The ER speakers aren't just a stereo pair, but a full system. The remainder of my listening tests were done in a full surround environment which added the Axiom EP500 to fill in the low end.

DVD-A: Blue Man Group: The Complex
f I had to pick just one album to bring with me to a listening test, this one would be at the top of the list. Tons of surround effects, low bass, dynamic range… this album has it all. After seeing them live in Vegas during the last CES, I can't help but be more impressed with the mixing of this album. It sounds very much like the live show. The ER speakers did a phenomenal job with this recording. In the opening track, Above, the hammer dulcimer starts off nearly all alone. The sound is vaguely reminiscent of a xylophone. The ER speakers did an amazing job with this opening sequence. It was well defined, crisp, and well presented. Once the rest of the instruments came in, I was again impressed with the dynamic responsiveness of the speakers. There seemed to be no hold over of any notes. Loud and soft passages were crisply delineated.

The depth of the soundstage was also remarkable. If you've ever heard (or I guess seen) the Blue Man Group, you know there is just a ton of instruments and sound effects going on. I can literally listen to the same song ten times in a row and focus on a different sound or effect each time and still have some left over. The Emotiva ER speakers presented each of these sounds clearly and articulately. It was very easy to drill down into the music and hear anything I wanted too.

DVD-A: Porcupine Tree: Deadwing
Right from the beginning, I suspected that Emotiva had something special with their ERD-1 dipole speakers. The Axiom QS8's are a very highly regarded rear "quad" pole speaker (a top and bottom woofer and two side angled tweeters - one on each side all firing in phase). I was surprised to find that the ERD-1s bested the Axioms on almost every metric I could come up with. The opening sequence of the first and title track features a keyboard bouncing around the rears and what sounds to be a train pulling into a station. The ERDs really performed well not only during the quiet section at the very beginning but also in remaining articulate during the louder sections. At no point did I think the ERDs were being overpowered or drowned out. At the same time, they blended well with the rest of the system. Basically, when I wanted to hear them I could, when I didn't, they just disappeared. While some might say that a bipole configuration would be best for multichannel music, I found the dipole setting to create a nice diffuse sound that still performed well for point-source effects. As always, we encourage you to experiment for yourself and see what you prefer. Just make sure to check your levels as you switch between the settings as the levels are likely to change. While I've always found the Axioms to be a fine surround speaker, the ERDs are in an entirely different class.

DVD: Spiderman 2
Generally I use this album for surround effects but this time I found it playing a different roll. I watch this movie mostly for testing but also because it is just so darn good. In my opinion, it is probably the best superhero movie ever made. Since the center channel (an ERM-1 lying on its side) was inside a cabinet, I noticed that the vocals sounded a little boxy and reverberant. I quickly switched on the boundary compensation. This helped a bit, but not enough. Lastly, I added a bit of padding between the ERM-1 and the cabinet which helped with some vibrations I think I was hearing as well as tilted the speaker up just a tad. This helped as well. While overall I felt it was performing well, I couldn't shake the feeling that the ERM-1 needed a little more room to breath. Unfortunately, like many others, I don't have the luxury of setting up a center in the middle of my room and am forced with this arrangement. I urge Emotiva to develop some sort of felt feet that can be placed on the bottom of these speakers especially if they can be adjusted to modify the tilt angle.

DVD: 30 Days of Night
While I understand that this movie followed the comic pretty well, I found it to be a mediocre and mostly confusing vampire flick. We're never really sure the vampire's motivation or reasons (other than the obvious). Perhaps that was part of the writer/directors intent but it bugged me. In a horror movie, point-source effects are extremely important and 30 Days of Night was no different. As you'd expect from a dipole speaker that already impressed with music, the ERD-1s were spectacular with movies. Ambient music was diffuse and enveloping and point-source effects were easily localized and convincing. The ERD-1's ability with movies was at least as good as with music and probably better. I can easily imagine two pairs of these being used in a 7.1 configuration with the back pair being set to bipole and the side pair on dipole. The joy is that you don't have to decide when you purchase - just buy two pairs and try them out. That kind of flexibility is very rare in a speaker these days.

HD DVD: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
One thing I found in all my listening tests but was accentuated with the below average recreation of J.K. Rowling's book was that the ER speakers could definitely use some better amplification than the Denon 2307CI. While I really like this receiver, and the amp section kept up admirably, I definitely felt that I was having to push the Denon harder than I did with many of the other speakers I've reviewed. This is probably partially due to the fact that the speakers were so clean and responsive that I could play them louder without them sounding pushed. Where I generally have movie night at between -20 and -10 on the dial, the ERs required more like -15 to -5. While this isn't a huge change, it is something. With some external amplification (or a receiver with a beefier amp section) and a sub or two, I expect these speakers to easily fill a medium to large sized room. The fact that they are bookshelves means that they also will do well in a smaller room with a more reasonably-sized sub.

Conclusion

It's not hard to gather that I am impressed with these speakers - especially from a performance perspective. They seem to try to be all things to all listeners. With the Tweeter adjustment, Boundary compensation, and dipole/bipole options, there is nary a room that these speakers wouldn't blend in to. Flexible, crisp, articulate… I could come up with a hundred positive adjectives to describe the ER speaker from Emotiva… except pretty. If performance is what you are after, the Emotivas have it in spades. I for one never would have expected an amp and processor company to come out with such a great performing speaker.

I'm happy to say that I was proven wrong.

Emotiva ER 5.0 Speaker System

$1246

Emotiva Audio

106 Mission Court
Suite 101
Franklin, TN 37067
615-771-1224
877-EMO-TECH
www.emotiva.com

About Emotiva Audio
Emotiva engineers believe that the experience of enjoying home audio and home theater components begins with thoughtful design, robust engineering, superior quality materials and a deep understanding of what the audio/video enthusiast wants and needs. It occurs all too often; designers and manufacturers consider technology and ease of use to be mutually exclusive qualities in a product. Emotiva engineers think differently. Technologically superior and user friendly products are paramount to the Emotiva design philosophy and are qualities that allow Emotiva users to appreciate their purchase in the future as much as they do today. We utilize only premium components with proven, critically evaluated circuitry in the audio and video paths to preserve the original quality of the sound and vision experience. Emotiva products compliment the entertainment experience and bring it up to a level rarely experienced with other mass produced products.