Energy Take Classic 5.1

Summary: I purchased the Energy system in August of this year and am extremely impressed with its performance.

I should preface this review by disclosing that I am a heavy researcher, my wife says bordering on compulsive. Whenever I am considering a large purchase I plot and plan for weeks, scouring reviews and forums pertaining to whatever product it is I'm interested in. My aim in this research is to get the best possible value for my money. Essentially I really like nice "stuff." After enduring roughly two years of shallow, boxy sounds emitted from my Samsung home theatre in a box, I decided it was time to kick it to the curb. I wanted a system offering rich, full sound to complement the picture of my TV. And the researching commenced. . .

I initially heard about the Take Classic system from a cursory browsing of CNET. Being a Amazon Prime fanatic, the Amazon reviews were the obvious next step in the process. Five stars with so many reviews? I was confused. I decided to cross reference several different website's reviews looking for bias. After not finding any such thing, similar products were scrutinized in the same manner. Obviously, I ended up going with Energy--which was actually my initial choice anyways.

With the speakers I purchased and paired the Pioneer VSK-1021K receiver, which I'm also very pleased with. Other system components include: 12 gauge speaker wire, high quality HDMI and subwoofer cables and the Atlantic Satellite speaker stands for the fronts.

I must admit I was initially a little underwhelmed with the performance of the speakers. I had spent several hours cleanly running all the cables into the attic, under carpet and connecting everything to the receiver via banana plugs; why didn't it sound better? I listened to all matter of media over the course of the next few weeks; adjusting speaker levels, auto calibrating everything and generally fretting. Yet still, the sound was tinny. Disconcertingly so with female vocalists, which would produce a shrill sound from the tweeter resembling static. I read on Energy's website that there was a "break in period" that must be followed. I decided to leave music, tv, etc. playing throughout the day in order to break them in before my return period expired (a course of action I was seriously considering.) However, as the hours of play time wore on I started to notice a change in the sound stage emitted from the speakers. The room was starting to be filled with increasingly rich sound.

After several months of the usage I am blown away by the performance of these speakers. They are now incredibly warm when playing music and the aforementioned "problem tweeters" resonate with a silkiness previously inconceivable. They excel in cinema watching as well producing good bass response and a well-balanced center channel. The subwoofer, although small, is well paired with the system producing clear and concise lows. None of this overpowering, floppy and out-of-sync bass commonly experienced with larger $200-500 subwoofers.

For the size of my living room (roughly 15x20) these speakers fill the room with sound quite impressively.

As many other reviewers have noted, the binding plugs won't accept banana plugs; although the posts themselves crimp quite well on the speaker wire--so not a worry to me. Another point I'll echo from some of the reviewers is the importance of setting up your receiver properly. Set the speaker size to "small" and crossover around 100-110HZ if not auto calibrating. As a matter of preference I have the subwoofer crossover set at 130HZ and volume around 80%.

Being a connoisseur of good value I'll say overall I'm very impressed with this system ( and if you will buy this system I suggest you have to check for best deal before you buy it at: Hometheatersystemsuggestion.blogspot.com/2011/11/energy-51-take-classic.html ).

It rivals speaker systems in the $1500 range, as I've witnessed on several occasions. If you pair it with a GOOD receiver and observe proper break-in you will not be disappointed.