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By now, you've probably heard of the EMP Impression Series E5Ti speakers, they are the ones going for the incredibly low asking price of $400 a pair. There must be something wrong with them, right? That's what our reviewer thought at first too. But after hearing the E5Ti speakers, his mind wasn't just changed, it was blown.
The MC-6CT are the flagship of the MC line and have won numerous awards over the years. With additional bass, a steader speaker, upgraded front baffle, identical pricing, and a better all around aesthetic, the only thing you're missing from the original MC-6CTs is a Cherry veneer. Seems like a fair trade off to us.
Until the 2009 CEDIA expo, I was unfamiliar with the Adam Audio brand but I've come to learn they are widely used in recording studios. The workmanship I’ve seen from their products at their booth have me thirsting for more. While they aren’t inexpensive, I recall an expression one of my good friends once said to me “its never cheap to be hip and trendy”. I'm a big fan of ribbon tweeters for their ability to convey detail and pinpoint imaging when properly designed. These look to be an impressive design in all aspects. I plan on reviewing a set of these speakers in the near future to see what its’ like hanging with the high rollers who expect nothing less than top quality with price being no object.
Atlantic Technology demonstrated their new H-PAS-1 tower featuring a -3dB point of 29Hz at 105dB SPL from just two 4 1/2" drivers. Using a patent-pending enclosure system called H-PAS developed by Solus/Clements , the H-PAS-1 is said to produce bass output with a 50 percent smaller cabinet, and driver compliment compared to conventional designs. The demo we heard proved this system could produce exceedingly low bass extension as claimed but we'd like to hear more diverse program material in our own listening labs to truly understand its potential. The H-PAS-1 tower will ship in Q409 with a larger version featuring dual 6 1/2" drivers early next year.
JBL LS Series Speakers First Look
Tom Andry
— last modified September 06, 2009 18:41
The aesthetic quality of the new LS series of speakers can't be denied. The streak-ebony mahogany finish certainly catches the eye. There are lots of rounded edges and clean lines on these speakers which sort of distracts from the fact that they have essentially a rectangular box enclosure. But the horn loaded drivers and the emphasis on high end response (much past the range of human hearing) over low end (a ~$4k speaker that only dips down to 48Hz) leaves us a little puzzled.
The Impression line is, without a doubt, some of the best looking speakers to come out of the EMP/RBH camp in our opinion. Offered in gloss black or gloss red burl, the finish of the speakers is stunning. We were further floored when we learned that the list price of the E5Ti's would be $730 with an introductory price OF JUST $400. PER PAIR Yes, that is NOT a typo. At that price we fully expect the EMP Impression E5Ti Tower speakers to leave burn marks as they literally fly off the shelves.
The new Boston VS 344 floorstanding speakers are $1250 each and feature a much slimmer design from its bigger brother. Sporting five 4.5" drivers and a 1" tweeter, the Boston VS 344 only stands 44" tall and a bit over 5" wide. The drivers are constructed out of Organic Composite Cone Material (OCCM). During our site visit to the Boston factory, we saw how they design and manufacture most of their drivers in house and we have no reason to believe they don't manufacture these themselves.
For those of you that have read the $1500 - $2000 Floorstanding Speaker Shootout article, you've already heard of the Infinity Classia C336s. They do look great and they have very good bass extension. The bass punch was a bit weak and the high end a tad fatiguing. However, out of all the speakers I've reviewed at this price point, the C336s are the most likely to go on sale. When they do, you're going to want to take a second look at them. In a second setup or a movie/family room, the Classias are going to both look and sound great.
Speaker shootouts are more fun in theory than in practice. The fact is that they are a lot of work. You need to convince a bunch of people to meet at a location, have them listen to a bunch of speakers, and record their observations. On top of that, you have to convince manufacturers to get involved. What we were looking for were floorstanding speakers in the $1500-$2000 range. We were also looking for passive speakers (meaning no powered subwoofers) to keep everyone on a level playing field. The tests were done blind and sighted. Did they match? Kinda.
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