E-Mu PM5 Brochure

E-MU
PM5 Precision Monitor
My first tho u g ht upon powering up these compact
ne a r f ields was, "Wo w, these sound much big ger than
t hey look!" After spend i ng some time tra c k i ng and
m i x i ng through them, I'd have to say they give muc h
p r ic ier monitors a run for their mo ne y.
T hey are powerful enough to compleme nt mo s t
c o nt rol ro o ms, with a bi-amped 40W/40W power
s e c t ion, active cro s s o v e r, discrete Class-A input stage,
a nd MOSFET output stage s. As the na me implie s, the
bass driver is a 5'' cone and the high fre q u e ncy dr i v e r
is a 1'' soft do me. The cabinets are surprisingly he a v y
for the small size, ma g ne t ically shie l de d, and inc l ude a
1'' thick fro nt baffle. The y ' re rated for high SPL' s
( 1 0 3 dB), and the amplifiers have a very high sig na l -
t o - noise ra t io. Conne c t io ns are flexible with balanc e d
Neutrik and unbalanced RCA inputs.
I installed the pair in my cont rol room at Brig ht o n
S o u nd, which is admittedly a fa i r l y, uh, unique ro o m
to monitor in. Wo r k i ng within the room's limitatio ns,
my ears have grown accustomed to the ra t her mu s hy
low end, and I've learned how to tra nslate that
e f f e c t i v e l y. But after ins t a l l i ng the P M 5' s, I
i m me d iately realized that my low end issues in the
room were not ent i rely due to the room dime ns io ns; in
fact the P M 5's of f e red me a much mo re fo c u s e d, less
muddy low end. In short, they seemed to compleme nt
my mo dest cont rol room quite nic e l y. Kick dr u ms and
bass ins t r u me nts through the P M 5's had a new clarity
in the low mids that really stood out, especially whe n
c o m p a red to my earlier ne a r f ields (powered Event
20/20's). The sub bass fre q u e nc ies were somewhat lost
on the P M 5' s, but I could easily see how the s e
monitors would work well with a good subwoof e r
system. E-MU's
a n no u nced in Ja nua r y, should be shipping soon.
W i t hout a subwoof e r, I was hard pressed to get a sens e
of what was really go i ng on below 60 Hz or so.
R e g a rd l e s s, the bass re s p o nse is surprisingly full and
deep despite the P M 5's smallish cabine t .
T he high fre q u e ncy detail is really exc e p t io nal fo r
t he price point as well. Tra ns ie nts are clear and sharp,
w i t hout killing your ears after long sessio ns. Altho u g h
I didn't no t ice any substant ial ear fa t ig u e, my frie nd
R ich Good of the band Kings & Queens did say his ears
ra ng a bit the evening after we both spent a long da y
in fro nt of the P M 5' s — maybe not ent i rely the P M 5' s
fault as we were mo n i t o r i ng on the louder end of the
scale (sorry Rich!). The P M 5's offer separate bass,
t re b l e, and input sensitivity cont rols on the rear of
each mo n i t o r, which can help you calibrate the
monitors for your specific ne e d s. I didn't find my s e l f
re a c h i ng for tho s e, as the P M 5's frankly seemed well-
b a l a nced rig ht out of the box .
All in all, I think I'll be pic k i ng up a pair of the s e
monitors; they are well de s ig ne d, solid, and re s p o ns i v e
( not to me nt ion totally affo rdable at $500 street per
pair). Simply put, they ma ke my ears happy. To me,
this can only mean better sound s, better mixes and
h a p p ier clie nt s. ($699 pair MSRP; www. e m u . c o m )
–Dana Gumbiner, deathraymusic. c o m
companion PS12 subwoof e r,