Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by Dr S "Audiofreak" : excellent find!!

Well, I brought this set 1 month ago. Works very well. The speakers r small and unobtrusive. The sound from the drivers are excellent not tinny as u might expect. The speakers r made in china for anyone who thought they were made in canada. I guess ow they keep costs down. The binding posts can accomodate 14g wire and r compatible with most speaker mounts. I broke them in for 1 week playing them continuously, they have really opened up. Good dynamic range, no tonal coloring, no artificial frequency push, pretty neutral overall. low distortion on the sub( the 8inch sub matches well with the small sats- larger sub might have left a frequency gap) I have been into audio for 20yrs now, and have owned or do own items from cambrige audio, arcam, b&w, paradigm, tannoy, Jmlab, marantz, mission, classe', sony ES, dennon, onkyo etc. While not in the league with full bookshelf or tower speaker setup, this is a good compromise for people wanting excellent sound for the money and unobtrusive design. Before i bought this i looked at similarly priced polk, jbl, infinity and yes even the bose am6 ( usually i dont go to best buy- but this is a bedroom system for me and i didn't want to spend bucketloads)This was the best- the jbl sounded flat/fat whilst the infinty, polk was pushy in your face car stero like. The am6 was very disappointing, it lacked bass. ( no powered sub u see) even with wall enhancement in a corner the bass was weak for my bedroom.
go out and buy it! it wont dissapoint u.

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by pladage : Fantastic Bang for the Buck!

I wouldn't consider myself a true audiophile, but I am musically trained and I have a very good ear. Obviously I wanted a good sounding system, but unfortunately I am a college student with a very limited budget. That being the case, I did a lot of research before buying a new system to try to get the most I could for the money. I had previously never heard of the energy brand before I came across the Take 5 package. I read at least a half dozen professional reviews and probably three dozen user reviews and heard nothing but good things. With this system being ideal for small rooms (such as my 12x10 room at home or a college dorm room) I decided these were the way to go. I was not disappointed. The build quality from such a small and inexpensive system is impressive. The piano black looks very sharp (provided you remember to dust your speakers regularly) and their small size makes for easy placement. They open up a little more with some breathing room but still hold up when wall mounted. These little babies pack a lot of wallop in a small room with a mid-level receiver, I had to turn them way down the first time I used them. Right out of the box they sound pretty good. The highs, especially with musical instruments, are a bit harsh at first but the smooth out as the speakers break in and become quite phenominal for the price. The midrange is very solid, but things get weak as you hit the lower end of the spectrum. Being 3.5 inch woofers, you really cannot be surprised. Luckily, the system has a matching subwoofer included. Getting the crossover to sound right was a bit wonky. It was difficult to get it to blend with the speakers, but that might be largely attributed to the poor acoustics of my listening room. However, once the fine tuning was finished the sub really impressed. The sound is very clean and accurate, and while it won't blow you out of the water, the quality of the sound itself is phenominal and the lows sound exactly as they should. Very rarely did the sub bottom out and it was only at higher volumes. Overall, I cannot say enough about the Energy Take 5 system. I have had it for a month now and absolutely love it. It has phenominal build quality (try the knuckle rap test, these things are built like rocks) a good amount of fit and finish (they look great with the grills on or off) and a surprising amount of sound quality and power from such tiny speakers. If you have very limited space and/or a very limited budget, do not hessitae to buy these speakers, nothing can touch them at their price range.

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by Juniorverse1 : I'm so glad I didn't buy a more expensive set!

Paired with the inexpensive, high-quality Monoprice 16 gauge speaker wires, these speakers provide amazing sound at a price that can't be beat.

I recently installed an entirely new media center consisting of the Samsung LN46B650 LCD TV, an Onkyo TX-SR606 AV Receiver, these speakers (with the Monoprice 16 gauge speaker wires), these inexpensive speaker mounts, HDMI cables that cost less than a dollar each, and a PS3. All I can say is "WOW"!

I am so glad I didn't buy more expensive speakers than these, because these sound awesome. I was a little hesitant at first because I had never heard of the Energy brand, but after reading the reviews here and on CNET, I gave it a shot and I'm so glad that I did!

Crisp sound, powerful bass... I couldn't ask for anything more. The only complaint I have about these speakers is that the positioning, size, and angle of the 5-way speaker wire connections on the back makes it difficult to use regular sized banana plugs. But I didn't even deduct a star for that because the sound was excellent when I just twisted the wire ends and inserted them bare.

Regular TV sounds awesome. Movies sound awesome. PS3 games like Rock Band sound awesome. Music streamed from my PC to my PS3 sounds awesome.

I recommend these speakers to everyone!


Additional specs you may find useful:
- Satellite speakers weigh 2.9 lbs. each, center speaker weighs 3.2 lbs.
- Speakers are all magnetically shielded
- Recommended crossover frequency on receivers is 100Hz-120Hz. Satellite speakers have frequency response of 115Hz-20kHz, and center speaker 110Hz-20kHz
- Speakers rated at 8 ohms, 100 watts
- Speakers have 1/4"-20 TPI threaded inserts AND old school keyholes for mounting
- Tweeters in all speakers are 3/4 inch Hyperbolic aluminum-dome
- Woofers in all speakers are 3 inch poly-titanium
- Crossover points are 2.9kHz, efficiency room rated 89dB
- Subwoofer has separate volume level, low-pass filter 40Hz-150Hz @ 18dB/octive, Phase setting 0 degrees to 180 degrees, and a power mode switch for ON/OFF/Auto-Off
- Subwoofer is 200 watts with an 8" MPP Cone

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by R. Reilley : Wow these speakers Rock!

I bought this with an Onkyo TX-SR606 reciever. I could not be more pleased. I am not an audio expert, but I listen to enough music to know the difference between bad and good speakers. These are excellent.

Pros: Nice looking black piano finish, perfect sound, easy to setup and install, nice clean bass. The speakers are so clear my dog thinks the doorbell is ringing for real when I am watching TV.

Cons: None

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by Well Travelled CA : Great sound (especially for the price)

These are great speakers that sound terrific! I've these connected to a Denon 3808. I'm not an audiophile, so I can't spout stats to back up all my claims, but since sound is as much experience as statistics, here goes:
The sats are really compact and look very sleek (polished/shiny black) and hardly 3 lbs. They can go anywhere pretty easily. The sound from the center channel and the sats beats anything else I've heard. (As a comparison, I could tell that the sound deteriorated with Bose at medium volumes.) Even at very high volumes the sound retains its tone and clarity. The subwoofer functions exactly as it should - more noticeable when it's off than when it's on.
I shopped around at Magnolia, Best Buy & Circ City for various speakers, and I can tell you with confidence that if you're in the market for compact speakers and awesome sound without spending thousands, this is the system for you.

I do have two minor complaints - both to do with the 5-way posts. First, the speakers are supposed to have 5-way posts, but I couldn't figure out a way to use banana plugs and had to settle for screwing down the speaker wire. Second, one of the posts was screwed down so tight (out of the box) that to open it up, I had to actually open up the speaker (forget the details) and then carefully get this post to function again.

Overall - an easy speaker to recommend. And, the price can't be beat! Don't waste your time on expensive, overly marketed systems - just buy Energy.

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by J. A. Smith "MusicCity" : Real home theater and real value

I have been a home theater hobbyist/enthusiast since 1989. In that time, I have setup over a dozen systems for myself, friends, and family with budgets ranging from $500 to $20,000. I have seen a lot of speakers come and go over the years. I personally prefer full-range speakers, but have always admired the sound that the Energy Take series has put in a sat/sub package. However, I never felt that the price/performance was right - until they came out with this Take Classic 5.1 package with the subwoofer now bundled in at one low system price.

I currently have these setup in my 10' x 11' home office, serving their duty in a computer media and gaming sound system. They are being driven by an old Yamaha RX-V 995 5.1 receiver and the combo sounds shockingly good given the relatively small investment. It has totally exceeded my expectations. For a smaller room (10'x10' to 12'x15'), I have to say that this Energy Take Classic combo produces the best sound for the money of the many speakers I've installed and used over the years.

Overall build quality is top-notch which was completely unexpected for me given the low price. I can't see where Energy has cut any corners - if they did, they hid it well. The system has, by far, the nicest fit and finish of any speaker I've seen anywhere close to this price range. The system comes carefully boxed in styrofoam cut-outs, with the speakers individually wrapped with foam sheets and then again in thick plastic. The result is a high-gloss black finish that is FLAWLESS.

As far as installation goes, the speaker binding posts are quality, gold-plated, all-metal screw-type. Home Theater mag review says bananas are accepted but mine were too big so YMMV on that. Wall or ceiling-mount options are plentiful with each speaker supporting both key hole and threaded insert style brackets. I used the threaded insert to mount mine and it worked perfectly and securely. The subwoofer has the typical L/R line level RCA inputs, variable volume control and crossover adjustments. There is also a two-way phase toggle (0, 180 degrees) and a three-way power toggle (on, off, auto). Speaker level input (but no high-pass output) is also supported.

Overall the sound is impressive given the small size. As expected with any micro/sub system the mid-bass region of the frequency spectrum is a little thin. However, the midrange performance of the 3.5" titanium mid-driver makes up for a lot of that with velvety clear vocals. Center channel dialog comes through very clearly - a feat that not many speakers in this price range can claim. The satellites do an equally excellent job with music and sound effects. While the 8" sub will not shake your home's foundation, it is more than enough to fill a small room with rich (not boomy) bass. The clarity and smoothness of the 3/4" aluminum tweeter is most impressive and is on par with systems costing 3-4x more in my opinion. The speakers all have the same drivers in the same arrangement which yields a totally seamless sound field (the THX demo DVD really highlights this capability). I was also impressed with how well these speakers perform with all types of music from Jazz to New Age, to Pop, to Rock. These speakers make it all sound fantastic, which is indicative of what they are: an extremely well-designed, highly refined speaker system.

In summary, this is not your Mom's home-theater-in-a-box, folks. This is the real deal! This system is capable of putting out a good deal of high-quality sound in a high-quality package for a very small price.

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by Lawrence Decker "MBS" : Great Speakers!

Picked these up from Amazon last week to replace my Polk RM705 (Polk sounded ok but has a weak sub). These speakers sound awesome, sub rocks the entire room. Room is 20x20 and is hooked to a Denon AVR-789, Samsung LNA52 120Mhz 52" using a PS3 for blu-ray. Best spks under $1000 by far. BUY THEM you won't be dissapointed.

Energy 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)
Review by MK5 : Great Value

It's tough to imagine finding a set of 5.1 speakers that sounds any better for this price - or double this price for that matter. That said, don't expect to impress any audiophiles with them. Also, as with most of these sets designed for 5.1 sound, they are better for movies and TV than music. Overall though, we are very satisfied so far. Just a great set of speakers for regular people at a great price.