Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before going into the details of the review it's important to point out that these speakers are actually designed as "near-field" monitors, not home-audio loudspeakers. I've seen a handful of complaints about lack of bass reponse, hollow sound etc. Near-field monitors are designed to reproduce sound with a *flat* response to give an accurate, faithful reproduction of the original audio without enhancements. And the name implies their intended usage, to be listened "near" to the speaker itself at low-to-medium volume levels, not from 10-20 feet away with room-filling sound. By contrast, "loudspeakers" are used for home audio and they typically have boosted bass and or treble response (low and high frequencies) to make the sound more punchy and colorful, especially since nearly all consumer audio sources come from highly compressed MP3 sources where much of the dynamic range of the original music track has been lost. The PreSonus Eris series are all designed to be professional near-field monitors used for making critical mixes for audio or film/video production, and in that intended usage the Eris 3.5's shine. The response is definitely flat with a little more low-end punch than I would have expected for a monitor this size. In fact I'm outright surprised how much low-end (bass) comes out of this small-ish pair. The rear-porting coupled with being close to a wall provides ample if not a tad too much bass reinforcement. I think for future design evolution having a front-ported enclosure would most likely make the bass response a bit more accurate, however I'm totally pleased with the output they provide. One thing that sets this pair apart from the competition other than it's accurate sound reproduction, is that they have both a high and low-end tuning knobs on the back of the primary unit (left side). All others simply have a volume or output level adjustment, but no way to actually TUNE the speakers to the environment. That's a big plus and normally only found on larger and pricier units. Although these are monitors and not loudspeakers they do provide a ton of physical sound output, far louder than I would have expected for such a small near-field monitor. (Remember, near-fields are designed for up-close low-to-medium volume levels.) I considered several different models at this size and for the money you can't get or expect a better pair of monitors, they rock! Mine haven't even broken-in yet (new drivers need a break-in period to maximize their potential) and I'm already in love - it will only get better with time. As long as you clearly understand the difference between what a loudspeaker and a near-field monitor is supposed to do then you'll be amazed at how good the Eris 3.5's sound. Get a pair and enjoy!!! I definitely am.