Studio Monitors - are these Presonus E8s underpriced?

Like the Cd & DVD Burning software we discussed last month at ProCopy we often get asked about recommendations for studio monitors for an indie studio or by people that realise the reference speakers they have been using are just not good enough for the recording they are doing.

It's a very subjective matter so generally the answer is - find something you like, fits your budget and suits the type of recording you need to do. However recently I'd heard about some new speakers launched by Presonus called the Eris series. There's a 4.5 in, 5 inch and 8 inch version available along with an additional sub woofer. Having used an expensive pair of Genelec speakers for a number of years I was keen to see how they would perform up against my reference speakers.

Courtesy of Kerry at Kosmic in Osborne Park I was able to pick up a pair of the E8s for the weekend, quite honestly 8 inch near field monitors are about as small as I would want to go, unless space is at an absolute premium I really can't see the point of 5 or 6 inch monitors, With digital recording these days I don't think you can make the right judgements in the audio with the smaller styles, but of course it all comes down to personal choice.

Presonus Eris Speaker Range

I was in the middle of a couple of tricky restoration jobs and a mix down of some music tracks so I had a good cross section of work to assess the speakers.

I sat the Presonus E8s next to the Genelecs and was able to switch sources to either or both sets of speakers via the Monitor Station. The Genelecs & E8s are roughly the same physical size and sit easily on regular speaker stands. They're a 2 way configuration with separate Class AB amps for the speaker and tweeter. They have a soft turn on feature so you don't get that annoying or potentially damaging pop through the speakers when they are powered up. 

What was immediately obvious after some level adjustment was that they two sets of speakers were remarkably similar. - That certainly was a good start.  Connecting them to a system is easy with separate Balanced XLR, Tip Ring Sleeve or RCA connectors,

There's a variety of controls - Gain, Mid & High adjusments, Low frequency cut off for when a Sub is added to the system and the "Acoustic Space" adjustment which helps adjust for the postioning of the speakers in a room (Close to a wall for example).

Observations

Upon more detailed listening I'd say the clarity in the low mids of the Eris speakers was more defined than the Genelecs, particularly around the vocals where it was easy to hear what was going on with slight eq adjustments.  The top end was smooth, not brittle sounding or over emphasised like some smaller monitors and the low bass was clean without being "lumpy". 

When pushed fairly hard the E8s handled the bass and top end remarkably well, and still maintained a great balance in the mix. 

Overall I believe these speakers would make a stunning addition to any studio whether Pro, Demo or home based - Why? The price stuns me... Presonus have made these powered speakers with great attention to details and their usual musical knowledge and in Australia they retail for about $530.00 a pair! Quite frankly I think these speakers should be selling for a minimum of $2,000 a pair - The Genelecs I was comparing them to are considerably more than that. 

So my recommendation this month is the Presonus E8s (Click here to learn more technical info) I'd suggest sending Kerry at Kosmic Sound an email to arrange a demo at [email protected]

I'm sure you'll be as happy as I was to hear these remarkable speakers and their excellent value for money.