Energy Owners Thread - Page 656

I edited my post with a bit more detail.

Plan to add 2 surround back for my 7.1 set up, is the c-100 a good choice?

Listened to it a bit more tonight. The mids were definitely missing detail compared to the NHT. This is fairly noticeable in Apologize when listening to the percussion that occurs every once in a while in the background. Not sure what instrument that is though. Also the maraca? (actually not sure what that is, just reminds me of a maraca) in Goodbye, Apathy is incredibly faint, pushed back, on the RC-70 while the NHT produces it quiet a bit more forward.

I'm not sure what's going on, but that's what I hear. My dad said the same thing. The mid to high on the NHT is much more clear, articulate without sounding harsh, while the RC-70 sounds like having recessed mids with a tad bit harsh highs.

I picked this album because of all the different frequencies playing at the same time which really pushes the speaker's ability to differentiate between high, mid, and low (think of being able to pick out all the instruments and vocals playing) all at the same time while still maintaining a soundstage.

So I guess my ears agree with the following:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...5#post17957445

http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorl...gy/index2.html

Which NHT speakers are you comparing to the RC-70? I didn't notice a model number.

And did you recalibrate your Denon receiver with one NHT and one RC-70? Because if the system was already setup with Audyssey for two NHT fronts, that's really not fair to the RC speaker. Audyssey isn't dialed in for the RC-70.

I was wondering the same thing. If it wasn't re-calibrated that could explain a lot. I don't recall seeing anyone previously call the RC tweeters harsh. But if his receiver is pushing the upper frequencies for his NHT's soft tweeters that might be way too much for the RC-70's tweeter.

what do you think:

Hi June,
I am so sorry for the shipping problem that happened last week. Unfortunately, that coupon code has expired. You were going to have received $75 off the RC-10s with the coupon in addition to the already discounted sale price of $299. If you are interested in the RC-30s which are for sale for $287 each from $549 (assuming you would like them in black), I would be happy to offer you a pair for $100 off at $474. With tax and less the $237.44 you have already paid, the total will come to $265 shipped. Please let me know if you are interested, as these are also limited in quantity. Thanks for your patience

Did you ask them if they'll be getting RC-10's back in stock? I wouldn't give up on the deal you got on those so easily. Again, just because there was a shipping mix up doesn't mean they shouldn't fulfill your order as placed. When you placed your order the coupon code was not expired, so from my point of view there's no reason they shouldn't still honor it.

Any idea why the RC-10's seem to be in short supply? Only 2 or 3 stores seem to have them right now. 1st time looking to buy nice speakers and have only been looking for a week or so, so not sure if this is normal or odd. Are they in such demand, production slowdown, bad time of year, is a new line preparing to replace them. Just a noobie, Sorry in advance if this is ridiculous question

hello all,

I spoke with Emily and the RC-30's are on their way

I guess you didn't really care.

generalhead,

i do value folks opinions not advice. emily & i came up with a price we both agreed to. the rc-30s may sound better than the rc-10s for the extra $$$. i'm new to the energy line of speakers. thanks for your opinion on this matter. hopefully one day you'll value someone else's on an a/v subject.

Yeah, I got the CR-10's for about $170/pair. I actually bought them at full retail for $340 on amazon, then literally 5 minutes later I read a post on this thread that said Electronic-Expo.com was having a site wide sale (using a code, can't remember which), I went on the site and saved roughly $160. I couldn't cancel the Amazon order so I'll be sending those back.


And yeah, I think he meant RC-R's.

I'll take that to mean you never even asked if there was any way they could fulfill your original order. Sounds like you let them weasel out of a fantastic deal on the RC-10s.


I already do, it's why I visit these forums. I also make sure to acknowledge the people that respond to my questions.

Well good, I'm glad that you and Emily came to a resolution. I hope they lowered the price from the $474 in the previous note closer to their holiday sale price of $435.

Only 2 or 3 stores have had them available for the past year so this is nothing new. Vanns has been the main vendor with RC-10s. They used to carry them in Cherry, Rosenut and Black but I got one of the last cherry pairs back in January and rosenut was gone well before that. WWStereo may have had them in black but they were $599/pr (MSRP) until the last month or so when they were lowered to $299.

If you really want some RC-10s I'd advise you to get a pair from Vanns.com while they're still in stock. But there are other speaker brands that may appeal to you such as Ascend, Paradigm, PSB, Axiom, SVS, HSU, Mirage, Monitor Audio, Definitive Technology and many many others. You owe it to yourself to starting going around to audio stores and auditioning as many speakers as possible. Take a CD of music that you know very well and compare.

The supply of RC-70s and RC-LCRs seem to be drying up as well. I don't have any inside knowledge, but it looks to me like the RC line is going out of production.

Just got an amazing deals ($900 cdn) for pairs of like new RC-70 (rosenut). Now I am going to have fun to test the RC-70 vs C-6.

BTW,
The C-6 beat the RC-10 but I expect RC-70 will beat the C-6 hand down

The main 3 Energy vendors (Audio Advisor, Vanns and WWStereo) all seem to have the RC LCR but it is at full price as usual. Doubt they sell a whole lot of them at that price.

All three also carry the RC-70 but it looks like Audio Advisor only sells it as a package with the RC LCR and RC-R surrounds.

I actually never ran Audyssey so the receiver is not calibrated for either speaker. It is the NHT VT-1.2 system. Since only one RC-70 arrived yesterday, I actually hooked up left channel to the RC-70 and the right channel to the NHT. I forget which thread I posted in, but I mentioned somewhere that I'm fairly sensitive to higher frequencies and metal tweeters usually always sound fatiguing to me eventually. It might have been in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1259623.

Hopefully the rest of my speakers will arrive today and I'll be able to really test them out.

But what worries me the most is the lack of mids. The nearly 5dB drop between 2kHz to 7kHz is significant, especially since human speech falls within that range. The bass definitely comes on strong and would work nicely for HT and certain types of music, but I feel it's still a tad bit bloated for critical listening.

I'll run Audyssey once I set everything up and see if that improves things.

The LCR is "coming soon" at Vanns, and not available online at WWStereo. I don't know about Audio Advisor, as they let me put 500 into a cart; either they have a ton, or their system isn't tied to their inventory.

Did we ever hear anything to contradict this post?

The RC-70 at WWStereo is kinda weird, because they have two listings for it; the one with the correct retail price is not available online, but the other listing is still available. (WWStereo used to have the RC-70 listed through Amazon's Marketplace, but does not now.) Vanns has a total of 2 RC-70s in stock (excluding clearance) at the moment.

The RC-10 isn't listed at WWStereo or Audio Advisor, and Vanns has two pairs in stock right now.

I hope I'm wrong, and that places will restock... but the RC line might be drying up.

June - although you didn't get the RC-10s at the price you wanted, in my opinion, getting the RC-30s new at under $500 is still a great deal.

Human speech is well below 2kHz to 7kHz. For example, phone systems, which are entirely designed for carrying human speech, often limit the audio to below 3kHz. The range of 2kHz to 7kHz is above speech and even above most fundamental music tones, but is in the range of first overtones and harmonics. I certainly wouldn't call that midrange. I'd call it low treble.

Quick question about bi-amping and Energy C-500 tower speakers.

I just picked up a Marantz SR5003 which is bi-amp capable by using the surround back channel. I have hooked up my Energy C-500's with the front channel on the Marantz going to the lows and the surround back going to the highs with the switch on the amplifier routing the L&R channels to the surround back as well as front mains.

Is this considered passively bi-amping as the speakers' internal crossover is still being used? I have read a little bit about bi-amping and it seems to indicate that the speakers' crossover should be bypassed if actively bi-amping? I guess I am just a little unclear on how bi-amping actually works.

Any suggestions regarding the setup would be helpful.

With the speakers bi-amped I think they sound better than they ever have, fuller, clearer and with much, much more low end. It also could just be the switch from a Pioneer receiver to the new Marantz.

Okay, my mistake. It's just I often hear that human hearing is most sensitive from 2kHz to 5kHz which makes me think that human speech would be around this level as well. Either way, I feel there is certainly a certain frequency range in the mids to low highs that is definitely recessed on the RC-70, which corresponds to the roughly 5dB drop in the frequency response of the speaker in that range.

Correct me if I'm wrong... but doesn't the 2-7kHz range cover the frequencies primarily responsible for sibilance?

I'm someone who hates harsh highs, and I never found the RC-10 to be harsh, despite the metal dome tweeter.

I am very sensitive to sibilance, and even hearing it in real life (ie. someone talking to me) drives me nuts... so naturally speakers that accentuate it are grating to my ears.

I can't say I've heard any detailed speaker that doesn't reproduce sibilants in source material... But it's clear that some emphasize it and others don't.

Interestingly, I found sibilance to be more of an issue with Ascend Sierra's than with RC-10's/RC-LCR, depsite feeling that, overall, the Sierra's are better speakers.

I think there is a very very fine line between a detailed speaker faithfully reproducing source material... and a speaker being harsh in the highs.

RC-70


RC-10


Interstingly, the RC-10 measures flatter than the RC-70, and doesn't exhibit as much of a dip in the roughly 1.5kHz-5kHz range. And based on those measurements... I can see why the bass might sound a little bloated to you. Did you try plugging the ports?

I haven't had time to do much with the single RC-70 yet. All my impressions thus far are preliminary. I'll set everything up tonight and test it out.

I hope the RC-10s sound less sibilant as I'm just like you. Hearing sibilance in real life drives me nuts also. It's seems the "s" and "f" sounds in human speech that are the culprit. It's weird how a 2 way manages to maintain a flatter response than a 3 way. I'm guessing an upgraded crossover would do wonders for the RC-70. Or maybe Energy should have gone with 2 mids and 1 woofer instead of 1 mid and 2 woofers. I think that would bump up the 2-5kHz and drop the 100-200Hz a bit.

Audio Advisor might let you put 500 in the cart but it certainly doesn't reflect their actual inventory. I ordered the LCR from them on 7/10 and on 7/12 they emailed me that is back ordered.

The top 3 Energy dealers certainly reflect the RC line is drying up. Which is why I am more concerned with getting my hands on one rather than getting a phenomenal price.

Yeah, the "S Annuciators" are hell on my ears.

I wouldn't get too hung up on the measurements. Decide based on what you hear. Not all well regarded speakers measure flat.

That said... what you have initially heard seems to match up well with the measurments. And I agree that they look at little too hot in 100-300Hz range. Even the RC-10 are a bit hot on the low end (seems to be somewhat Energy's style)... but not nearly as emphasized.

RC-70's just may not end up being the right speaker for you - no shame in that.

Give them a fair chance, and if they aren't what you're after... I'm guessing you won't have much trouble selling them since you were able to get such a nice deal on them.

thanks beveav,

the price was under $500. i wanted the rc-10s (bookshlelf) but got the
rc-30s(floor standing). it's all about the smooth jazz & surround sound. my next thing to do is switch the center. the c-c100 for the rc-lcr.