I've bought these a few years ago and they still impress me every time I listen to them. I've had my share of other name brand speakers from psb, ev, tannoy, sound dynamic, etc and I can't say they out do all of these in every way because they don't, all of these other speakers stood out in their own way in one way or another, they all had their moments when they shined head and shoulders above the energy c4's. But what I can say is the same goes for the c4's. The energy c4's stood above the rest more times, thru more music and movies, more then any of the others did and never did they quiver under the sound of the others. I can feel confident that no matter what the music or what part of the movie my c4's can take it and produce a sound that will impress even the most picky individual. As for the areas of strength, they take a decent amount of power with ease, they play low without any boomyness, they have rich, clear, detailed highs without and shrill, and even after hours, days, weeks of listening at higher volume, there is absolutely no, I mean NO fatigue. So if you have one style or type of music and only listen at one level I'm sure you can find a speaker that will better suit your needs but if your like me and listen to everything from country to rap and even classical or jazz these are very hard to beat.

Tweeters are very sensitive to clipping, they'll take a ton of clean power for days with ease but 1 sec of a dirty signal will fry the tweeter. The piano black finish is solid and absolutely beautiful but one heck of a dust magnet Don't over tighten the binding posts, or maybe it's just me, I got a bad habit of breaking things and have had to replace 1 post. I guess 1 post ain't proof of anything, maybe it was a flaw in the post or maybe I just turned to hard, so I can say is it was the first binding post I've ever broke. They don't feel cheap so..... You know what, I'm just picking at whatever, I have no dislikes about the energy c4's at all, I just feel a review needs to have both, like and dislike but hey what do I know lol.

I'm a little late with this one (like 15 years) but....

Bought a pair of C4s back in 99', really only got them because my chick got approved for a Good Guys credit card, (ya know, no payments for a year kinda thing). And wanted to upgrade from the Paradigm 3SE we were using. We paid $600 at Good Guys and guess what? Turns out I really liked them, A LOT! They dug down there pretty deep for only an 8" woofer, They cross over at a fairly low point (somewhere around 2200hz or 2400hz, if I recall) and the cabinets were rock solid. I bi-amped mine using an 'Adcom 2535' and they sounded great.

Only thing I didn't like was that cheesy looking Energy emblem on the grills.

They're long gone now but I highly recommend them to anyone looking for some good used speakers cheap, I'm sure you can pick them up for a song now n days (maybe $100 - $140)

Hello,just doing my review on these fantastic speakers.cannot believe the sound stage of these speakers,incredible.sounds as if bass bins are being used.then again,depends on system being used.dont even need a sub,bass is very tight.a lot of credit to Energy.this blows away any speaker in this price point and way above.sounds more like a 10,000 pair,than 1,000 list.got the deal of a lifetime,paid 245.00 taxes in at local cash converters.if u can find one,run dont walk. cassettes sound like u are playing cds,now i am in trouble,will have to play my old cassettes,life is back in them.

My system: Amp: Acurus DIA100MKII, Source: Sony XA3ES, Sonic Frontier's Assemblage DAC2. I've listened to just about every speaker imaginable $1K and under like the B&W 602, 604, NHT 1.5, Paradigm Reference series, Tannoy Mercury M2, Totems, Mirages, PSB, etc. I found the Energy C2 and C4 to be the most impressive to my disbelief. The NHT 1.5's were pretty good but sounded just too dry with my equipment and it lacked bottom end. The B&W's were just too laid back for my taste. I ended up purchasing the C4 for it's silky balance and perfect highs. They didn't image quite as well as the NHT's but more than makes up for it with it's timbre. The C4's musicality lends the listerner toward being involved in the music rather than being analytical. There is some coloration in the bottom end which can sound boomy at times but by no means annoying.
Overall, I'am very very impressed with these speakers.

I would strongly advise anybody in the market to purchase speakers to give these a serious audition. I would not of even considered making this recommendation a month ago.

My system: Amp: Acurus DIA100MKII, Source: Sony XA3ES, Sonic Frontier's Assemblage DAC2. I've listened to just about every speaker imaginable $1K and under like the B&W 602, 604, NHT 1.5, Paradigm Reference series, Tannoy Mercury M2, Totems, Mirages, PSB, etc. I found the Energy C2 and C4 to be the most impressive to my disbelief. The NHT 1.5's were pretty good but sounded just too dry with my equipment and it lacked bottom end. The B&W's were just too laid back for my taste. I ended up purchasing the C4 for it's silky balance and perfect highs. They didn't image quite as well as the NHT's but more than makes up for it with it's timbre. The C4's musicality lends the listerner toward being involved in the music rather than being analytical. There is some coloration in the bottom end which can sound boomy at times but by no means annoying.
Overall, I'am very very impressed with these speakers.

I would strongly advise anybody in the market to purchase speakers to give these a serious audition. I would not of even considered making this recommendation a month ago.

Very clean and crisp sound. Fine cabinet tightly made.

It may not have enough heavy base for some listners. Energy no longer make this line.

I was looking for a main front speaker that would give me the clean tight sounds at very low volume. I didn't need a lot of base as I would control my base through a sub-woofer.
The C-4 was the one at the right price. Had it shipped in from Canada with the exchange rate I made out well about $490 encluding shipping. I have had seccess with DVD's and CD's. Classical and rock music have never sound better. You can hear the indiviual notes on a guitar and the depth of a singer. I get great results at low volume and even better results at high volume. I use a HKavr75 to power my system which has been great. It gives me power for the low volume quilty and excellent surround for DVD's. My CD player is the Rotel 951 which has HDCD and my CD's now have open up more completely. The Energy C-4's rival speakers that cost 3x more.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 602-s2

tight bass, mellow highs

can't buy them anymore

I love these speakers, since they were discontinued I didn't expect to see any more reviews on them. Anyway, I bought them back in april 99 and have been loving them ever since.

I originally was running them with an harmon kardon avr65. STAY AWAY FROM THE HK RECEIVERS!! THEY ARE JUNK!! I've tried many hk products and have been upset and angry with all of them.

Be careful, these speakers will make you spend more money on your audio system in an attempt to hear how good they can sound. I started looking at stuff at Circuit City and almost bought a set of infinity's. I'm glad I didn't. I now run my c-4's with a Parasound HCA-2205at amp. The combo of the amp driving these speakers is amazing!

Obviously, these are not the best speakers in the world. On the value scale, they are definately a 5, but on the overall scale, I would say that they are a 3-4, just because they are not the best. Isn't that what the "overall rating" is for? Sorry, I just hate it when other reviewers give inferior products a 5 when it doesn't deserve it. Nonetheless, excellent speakers... aw, who cares, I love these speakers, LET'S GIVE'EM A FIVE!!

setup:
speakers: energy all around
amp: Parasound HCA-2205at
pre/pro: Parasound AVC-2500u w/5.1vc
tv: Sony kv32xbr400
dvd: Sony dvps360
cd: Parasound cdp-1000
vcr: sony slv969

additional stuff:
monster 5000 ac conditioner
m2.4 biwire speaker cable x3
tributaries sca100 interconnects everywhere

overall great sound

none if good cable is used.

I have had these speakers for almost 3yrs now and still enjoy them alot. When I first started looking back then, I was all ready to buy either the paradigm monitor 7 or 9's. Then I had a salesman at bay bloor radio in Toronto mention the energy connoisseur series speakers. I was emmidiately blow away.
I couldnt beleive how much more musical they sounded. And for only a little more money than the paradigms. I listend to the whole lineup and decided that I would get the c-4's. Then the clincher, they went on sale, from the original $1000 cdn. to $650! For the price there wasnt a speaker around to touch it.
Now three years later and I still enjoy them alot. In a large room with high ceilings and away from the walls they are simply fantastic. Now they had to be moved into a much smaller room much closer to the walls and the bass turned boomy for the first time. The highs are still really nice.
I found that on complicated classical music or very busy hard rock, they were getting kind of muddy in the mid range, so I started to look at new speakers like the meadowlark kestrals (hot rods) $2400 cdn!(something is wrong with this price! should not be over $2000 cdn)
For that kind of money they better be alot better than the c-4's. Well they were sort of. I realized that all the newer more expensive speakers I was listening to were hooked up to much more expensive components and cables.
There is another review here mentioning the Eagles Hell Freezes Over. Well on my current system this cd did not sound all that great as on "hotel california' and 'In a New York Minute' the highs were not really sweet and the bass was far to boomy. On the meadowlarks these tracks were thrilling. I then tried switching my cheap monstor cable interconnect and 12 gauge speaker wire to Van den Hul d102's and cs122 speaker wire and the DH Labs BL-1 interconnect and T-14 speaker wire. (bought the dh labs)
What a transformation! Now the C-4's sounded even better than the meadowlarks at 4x the cost!
The above mentioned track 6 and 10 are now a delight to listen to. Much more detailed and much tighter bass and sweet highs. The mids arent muddy any more.So if you have these speakers with buget equipement like mine (see below) then try better cables!
After listening to many other speakers lately I have once again found that for me there isn't a speaker better than the c-4s until you get up to $4000 + cdn (around $2750 us).
Something like the excellent Epos ES25 tri wired.
If you can get your hands on the c-4s (discontinued but still apparently available some places) then try them out.

system
Dennon DRA 345R receiver
Dual 601 turntable
Old Teac cassette recorder.
Harmon Kardon FL8350 (yes mine was defective also, but fixed under warranty and no more problems)

Extremely convincing, detailed, and open soundstage.
Smooth, uncolored sound.

Requires 40-80 hours of "burn-in" time.

Being that all my closest friends are audio-geeks of many income levels, I had the chance to audition a great many speakers and components when deciding upon what components to purchase for my somewhat small (11' x 13' x 8') listening room. I was in the market for components that were adept at theater as well as music, though I didn't want to spend outrageous amounts on a room so meager. I searched and searched and almost decided upon the B&W 600s...but fate had other ideas. I went to visit a friend who just had a house built, and he is a diehard Energy fan (now I'm one) with a setup centering around Energy C-4s. After a viewing of the DTS DVD "Eagles: Hell Freezes Over", I was sold. NOTHING I had listened to, in surround or two channel, compared to the warmth and envelopement of these speakers (with the possible exception of better Energy's). I immediately rushed out to buy a pair, set them up, and started to listen... and was somewhat disappointed. The sound was rather tinny. I left for New York on a business trip and left my girlfriend to watch our new toys as she saw fit. Upon returning home after nine days, I sat down to watch The Matrix... and was floored by the sound quality. To verify that it wasn't a fluke, I threw in my Eagles disc again and all the sudden, the speakers began to exude that smooth, passionate sound that I had heard at my friend's house. I called him to see if he had the same experience and he told me that the speakers required, in his case, about a forty hour burn-in. At any rate, I now have one of the best sounding viewing rooms of all my friends, with the exception of my friend who has since bought Veritas 1.8s, and my girlfriend's father who spent 300,000 on his THX EX Ultra-certified listening room... though the Veritas beat even his ultra-high-end stuff... so I've got my eyes on a set of the brand new Veritas series... probably the 2.8s if I can scrounge the money. If you can find these now, buy them. They are discontinued so if you can find them, you'll get them at a minute price... mine came in at $199 apiece on sale to make room for the new Veritas. If you're on a budjet (or even if you're not), give these a try. They are breathtaking.

Similar Products Used:

Energy EXL:28s
Martin Logan Silhouettes
Mirage HDTs
Definitive BP2006s
B&W 600 Series

Good imaging, excellent sound stage, excellent tweeter

at this price range none i can think of

Use good cables, I use space and time cables and good plugs and these speakers are sure to please. you could spend 4 times as much for a comparable speaker that sounds the same but doesn't look or feel as well made. i love my C-4's and you'd have to pry them from my dying hands. The small lack of base doesn't matter as I use an Energy sub for low freq anyway and the majority of my listening nowadays is home theater. if you can get these speakers anywhere BUY THEM!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

ProAc super tablettes