PreSonus Eris E5 2-Way 5.25" Near Field Studio Monitor

Initial impressions are over the top! All I could think after I got them hooked up and dialed in was how do these sound so great for no more than I paid for them? I am using these as the left and right front speakers in my 5.1 DAC system for the tv along with a single PreSonus Eris Studio 4 4.5-inch for the center (rather not discuss the rears at this time, but another pair of these Presonus E5's at Christmas is a strong possibility at this time). These are replacing a set of older, other brand 5" studio monitors that were more expensive than I paid for these 8 years ago! as one of the old monitors had died and it was replacement time. I looked up a bunch of YT vid's and various reviews and these painted the picture I was looking for in terms of fullness, audio adjustments, size, power consumption and applications that they can be used for. I have a small recording studio that these will be tied into and reviewed next. Everything considered so far the Amazon Day price made this an absolute no-brainer, they sound GREAT!!!!! Whether you're an amature musician, general audiophile or just looking to rock the room for a very small budget you need to check these out!

I've had these monitors for maybe six months now. I'm honestly more of an audiophile music listener than a music production hobbyist but that is something I'm trying to get into. I got these to plug into the rca outputs of my interface and use the volume control on there. At first I didn't make any adjustments to the crossover and had the E5's just sitting on my desk. My first impression of the sound was pretty dang good except for the bass. These things do hit pretty low but the bass was very boomy and muffled, just bad sounding. I figured it was from how they reacted with my desk. Anyway I resolved this by getting the Musica speaker stands (search that in Amazon). With them on the stands but still having no crossover adjustment the bass problem was gone but I found them to have this "inside-out" characteristic that I can't stand. The sound was too soft and had no punch. I think it has something to do with low mids. I turned up the gain and mid knobs to almost 3 o' clock and rolled off the highs to about 11 o' clock. Low cutoff switch is flat and "acoustic space" switch is at -4db. Now the sound is balanced with great and some punchiness in a way I really like. I'm probably breaking a few rules in terms of proper audio monitoring for mixing but I'm enjoying the heck out of these for music listening and are doing the job for basic beginner music production. Highly recommend.

Its a great speaker amazing sound quality

These monitors are really way better than i expected. They are very clean and easy on the high-mid frequencies. I have very sensitive hearing, other expensive monitors like Adams gave me a headache within 10 minutes. When i heard the Rokits the sound was terrible, very muddy around the bass and had weird things going on in the midrange. They are mostly for kids who need that exaggerated bass and commercial sound. But these are simply perfect they do not over color the sound and most important you can actually listen to them for a few hours and not feel like your head is falling off. 2nd they have the best look in their price range they have a smooth finish. They let me know whats going on in the lower register without overbearing and trying to show off. Just the right amount of bass. The highs are perfectly crisp and not piercing, which is the problem with most more expensive monitors. They exaggerate the high end to "sound better" but all it does is damage your hearing overtime. You shouldn't have to "get used" to a monitor. The sound should be good out of the box like these and eventually get even better after burning them in over time. Very happy with this monitor!

PreSonus Eris E5 is an excellent, small, beautiful monitor. It is a bit warm with excellent bass response, and very nice build quality. With three inputs (XLR, 1/4" and RCA) and both a high and mid boost dial, it provides a lot of options. The front-side port is great for the (common) desktop or against the wall placement so many people use. The biggest con I have with this is that I got distortion at volume levels that I felt I shouldn't be getting it at considering the 102 DB SPL and 80 watts of power. With that said, it's a solid speaker that you can feel good about owning. I've attached a video of me comparing it against the JBL SLR305, which is in a similar price category and gets similarly great reviews. The differences are highlighted in the video, including: Eris Pros relative to JBL LSR305: Much smaller for the same speaker size and power output (and weight) Front bass port, making them better for near-the-wall placement many people will prefer Produced a richer, bassier sound than the JBLs, despite their higher HZ rating and smaller size... impressive Aesthetically more pleasing... modern, expensive looking, clean deisgn, esp the kevlar cone and lit logo Requires quite a bit less input volume to attain the same output volume (contrary to the SPL rating... so I find JBL's numbers suspicious) RCA Input for additional input options w/o modification - helpful for people outputting from their computer or other component without 1/4" or XLR outputs More fine-tuning adjustments for mid and high as well as room on the back of the speaker. Eris Cons compared to JBL: Breaks up more at the same volume (this was on bassy dubstep with lows and highs... they started to get muddy and a bit broken up) Has a less efficient A/B class amplifier, gets warmer Not as good at capturing highs, not as flat (good for home use though, but I question the accuracy in mixing) A bit more expensive Narrower "sweet spot" making less ideal for "whole room" uses

It always is difficult to write anything general about monitors, for their sound depends as much on the acoustics of the space they are used in as on their quality. After some time in stores listening to various low-budget monitors, I had narrowed my options down to three: JBL LSR305, Yamaha HS5, and the PreSonus Eris E5. In the right surrounding, the HS5 seem to be the winner, at least to my ears. But these have the bass reflex port on the back, which means you have to place them at least 6 to 10 inch away from the wall for them to sound great. Since I am forced to place my monitors closer to the wall, monitors with the port on the front were the better option. And while the JBL also could sound fine in the right surrounding, the PreSonus beat the JBL because they allow you to calibrate high, mid, and to a limited degree the low frequencies (using a sweep signal and a decent microphone for calibration). That capability can be very important, depending on whether or not you can treat the room with bass traps, acoustic foam, and such. So, while there are better speakers out there in a similar price range, some of them are less suited for the sort of environment I am using the PreSonus in. Give the monitors a week before you calibrate them. The membrane becomes more flexible during that time and takes away some harshness you may hear in the beginning, though it was not an issue in my case. Some people report some hissing or humming when no music is played. I have experienced none of that. I don't know what cables and what type of audio interface those people are using, but the fact that many that report the problem don't say so, makes me wonder whether it's not merely the result of external interference that especially RCA cables are prone to pick up on. Other people complained about a pop sound when you switch them on. That can be an issue, but you can easily prevent it if you turn down your audio interface or switch the audio off on your computer when you start them up. Finally, I use the monitors in a small space and thus opted for a 5-inch speaker. However, be aware that those always will be limited with respect to the low frequency range they can represent. So, eventually you may consider getting a subwoofer in addition to the monitors. But those tend to be expensive. The Presonus Tremblor T8 currently goes for about $300. If you add that to the money you spend, you won't spend more if you buy 8-inch speakers right away. So that is something to consider as well. But I find the E5 can produce enough bass to satisfy my everyday need. But if you plan to mix your songs using these primarily, make sure to use headphones or other speakers as additional reference so that you can better pick up on some grumbling or muddiness in your mix.

Excellent monitors at a great price. I was worried about these not having enough bass, but I've found I don't even have the room acoustics to hear all the low frequencies these E5s are putting out, so they are fine for my current needs. The acoustic space correction switch is really useful as well. The sound quality, clarity are excellent. They go WAY louder than the pain threshold of my ears. The only downside is an audible white noise that I think is just a feature of the amps they use. This is easily rendered inaudible by increasing the input volume and turning down the volume on the back of each speaker, or just as easily ignored, as it's barely audible anyways. Overall, these are excellent; perhaps the best monitors at this price point on the market. Everyone who listens to music on my E5s is impressed, and so am I. These are perfect for producing on and great to just listen on as well. Nice one, Presonus! Update: Still great one year later! I've found in my small, poorly treated space the E5s sound best with the acoustic space setting at -4db and also -2 or -3db down on the High EQ. I use a sub Lowpassed at 88hz, but I do NOT use the Low Cutoff on the E5s- they already have an 80hz rolloff in the frequency response and sound too thin with the Low Cut, IMO. This setup sounds fantastic in my room; my references are full and detailed.

This thing sound GREAT. I've got some issues since my PC doesn't have a great aux plug, this guy has a great range of sound. I did get this on sale, so it was only 80 bucks for me, but if you're a musician, or just someone who actually knows sound, I'm sure you'll like this. It's a solid build, very stable and fits nicely as part of a display, and just looks clean overall. You will need to find somewhere near enough to an outlet to plug it in, since it uses a USB cable to power (I have it plugged into my PC, and it still runs fine.) DEFINITELY worth it on sale, but only buy full price if you *really* want it, just because it's so pricey.