**Official EMP Owner's Thread** - Page 53

From my understanding bi-wiring mainly assists the bass aspect of tower speakers, something that is not a huge concern for me given my subwoofer is a custom Mach 5 Audio IXL 15.2 and has plenty of output. When looking for new towers the High/Mid's were my main concern which is something that these excelled at especially given the price point. Once I have the set up complete with surrounds I will upload some pictures. In the meantime I have included a picture of my custom speaker wire. I used sewell deadbolt bananaplug for the back of the receiver and XPA-3 and the silverback for the speaker connections, Monoprice 12AWG in-wall speaker wire, parts-express cable pants and shrink wrap and techflex sleeving from Ebay seller furryletters who has the best price and color slection available.



Speaker_Wire.jpg 2107k .jpg file

Well I finally got all the speakers connected tonight, used the E5Bi Bookshelf speakers as the side surrounds and a pair of Klipsch RSX-5's for the back surrounds. The more I listen to these speakers the more I smile, for the price there is nothing better. Once I get the wire hung as I cannot put it in the wall as being in the military I can't modify the military housing I'm in that much, I will take some pictures, it looks like spider man visited our house right now. Have to use "flat" speaker wire and double sided tape to hold it to the walls/ceiling, I know not the greatest but gotta work with what you got, Hopefully I will get some pictures soon, I had a chance to crank Transformers Dark SIde of The Moon while my Wife and little ones were out shopping and man did it make me smile, these speakers handle movies really well! I think the original Transformers had a better sound track, but will have to listen to it on the EMP Teks. My wife did say we need a bigger T.V. to go along with the awesome speakers as our 55" LG VX9500 is apparently not cutting it anymore, thinking about the Vizio 70"

With the center channel speaker, is there any downside to having it in a custom tv stand/entertainment center? Will it affect the sound at all?

It is rear ported, so if it is an enclosed stand I would say it would distort the sound to some degree.

What if the back of the stand was open? But was walled up all the way around it, except the rear. Should be ok then?

I would think that would be fine.

I wonder why more speakers are not manufactured with front ports. It seems it would help with placement issues for most. I wonder if there is some down side?

I had mine inn a stand before and it sounded boomy. I placed a small black couch pillow in behind it to absorb the bass and it worked. You could not see the pillow because it was black and it did not change the way the speaker sounded other than helping the booming.

Yes, having it in an enclosure will cause issues with the backwave and unwanted resonances. I would say you could try port plugs, but that can change many things. You can try it to see what you think sounds best. Won't hurt anything. I wouldn't advise listening loudly if you put port plugs and test it though. You could also do some room treatment behind the speaker. Some sort of bass trap (not sure what frequencies would resonant and cause issues though...so I can't really help with how to go about treating it)

Is there any way you can open it up along the back just in that "center" spot on the entertainment center?

This may seem dumb but we are discussing how we want to redo our room. I don't know how good a large center will be sticking out on the wall roughly 9 inches from it. So was thinking of a false wall and having the center flush. I may have to just leave the cheaper setup in that room and change my "game room" into more of a movie area.

*The false wall would be open on the backside but sealed where it meets the two other walls.

Post pics when you are constructing and when it is completed. Also, look into the dedicated theater forums. You should get some good help in there if you have any questions.

I'm looking into the ew25/30/35 on walls. My budget is around 750 but those are 200 a piece. That only leaves 150. Is there a set of surrounds I could use with these at around that price? I saw their bookshelf but they are 250. Is there another brand or recommendation you can help me with? And they have to be small enough to mount on the wall up the wall. Thanks for your time.

I'm also curious about what surrounds would go good with these.

What's the best receiver for gaming and action movies? I currently have a Marantz 5006 but after hearing a pioneer it has me really considering something else... My Marantz was in the shop so I hooked up a Pioneer VSX-822-K and that pushed my EMP speakers better than my Marantz 5006. I noticed the biggest difference when playing Call of Duty.
So I figured I would check on here and see what you'll have to say about which receiver is the best option under $1000.
Edited by bigjoexxl - 4/2/13 at 6:42am

$150/pr -ish Speakers:

HTD Level 2 (this would be a good one...though it's about $50 over budget; check their B-stock)
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
Infinity Primus P153/P163

** If you're wanting them to go as close to the wall as possible, you might look into a front ported speaker (or sealed)


There shouldn't be a huge difference, but it can be there for sure. I know my Yamaha 663 was more powerful than my Denon 1712 and sounded a little brighter to me actually, but with the MultEQ XT from the Denon....it's incredible. What was your AVR in the shop for?? Both the 5006 and the Pio have similar amplifier sections (not likely to hear an audible difference). Did one have any EQ applied or something??

Are these close to the tonal characteristics or closely timbre matched to those EW's? I just don't want them to sound "off". I contacted EMP about selling the E3b seperate. Haven't gotten a response yet.

How about these:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ACENAEGOTSAT/ACOUSTIC-ENERGY-AEGO-AE12-10-T-Series-4in-Satellite-Speaker-Black-Each/1.html

The price is right, they're small, well built, and come with wall mount brackets. Acoustic Energy is a solid company.

They don't have even much upper bass (remind me of the NHT Super Zero 2.0 in that regard)... but the midrange is clear, and even if the lower treble is a bit elevated to my ears, they aren't harsh in any way.

I do have EQ applied to my 5006 and everything else you need to do to set up a subwoofer correctly. Loving my PSA XV 15. Far as what I had repaired. One of my rear speakers quit working. Apparently the HDMI port when out and that's what was causing it. So they replace the entire board. Thank God for warranty.

So there's no receiver that is just an overall favorite for the EMP's? I know that's a silly question but I had to ask.

I have no clue. Surrounds don't necessarily need to be an exact timbre match like the front stage. The e3b or even the e4's would be great. I wish I would have picked up either the e4's or something front ported for my surrounds from EMP. Maybe I'd sell the e5b's if I could find something to swap with, but not sure I care that much lol.

It was a while ago...but someone posted that they had bought the on wall EMPs!? if that person could post some additional thoughts, that would be helpful to me. Either getting EMPs on walls, or Ascend acoust cmt340s for a basement HT setup.

You can demo them in your house no hassal. If you do not like them you can send them back within 30 days and get your money back.

SVS has their older bookshelves for $150/pr in the B-stock area. Could be another good buy.

How do the e55ti sound for 2 channel music/tv?

Warm(laid back). If you eq them, they sound neutral & excellent.

Like with Audessey? These would be going in my game room, so would be mainly for watching sports and some music/video games.

The 55ti's sound great. The clarity is great for both music and movies. I recommend using with a sub though.

Audyssey Multi EQ will do these speakers wonders. I do agree that they would sound better with a sub.

You would reccomend a sub just for sports watching? I have LFM-1EX and am buying another one for my living room (where I watch all my movies).

Not really, but you said
"and some music/video games."

The Outlaw will be more than enough

If your space isn't huge and/or you're not a basshead, then that LFM-1ex should be just fine. I'm thinking about picking one up myself sometime soon. Seems like it's on par with some $700+ subs as far as SPL and everyone claims it's sounds great also. These are decent without a sub, but unless you've got a dedicated 2 channel setup (built for that) then I'd always advise a sub(s).

The e55's sound great by themselves without EQ, but I think they need EQ on the top end to become come alive and become more neutral. The top end (about 3-4kHz...so pretty much where the tweeter takes over) is a few db's down from what I believe it should be. I've already emailed EMP about it and they said they'll have a talk with the engineer about it. I know Gene from Audioholics found the same thing when he reviewed them. They're a little laid back on the top end, but like I said when a good EQ setup like MultEQ (if you have MultEQ XT or XT32 then that's even better) they'll become flatter on the top end and it really opens out the top end and adds a sense of presence to the treble (obviously b/c they're eq'd flat now!)

Randall.White -- Where you located? Maybe someone is close to you...