Energy - whats better, the eXL series or Connoisseur series? (1 Viewer)

[MikePeroni]

Just thinking about upgrading the front on my Take 5.2 system. There is a nice eXL-150 bookshelf on the Energy site, as well as the new C-1 or C-3 bookshelfs. Both are aluminum dome tweeters. Any suggestions?

 

[Andrew Pratt]

The ex:L's are the bottom rung for Energy speakers so the C-# will be a lot better sounding. Personally I've never liked the ex:L's but rather enjoy the other Energy offerings.

 

[Paul_Dunlop]

Hi

The XL's are the middle of the product lineup, not the bottom rung. The XL's would be a definite step up from the Take 5.2 speakers - how much of a difference would be up to your ears.

I have the XL 16's up front, with an XL-C for the center, and just love them. I recently listened to the Connoisseur lineup and MY ears weren't impressed.

I think they look great and the design is very nice, but they sounded very muffled and muddied. (C3'3 and C5's in stereo) These were speakers that had about 40 hours on them, which is strange since Energy is known for bright speakers out of the box. The sales guy said they sounded the same since day 1.

THe XL 150 you were mentioning is brand new - they retired the XL 15,16,25,28P, XLC & XLC2 - i haven't listened to the new lineup yet, so i can't comment on them, other than the fact that the cabinets look the same as the previous line, but the drivers look like the connoisseur drivers. I hope they sound better!

I am NOT looking to upgrade at this time - i am very happy with my current Energy speakers, but i wanted to see if the Connoisseur would be the next step in the future. After listening, my initial impression is no, but i also auditioned some Totem Mite speakers. WOW is about all i can say.

We ran a stereo test with the following speakers
1. pair of Mission M71
2. Definitive Tech - (not sure - 7" passive radiators inside)
3. Totem Mite

I had my back turned to the speakers and the sales guy randomly switched the speakers with an ABC switch.

Short notes - I didn't like the sound of the Missions, thought the DT's had pretty good sound with nice bass extension and the Totems sounded awesome with every note.

Upgrading today, i would buy the Totems in a second. Since i will be waiting about 2 years, they will be at the top of my list, but i'll have to add others for sure.

Hope this helps - i would go listen to the new XL's and Connoisseurs to see which one matches your taste. You'll probably need to upgrade the whole front, or your current Center might be overpowered/timbre challenged.

Take it easy

 

[Danny Tse]

It all depends on how you like your speakers to sound, of course. I am currently using the Connoisseur C1 and they're excellent speakers. Before purchasing the Connoisseur C1, I auditioned both the e:XL16 and the Connoisseur C1. To my ears, the C1 sounded more refined; the e:XL16 goes deeper but have a somewhat hollow sound to its sonic signature. You can do a search on my name and see me trying hard to decide which one to buy. In the end, I purchased the C1 for US$275/pair vs. US$250/pair for the e:XL16. I saw the new XL bookshelf the other day, but I didn't get a chance to hear it. For US$200/pair, it's looks to be a great alternative to the Paradigm Atom. Energy makes great affordable speakers, so even if it's a buttom-of-the-line model, it shouldn't been bad at all.

 

[Martin Rendall]

I looked into this before a bit. The advice I received was that none of the other lines will match timbre with the Take speakers. So, if you do upgrade and you aren't yet thinking about it, you should also consider upgrading your center channel at the same time. What I can tell you about the Take center channel is... a decent upgrade will make a world of difference!

Best of luck,
Martin.

 

[Camp]

Not to be a party pooper but am I the only person who thinks the e:XL line is ungodly ugly? They just have a cheap plastic look that I cannot stand. They're good speakers for the money but I couldn't stand having them in my room.

 

[Paul_Dunlop]

Hi Danny - I'm glad you're happy with the C-1's - I'm planning on listening to the Connoisseur line again in a couple of months - for interest sake only. Also, with the previous XL lineup being discontinued, you would have been in trouble trying to complete your 5 speaker system, if you'd gone with the XL16.

Camp - Yes, you are the ONLY one that thinks they are ugly!
It is a matter of taste for sure. When i recommended a couple of systems to a friend last year, i gave him Energy XL and Paradigm Titan options, and mentioned that the Energy may not be to his visual liking.

Not to slam Titans or Atoms - they both SOUND great, but i think they are fairly ugly speakers.

Hey, if we all liked the same thing, it would pretty boring out there

Mike - let us know if you go listen to the new XL's

Take it easy

 

[Larry Becker]

Just to be a pain... What about going for the lower end of Energy's Veritas line? The 2.1's or 2.2's really sound great, and in a whole different league from the others. I have a 2.3, 2.0R, 2.0C system and couldn't be happier.
They sound so different from the others, though, that you'd want to match the three fronts at least.
Larry

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Camp no you're not alone

 

[Camp]

 

[Danny Tse]

Paul,

I was buying the Connoisseur C-1s for a music-oriented system. I was sitting on the fence regarding going with 2 channel or multi-channel sound in a small den. However, after picking up a Sony DVP-NS500V SACD/DVD player, I am now leaning toward going multi-channel. And you're right regarding getting the other speakers to match the e:XL16, which was one reason I went with the Connoisseur series. I did e-mail Energy regarding the sonic differences between the e:XL and the current XL series....and they said the curreny XL series center channel speaker (whatever its model number is) will match the older e:XL series.

I am now considering building a 3.1 (left/right/center and sub) system using the Connoisseur C-1 and the Sony SACD/DVD player, powered by an ancient Technics Pro-Logic receiver (used in stereo mode). Waiting to build up funds for one of those Sony ES receivers.

 

[Chess Martin]

a little late to post here, but i have 4 eXL-16s in my setup (about 2 years now) and i love em. definately worth a listen and they should be a relatively close timbre match for your "take" surrounds.
if you're interested in selling the other pair of takes, i'm thinking about picking up a pair for back surrounds in a 7.1 setup...we might be able to work something out. [email protected]
as previously mentioned, i'd recommend upgrading the center as well, but keep your current center for 6.1 purposes.
good luck.