Actually, I did Diego. I had the day off and made a trip to hear the Energy speakers. They still didn't have the C-9's in stock, but they did have the C-5 and C-7 to listen to. I also got to listen to a sweet pair of Veritas 2.3 in-wall speakers....amazing! They're only about 4" deep, but are tremendous performers! I brought my own cd's to listen to, and the store manager left me alone in one soundroom to demo the speakers. The Yamaha RX-V1500 was the receiver to power all speakers I listened to. First off, I can't believe the bass that these things throw! I first listened to the C-5. Very impressive for their size. Will play very loud. The clarity and accuracy is very good, and the bass is astonishing for a speaker of this size. The more you push them the better they sound.
I then listened to the C-7's. They are slightly taller than the C-5, but instead of the two 6.5" midrange/woofers used on the C-5, the C-7 has three 5.5" drivers mated with the tweeter that is identical through this line. The uppermost driver handles the midrange, while the other two drivers handle the bass frequencies. I found that the extra crossover and extra driver makes a huge difference in sound quality. The highs and mids were much smoother and detailed than they were on the C-5's. Also, they played extremely loud, and continued to sound better and better as the volume went up. I was playing them extremely loud, and there wasn't a hint of distortion. Very smooth, very detailed, and very impressive. The bass produced was nothing short of extraordinary. There was much more volume than I expected. I am definitely impressed.
I also got to listen to several DVD's in stereo mode on both the C-5 and C-7, plus the Veritas. The C-7 again had a better midrange than the C-5, and sounded nearly identical to the Veritas in that area. They are a very natural, detailed, airy sounding speaker that performed beautifully in movie performance, including dialogue. I wish they had a C-C3 center channel speaker to mate with the C-7's, but they only had the C-C1.
I give the C-7 a big thumbs-up!
I think I can safely say I am more than satisfied with what I heard, and that I feel confident that I would love the sound of the C-9's.
I got more great news while there. I told the manager the $650/pair price I have seen at Good Guys. He couldn't believe it, so he went to the web site to check. Sure enough, there was the price I quoted him. He has not gotten the latest price sheet from his Energy rep, so he calls him right in front of me to ask him what's up with that low price. The rep informs him that the current Connoisseur line is being replaced with a new line in a month or two, and that he will now be able to clearance price the Connoisseur series speakers. He will call me tomorrow, and says he will probably be able to BEAT the price at Good Guys! He also gave me a brochure from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, giving some info on the new line of speakers. They will be the Reference Connoisseur or RC line. The RC's will have 1" chambered aluminum dome tweeters, and the woofers will use the Ribbed Elliptical Surround Woofers used on the .3 series of subwoofers. They claim to reduce distortion to nothing with this new technology. They are going to offer in three real wood veneer finishes: black ash, cherry, and rosenut.
I think I have breaking news here!
