INTRODUCTION

   Lately many of you (including some friends of mine as well) have come forward and asked if i could possibly recommend a pair of affordable stereo speakers (both wired and wireless ones at that) but finding a suitable candidate from a known manufacturer was actually harder than expected (especially since lately I’ve been focusing on soundbars more). You see, it's one thing to ask for a wired stereo speaker system with good audio performance but asking for a wireless one that's also affordable, well it's not something we see a lot in the market and certainly not from a well-established manufacturer. That was until i thought about checking what PreSonus has to offer (so far, I’d only tested one of their microphones) and it didn't take long for me to get one of their latest ERIS E3.5 BT Active Media Reference Monitors in the lab for me to test.

   PreSonus Audio Electronics Inc. is the leading designer and manufacturer of recording and live-sound hardware and software solutions that solve real-world problems for creatives of all levels. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, PreSonus designs innovative audio tools for musicians, content creators, producers, and audio engineers, providing professional sound quality and features without sacrificing affordability. Today, PreSonus is an owned brand under Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC).

   The ERIS E3.5 BT consists by two actively amplified (25W each/50W total - Class AB Amplification) two-way compact speakers at the front of each PreSonus has placed a 3.5-inch (89mm) woven composite woofer and a 1-inch (25mm) silk dome tweeter capable of delivering a frequency response of 8Hz-20KHz with 10KOhm impedance and 100dB SPL. The left speaker is the master/primary speaker and so it also features a volume control wheel, on/off switch, 3.5mm jacks (1/8-inch) for aux input and headphones out, acoustic tuning controls (bass/treble) and 3 different audio inputs, balanced 6.35mm (1/4-inch) TRS and unbalanced RCA stereo. The ERIS E3.5 BT speaker set comes ready with Bluetooth v5.0 wireless connectivity (800ft/240m maximum range - SBC audio codec support) and sports RF interference, output-current limiting, over-temperature, transient and subsonic protections. Finally, PreSonus also includes their Studio Magic/Studio One software suite with the ERIS E3.5 BT thus increasing its appeal for people who are into content creation (you can take a quick look here). So let's see what PreSonus has brought to the market with their latest ERIS E3.5 BT Active Media Reference Monitors.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

A large product picture is placed at the front of the box right next to the company logo and a product description.

The product features are listed on the left side in 4 languages just over another product picture.

Another product picture is placed on the right side of the box.

Moving at the rear we find yet another product picture and the product features printed in 4 languages.

Both speakers are wrapped inside plastic bags and placed between two thick foam spacers.

Along with the ERIS E3.5 BT speaker set inside the box you'll also find two rubber pads/feet, 2 meter long speaker cable, 1.5 meter long 3.5mm cable, 1.5m long RCA cable, power cable, registration paper, safety and compliance guide and the user manual.

THE ERIS E3.5 BT

For the enclosure of both ERIS E3.5 BT speakers PreSonus has used vinyl laminated MDF (medium density fibreboard) which is resistant to both heat and scratches.

Each speaker measures 210mm in height, 141mm in width and 162mm in depth.

At the front of the left speaker, we find the volume control wheel, on/off switch and the aux in and headphones out 3.5mm jacks.

Build quality may not be out of this world but still it's very good, not only for the enclosures but also for the 3.5-inch custom woven composite woofer and the 1-inch silk tweeter.

Turning the speakers around we find bare wire connectors behind the right speaker and the bass/treble wheels, 6.35mm (1/4-inch) TRS jacks, left/right RCA ports, Bluetooth pairing button, bare wire connectors and the power port behind the left speaker.

Red to red and black to black is all it takes to connect both speakers with the bundled speaker cable (you can always use higher-quality speaker cables, even though i don't expect much impact in audio performance).

To properly test the PreSonus ERIS E3.5 BT i used my FiiO M15 hi-res music player (both wired and wireless connectivity) together with a couple of my smartphones (wireless) and one of my test rigs (wired).

CONCLUSION

   PreSonus may not be the leading name when it comes to speakers and yes, the ERIS E3.5 BT is clearly not the most robust speaker set out there but that’s actually why I was honestly impressed by them. I’m not talking just about audio performance which is very good even right out of the box (and you can improve that even further via the rear acoustic controls), I’m also referring to volume levels since at over 90% the ERIS E3.5 BT can easily cover 2 medium sized rooms. On top of that even at well over 90% there’s no audio distortion (this also depends largely on the source however) and that’s not something I’ve encountered many times in the past, certainly not from active speakers at around this price range. On top of all this add the fact that PreSonus is giving you their Studio Magic/Studio One software suite for free and I doubt things could get any better than this. The only downside that comes to mind in regards to the ERIS E3.5 BT (aside the fact that they don’t feel very robust) is the lack of hi-res wireless audio codecs like aptX. SBC should work well for most people out there yes but for more demanding users it might be a game breaker (although more demanding users will probably opt for high-end speaker sets).

   So how much for a pair of the ERIS E3.5 BT Active Media Reference Monitors by PreSonus? At the time of this review the PreSonus ERIS E3.5 BT retail for just USD139.95 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 120Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de), a very affordable price tag. This makes the ERIS E3.5 BT a great choice for people looking to get their hands on a pair of active bluetooth speakers with very good audio accuracy/performance and equally good volume levels. That’s not to say you can’t find anything better in the market, PreSonus alone has like 8 higher-end speaker lines, it’s just that the ERIS E3.5 BT does everything extremely well and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Audio Performance
- Volume Levels (For Their Size)
- Active Speakers (No Amp Needed)
- Wired (3.5mm/6.35mm/RCA) & Wireless (Bluetooth v5.0) Connectivity
- Volume, Treble And Bass Controls
- Studio Magic/One Software Bundle
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Feeling (Not Very Robust)
- Supported Audio Codecs (SBC)
- Acoustic Controls Location (Side/Front Would Be Ideal)