I bought this package at Christmas time much to the surprise of my wife, but the price I paid for was outstanding!. The system has been great and I am absolutley satisfied with the whole set. I have the Take 5 package with the EXLS8 sub and am really impressed. Now the kicker ... I paid only $551 CDN for this new in the box set from A&B Sound, thats about $350 US. I bought two sets, one for myself and one for a friend and was amazed the salesaman went for the price we offered. I lept at the deal and that is why I could not be more satisfied with the overall system (connected to a Yamaha 793) and sound for the value. Thats why it gets a 5 rating for me.

I just picked up a pair of take 2's (the satellites for the HT package) for surround speakers. They seem to perform quite well. I have NHT Super Ones for the front and they blend in great. They are very good for my purposes. Cheap too...57$/each. They sound very good for the price.
I would recommend these to anyone looking for small surround speakers. I heard some Energy subs over the weekend, I imagine the full HT package sounds great.

I give the Take 2 satellites a 5.

The Take 2 mini speakers are my second set of Energy speakers and I am almost as happy with them as my ESM-2 speakers circa 1986, but I expected that. These are tiny little things that are quite astounding, but will require a sub to complete the set. I am setting up a HT system with the Take 2's as my rear speakers, what astounded my was that when coupled with the ESM-2 music listening took on a whole new feel, and because I do listen to music about 50% of the time it was a plesent surprise. These speakers by themselves are not something I could listen to for more than a couple minutes. They have a great high and mid range, but even in a small room they don't have the bass to make them musical, but when used as they were designed, with the Take 5 System, or in a homegrown version like mine they are a tidy $200 (cnd) package. I can't wait for the sub!

Monitors: Accurate and extremely sharp. The monitors are recommended for mainly the Dolby Dig movie experience and acoustic rock like music. These speakers will not satisfy you if you like Rap or Techno. ES-8 Sub: extremely efficient and accurate, hook up two in the same room if money is not a problem. ES-10 Sub: extremely low and loud. Yea, the 10-inch sub sounds great if your the movie guy. But the 8-inch goes with the music listener. If you have it all hooked up according to your tastes, the aftermath is perfect. The package is well worth getting for even the retail price. So take the TaKe5.

I bought the Energy Take 5 series November 98 from the Good Guys for $499 for the speakers, and $299 for the sub. I connected it to a Yamaha RV-1103 and a Panasonic DVD-A110. The speakers sound exceptional for their size. The bass is absolutely incredible. Only problems were that either due to the receiver being very powerful or perhaps a bad speaker, over the course of 4 months, one speaker blew and the other got very "crackle" sounding. I returned the speakers to Good Guys in Emeryville, CA, and they simply opened up a new box and replaced my speakers for me, VERY NICE PEOPLE. If you live in a place where floor space is very valuable (i.e. a dorm room) I would definitely recommend these speakers as they are wall mountable and pretty light. For their price and quality they are a great value.

I finally got the Energy Take 5. I first bought a receiver and CD-player from the Classicline from Yamaha (see the review about that).Then I went to different stores to look for some small speakers. I listened to JBL, Bose, Infinity and more. Nothing could impress me much. One store told me about Energy Take 5 , but he had not the Take 5 in stock. So I went on the internet to look at this site, and read about the Take 5. Different calls later I had a great demo. Wow, these little speakers are your neighbours worst nightmare. Although I first didn`t want to spent such money, I realized that there was nothing better for the money.
I wanna thank Kurt from Energy Europe who has been a great friend to help me, when the speakers took a lot of time to arrive!
But when they finally arrived: those tiny little speakers with a small sub, and such a great sound....Wow, people at my place don`t believe what they hear! Great high, and a very low bass. I played a test-CD (Bassbuster) and it was the first time I could`t hear the bass, but feel it!

Now, I can imagine, why everyone is so enthusiastic about them.

Trust me, nothing in this price-range and size comes close to the Take 5.

SEE, HEAR, FEEL AND BUY!!!!

Energy Take 5 with 8" SUB, for around $500. I am telling you, this is the best sound you can get for HT for that price. For movie, this is good, no distorsion in high volume. But, for music, there is no Midrange. It seems there is a gap, just high and low freq, no vocal, I mean a little vocal. The Sub is incredible.I compare the sub with my old NHT SW3. For music, I like the 8" sub from Energy better than my 12" SW3. For movie of course SW3 will play deeper and louder. The 10" sub is about $90 more than 8", I recommend to buy the 10". The center speaker (Take 1) is a little bit harsh in High Freq, same as my AC-300, but the dialoque is clear overall. I think these speakers will sound a little bit better after 50 or 100 hours. Thanks for my friend that allowed me to audition his new Take 5.
For movie:5, music:4, Price:6, Average:5

Got the Take 5's with the ES-8 sub. They speakers sound terrific! I demo-ed them with Bose and there's no comparison. The only complaint I have is that the ES-8 subwoofer is less tight than I would like, but it's a good value for the price. The sub is better for DVD than for music, IMHO.
I purchased the set from a local dealer for $589; he offered the 10-inch upgrade for another $100.

The speaker stands, IMHO, are costly. I built 4 of my own for $50 in materials from Home Depot. Sure beats paying $200 for 2 pairs!

I just purchased the Take 5's with E:XL-S8 sub from http://www.4lelectronicwarehouse.com I got a great deal. I am running them with a Yamaha R-V1105. This system sounds fabulous. I am very impressed with the sound of this system. Movies sound great and music is very crisp. I am using this system as a secondary system to my new Pioneer Elite VSX-29TX and Energy E:XL-26, but it still sounds very good and impressive. It is definantly a tuff system to beat for the price. If you want the best deal out their give the guys at 4electronicwarehouse.com a call: 217-224-6171. Those guys are great; they will find you your ideal system and save you a buck or two. I rate the Take 5's as 5 out of 5.

Well, I am going to be replacing my BOSE AM-5's with the Take 5 system. I went to a local store and heard them today. I was amazed at the range and clarity of the speakers.
I just ordered a set from The Audio Shop in Canada http://www.audioshop.ca
$421 CDN for factory seconds and $551 for first quality. With the US Exchange rate that came out to $280 for the seconds...
When they arrive on Wednesday, I'll post a more comprehensive review!