home theater

music

i compared a lot of satellite systems in this price range (and higher), & the take 5 system is by far the best quality for the price (or even considerably more). you won't get the same depth with music that you will with larger speakers, but for home theater, they are awesome! i continue to be impressed with them after a year of use.

Price, Size, Imaging, Clarity, Build Quality

Haven't found any

I agree with everything that has been written here. For the average HT listener these things can't be beat. Everything about these little beauties screams quality.

Great sound, very cheap

These little speakers are incredible, they sound very crisp and clear and paired with a decent subwoofer, they provide a great home theater experience. I don't think you can get better HT speakers for the money. I paid 440$(can) for the take 5 system.

I hooked them up to a Kenwood VR-309 receiver, a Cerwin-Vega 10in sub-woofer and an RCA DVD player, which gives me a pretty decent entry-level Dolby Digital/DTS setup for about 1600$(can).

I can't beleave I almost bought the Bose Acoustimass crap... Reading this forum prevented me from doing a big mistake !

great sound

woofer blow outs

I've had these speakers for about 6 months and I have blown 3 speaker woofers. One was a main, the other 2 were surronds.
I have a Yamaha 795 and don't push the volume over 12 o'clock (much) and these speakers just couldn't handle it!
Granted for the price they sound fantastic but they should be able to withstand high volumes once in a while.
It is time to take these back and upgrade to some B&W's or Paradigm's.
Anyway, thats been my experience.

Price for the quality of product

I have yet to find any, except maybe that speaker stands were a little hard to come by.

I purchased my system a year ago from shop4.com and have
been more than satisfied. The sound generated from these satellite speakers are incredible. I was fairly new to home theater (I used to think Bose were good) upon getting this system and have not been to a theater since. I would highly recommend the system to anyone.

After purchasing the Energy Take 5 system (didn't buy the sub, I already had one), I recently recommended the Klipsch system to my father (who was putting together a HT system). I had read much about it, (including reviews on this site) and it sounded like it was THE new sub/sat value leader.
Well, after wiring the new equipment (Denon AVR 2700, Pioneer DVD, high quality audio and video cables and speaker wire all around) and turning it on, I was very disappointed. The Klipsch system just doesn't compare to the Energy system. The imaging and beauty of the Energy was really lacking in the Klipsch speakers. In fact, it really lacked warmth and sounded a bit "empty." One might think it is the Denon, but my Energys are hooked up to the same receiver and so musical! The Klipsch may be good for home theater (many reviews in different publications comment on their excellent dynamic range), but for music, they just don't cut it -- especially if you are used to good full-range speakers. I have reached the conclusion that many sub-sat systems really do cause one to sacrifice sound quality for aesthetics. They just don't compare to full range speakers (paired with a sub) for accurate and punchy mid-bass, as often times this is where the "sats" are supposed to be blending with the sub (and often don't). Even with the crossover point chosen just right, the Klipsch just doesn't sound musical compared to the Energys. There is a reason they are so popular -- they represent the least sonic compromise for a non-intrusive surround package. Go with the Energys.

I can't comment on the Energy 8-inch sub, as we bought the 10-inch Energy XLS sub to go with the Klipsch's. It puts out a lot of tight bass for a 10-inch sub, and can be had for around $300 on the web. Good deal. Step up to it for a larger room.

I have been into the sub/sat sound since 1983 with a Triad 70 system (one of the few powered subs avail at the time). Recently I decided to move full bore into HT but I still wanted good music performance as my main criteria. I looked at Paradigm, Boston, Def Tech and B&W. I wasn't necessarily holding to a tight budget but I wanted to see just how the cost/performance ratio looked on various systems. I also didn't want to try a mix/match setup as there are too many store variables when you play that game. When the smoke had cleared, I ended up with the least expensive system - the Take 5 with the (upgrade) exl-S10 sub. I should clarify that even though I wasn't on a tight budget I wanted to stay below $1500. if possible so that I could also move to DVD and Dolby Digital ASAP. Thats correct, my review is based on stereo music and Pro-Logic HT performance. Of course with the system using identical drivers all around I have every reason to believe that the sound will be very "matched" with "fullrange" Digital (just keep in mind that these have an internal 90hz rolloff, but thats what the sub is for). In any case some of the other systems weren't as equally matched sonically front to back, side to side. Anyway, even though the others weren't necessarily worse in overall performance, neither were they substantially better. Therefore my clear cost/performance winner was the Take 5. I went with the exl-S10 sub for better extension than the 8. I tried the ES10 but found it VERY sensitive to location, I'd def go with the exl version with either size. Finally, they were purchased from Marc Hallam at Audioshop. I've dealt with lots of retail through the years (mail order and regular) and Marc was very helpful and VERY competitive $ wise. I spent aprox $680 for the equip and another $50 for shipping. I initially had a problem with the ES10 and there was no hassle in doing the swap...In comparison an e-mail to shop4 has yet to be answered. Could you buy better sound - yes, if you want to spend substantially more money. But for the $ this is definitely in an exclusive group. 4 stars for music, 5 for HT, 5 for build quality, 5 for price/performance = got to be a 5!

Clarity

Dynamics

For the price, you simply can't do any better. For those on a limited budget, this is the speaker package to get, along with a few others, such as Def Techs, and Paradigms, and the new Monitor Audios. It's a great product!!!

Similar Products Used:

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very small speakers with surprisingly large sound. Although they just cannot do what larger speakers can accomplish, they do what they can very well within their limitations. I believe that a subwoofer is a MUST with these speakers, as they are generously mentioned to going down to 90hz or so. Very good speakers for the price(got mine for ~280 from audioshop (factory seconds)).

These speaker overated-compare to Bose AM speaker. Bose AM speaker waaay better for movie and classical music. Americans want too much bass. I give canadian speaker only two star.