EMP Tek, a sister company to RBH Sound, has come out with the new E5Ti Tower Speaker.

This baffled us as we’ve heard from manufacturers that they are cutting back lines or delaying releases until the economy picks up.

How can you expect to sell speakers in this sort of economy when people are pinching every penny? Aggressive pricing, according to EMP Tek.

Stunning Design

The Impression line is, without a doubt, some of the best looking speakers to come out of the EMP/RBH camp. Offered in gloss black or gloss red burl, the finish of the speakers is stunning. The front baffle is a gloss black and the sides are the red burl (the E5Ti is black, while the E5Tir is red).

The speakers are a bit shorter than many tower speakers at 35.5 inches tall, but not so short that they have the tweeter too far below ear height. The sides angle back reminiscent of many speakers.

Features

The front baffle sports a 1-inch tweeter (covered by a small dedicated screen), a 5.25-inch aluminum poly-matrix woofer with a metal (looks like aluminum) phase plug, and dual 6.5-inch poly-matrix woofers. The driver complement alone is impressive. The back of the speaker has dual binding post for buy-wiring, and the bottom has four brass-threaded inserts for floor spikes/feet.

As is the case with many tapered enclosure designs, the EMP E5Ti speakers aren’t as steady as others with a wider/squarer base. The back of the speaker has a flared port near the bottom. EMP suggests a minimum of 15 inches off the wall placement with these speakers. We agree.

Conclusion

The list price of the E5Ti’s would be $730/pair with an introductory price of $400/pair. At that price, these speakers should fly off the shelves. We’ve done a few preliminary listening tests and have heard nothing that would suggest that the price is based on some sonic deficiency. We’ve come to expect quality sound from EMP and RBH, and they’ve never let us down.

For anyone looking for a quality introduction into home theater or 2-channel or maybe just for the enthusiast who has everything and wants to see if anyone can actually make a quality floorstander at this price, the EMP E5Ti’s are going to be too tempting to pass up. This is a price we don’t expect to last (though at $730, we’re guessing the E5Ti’s will still represent a considerable value) so jump on it while it’s here.

Click here for more on the EMP E5Ti from Audioholics.