EMP Tek HTP-551 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker Package - Product Review

Balancing style, price, and sound quality can be tough, when choosing loudspeakers. If you are looking for new set of loudspeakers for your home theater, you might want to check out the stlyish, compact, and great sounding EMP Tek HTP-551 5.1 Home Theater Package. The system consists of an EP50C center channel speaker, four EP50 compact bookshelf speakers for left and right main and surrounds, and a compact ES10 powered subwoofer. How did it all come together? Keep reading... After reading this review, also check out my EMP Tek HTP-551 5.1 Home Theater Package Photo Gallery.

Product Overview - EF50C Center Channel Speaker

1. Frequency Response: 100 Hz - 20 kHz (average response range for compact bookshelf speakers).

2. Sensitivity: 88 dB (represents how loud the speaker is at a distance of one meter with an input of one watt).

3. Impedance: 6 ohms (can be used with amplifiers that have 8 ohm speaker connections)

4. Power Handling: 120 watts RMS (continuous power).

5. Drivers: Woofer/Midrange Dual 4-inch (aluminzed fiberglass), Tweeter 1-inch Silk

6. Crossover Frequency: 3,000 Hz (3Khz)

7. Dimensions: 14”w x 5”h x 6.5”d

8. Can be mounted on optional stand.

9. Weight: 9.1 lbs each (not including optional stand weight).

10. Finish: Black, Baffle Color Options: Black, Rosewood, Cherry

Product Overview - EMP EF50 Compact Bookshelf Speaker (mains and surrounds)

1. Frequency Response: 100 Hz - 20 kHz (average response range for compact bookshelf speakers).

2. Sensitivity: 85 dB (represents how loud the speaker is at a distance of one meter with an input of one watt).

3. Impedance: 6 ohms (can be used with amplifiers that have 8 ohm speaker connections)

4. Power Handling: 35-100 watts RMS (continuous power).

5. Drivers: Woofer/Midrange 4-inch (aluminzed fiberglass), Tweeter 1-inch Silk

6. Crossover Frequency: 3,000 Hz (3Khz)

9. Dimensions: 5”w x 8.5”h x 6.5”d

10. Can be mounted on optional stand.

11. Weight: 5.3 lbs each (not including optional stand weight).

12. Finish: Black, Baffle Color Options: Black, Rosewood, Cherry

1. Driver: 10-inch Aluminum

2. Frequency Response: 30Hz to 150Hz (LFE - Low Frequency Effects)

3. Phase: Switchable to 0 or 180 degrees (synchronizes in-out motion of sub speaker with in-out motion of other speakers in system).

4. Amplifier Type: Class A/B - 100 Watts Continuous Output Capability

5. Crossover Frequency (frequencies below this point are passed to the subwoofer): 50-150Hz, continuously variable. Crossover Bypass feature included which allows control of crossover via home theater receiver.

6. Power On/Off: two-way toggle (off/standby).

7. Dimensions: 10.75" W x 12" H x 13.5" D

8. Weight: 36 lbs

9. Connections: RCA Line ports (stereo or LFE), Speaker Level i/o ports

10. Available Finishes: Black.

Home Theater Receivers: Onkyo TX-SR705, Harman Kardon AVR147, Onkyo TX-SR304, and Pioneer VSX-1018AH (on review loan from Pioneer).

DVD player: Oppo Digital DV-983H.

Blu-ray Disc Players: Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player and Yamaha BD-S2900 (on review loan from Yamaha).

CD-Only Players: Denon DCM-370 and Technics SL-PD888 5-Disc Changers.

Loudspeaker Comparison Systems

Loudspeaker System #1: 2 Klipsch F-2's, 2 Klipsch B-3s, Klipsch C-2 Center

Loudspeaker System #2: Klipsch Quintet III 5-channel speaker system.

Loudspeaker System #3: 2 JBL Balboa 30's, JBL Balboa Center Channel, 2 JBL Venue Series 5-inch Monitor speakers.

Powered Subwoofers used: Klipsch Synergy Sub10 - used with Systems 1 and 2. and Polk Audio PSW10 - System 3.

TV/Monitors: A Westinghouse Digital LVM-37w3 1080p LCD Monitor, Syntax LT-32HV 32-inch LCD TV, and Samsung LN-R238W 23-inch LCD TV.

All Displays were calibrated using SpyderTV Software.

Audio/Video connections were made with Accell, and Cobalt cables.

16 Gauge Speaker Wire was used in all setups.

Level checks for speaker setups were done using a Radio Shack Sound Level Meter

Standard DVDs used included scenes from the following: Godsmack: Changes, Hero, House of the Flying Daggers, Kill Bill - Vol1/2, Lord of Rings Trilogy, and Master and Commander, U571, and V For Vendetta.

Blu-ray Discs used included scenes from the following: 300, A Night at the Museum, Across The Universe, Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Chronicles of Narnia, Crank, Hairspray, Iron Man, John Mayer - Where The Light Is, Shakira - Oral Fixation Tour, Transformers.

For audio only, various CDs included: HEART - Dreamboat Annie, Nora Jones - Come Away With Me, Lisa Loeb - Firecracker, Blue Man Group - The Complex, Al Stewart - A Beach Full of Shells, Eric Kunzel - 1812 Overture, Joshua Bell - Bernstein - West Side Story Suite.

DVD-Audio discs (played on the Oppo DV-983H) included: Queen - Night At The Opera/The Game, Eagles - Hotel California, and Medeski, Martin, and Wood - Uninvisible, Sheila Nicholls - Wake.

SACD discs (played on the Oppo DV-983H) included: Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, Steely Dan - Gaucho, The Who - Tommy.

Content on CD-R/RWs was also used.

Proceed to Page 2: Evaluation and Final Take