy over at HTShack compared the e55ti's to the Paradigm Studio 100's and said that they really weren't all that different. Quite a complement! cool.gif

B&W 683, Paradigm Monitor 11's, KEF Q700's, Klipisch RF-7 somethin or other, Totem (not sure what model)

They one shop does in fact have the studio 100's but they're in there own dedicated room, and I don't think i'll get him to let me do a side by side.
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post #1324 of 1652
2/6/13 at 9:22am
Well that'll be a very nice comparison! Take some good notes smile.gif
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post #1325 of 1652
2/6/13 at 9:52am
I am anticipating the review between all of the speakers! Thanks for doing the comparison.
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post #1326 of 1652
2/6/13 at 10:52am
Don't thank me yet wink.gif

I know the one store is pretty cool about it, not sure about the other. I should have them sometimes next week I am hoping, just got an email saying they would be shipped in the next 2-3 business days.
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post #1327 of 1652
2/6/13 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shady195 View Post

Don't thank me yet wink.gif

I know the one store is pretty cool about it, not sure about the other. I should have them sometimes next week I am hoping, just got an email saying they would be shipped in the next 2-3 business days.

Like you next week I will have a chance to compare my EMP E55ti against some big hitters in the audio world to see how close they match up, The EMP tek test match up will be SVS Ultra Towers, Phils 2, Anthony Gallo CL-3, and maybe von schweikert VR-22 if he gets them in by then. So I will take some pictures on post them when we start the testing.
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post #1328 of 1652
2/6/13 at 2:18pm
Well these next few weeks look mighty interesting for EMP biggrin.gif

I wonder how close those Phil 2's will match your Songtowers
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post #1329 of 1652
2/6/13 at 2:21pm
At least it will give people a better idea of how good or bad the speaker can be against speakers that double their price.
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post #1330 of 1652
2/6/13 at 2:25pm
or more! biggrin.gif
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post #1331 of 1652
2/6/13 at 6:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrEastSide View Post

I don't know. I took them off the day I got the speakers, before I even really listened to them. LOL! I just remember when I got my Focal towers, more than one of the reviews recommended removing the tweeter grill because the reviewers felt they sounded better with it off. Since then, I've been of the mindset that, if you don't need it, take it off. And seeing as these speakers have your standard, cloth speaker grill on the entire front, already, I didn't see any reason to have, yet, a second grill (obstruction) in front of the tweeter. I mean, if I ever move or something, I'll throw the little grill back on for the move. But, I see no need to protect the tweeter that much with the second grill. I don't move my speakers around, constantly, or play around by them. cool.gif

Also, considering they're a soft dome tweeter, and most people I've heard talk about soft dome tweeters (reviewers, members on these forums, etc...) seem to say that they usually create a neutral, laid back sound, I figured, no need to make them even more neutral sounding. Not that neutral and laid back is bad, but I wanna be sure that my highs are crisp, clear and accurate, and it stands to reason that having a tweeter cover blocking your tweeter would (could) take away some clarity, definition and possibly, accuracy. I mean, look at the grills that cover the tweeter. When you consider how little the holes are that let the sound through, then look at all the plastic that actually makes up the grill, you're essentially blocking 50% of the tweeter with that cover. Say you took all of the solid portion of the grill and moved it to one side of the tweeter, think of how much of the tweeter that would block. Obviously, that analogy doesn't work, perfectly, since the little holes in the cover are all spaced out, thus letting plenty of sound through, but the fact is, you are blocking the tweeter with an object.

Probably went into more detail than I needed to, but just wanted to be clear why I like the idea of not having a cover on my tweeter. Also, if you look at a lot of speakers, you'll notice many manufacturer's don't put a cover on their tweeter. Sound quality aside, I just don't see the need, when you've usually got the standard grill covering the whole front. And unless you're playing tennis in your living room, what is really going to happen to the tweeter? Hell, a lot of reviewers and people on these forums think taking even the cloth grill off and having nothing covering your speakers is the best way to listen to them.

MrEastSide, please share with us on how you go about taking the grill off the tweeter. I would like to take them off too but is afraid of damaging anything. Thanks!!
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post #1332 of 1652
2/7/13 at 3:02pm
Most tweeter covers come right off. These, however, are held in place with a very small amount of glue. I just took a very small flathead screwdriver, like one for fixing glasses and went around the edges, very gently, working the covers loose. Not ideal, and I didn't really like doing it this way, but I really didn't want grills on them, so I made the choice to do it. There was a tiny amount of glue residue left when I was finished. I just took a very fine tip, black permanent marker and gently dabbed on the dry glue, coloring it black so it wouldn't show and matched the cabinet. Doesn't even look like there was ever a grill on the tweeters. Some people, might not want to do this, simply cause they don't like the idea of prying a glued tweeter cover off of their speaker, but it really wasn't a big deal.

Also, to make it safer, with no danger to the tweeter, you can unscrew, the outer four screws and remove the entire housing. Then, unscrew the inner four screws and you can lift that metal front right away from the tweeter, then all you have is the metal front and tweeter grill, no tweeter. So you'll be in no danger of accidentally poking the tweeter.

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post #1333 of 1652
2/7/13 at 3:27pm
I can't decide if I want to do this or not. 99% of the time the grills will be on so ...I guess I just made up my mind. They're coming off cool.gif
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post #1334 of 1652
2/7/13 at 7:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ousooner2 View Post

I can't decide if I want to do this or not. 99% of the time the grills will be on so ...I guess I just made up my mind. They're coming off cool.gif
Let us know if you hear/measure a discernible difference.
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post #1335 of 1652
2/8/13 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadett View Post

Let us know if you hear/measure a discernible difference.
+1
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post #1336 of 1652
2/8/13 at 8:03am
Pretty stoked to hear the difference in these when i get them compared to my current setup. The speakers should be here on tuesday, I also ordered a Yamaha Receiver with pre-outs and a used Rotel 976 6 Channel Amp, rated at 150 Watts a channel bridged in 3 channel mode.. Pretty excited cool.gif
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post #1337 of 1652
2/8/13 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

+1

yeah, i'd be interested as well..
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post #1338 of 1652
2/8/13 at 3:29pm
First off....that's a pretty good size magnet for a tweeter!


I took the grilles off, but I wanted to see if I could hear any difference with or without. I left one speaker without the grille and one speaker with. Honestly, I don't know if it's psychoacoustic or if I just like the look better, but I feel like it had a little more resolution up top. Now I'm not one to say that cables can make an audible difference, etc...but I feel like there was a change that I could perceive. I went into it thinking I wouldn't. Either way it's easy to do and I recommend taking the tweeter out. Remove outside screws, then inside screws come out to pull the faceplate off. BE GENTLE! Once the faceplate is off you can just press the grille out and you're done.

Front Left w/ grille vs. Front Right w/o grille



Close Up




That 52" wide stand and 50" tv look so small lol. How do you all think this stand will look?? It's 65" wide so it'll be slightly longer than the tv (which is a good look, rather than being smaller or the same length). I'll have the e56ci on top of it and a (most likely) 65" VT50 mounted on the wall about 2-3" above the top of e56ci (should be a little higher than now but not too bad)


Edited by ousooner2 - 2/11/13 at 7:07am
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post #1339 of 1652
2/8/13 at 4:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shady195 View Post

Pretty stoked to hear the difference in these when i get them compared to my current setup. The speakers should be here on tuesday, I also ordered a Yamaha Receiver with pre-outs and a used Rotel 976 6 Channel Amp, rated at 150 Watts a channel bridged in 3 channel mode.. Pretty excited cool.gif

That is a nice amp there! What yamaha receiver did you get?
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post #1340 of 1652
2/8/13 at 4:24pm
Sooner.....That stand looks good and yes you will def need to mount the tv if you are putting the center on top. Man I wish I had that center. Just a thought...If you are going to mount your tv on the wall would you want to go incognito to where you cant see any components?


This is from my last house.

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post #1341 of 1652
2/9/13 at 6:52am
Has anyone compared the E55Ti towers to the Aperion Audio Verus Grand Towers or the Forte Towers for that matter? I know there is a huge price difference and wondering what the sonic differences are? What about the e56ci center to the Verus Grand and/or Forte Center?
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post #1342 of 1652
2/9/13 at 7:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LVS View Post

Has anyone compared the E55Ti towers to the Aperion Audio Verus Grand Towers or the Forte Towers for that matter? I know there is a huge price difference and wondering what the sonic differences are? What about the e56ci center to the Verus Grand and/or Forte Center?
I read somewhere(I think on Blu-ray.com) a guy had the Aperion Grand bookshelf speakers & he went with those over the EMP's. The Aperions are a step above the EMP's in just about all areas. Better drivers(metal vs stamped), cabinet thickness, design, build/finish. The Aperion's are actually the speaker I wanted, but the Forte's were in my price range & the Grand's weren't. Now for me it came down to the size of my room & how far away I set from the tv. I sit 12 feet away & I'm filling a 4000 cu. ft. area, plus it opens to the kitchen area. So, with that said talking with the guys at Aperion they suggested the Grands. They told me i might be underwhelmed with the Forte's(especially since the speakers I owned were Polk Monitor 70's). Like I said the Grands were out of my league right now. So, the next speaker in line for me to try was the EMP's. I'm satisfied with the EMP's they are a neutral speaker. Maybe even a little light up top, but for me that's not a problem because Audyssey is eq'ing the response to fit a curve that has a roll-off up top any how. I think Audyssey might be boosting it a little, but haven't had time to do a full measurement yet. So, my opinion is, if you have the money, the Aperions are well raved & will probably not be disappointing. But, the EMP's in this price range are very very hard to beat. The only speaker that I've heard comes close are the Infinity Primius & the EMP's just look so much better wink.gif
jm2c.
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post #1343 of 1652
2/9/13 at 8:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pain Infliction View Post

That is a nice amp there! What yamaha receiver did you get?

A V667, its an older receiver but it has pre-outs and has gotten some great reviews.
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post #1344 of 1652
2/9/13 at 8:12am
I actually had a higher budget than what I spent on the EMP speakers.. A couple of factors came into play..

All the front stage had to be 3 way, every single 3 way set of speakers L/C/R I've heard sounds leaps and bounds over 2/2.5 ways
Center speaker either had to fit in the 22x14x8 inch space in my media center cabinet or look good sitting on top of it, being logner and slimmer like the E56Ci (The grand center speaker would have had to sit on top and would have been slightly too tall going to the bottom of my tv)
The wife had to find them attractive..

With all that being said I was really stuck between the Paradigm Monitor 11's with the Center 3 and these EMPTEKS... Given the 30 day return policy i figured I could get the EMPTeks and then play them side by side with some monitor 11's wink.gif
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post #1345 of 1652
2/9/13 at 8:30am
There are a few comparisons out there with the Monitor series. One guy much preferred the EMP's over the Paradigms. I'll see if I can dig them up
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post #1346 of 1652
2/9/13 at 8:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shady195 View Post

A V667, its an older receiver but it has pre-outs and has gotten some great reviews.

I had a feeling you were going to say that receiver. I actually have it also because I wanted the pre-outs as well.
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post #1347 of 1652
2/9/13 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadett View Post

I read somewhere(I think on Blu-ray.com) a guy had the Aperion Grand bookshelf speakers & he went with those over the EMP's. The Aperions are a step above the EMP's in just about all areas. Better drivers(metal vs stamped), cabinet thickness, design, build/finish. The Aperion's are actually the speaker I wanted, but the Forte's were in my price range & the Grand's weren't. Now for me it came down to the size of my room & how far away I set from the tv. I sit 12 feet away & I'm filling a 4000 cu. ft. area, plus it opens to the kitchen area. So, with that said talking with the guys at Aperion they suggested the Grands. They told me i might be underwhelmed with the Forte's(especially since the speakers I owned were Polk Monitor 70's). Like I said the Grands were out of my league right now. So, the next speaker in line for me to try was the EMP's. I'm satisfied with the EMP's they are a neutral speaker. Maybe even a little light up top, but for me that's not a problem because Audyssey is eq'ing the response to fit a curve that has a roll-off up top any how. I think Audyssey might be boosting it a little, but haven't had time to do a full measurement yet. So, my opinion is, if you have the money, the Aperions are well raved & will probably not be disappointing. But, the EMP's in this price range are very very hard to beat. The only speaker that I've heard comes close are the Infinity Primius & the EMP's just look so much better wink.gif
jm2c.

cadett, Thanks very much for the information, very helpful. I should probably call Aperion and Emp and tell them what I currently have and see what they say. Do you feel the Emps are way ahead of your Monitor 70's?
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post #1348 of 1652
2/9/13 at 12:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LVS View Post

cadett, Thanks very much for the information, very helpful. I should probably call Aperion and Emp and tell them what I currently have and see what they say. Do you feel the Emps are way ahead of your Monitor 70's?

First I'm not an audiophile & will never be, not because I wouldn't like to be, but because I listened to too much loud music when I was younger, too many loud concerts, & too much loud equipment probably has "deadened" my sense to notice barely discernible differences. Now for what I am. I'm a person who enjoys a wide variety of music & movies. I don't watch or listen to just one genre. I never did a A/B comparison with the Monitor 70's(with the CS2 center) to the EMP's(E55Ti with the 56Ci center). However I did own the Monitor's for a while so, I had grown accustomed to the sound.
Now for what you want to know.
Low's: Adv to the Monitor's>They can produce a lower frequency response, but it's not the greatest bass, but this is usually canceled out due to a sub & crossover
Mid's: Adv to the EMP's>The EMP's are very smooth in the mid range. The sound natural & not forced, like the Monitor's do. The CS2 has a chesty sound to it in the higher low range/lower mid range.
Upper: Adv to the EMP's> To me this was the most notable factor. I was hoping it would be the case when I bought the EMP's because I never did enjoy the treble in the Monitor's. It was usually drowned out by the muddy mid range on the Monitor's. Not a deal breaker in movies, but it just left me wanting more with music.
Sonically it wasn't night & day, it was more like evening & twilight(horrible analogy, I know).
Now I'm also running Audyssey X32 which does help with room correction a lot, so this might have had a huge impact & brough the speaker closer together than actually showing their differences.
So, in my opinion the EMP's are a better speaker hands down.
Hope that helps give you a picture of how I viewed it or better yet, heard it biggrin.gif
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post #1349 of 1652
2/9/13 at 12:44pm
^ Yeah, thanks, very good explanation, especially for not being an audiophile! smile.gif I am not either, just always looking for the best bang for the buck when satisfying my need to change something up in hopes that it is an upgrade.
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post #1350 of 1652
2/9/13 at 12:44pm
I had Monitor 60s a few years back and a CS2 and the EMP, pretty much, best them in every way.
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