bad reviews onenergy take 5.2... (1 Viewer)

[balajiPA]

I was almost ready to order online the energy take 5.2 package and then, i came across some bad reviews on audioreview.com website.The bad reviews are about woofer blow out and unreliability of the product itself.out of 5 reviews on this site, three were not positive.everywhere else on the internet, i found only good reviews.does anybody out there, have any advise for me whether i can buy this one or not.
I did audition energy take 5.2 and i liked it.

 

[Tim Morton]

you do not need any credentials to review a speaker on audioreview, so i would take ANYTHING you read with a grain of salt, good and bad. Yours is the first complaint i have ever heard about energy speakers...I owned the take 5 surround speakers years ago and they were very wel built and i sold them a couple years after buying them used for more than i paid for them...they hold up well.

 

[balajiPA]

any other inputs on this....please share..
I am holding off to hear more...

 

[Jamie Doucette]

The Energy Take 5.2 is in my opinion one of the best satellite speakers systems out there (no, I do not own them). Energy has a very good product, and they service their product equally as well.

Things you should know about the Take 5.2's are:

1) they are NOT "floor standing, crank the volume thru the freaking roof" speakers. They're satellites for pete's sake. I've seen many people damage their sat speakers by playing them at abusive volume levels (common sense here please). Those are probably the people that gave the woofers negative reviews.

2)excellent warranty service

3) Energy does NOT warenty any of their products bought online. If you go to www.energy-speakers.com a pop-up disclaimer details their reasons why they do not warranty online. If you do order online, please be careful.

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

I used to own the original Take5 speakers, and for the money, they were outstanding for micro speakers.

 

[JeremyFr]

I currently own the Take 5+1's the original take 5's, like stated they are not floorstanding blow your furniture against the wall speakers but they get more than loud enough for me in an 18x18x8 room and I've quite enjoyed them, they're internally crossed off at 90hz so I dont see woofer blowout being a problem not to mention I run them as small in the speakers settings on my Yamaha reciever. I've gotten them quite loud and never heard any sign of strain or distortion from the satelites or included sub (5.2's do not come with sub.) I did alot of research before I bought them and never came across a bad review on any sites I visited not to mention the endless awards and accolades from major magazines that I would trust a whole lot more than some porn surfing freak on a personal review website hehe at anyrate I'm a very happy owner and I would highly reccomend them to anyone with a clear consiouse (sp?)

sorry had to add more here its gonna be hard to find speakers in the price range of the takes with as high a build quality, features include full 5 way binding posts, MDF enclosures for all sats & sub great quality transducers, very high build quality they're very sturdy speakers they dont feel like cheap KEF or even Bose Build quality.

 

[balajiPA]

thanks all for the great inouts....
I think i have heard enough to decide on the energy take 5.2 package.now,where should i buy it?
Good guys carries it for $899(5 speakers+sub-woofer)
e-tailers(like acoustic sound design) have it for about 720(includes shipping).but,based on what Mr.Jamie says mfr warranty is not applicable and only etailer themselves seem to warranty them.is this safe bet or should i spend the $200 extra and buy it at good guys?I can't decide and need help here, please.....

 

[JeremyFr]

well at 720 whats the shipping cost's also Good Guys has awesome Customer Service I know because this is where I shop. They'll take good care of you and go out of there way to make you happy.

 

[Martin Rendall]

I just wanted to add that I have the original Take 5 system, and am still using the sats today. They do sound great!

Beware the 90Hz crossover though. It means that if your receiver crosses over at 80Hz, there will be a slight dip in loudness centered around 85Hz. I would imagine that 90Hz or 100Hz (or more, for that metter) receiver crossovers would be fine.

Martin.

 

[JeremyFr]

yeah my Yammy automatically crosses of at 90hz at least thats the highest point of the sub out so I'd imagine that the small setting crosses off at that point as well though I'll need to go through my manual and make sure. I havent had any problems with frequency drop out so I assume that I'm right.

 

[Yee-Ming]

I vaguely remember that What HiFi recently had a comparison test of sat/sub systems and the Take 5 fared rather poorly, much to my surprise. can't remember the details though, although I do recall the KEF KHT2005 (the metal "eggs") was highly regarded.

personally, I've always thought the Energy Encores are excellent value. I didn't get them in the end, though, because I wanted a setup which did well for music as well, and satellites by definition have a problem with bass.

 

[Danny Tse]

Yee-Ming,

I saw the same issue of What HiFi as you did, and while I think it's possibly the best hifi magazine out there, I always consider it to be pro-British. I am not saying British products aren't good (I've owned Tannoy and Celestion speakers), it's that foreign (non British) products cost a lot more in the UK. That will shift opinions.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I'd advise the Nht SuperZeroes, I think onecall was running them at about $75 a piece and that would leave enough for the Rava or the VTF2 in your price range.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

++1997 Stereo Review article "Baby Grands" by Corey Greenberg (pg. 80) - . . .I have to point out that the Energy system doesn't sound much like a movie theater, . . .

With all the latest Blockbuster DVD's out today (Men in Black I & II; ID-4; Armageddon; X-Men; Tomorrow Never Dies; Pearl Harbor etc.), replaying those DVD's up to or near REFERENCE SPL Level without the fear of blowing them up and sounding like a real Cinema Theater (not a home theater) was very critical to me!!

My JBL NSP1's easily was up to that task where my usual listening level for my once or twice a month Friday NITE DVD crowd Fast SPL peaks AVG. 105 / 106 dB @ my sweet spot (9' from my Center - 20' x 30' w/10' high vaulted ceiling HT/family room) / or -10 dB below REF Level (Audio Calibrated w/Video Essentials DVD). Basically, loud enough to move the air, floor, couch, walls when the DVD encoded LFE called for it, but also loud enough to hear the whispering dialog during the quieter moments of the movie!

Just relating my opinion and earlier findings,
Phil

 

[Martin Rendall]

Phil,

You made the right choice. I just can't see the Take 5 speakers achieving your volume levels in any decent sized family room. Physics is kind of a hard wall that way.

I must take exception with the quoted statement "the Energy system doesn't sound much like a movie theater." This is an entirely subjective statement. I defy you to come up with measurable metrics for "sounding like a movie theater!" I'm not going to address this point again, since it would inevitably lead to arguments about double blind tests, and completely subvert this thread! It would also depend on room acoustics, speaker placement, seating arrangements, where the furniture is, and a whole gaggle of other factors.

The 110Hz drop is interesting too. You haven't quoted a decibel level during the tests... which could be quite a big factor. That is, there may be a 0.5dB drop off at 80dB, but a 3dB drop off at 102dB. If the latter... see my first paragraph in this response!

Anyway, I'm certainly not arguing with your statements... merely trying to point out that there doesn't seem to be enough context to just blindly accept them.

There's no doubt that when I upgraded my speakers from the Take 5 to Paradigm Studios, there was a huge difference in the sound (for the better) in the mid-bass and midrange frequences. But I'd certainly claim that for their price and size, the Take 5 are exceptional speakers.

Martin.

 

[JeremyFr]

I own the Take 5+1's not the take 5.2's which are different speakers in that the 5+1's are not ported and enclosure design is slightly different between the 2 so I cannot speak for the 5.2's but for a $600 system that includes sub the 5+1's are excpetional speakers and definately rival many packages in there price range.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Thanks Martin!

… you can use the highly recommended bargain basement Sony SA-WM40 or do what my brother did, paired the JBL NSP1's with a highly regarded SVS 25-31PCi!

Phil

 

[MatthewK]

I own the Energy Take 5.2s with an SVS 25-31PC+ sub. Personally I think the Take 5.2s are great speakers and I would say, IMHO, the best I could have bought at the time. If you are worried about the Take 5.2s build quality you may want to look at Axiom Micro's as they are similar in capability, size and price.

I say at the time because Take 5.2s are great if you are looking for a micro-satellite speaker that, for it's size, performes very admirably. I think for it's size and price it is a great speaker. The only thing I found is the Energy S10.2 sub I purchased with it couldn't quite perform how I wanted it too... so I upgraded it to an SVS!

Now if you are not constrained to micro-satellite speakers I think it would do you well to look at some of the other larger bookshelfes that offer a great bang for the buck. The reason being is the Take series, due to it's small size, in my experience is somewhat limited and cannot handle large rooms as well.

That being said the micro-satellite requirement is no longer there for me. My wife agrees that larger speakers are now an option as she has loved the Take 5.2s so much. Therefore I am now getting some Ascend Acoustic's speakers to in home audition.

Bottom line... If you have a size constraint the Take 5.2s are great and will probably work for you. If not I would probably look elsewhere. Couple good suggestions are: Axiom, Dahlquist, Ascend, JBL and many, many more.

As you can tell I personally don't think JBL competes directly with the Takes in the size category as it is somewhat larger and moves out of the "micro" category in my mind. Don't get me wrong, from what others have said it appears to be a very capable contender in this budget price range but is just a little larger.

Hopefully this helps.

Matthew

 

[Martin Rendall]

Hi Phil,

I would have to say that your passion for HT certainly does this forum proud! I'm glad to hear that you are getting such joy from your JBL speakers. I understand them to be very capable... I considered them myself before deciding on Paradigm's for my latest upgrade.

Speaking of paradigms, 4 Paradigm Atoms and a matched center, or even 5 Atoms could make a really good basis for an inexpensive system. Thought we'd forgotten about you balajiPA, didn't you!

Regards,
Martin.

 

[balajiPA]

ya,i plan to buy the energy take 5.2 this weekend at goodguys($899)I dont see any better deals barring from unauthorized internet dealers.i am researching for cables and where to buy them.(sears/home depot).I am thinking of AR Cables to start with...
any ideas?