Presonus offers a small set of powered speakers which sell for $99 almost everywhere, are they any good?
The Eris 3.5 speaker solution from Presonus was something I never looked at because I've been burned by so many small, inexpensive, powered speaker solutions (weird frequency response, no headroom, not reliable, distorted, no bass; I could go on...).
The 2022 Black Friday sale netted me a pair of these speakers for an incredible low low price, I bought them because I thought they would be fun to toy with. I was shocked when these actually sounded quite good for such a compact, low-priced, pair of speakers.
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| Eris 3.5 by Presonus |
USING THE ERIS 3.5
These speakers are not bi-amplified so the phase response is never going to be as good as more expensive biamp-powered monitors. The woofer is only 3.5 inches in diameter so these will never produce much bass on their own. With that out of the way, a pair of these speakers sound surprisingly good all on their own. The silk dome tweeter is very bright and natural sounding. The little woofer does not move much bass but the output from the system conveys a proper image of the music you're trying to hear, these little speakers offer uniform, flat response where they should.
I'm feeding the Eris 3.5 from my Coleman Audio speaker selector which allows me to A-B compare between five different speaker systems. I've grown quite fond of checking mixes on the Eris 3.5, similar to how I used Auratone monitors back in the 70's to see how a mix sounded (on what I always considered to be a deluxe TV speaker).
Gradually I grew to appreciate the smooth uniform frequency response of the Eris 3.5 speaker system, it's not perfectly flat (like the JBL III Series) but these speakers do have extended high frequency response which helps give a useful sonic picture of the content you're listening to.
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| Eris 3.5 Speakers Rear Panel - click to enlarge |
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIIONS
Powered Studio Monitor
Woven Composite 3.5” Woofer
Silk-dome Tweeter
50 Watt Class AB Power Amplifier
Frequency Response: 80Hz-20kHz
Headphone output (only 1/8th inch jack provided)
Tuning Controls
Balanced Inputs
Rear Ported Enclosure
Weight: 6.4 pounds
LIKES
$99 a pair, bargain price (occasionally even cheaper on sale)
Compact pair of speakers
Only one speaker needs AC power
1/4" TRS input jacks
Easy to connect together with lightweight cable supplied
Easy to use
Plays surprisingly loud
DISLIKES/CONCERNS
Nothing to speak of (they're bargain speakers)
EPILOGUE
After a few months I ended up liking the Eris 3.5 pair of speakers so much in my main studio (as a reference listening platform) I bought a second pair for use in studio B (aka, the kitchen). I augmented this second pair with the Eris 8 Subwoofer which we use for watching movies or listening to music while we do art (and eat dinner :)
If I can get mixes sounding good in the main studio (checking them on the studio pair of Eris 3.5), then move them to the Studio-B system (2nd pair with 8” subwoofer) and still have the music mixes sound right without adjustments, that's when I'm happy. Those mixes go right out to our Chrysler 300 car stereo for additional test playback. This process has been delivering mixes that repeatedly get two-thumbs up from listeners.
You'll find the link to the Eris 8 Subwoofer review here when it goes live.
Thanks for reading High on Technology, Good Music To You!
©Jan 2024 by Mark King, it's not ok to copy or quote without written permission from the author.
