Are Energy Take Classic 5.1s still considered the best budget speakers?

Maybe you could step up to the Polk TL3 system?

Yeah, I agree that the Polk Blackstone speakers are small (pleases the wife), but sound good. Check out the Polk Audio direct storefront on Ebay. The products are usually manufacture refurbished, but come with a warranty. I bought a sub from them and it looks and sounds like new.

Polk Ebay

I have not heard them all side by side so I can not say for sure. I have heard the TL1's and they sounded pretty good given there small size. according to their website the TL1s are for people new to HT. The TL2 are fuller and richer in sound and the TL3s are for serious listeners. Check out this link for more info. Either way I think you cant really go wrong with any of them for that price range and keeping size in mind.

Polk Blackstone TL

Yeah that is too bad that they have such a bad setup. Our BB is the same way too. We do have a local chain called American TV that has all of these speakers setup to audition, however the sales people are all commission and I hate going in there to audition speakers when I am not planning on buying.

That is tough to say which is better without listening to any of them. They all look to be made to compete with one another. The only thing I do not like about the Klipsch is that they did not include 5 way binding posts for terminals. Other than that I can only vouch for the Polk TL series because that is all I have actually auditioned out of the ones mentioned. I prefer the silk dome tweeters used on the TL series as apposed to the aluminum tweeters on most of the other speakers mentioned in the OP. IMHO the silk dome tweeters have a softer sound. I just do not like the sound of aluminum tweeters but that is just me. You may like it.

I suggest that you check out the ones on the KEF Direct website. They will sound much better than any of those.

Why is she worried about the Decor? You let her have nice things. She should let you get the speakers that you want. You aren't asking for much.

I agree with commsysman KEF Sounds good. I just heard some 4,000 dollar KEF speakers Saturday in NYC. I heard good and bad things about the smaller energy speakers. Some people didn't think that they had a full enough or loud enough sound. I just bought energy veritas 6.2 and like them. They are tall though. vanns was having a good deal on them. They have a good bass. They are discontinued so it;'s harder to find them.

I have the same constraints when it comes to the HT speakers I buy and my wife limited the size my HT too. I think it should be more of a compromise. If it was up to my wife she would not have any speakers in her house, but we compromise. As long as I do not go too big she is happy. The way I look at it it is her house too and I veto flowery girly decor when she tries to decorate too, so it goes both ways.

I had the Energy Take Classic 5.1 in my dedicated home theater for two years before I upgraded to another Energy Speaker line.

The speakers were so amazing I actually picked up an Energy Take Classic 5.0 , so I could run 7.1. Energy doesn't sell the satellites as separates.

I have both sets complete in factory boxes. Send me a private message if you are interested. You will not be disappointed with the sound. Very full and dynamic soundfield.

Current set-up in the JMAX Theater.

Onkyo TX-NR 818 Receiver
Oppo 93 Bluray player
Epson 6500 UB 1080p Projector
Energy VSW 10 Subwoofer
Seven Energy LCR speakers
120 Inch Elite Fixed Frame Screen
Edited by skylarlove1999 - 6/13/12 at 5:14pm

What size is your room?

I have the Energy 5.1 Take Classics hooked up to a Yamaha RX-V867 in a 16x20 room. The sound fills the room and the one sub does the job. They are loud enough and have a good balance between theater and music. I do wish the dialogue was a little more focused, but I don't generally have a problem hearing if the audience is well-behaved. It's a good all-around set and looks nice too. Your wife will approve and you will have a nice sounding system at a very reasonable price.

Recently, I installed a Dayton HTP 5.1 ($129) and BIC America F12 ($192) for a person with a $400 budget. Ive owned and installed Energy 5.1 Classics/Micro's in the past and felt that the Dayton/BIC was a better value. The most notable difference being the sub woofer.

In that case, step up to 4 of the Energy V Minis (use promo code "audio" on this page http://www.vanns.com/shop/promo to get the $100 price) and a V-Mini center. Those are a step up from the Energy Takes with bigger drivers, yet still would probably meet your WAF requirements. Given the size of that room, you should wait until you can afford to spend money (and convince the wife) on a good 12" sub from HSU, Outlaw Audio, or Epik. All of those subs in those satellite speaker packages you have listed in your original post will be overwhelmed by your room. The subs are way too small.

Can you elaborate more on "better value"? More bang for buck? If cost wasn't an issue, would you say they are about equal or wound the energy still be better?

^^^

waf = wife acceptance factor....

Depends.

Sub performance is related to room volume (not just area) for an open floor plan because a sub produces waves that depend on pressurizing the air. Even assuming normal ceiling height, that would put you at around 4,000 to 5,000 cubic feet. Some other factors are distance from the listening position (closer is better), placement in the room (some locations are better depending on the room acoustics), and even floor construction (some bass may travel through wood flooring, but not very well through concrete).

A 12" budget sub like the BIC F12 will have a much better chance of sounding OK in your room than the small subs that come with those HT satellite speaker sets, but maybe not. That is a big space, and it depends on your expectations for bass.

In my experience the BIC F12 offered cleaner room filling bass compared to subs included with the Energy kit. Comparing the speakers offered no notable differences to write home about. In my friends application, the cheaper speakers allowed him to choose a more expensive receiver (for improved Audyssey room correction).

I'm not saying this application will work well considering your room size - but it's the best sounding budget conscience setup I can think of...
Edited by Del Cosmos - 6/14/12 at 9:49am

I'd take cel's advice and get the Energy V-mini package. The drivers in those are larger than the classics, the finish is very nice, to pacify the WAF goddess. I have their predecessors, the RC-minis as surrounds now, but once did have the exact same setup in a large (18X20) family room adjoining an open kitchen, and that system sounded excellent in that environment.

I would actually spend a bit more money on the sub, since the WAF factor is the same for those. They are meant to lurk in the peripheries, so they can be ignored at will. If later you triumph and can spend more on good bookshelf speakers or (gasp ) floorstanders, the existing ones can me migrated to give you a 7.X system.

That is exactly what I did because I was on a tight budget too. I also had Best Buy gift cards, so I was limited to what I could buy and where. I setup a 3.1 system at first so that way I could get a little nicer speakers and a little bit better receiver and sub for my budget. I definitely did not want to go the HTIB route, so I settled for a 3.1 setup over my ideal 5.1. I figured that would be a good start and I could always upgrade components later on as more funds are available.