Energy Take Classic 5 Pack 5.0 Home Theater Speaker

5 comments

1. 

   y168 on January 10, 2010 at 3:16 am

   The positive reviews of this package are right on target. These speakers are nice when they work. However, I had very bad experiences with them. If only one or two speakers of the five broke, I would give it a 3 or 4 star rating. However, I had to send each and every one of them to service. Yes, all five speaker went bad in a few years. Here is a tip for those who need to send the speakers back for service. When you contact the technical support, you have a choice to send them back to the head quarter or the regional service center, remember to send them to the HQ. If you send the speakers to regional service center, they will charge you to ship the speakers back to you! The service manager at the head quarter did not explain this policy first. I didn’t learn about it until I got a phone call asking for my credit card number to ship my speakers back.

2. 

   Ching Chieh Hsiao on January 10, 2010 at 4:11 am

   The speakers work great. I would have hoped that Energy spent a little more time in putting together a good manual. The manual is but a couple of pages with the bare minimum information.

   There’s no audio cables included. You will need to familiarize yourself with the different cable grades and make a decision on how much to spend for these, the lower gauge/thicker wires tending toward better sound.

   I was disappointed in Amazon not displaying how long it would take to ship with the ‘free shipping’ option. It took a week before the item shipped out from Amazon. Had I known, I would have bought this item from another reputable site at the same price with free shipping and had it shipped the next working day.

3. 

   Digman on January 10, 2010 at 5:38 am

   Following much research(probably too much), I purchased the Energy Take Classic 5.0 through Amazon marketplace. They are replacing a 15 year old set of Boston Accoustic CR6 and CR1 speakers. I presently have them hooked up to a 15 year old Technics SA GX490 receiver. Though much smaller in stature, the Energy speakers just blow the BA speakers away and they aren’t even fully broken in yet. Big sound comes from these little speakers. The clarity is surprising. The highs and the mids are so much clearer and true. Realistically, they will never sound as good as Bose, but dollar for dollar they are a much better value than most mid or high end speakers, and they look good too! My family loves movies and I listen to a lot of music in a 13′x18′ space. These speakers have impressed all of us.

   UPDATE – I was able to purchase these speakers for less than $200 new. I’m now using the Energy speakers with a new Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K receiver and BIC V1020 subwoofer. The sound is even more incredible as the speakers break in. The speakers are even cleaner and livelier with no noticeable distortion. I couldn’t be happier.

   Now the bad:
   
   - The wire connectors are cheap but functional. Banana clips are accommodated. “You need to unscrew the whole cap off the ports. Mounting screw is in an awkward position, especially when using banana clips as they’re right in the way.”- Spars

   - Most universal speaker stands will not securely hold these speakers. The mounting screw is too high on the rear of the speaker and it is above the wire connectors. I ended up using a cheap set of Init wall mounts instead.

4. 

   Reader 777 on January 10, 2010 at 5:57 am

   With my wallet in mind, I researched and ordered these speakers. They were incredibly clean and crisp. You will need a Sub for the system to shine, but the speakers clarity was beyond my expectations. I would recommend these speakers to my dead grand mother.

5. 

   Thrill on January 10, 2010 at 6:05 am

   I researched various brands of Speakers when my wife told me that she wanted to get me a new set for Christmas. It was narrowed down to 3: Definitive Technologies, Mirage, and Energy Take 5 Classic. The Def Tech were $850 at Best Buy, Mirage were $650, and then the Energy Pkg was listed for $600 online. CNET rated the Energy set as their recommended set for this size and price point. I decided to go with the Energy set based on reading a few professional reviews and the feedback here on Amazon. After a week, I am impressed with the sound quality and ease of set-up out of the box. My living area is 19×19 and is open on 2 sides. Most would recommend a larger sub for the room, but the sound is still very good. The satellites are crystal clear and I’m noticing things I hadn’t heard in the past when watching movies. I’m really happy since I ordered them without having heard a set prior. I liked the Def Tech set-up at Best Buy, but decided to order these when I considered the price. I ordered the set seperately. I ordered the Energy ESW 8 HG sub from Amazon for $149 and the Take 5 Classic Sattellite speakers off of NewEgg for $179. Both had free shipping which arrived within a week. NewEgg sent me an email a week later saying the Satellites went on sale for $129. For the money, I could not be happier! Having now heard them set up in my living room, I would’ve ordered these at $600 over the Def Tech at $850. FYI, I’m not an audiophile, or a techie. They are connected to my older (5+ years) Sony STR-DE575 receiver using Monster THX Speaker Wire ($29 for 100′) and a Monster Sub cable that I picked up at FRY’s for $12 (No frills pkg). Took less than an hour to connect (Not wall mounted). My opinion is that I did not give up any sound quality and now have extra money to upgrade my receiver and possibly a tv.