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E-mu PM5 Precision Monitors, March 2006
Mar 1, 2006 7:44 PM, By George Petersen
POWERED NEAR-FIELD SPEAKERS
Studio Monitors
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After decades of creating high-end sampling, synthesis and pro recording gear, E-mu Systems unveiled the PM5 — its first studio monitor — at last year's AES show. The PM5 is E-mu's first speaker product, yet this is hardly a freshman effort. The company partnered with noted audiophile designer Jun Makino of Majeel Laboratories, which is known for its advanced power amplifiers and Nagisa line of active speakers.
Housed in a front-ported, 11.5×6.9×9.7-inch (H×W×D) enclosure, the PM5 is a two-way, bi-amplified system with a 5-inch glass-fiber cone woofer and a 1-inch neodymium soft-dome tweeter. Each driver is powered by a 40-watt custom discrete amplifier with a Class-A input stage and MOSFET output devices. An LED on the front baffle glows blue for power-on and switches to red if the PM5's onboard overload-protection circuit kicks in. The active crossover is a second-order (-12dB/octave) Butterworth-type, centered at 2.5 kHz.
The rear panel sports a standard IEC AC socket, power switch and a large heat sink that keeps the operating temperature under control. Also on the back are input jacks (Combo ¼-inch/XLR balanced and unbalanced RCA), a rotary input sensitivity knob and two three-way switches (treble tilt and bass roll-off), with settings for attenuating low/high-frequency response to match your room's acoustics or personal taste.
The PM5s impressed me with their response, especially given their compact size. E-mu rates the monitors' LF response at 67 Hz (-2.5 dB), but they go well below that figure and give the impression that you're listening to a much larger system. The 1-inch tweeters offer unhyped highs and smooth uncolored mids, and the crossover point is nearly undetectable. Max SPL is rated at 103 dB/1m, but I usually monitor at around 80 to 85 dB, which allowed tons of headroom and punchy transients. Makino's amplifier design philosophy is to come as close as possible to a straight-wire approach, and the PM5s' low-distortion amps deliver clean reproduction during long listening sessions without ear fatigue. I like that.
The monitors also provide excellent stereo imaging with a realistic soundstage. Better still, mixes made on the PM5s translated precisely to other media, large and small. At a street price of $249.99 each, the E-mu PM5s are compact, accurate and affordable. And this spring, when the optional PS12 subwoofer begins shipping, the system should be even better.
E-mu, www.emu.com.
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