Size, finish, and HT reproduction. The 8" sub easily fills a medium sized room with vaulted ceilings.

Mid-range soundstage

The Take 5's met or exceeded all my expectations after reading numerous reviews on sites like this one. I paired them with the Denon 2802 and for approx. $1000 I got a great sounding system.

Price-to-performance ratio. Energy should have doubled the price. Over-all balance and Timbre matching (enclosures & drivers). Awesome Powered Sub. Waranty - 5 years! Ease of use.

NONE!

Every review on this -- even in Canada & Europe -- shares a common denominator. Every critique says it's a "NO BRAINER". Well, it is. I have this as a separate HT system from my pure stereo set-up. I have it in a den approx 6M x 7M. Set it up just like one of the listening rooms at my local audiophile shop. I originally used it with a Denon AVR-2500 (Pro-Logic) and it was a Winner then. Now I employ a Yamaha unit with DDigital & DTS and it's like I upgraded my speakers by a couple of thousand dollars. My audiophile buddy was in tears after comparing it with his $3000 Mission Set-up. To give you an Idea of my stereo set-up -- I have a $5500 Tube Power Amps (2 Monos), an All-Tube pre-amp - NORDOST B-Heaven wires all around - and several pairs of speakers (it's a mood thing). basically I don't mess around. It takes me months to decide on a single component. I literally did hundreds of blind A-B testing on all my stuff (well, except for cables because I think it's all the same after a certain price level). If you can find a system better than these Take-5 beauties under $2000, please let me know. Don't fool yourself and go by brand -- listen for yourself. You owe it to yourself.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Quintet, Polk Audio's Satellite HT, Mirage FRX series HT system, Mission M77 Ht Set-up, and many more tested including the ultra-useless BOSE cubes.

Price-to-performance ratio. Energy should have doubled the price. Over-all balance and Timbre matching (enclosures & drivers). Awesome Powered Sub. Waranty - 5 years! Ease of use.

NONE!

Every review on this -- even in Canada & Europe -- shares a common denominator. Every critique says it's a "NO BRAINER". Well, it is. I have this as a separate HT system from my pure stereo set-up. I have it in a den approx 6M x 7M. Set it up just like one of the listening rooms at my local audiophile shop. I originally used it with a Denon AVR-2500 (Pro-Logic) and it was a Winner then. Now I employ a Yamaha unit with DDigital & DTS and it's like I upgraded my speakers by a couple of thousand dollars. My audiophile buddy was in tears after comparing it with his $3000 Mission Set-up. To give you an Idea of my stereo set-up -- I have a $5500 Tube Power Amps (2 Monos), an All-Tube pre-amp - NORDOST B-Heaven wires all around - and several pairs of speakers (it's a mood thing). basically I don't mess around. It takes me months to decide on a single component. I literally did hundreds of blind A-B testing on all my stuff (well, except for cables because I think it's all the same after a certain price level). If you can find a system better than these Take-5 beauties under $2000, please let me know. Don't fool yourself and go by brand -- listen for yourself. You owe it to yourself.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Quintet, Polk Audio's Satellite HT, Mirage FRX series HT system, Mission M77 Ht Set-up, and many more tested including the ultra-useless BOSE cubes.

Incredible value/dollar. Beautiful design & sound. Awesome spatial separation.

As in other reviews, somewhat weak lower-midrange, but can be compensated with receiver settings.

What you have read is true. These speakers are really quite amazing. They do lack a little bit in the lower-mid range level, but with a few tweaks of my receiver (JVC 888VBK), they sound great. As some people have said, they actually start to sound better after a few hours of play time. I was ready to return them at first, but after watching a movie or two, and listening to a half dozen CD's, and the receiver tweaks, they're really sounding great. Now that the Take 5.2 system is out, you can find some great deals on the leftover 5's. Go for it, you won't be dissapointed!

Size - 4x6" satellite, 4x10" centre Cost - Talk about a deal...check you local store for a good deals, esp on "factory seconds" - very slight blemishes and Energy considers them seconds. No difference in sound whatsoever. Setup - easy as pie. Choose the right output level on your receiver(ie "small speakers" on the Yamaha 495) Sound production - incredible. Bonus is their size and cost. Good for music, better for movies. Bass output - I''''d seriously worry about turning up the music(if you hold a party) and standing near it. Your ears will pay for it later. If your room is not that big, stay with the 8" sub that comes with the package. Warranty - just look around the audio industry and you''''ll find Energy is easily equal or better than anything else.

Yamaha 495 remote control - sometimes need to be "reset" by hitting the ''''Tuner'''' mode button. No backlighting either.

Oh God! I''''ve only just discovered that I can also use the ''''crossover'''' input on my 10" sub instead of the regular input! It sounds amazingly totally different now! Looks like I''''ll have to listen to my entire favourites cd collection again! My room is about 13 x 16 feet and I''''ve set up my 32" Toshiba on one corner, flanked by the Energy satellites. My L-shaped couch in on the opposite corner, making the positioning of the surround speakers next to impossible (I don''''t have wall mounts - yet). The sound without using any of the surround modes is more than enough to fill the room. The 10" sub is enough to vibrate the walls, LITERALLY. And the volume is only turned to less than 1/3 on the Yamaha RX-V495! I''''d turn it up to "FEEL" the music but don''''t wanna tick off my landlord who lives upstairs. Given a choice, I''''d choose audio over video so sound quality is important to me. I''''m not an audiophile but you only need two good ears to know what sounds good from what sounds like cwap. My PC speakers from Altec-Lansing (clamshell design, can''''t remember model #) are even bigger than the Energy satellite/surrounds and don''''t sound half as good. Overall impression? I''''m very, very, VERY satisfied both from the quality of the audio production and from the customer service treatment I got from Marc Hallam @ audioshop.com in Ottowa, Ontario. He must have spent at least 15 mins on the phone with me before I bough the set and at least another 15 while I was setting it up. I know a lot of our American(and international) friends are reading this and I''''m in no way being biased. I''''m just calling it as it is.

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Nothing in this league. I''''ve auditioned the Bose Lifestyle set, but after seeing the price difference, the decision was a no brainer. Besides, I''''ve bought many DVDs with the money I saved by g

Solidly built, huge sound from small speakers, exc. value.

None so far

If you're in the market for home theater speakers and on a budget, look no further. These speakers puts out gobs of clean sound, take up very little room and are great for both home theater and music. You will need to get one of Energy's subs for the bass because the Take 1s and Take 2s just were not made to reproduce the low frequencys. The soundfield from these speakers is clean and expansive, both Dolby Digital and DTS movie DVDs sound incredible. Music is good too, probably not "audiophile" quality but good enough for me. I played the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" DTS CD and felt like I was on stage with the band. With the room lights turned down, you can't even localize the sound from each speaker, they're that good. Small size of speakers helped to keep the peace in my household, which was a definite plus. Check out Marc Hallum at the Audioshop (http://www.audioshop.on.ca/) for the best deals on the Energys. I got some factory seconds (small blemishes on outside of cabinets) for an incredible price, and they arrived in only 3 days! I bought the Energy speaker stands for the front speakers and the MegaMounts for the rear surrounds, and they work fine too. You'll need to tighten the locking nut on the MegaMounts with some channel-lock pliers to avoid the sagging problem some people have encountered, but they work well and are virtually invisible once the speaker is mounted. To sum up, don't waste your money on a home theater-in-a-box package (or on Bose speakers, which sound like the window speaker at a drive-in movie compared to these). Spend $450-500 on these babys and get a good DD/DTS receiver and you'll be blown away!

Similar Products Used:

Energy ES-x:8 subwoofer

Just bought a pair of white take two's for my surround speakers. I have Energy C-2's for the front and an Energy exl:c for the center. My reciever is a Sherwood-Newcastle R-945.My biggest fear was how the small Take 2's would blend with my C-2's. Well they work beatifully. Mounted high above and to the rear, pointed diagonally downward( the way direct radiating surrounds should be configured), the Take 2's do everything I could ask for at a paltry $180. They blend wonderfully with the fronts, and like all Energy speakers, they excell at soundstage and transparancy. Like I said, this is my third Energy product and all I can say is this. If there is a speaker company that CONSISTENTLY offers products that excel at both music and HT for such reasonable prices, show me who they are. Am anxiously awaiting MicroStar subwoofer to round out my system.

Sound Imaging (Clear and Crispy) and Value

Giving your review to specific speaker is very subjective. The quality of sound will be affected by different factors. Some might say the sound is "harsh" but other consider it "cool". It all depends on the person, the acoustics of your room and the cable used with your speaker. I tried one branded speaker cable and it will make my speaker sounded very very harsh. After I change it to another brand, I can feel the big differences in sound. It sound more warmer. I can say that after the break-in period it sound more natural. With this kind of speaker, you can't beat the price for the quality it can provide you. I like the way it sound both in music and theater. All the terms to used describe this speaker is already mentioned here. I will rate this speaker on what it can provide me considering its value and quality. I spend most of the time using it for watching DVD movies. You can't get any speaker that sounds better than this one within this price range. I bought it for (HK $ 3600 ~ around USD $ 420). I am very happy with this speaker and I would highly recommend this to anyone. Everybody knows, everything you push to the limit or beyond its limit will always give us a bad results. So let us be fair, dont give your lower rating due to your carelessness in using this speaker.

price and performance ratio

I wish I have more money to buy a better one! Duh!

OK, I haven't got this speaker yet, but the previous poster said that he got it for US$480.. man! That's a darn good price, could you please tell me where you get it? Is this price including shipping and the sub or not? Thanks! :)

Similar Products Used:

ProCinema80, Klipsh Quintet System

excellent in HT

musical midrange, but not so disturbing

I'm using these small babies since December'99, paid almost 850$ (somehow good price as for polish circumstances). Connected to Pioneer VSX-808RDS, and DV-525 the same brandname. The sound volume reproducted by the speakers is amazing, it can be driven up to 95% of the receiver-power, without loosing any detail from the watched movie. Last time was impressed by the Godzilla soundtrack, which was given crisp and without any distractions.
On music is less so good, especially auditioning Santana's "Supernatural" wasn't sure about the some tracks.
I can recommend this set to all, whishing to have a budget speakers line.

Similar Products Used:

Tannoy M1/M2 combo