Energy Take 5.1 or...... (1 Viewer)

[DrSpill]

Hello all.

 

So I wandered into HT looking to get advice on a home theater setup that can get me by the next five years or so. I was originally thinking about buying an Onkyo or Denon HTiB, but after spending much of the past few days here, I think I'm going to try to put together my own receiver/speaker combo. I'd like to keep the price about $600-700.

 

For the speaker set, I''m leaning toward the Energy Take 5.1. Amazon has it for $399 (of course out of stock at the moment).

 

For the price, is it "game over -- buy the Energy Take" or are there other speakers sets people would reccomend?

 

We mainly watch movies, and I get on the Xbox occasionally. We listen to music rarely.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

thanks in advance,

 

Madhu

 

[John Garcia]

Yes, the Take system and piecing it together yourself will be much better than the HTiB approach in the long run.

 

[DrSpill]

To follow up, I think I'm in the "home stretch".

 

I've more or less settled on a receiver, but am still trying to sort out the speakers. What I'm perseverating on is the Energy Take 5.1 classic, or put together a 3.1 system now and finish it out to a 5.1 in a few months or so.

 

What I was thinking was Energy CB-5 as the FL and FR, and a Definitive Pro Center 1000 as the center. That would leave me with around 100 for a sub, rounding out the planned 3.1. In a few months, once I have some cashflow, I would then buy surrounds or move the CB-5 to surround and get new front's.

 

Reson I was thinking this was that the main thing we do is watch movies & TV (versus listen to music), so I want to to make sure I get a decent center. When I listened to the above in a Magnolia (connected through a Onkyo TX-SR608) I liked the way it sounded. The thing that leaves me wary about the Energy Take is that I can't listen to it before buying it, hence can't judge the center.

 

Any advice, or am I putting way to much thought into it for a "starter" system?

 

 

[CB750]

Would you buy a car without taking it for a test drive?

 

Since you were looking on Amazon have you actually listened to the Energy take 5.1. in person. Many Internet sold systems like SVS have a liberal return policy if you don't like them. I don't know if that is true with speakers available retail that you can generally get cheaper on line. So if you have not listened to them you may have a problem returning them unless they are defective.

 

[DrSpill]

That's the problem: the energy take 5.1 is available exclusively through Amazon.com --- I have no way of listening to them prior to purchase.

 

[CB750]

I see what you are saying. I looked at the Energy line about two years ago and the take 5.1 was on their website. It now appears the take five speakers are out of production and Amazon purchased all of the remaining inventory and sold them at a very fair price. I know that Amazon does this with end of model runs of many items. I now wonder if they will ever be in stock on Amazon again.

 

Given the good reviews I see they got on Amazon you might to take a gamble. I would check with Amazon and find out what their return policy is if you do not like them.

 

[DrSpill]

OK...

 

 

I think I'm getting addicted to this place and HT now.

 

After reading through a lot of posts, learning about timbre matching, different price points etc, I have finally made some decesions

 

1) I bought the Onkyo TX-SR608 from Amazon for $399. Its backordered, but I can wait

 

In terms of speakers, I'm down to two options. for real

 

1) Do a nice 3.1 setup for now, and upgrade to 5.1 in a few months: Buy Def Tech Promonitor 800's for the FL and FR, the procenter 1000 for the center, and a dayton 8 inch for a sub. As stated before, in a few months I'll get some surrounds (which I understand aren't as important to be timbre matched).

 

2) the Energy RC Micro 5.1 for $399.

 

I mainly watch movies, and fell in love with the Def Tech Procenter 1000 when I was in magnolia. The price on the Energy Micro is fantastic, I'm just leery about getting the center without being able to listen to it first. Crutchfield does have a 30 days return policy, but energy states there is a 40-50 hour break in period for the speakers, so I won't really know.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on my dilemna? Last time I pester you guys.....after I resolve this issue, I'm buying.

 

thanks.

 

[gene c]

Even though I think there is a little something to this speaker break-in period I doubt the difference between new and fully broken in will sway you one way or another.

 

Only problem with the Dayton 8" sub woofer is it's only rated down to 40 hz.

 

I would think the Def Tech Pro 1000 center would have to be better than the little Energy Micro.

 

There are always alternatives. Like 2 pair of Polk/Monitor-30's ($88 shipped/pair) and Polk/CS1 center ($73 shipped) from NewEgg.com and a better Partsexpress sub. But they can't be returned so make sure you listen to something similar at BestBuy.

 

Or the Jamo/ConcertSeries center ($70 shipped) and 2 pairs of ConcertSeries ($90/pair shipped) bookshelves, plus a sub.

 

Or the Jamo 413/HCS 5.1 package for $199 shipped. The sub looks like a toy but performs pretty well. But in the end you usually get what you pay for.

 

The Jamo's are from Vanns.com and only have a 7 day return privillage. I have the 413 HCS, bought it for someone else who never paid me for it . Well, I hope so anyway.

 

[Samuran]

and i have this problem

 

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[yuppiejr]

I just helped specify and install a basement A/V setup for my neigbor on a pretty tight budget and we came up with what turned out to be a very solid system

 

He started with a 50" Samsung 1080p plasma + Samsung BR player and a TiVo Premiere on sale at BBuy on sale for $1,100 and change out the door a couple of weeks ago. He wanted a "stealthed" installation in which he would see only the speakers and the TV on the front wall so we figured on wall mounting the speakers (no stands with kids in the house) and a modest but capable subwoofer that would be located near his listening position on the back wall of the room (roughly 12'x12'). Components would be installled about 25 cable feet from the TV in a locked crawl space to keep out the kids with adequate airflow for cooling.

 

For speakers we looked at Energy, Klipsch, Polk and JBL and ended up going with 3 pairs of the JBL Venue "Tour" model for $70 a pair shipped which include nice adjustable wall mounts (these were known in a former life as the JBL Northridge N24 speakers). For low end we paired the satellites with a Polk Audio PSW10 10" active subwoofer for $90. Total damage for speakers + sub was a hair under $300 shipped and we added a Denon 391 reciever ($208 shipped) + speaker/HDMI cables/LCD mount and an IR repeater from Monoprice ($120 ish with a high speed 25' HDMI cable).

 

After 2 nights figuring out how to run cables without a drop ceiling in sight we were able to do a quick calibration and fire up Star Trek and some other standard demo/eval material... very impressed. I've played with the Klipsch Promedia/Quintet, Polk and JBL "Cinema" series HTIB solutions and what we ended up with was a far better performing system for less money in my opinion. The JBL's were very smooth and natural sounding with a much more realistic presence in the midrange (male dialogue in particular) than I'm used to in smaller satellite speaker based system that use smaller 3" drivers in micro size cabinets. Having 3 identical speakers across the front was both visually appealing and provided a very clean soundstage.
 

Anyway, I would give the JBL Venue Tours a look for your application - dollar for dollar you could move up to the BIC F12 12" subwoofer or a PAIR of the 10" Polk subs with 6 perfectly matched speakers with this option versus the Energy kit. There are also a LOT of options to upgrade your main speakers to something else in the current JBL Northridge/Studio L line that will leave you with compatible surrounds and perhaps a nice pair of den/garage speakers later in life.
 

 

[DrSpill]

Thanks for all the help everyone.

 

I ended up going with

 

Onkyo TX-SR608

Def Tech Promonitor 1000 FL/FR

Def Tech Procenter 2000 Center

Jamo C400sur Rears

Bic America F12 as Sub

 

I figure in a year or two i'll upgrade the rears and sub, but in the meantime it sounds great to me (caveat: I'm certainly no where close to an audiophile).

 

What a long strange trip its been. Thanks to everyones help, without which I would have either bought a Htib or a mismatched C/L/R set.

 

[gene c]

Glad you're happy with what you decided to get. These decisions can drive you absolutely nuts!