Energy (1 Viewer)

[Doug Smith]

Walked into a local A&B Sound the other day as I was thinking about an upgrade to my fron and centre speakers. Salesman pushed the Energy line. Any good?

 

[Jeff_Hunt]

I love mine, do a search and I'm sure you'll find plenty of happy Energy owners out there.
Jeff Hunt
http://www.jeffhunt.org

 

[JohnBrianW.]

I personally wasn't fond of Energy. For the same price Axiom, sounds better to me. I would also check out B&W's 3 series.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Energy makes a wide range of speakers from the tiny Take 5 system up to the Vertitas line so its hard to brush them with one brush but generally speaking they make a nice speaker. I've owned several Energy's and always enjoyed them.

 

[Chess Martin]

i love my 7 channel Energy setup.

eXL:16 mains and surrounds, eXL:C center, eXL:15 rear surrounds. very accurate, exceedingly well built.

for the money, i think canadian speakers in general are the way to go these days. just depends on which sounds better to you...also look at paradigm, mirage, and PSB.

 

[Jeffrey Chin]

Harveys strongly pushes Energy as well. Bear in mind that salespeople are not objective. They will push at you whatever they may get a good commission on or whatever brands they carry, which may not necessarily be the best matching spkrs for your other components.
Bottom line: LISTEN TO YOUR EARS

 

[MatthewK]

I love my energy Take 5.2s. Great for my needs.

Overall Energy makes some pretty nice equipment... but personally I think there are better values out there than their subwoofers.

For a more specific answer I think we all need to know which line are you particularly asking about? What are your needs?

Matthew

 

[JohnBrianW.]

I agree with Jeffrey, you need to listen, everyones ears hear something different. For HT the encores, I did like, I just didn't like them for music.

 

[KeithH]

Doug, definitely give some Energy speakers in your price range an audition and compare them to some comparably priced speakers from other manufacturers. Speakers are a very personal thing. That said, I like Energy speakers for the money. I have the older e:XL speakers in my home-theater set-up (e:XL 16 for fronts and rears, e:XL-C2 for center, and e:XL-S10 10" subwoofer) and a pair of e:XL 25 floorstanders in my second stereo system. I have been very happy with the Energy speakers.

 

[Mark Amayao]

I currently own the new connossieurs consisting of c5 towers
cc1 center c3 bookshelf speakers and 2 s8.2's .... i am very happy with them ... solid and tight speakers ... amazing imaging .... was initially bright i thought ... but realized it was the amp .... a pioneer d810s which i know is the weak link .... narrowed it down to either the strda2es/4es or yamaha rxv1300/2300 .... listen to speakers though ..... it took me a while to decide and find the sound i wanted ...... I work for the goodguys so i was constantly auditioning them against bostons klipsch polk ..... so thats six months 5 days a week at 10 hours a day ... lots of auditioning .......

what do you want from a speaker? what rec/amp are you shopping for? bring your own demo material ... how will your room be different to the sound room ....

have fun shopping ...... pick the salesman who isnt, or doesnt seem biased .... one that listens and seems patient
one that asks more questions then suggests merchandise ....

theres always a diamond in the rough .....

 

[Ronald Aguilar]

Doug-

You are getting some really great advise here. Listen, listen and listen. I don't think you can go wrong with Energy speakers. When I got them (3 years ago) they were very well priced. I have connossieurs, C-8 for fronts, C-2 for rears and AC-300 for centers. My twin has Veritas 2.1 fronts, Veritas center and take 5 for rears (also in ceiling speakers). My fronts are powered with a Parasound amp.

Ron A.

 

[KeithH]

Oh yeah, my brother has the Energy Veritas V2.2 bookshelf speakers and the Veritas center speaker, and he loves them.

 

[Michael Mathius]

Nothing but high praises for Energy from me. I have the Encores and Veritas and think the sound is the best I've heard for the money.

 

[Wendell]

I used to have the Energy Encore system and loved it. It's sound was real smooth. It was awesome with movies and music. Although, movie playback was much superior.

I heard their new line and it sounded great.

One thing to remember is that Energys lean towards the warmer side of sound. I recommend pairing it with a brigther sounding receiver like a yammy.

 

[KeithH]

Wendell said:

One thing to remember is that Energys lean towards the warmer side of sound.

Obviously everyone has their own interpretation of sound, but with the aluminum dome tweeters, some have said that Energy speakers are bright.

 

[Wendell]

That is true Keith, it was my opinion only. I just want to clarify they are warmer than my Paradox 1.

Sorry of any misunderstandings.

 

[Al Roeth]

I have the older e:xl-26 towers for mains, e:xl-C2 for center, and e:xl-16 speakers for surrounds. I've just put them in so haven't had a chance to really watch too many movies in 5.1, much less 6.1(although I just got Blade II, and that *is* in DTS-ES... so I'll give it a try this weekend).
But, initial impressions are very good, and for music I'm very impressed with the e:xl-26 mains with my Marantz SR-8200.
I spent a good deal of time looking and auditioning speakers, and while there were some speakers quite a bit more expensive that sounded marginally better, the e:xl line was surprisingly good. And to make the deal even more sweet, the old black e:xl line is discontinued, but you can find great deals out there. I got my e:xl-26 mains for $200 a piece, and that was new-in-box, not demos. Similarly, I found the 16 and C-2 center for a steal looking around... plus they abound on eBay =P
I noticed that some folks mentioned that they thought the e:xl line was bit bright due to it's aluminum dome. That's an interesting observation, and I'm sure it depends on all the standard "issues" such as room, placement, source, amplification, etc... but I've found my e:xl speakers to be very well balanced, and seemed quite a lot more neutral than the Conesseur line as auditioned in the audio store... although your mileage may vary based on the aforementioned other "issues"
Personally, I've got an extremely bright/lively listening room with hardwood floors, real plaster walls, and windows with mini-blinds!! Very bright... and yes, I'm trying to tone it down with some draperies or something later *laugh*... but paired with my Marantz receiver, even CDs sound much better than my old JBL monitors with their titanium tweeters. Maybe I was just too used to those "flame throwers" and now the aluminum-domed Energy's sound soft *laugh*... I dunno.
But bottom line, if you are budget minded, I would heartily recommend checking out some Energy speakers(any variety) and especially some of the e:xl line if you can find any to audition. Your personal taste and ears will be the ultimate judge, but if you like the sound of the Energy's, I don't think you can go wrong with their build-quality, good looks, and price/performance.
Are they the end-all speaker... of course not. But I only had about $1k to spend, and for the money, these were the best sounding speakers I found... and that bought me 2 pair of e:xl-16 speakers, a C2 center, and the two e:xl-26 mains... heck of a deal.
I can't really speak to the sub though... I got a heck of deal on a Sunfire True-Sub for $500, so I went with that!
Take care
al

 

[Jeff Aguilar]

I currently have the Veritas line from Energy.

I have had the Take 5, and then upgraded to the Connessuer series and then went with the Veritas. I believe that they are fantastic for the price with great clarity and depth. I have recommended them to many friends.

In their price ranges, they really do shine. But, the only way to know that for sure is to listen, listen and listen, as my twin said earlier. I do not think you will be dissapointed if you decide to go with Energy speakers. Even the sub sounds good, but SVS has them beat by a mile or two!

Jeff Aguilar

 

[Al Roeth]

...but then again, an SVS sub is about the size of a water-heater. I guess there's no substitute for size
Often not exactly "spouse friendly" from what I hear. *laugh*
al

 

[Jeff Aguilar]

Al, SVS subs look much better in person. My wife loves the subs! Not only becuase they sound good, but they go very well in our room. I have had SEVERAL wives of friends comment as to how much they liked my SVS subs. Now, they have them too. Just like sound is in the ear of the beholder, so are the looks of the subs.

Jeff