Studio MonitorOverreview

PreSonus Eris E5 XT

The budget monitor magazines crowned and the Klippel scanner didn't — with a waveguide both sides admire.

24 sourcesUpdated
$240 / pairTypical US price for two · sold individually ($120 each)

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

PreSonus Eris E5 XT

The short version

What to know.

A 5.25-inch active monitor with a well-behaved waveguide: ASR's Klippel scan and Estrada i Studio's lab both show wide, smooth horizontal dispersion, and reviewers agree on a broad sweet spot, solid stereo imaging and a generous set of rear tuning controls. Sources also agree the top end is bright, and several reviewers turned the HF control down. Opinion splits on the overall tonality (balanced to some, a boosted 'smile' with a 3 kHz dip to ASR), on bass (tight for the size, or unclean and thin), on hiss, on reliability and on whether it is good value next to the JBL 305P MkII.

About this product

The 2019 XT version of the Eris E5, with an elliptical waveguide around the tweeter and a larger cabinet. Not the older Eris E5, and not the Eris Studio 5 that replaced it in 2023. Sold one speaker at a time; PreSonus last listed it at $119.99 each (about $240 a pair) and now shows it as sold out.

PreSonus's Eris E5 was one of the default first pairs of studio monitors for years, and the 2019 XT refresh kept its blue woven woofer and Class AB amplifiers while adding a larger cabinet, a reworked front port and an elliptical waveguide around the tweeter, designed by Hugh Sarvis of PreSonus's WorxAudio division. A rear panel of HF, MF, Low Cut and Acoustic Space controls lets owners reshape it for their room. It sold for about $150 each and was last listed by PreSonus at $119.99 each — about $240 a pair — before the Eris Studio 5 replaced it.

Few budget monitors split opinion as sharply. Polish and German magazines gave it top marks, while Audio Science Review's Klippel measurements found a boosted, uneven response and a woofer that strains when pushed. Almost everyone agrees the waveguide gives it wide, even dispersion; the arguments are about tonality, bass, hiss and value against JBL's 305P MkII.

A good fit for

  • Nearfield desk setups where a wide sweet spot matters more than loudness
  • Users willing to set the rear HF and MF controls, or apply EQ, to flatten the response
  • Small rooms paired with a subwoofer through the Low Cut switch

Think twice if

  • You're sensitive to bright treble and won't adjust the controls
  • You want clean output at high levels from a 5-inch box
  • You'll connect over unbalanced RCA from a computer and hate hiss
  • You can find a JBL 305P MkII or the newer Eris Studio 5 for similar money

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

8 / 15topics divide opinion
soundstageimagingfeaturestrebleplacementtranslationergonomicstonalitybassmidsdetaildynamicsnoisebuildvalue
3 Strong agreement4 Mostly agree8 Divided opinions

Common ground5

  • The EBM waveguide gives wide, even horizontal dispersion and a broad sweet spot
  • The treble is bright, and lowering the rear HF control is the usual fix
  • Stereo imaging and depth are good for the price

Points of contention7

  • Tonality: balanced once tuned vs an uneven 'smile' with a 3 kHz dip
  • Bass: tight and deep for a 5-inch vs unclean when pushed, or thin and muddy in the room
  • Midrange: clear vs recessed next to the JBL 305P

A closer listen.

15 topics · 8 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Tonality

Leans positiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment17 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split. Most reviewers and owners call it balanced or flat, often after adjusting the HF and MF controls; ASR and a group of owners hear a boosted top and bottom with a hollow middle. Turning the controls is the usual fix.

Measured

Klippel NFS (ASR): raised bass and treble around a broad dip, deepest near the 3 kHz crossover; preference score 3.6 (6.0 with a subwoofer). In-room UMIK-1 sweep (DSAUDIOreview, semi-treated room, controls neutral): within about ±3 dB from 100 Hz to 10 kHz, with a shallow 3–5 kHz dip and a rise above 10 kHz.

vs. listeners — The anechoic data show the 'smile' that ASR heard; the room-measured curve and the magazines that adjusted the rear controls look and sound flatter. delamar says the factory setting is a bathtub curve and that its HF/MF controls let it dial in a surprisingly flat response — the split is largely tuned vs untuned.

Where it splits
balanced and honest, especially once tuned63%

“Dźwięk jest precyzyjny, monitory nie oszukują sonicznie”

Estrada i Studio (Polish: “The sound is precise; the monitors don’t cheat sonically”)
uneven 'smile' voicing, harsh to some ears37%

“we have two peaks at low and high frequencies with a wide dip overall, and two deeper ones within, with the worst case being the crossover region around 3 kHz”

Audio Science Review (amirm)
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Active bookshelf / standmountamplifiers built in
Ways
2-way
Enclosure
Ported, front port
Cabinet
Vinyl-laminated medium-density fiberboard

Drivers

Drivers
1 × 5.25″ woofer (woven composite) + 1 × 1″ (25 mm) dome tweeter (ultra-low-mass silk dome, EBM waveguide)5.25″ woofer + 1″ (25 mm) tweeter

Acoustic

Frequency response
48 Hz – 20 kHz
Maximum output
102 dB SPL (peak, @ 1 m)

Amplification & connections

Amplification
45 W + 35 W per speaker · Class ABactive crossover
Inputs
XLR, TRS, RCA
Power
Mains (internal PSU)

Features

Adjustments
Tone controls, Placement EQ

Physical

Weight
5,000 g per speaker
Dimensions
203 × 229 × 279 mm

Crossover at 3 kHz. Dispersion 100° × 60°. Rear controls: HF (±6 dB above 10 kHz), MF (±6 dB around 1 kHz), Low Cut (flat, 80 or 100 Hz) and Acoustic Space (flat, −2 or −4 dB below 800 Hz). Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from pae-web.presonusmusic.com, pae-web.presonusmusic.com, presonus.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 24

1–6 of 24 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 5

  1. A read of where the reviews and measurements land as of November 2026. The E5 XT has been replaced by the Eris Studio 5, so new stock is scarce and prices vary.

  2. Most hands-on reviews date from 2019–2021; long-term reliability reports come mainly from a small number of unhappy owners, who are more likely to post.