Presonus Eris E3.5

Just based on looks and weight this seemed like a decent find, turns out these are still sold for a bit more than that. Except for a few stains on one woofer they look new, and came with the power cord and speaker cable.

53 points · 11 comments · view on lemmy.world

11 Comments

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 4d (2 replies)

Eh, finally plugged them in, they work. Don't sound as nice and clear as my workhorse Creative T40s. But I paid full price for those...

orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 4d

Wonder if they got blown or the drivers are corroded.

Thassodar@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 4d

I bought the Bluetooth version of these speakers, new, last year and they've been stellar. I mainly bought them so I could stop mixing my music on old Logitech 5.1 cheap speakers.

orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 4d

Nice. I bought these new about 6 years ago on clearance for $80 and thought it was a great deal. They're awesome.

Tikiporch@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 4d (5 replies)

This is a pretty good deal, assuming the important bits (the ones inside the cabs) are working properly.

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 4d (4 replies)

Everything's fine. My pre-purchase "tests" are

  1. Tapping the cabinets with my finger to see if it sounds hollow or solid and damped. This is without checking the model first, just a general test. The solider and quieter the thump sounds the better it is. You want an acoustically "dead" enclosure.

  2. State of the cones and surrounds, and tweeter. Tapping the woofer in the center gives you an idea of the bass, how smooth it moves, and any rubbing sounds. The surrounds need to be intact.

  3. Tweeters, if you can see them, generally just need to be shaped right, ie no kids pushed them in. (Which isn't always bad, they can be pulled back out but why bother)

  4. Do the ports have dead mice in them?

  5. Smell and cosmetics. Rattles.

  6. These are active speakers, so I tested to see if it turns on, if it makes a noise, is the volume pot scratchy.

The only thing I missed is that one speaker is missing its adhesive feet. Beh. Whatever.

otter@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 4d (1 reply)

Tapping the woofer in the center gives you an idea of the bass, how smooth it moves, and any rubbing sounds

Other than rubbing sounds, what would I be looking for?

HugeNerd@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 4d

Cracked material.

fondue@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 4d

Yep! Just adding anecdotally to your tests some thoughts that could help someone:

  1. Some cabinets are artificially mass loaded. Excess glue, scrap metal glued to the bottom, other scumbag stuff. There are badly made, nice sounding speakers; not many, and they don't hold up well over time.

  2. The woofer should make a very faint "woof", as it is pushing some air around. Be gentle with this test. Any rubbing, catching, or scratching - any material-on-material sounds - mean repair is needed. Repair can be pretty easy, and it's good to practice on beaters before you work on something you care about.

  3. Tweeters and dustcaps that have been punched in can be gently vacuumed back sometimes with a sock over the hoover wand and a careful approach. Doesn't always pan out.

  4. I got a power unit with dead cockroaches inside. It was destined for the landfill, so - ya know cleaned up garbage. Works fine now...

  5. Found pleasant sounding towers that rattled really badly, and had kid scribbles in black sharpie. I don't care about the marking, and the rattle ended up being a bunch of kids toys that were dropped in the port by a little scamp. Still in use with the toys removed, just had to reach in there and pull out the junk. Smell.... Just depends on your willingness to clean them up. Like the amplifier that had cat piss in it. It's garbage!

  6. Sometimes these won't turn on with a blown fuse. Usually easy to check them. If it's blown, a new fuse could fix it, but more likely indicative of a deeper electrical issue.

Good hunting!

spiderhamster@midwest.social · 1 pts · 4d

These are active speakers, so I tested to see if it turns on, if it makes a noise, is the volume pot scratchy.

Does the noise go away when plugged into a power conditioner?

homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 4d

Nice!