  Recently developed instrumentation at the University of Washington has
allowed for nonresonant x-ray emission spectra (XES) to be measured in a
laboratory-setting with an inexpensive, easily operated system. We present a
critical evaluation of this equipment by means of K\b{eta} and valence-level
XES measurements for several Co compounds. We find peak count rates of ~5000/s
for concentrated samples and a robust relative energy scale with
reproducibility of 25 meV or better. We furthermore find excellent agreement
with synchrotron measurements with only modest loss in energy resolution.
Instruments such as ours, based on only conventional sources that are widely
sold for elemental analysis by x-ray fluorescence, can fill an important role
to diversify the research applications of XES both by their presence in
non-synchrotron laboratories and by their use in conjunction with XAFS
beamlines where the complementarity of XAFS and XES holds high scientific
potential.
