Energy Owners Thread - Page 101

Hey Gary

check this out....good deal.
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ubw&1213692003
Love spending other peoples cash
buy the way, just latched onto a RC-LCR.... cant wait!

Unless you're really forced to I would recommend to stay with the same speaker line- ie. either use all C-Series or all RC-Series, ensures more optimum voice-matching, and does look cleaner (although each series does share a similiar type aluminum-dome tweeter providing adequate voice-matching capability).

It's not a problem, necessarily, pairing C-200's with a small center such as the RC-MiniCenter, it's just that the RC-MiniCenter will be more limited on low frequency range:
http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/pr...ecs.php?id=316
Consequently your crossover will be limited to approx. 100Hz (which is not a huge problem, but would prefer to have 80Hz crossover "standard" for my front-surround). Otherwise RC-MiniCenter will yield more refined high-end and better mid-range for slightly better performance in dialog, etc.,...

I would use a C-C100 center which would yield the most range and perfectly voice-match the C-200's:
http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/pr...ecs.php?id=296

If "size" is the issue here, then I would just go with a C-C50 center:
http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/pr...ecs.php?id=297

The C-50's, C-100's, C-200's, or C-R100's will all work fine as rears/surrounds. The C-R100's work best (I think as surrounds) as they yield good range combined with ease of installation (for wall-mounting).

If you go with RC-Series I would, as much as possible, use RC-10 fronts, RC-LCR center, and RC-10's or RC-R's for rears/surround (or maybe RC-Mini's). The RC-Series are slightly more refined sounding than the C-Series, better hi-end and mid-range with excellent bass. If you can afford the RC-Series this would be the better choice. However the C-Series are very impressive sounding, especially in home-theater surround applications, and have excellent build quality.


I've never listened to any Polk's, period. Could'nt honestly elaborate. But I know the Energy C-Series design and performance is exceptionally good for the price.

I agree with WestCoast, BUT...for movies I wouldn't say its absolutely necessary to stick with one set. The fronts and the center you want to be matched though because those are giving the most sound at any given time, but if you use RCs in the front and C's in the back it should sound just fine. I do understand that it would make more sense to have all matching series so that they all match up perfectly and also for resale value, but I have mine split RCs in front and Cs in the back and it sounds great.

yes, I believe you. It's not super-critical for the rears to be exactly the same series match. However I would'nt want to recommend to someone to start out with a [brand-new], mis-matched, surround speaker set when they could have a nice [matched] set. The RC-Series and C-Series are, essentially, two completely different speaker designs or products.

Actually I'm using a new Monitor Audio GS-Series front surround (GS-60 fronts and GS-LCR center) combined with my original Energy RC-R rears and they all blend very well. I'm using this configuration [only] because the RC-R's are already physically mounted to my walls. But I do plan to switch to Monitor Audio GS-FX rears once I move into a new condo

Anyone powered their RCs with an Emotiva?? That XPA-5 looks very interesting.

Yep. I went from my trusty Yamaha / Adcom setup to a pair of Emotiva separates. The MMC-1 and IPS-1 ( 150X7 ) I am passively bi=amping my RC 50"s. Honestly, they sound fantastic...better than my Yammi ever did. Nice combo with Energy gear. Their amps are solid.I would say they are warm and provide lots of detail...especially with my Energy speakers. They will be releasing a new line of Processors this summer...and will have all the new Hi Rez sound formats. Being an original owner i will get a 40% discount on the new processor...and keep my current one. A nice incentive for buying from them. Kinda takes the "sting" out of upgraditis. They are similar to Oppo in that customer support is #1, very responsive to concerns and questions...I could not be any happier.
I think you would be quite happy with one of their amps. They just taped a Podcast that should be airing soon so maybe that could answer some of your questions.

cool! I hear their amp's are very good. I'm sure they work well with Energy RC-Series.


I read about these upcoming pre-pro's. Will be interesting to see how well their HDMI implementation works out.

I'd recommend keeping to the RC line for the fronts and maybe the C series for the rears. Our system has the RC 30s + RC Mini Center for front and C100s rear + the S10.3 sub.

This combo is pretty sweet in our smallish livingroom setup. We listen to music more than movies and the Energy's deliver a great sound. But when the lights go out and the movie begins, we have not been disappointed by these speakers.

Quick noob ?
Will i get the same voice output from both the C-C100 & C-C50 or are the tweeters diffrent?
I have decided on C-200 for L/R & C-50s for surround duty, i'm just stuck on the center option ATM (C-C100/C-C50/C-50)!
Many Thanks

they are exact same construction and voice-match, only C-C100 yields more range. Both will work fine. You can use 80Hz crossover with either.

If it's a matter of size, or "fit", go with the C-C50. But if you can afford the C-C100 I would prefer the wider frequency range.


good set-up, you'll be happy.

Since you've had your setup for a little while now, can you talk about the RC Mini center and how it works with the bigger RC-30 towers?

You mention that you listen to a lot of music -- I'm assuming that you do music in two-channel and only use the center for TV/movies? Do you find that the towers overpower the center?

I had a brief experiment trying a Take 1.2 center with my AC-300 mains, and I didn't like the sound. The Take 5.2 series just doesn't have the range to keep up in the upper-bass / low mids, even if all three were crossed over at 100Hz. I'm certainly willing to believe that other, better "mini" centers could provide superior performance so I'm always interested in hearing opinions.

For WAF reasons, a small center would be perfect but I'd rather run phantom center than sacrifice sound quality in the center channel and get those thin vocals. So much sounds goes to the center...

Hey Batpig. Have you tried a AC-300 for your center channel? Or is it too big for your setup.

No, only have two of them! The problem is that currently my plasma isn't wall mounted, it's sitting on my console, so no room for a big center. And I will not abide the ghetto look of a center speaker sitting in front of a plasma. The Take 1.2 center I tried briefly as a test for a couple of weeks, because it is small enough to fit. But you better believe my wife mentioned every day how ugly it looked to have a speaker sitting in front of the plasma.

Having only run 2.1, I was really curious to hear the difference a center channel could make. While I really liked how it anchored the dialogue/effects to the middle of the screen, like I said above the tiny little Take 1.2 was just overmatched for the task. Dialogue seemed thin, and so much of the sound it routed to the center. It was especially so for music reproduction (i.e. using Dolby PLII or 5-channel-stereo mode), where it sounded vastly better in straight stereo mode every time I tested.

Eventually I am planning on wall mounting and leaving some space between console and the bottom of the screen for a center channel. The general plan for a while has been to find a 3rd AC-300 for a good price and go with a matching setup all the way across the front. The general backup plan has been, if I instead found a great deal on front L/R setup, to move one AC-300 to the middle and sell the other one to finance the L/R upgrade.

However, the wife is not too keen on having an 8-inch tall, 20-inch wide center channel hogging up the middle of the console (nor is my cat!). I just love the look of the RC series and the RC-mini seems like a quality product, so I'm just trying to gather whether it could be a good compromise solution.

I hear ya. I bit the bullet and bought a RC LCR to go with my 50's. Probably wont be here for another week though. Can't wait to get it into the mix. Gonna retire my AC-300 so it will be up for sale if you are at all interested, but the wifey probably would not like that! They are pretty big speakers. The RC's are really nice looking.The mini center might be a good compromise. There is one on audiogone now for a good price.....but you probably already know that.
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ull&1213652633

I will be very interested to hear your thoughts on the AC-300 vs. RC LCR.

I saw that RC-mini.... but I'm loathe to spend more money on a tiny little center speaker than I would on a used AC-300 (I got mine for about $120 shipped each). While I'm sure the RC mini is very high quality, I love the "full" sound of larger speakers -- that's why I'm interested in begreen's opinion on RC Mini + RC-30's.

You've got that huge entertainment center though, so you've got a place for a big center.

I auditioned take 5.2 speakers extensively (the sats as well as the center which I mentioned above), a pair of Encore sats, and used to own XL-15 bookshelfs. All the "little" energy speakers share the same beautifully crisp highs, with a clear and neutral sound. And I'd probably be OK with little speakers for TV viewing. But when I want to listen to music, I just hate the sound of tiny little sats with a sub and the inevitable loss of fullness, richness, midrange warmth, whatever you want to call it.

The AC-300's sound so much fuller than the little speakers (especially since I upgraded to a denon 3803 from a 2105 a month ago), which is why I'm curious to hear opinions from people using the RC mini center. It's also why I'm loathe to "upgrade" to smaller bookshelfs like the RC-10. While I'm sure they sound amazing, I feel like I'd rather wait until I can afford the RC-30 rather than go through the buy/sell hassle now and then regret not getting towers. For 2-channel music, bigger speakers just sound better IMO.

I loved my RC10's but yeah, fuller more satisfying sound out of the 50's, that's for sure. The 30's are great too. I have really enjoyed the 300 as a center, great for music and awesome for movies. One fine dynamic speaker. But I do have to say, as good as it sounds I really want a matching center...so much praise for the RC-LCR..... I'll be sure to let you know how it sounds in comparison. I was thinking of selling the 300 for about the same price you mentioned. Prob for 1 bill if picked up.

Fedex guy visited an hour ago. Just plugged in my RC-10s for my computer. The C-100 are going back in the box.

MUCH more refined (can hear the symbals clearly) and the bottom end goes a little deeper (better kick drums and bass notes). But everyone already know that lol. Another thing is that I didn't look first but the cabinets are deeper. Caused some problems cuz they come a little closer to the face, almost too close. I'll try the port plugs later (cuz my computer setup is in the corner of a room (V-shaped desk).

Ordered from audioadvisor. Demo version. They are quite dirty but I think I'll be able to wash them with a wet cloth to bring back this beautiful rosenut finish to new. No scratches at all except for the hole where you put the screw in for the surrounds (must've been tried by someone for surrounds). But all this is in the back. No biggie.

Guess what now... Murphy just paid 50 more bucks to fedex cuz they have been held at the border So it brings the final total to 415 CAD$. Still very good price for that pair. Now I just have to put the grills on (but they look too nice to hide them )

So now my whole house is made out of rosenut RCs Awesome.

What will I do with those C-100?! Is 150$ a good price for the in-law? I paid 250$ plus taxes new.

Congrats mouettus. The Rosenut finish is indeed beautiful...and yeah, they look fantastic without the grills.

Does anybody have any pics of the RC LCR all setup with your system? I can't find any pics of one setup. I need to know just how big the thing really is. I know the measurements, but that's not doing me any good. Thank you very much in advance, if you're able to provide pics.

yeah, use a clean, very damp, towel (terry cloth or micro-fibre) with warm water to wipe off excess dirt/dust.

I've also been using this Murphy's Oil Soap product "Soft Wipes":
http://www.colgate.com/app/MurphyOil.../SoftWipe.cwsp
You can find it in most markets. It really works nice on speaker wood veneers, and it's safe. It has a mild cleaning solution. Preserves natural finish.

Thanks for the cleaner tip WC. every so often I wipe them with a damp cloth, but wished there was something else to use on these puppies to get them their shiny best....

the Soft Wipes has a very mild, natural, cleaning solution that leaves the wood natural looking (not overly glossy or shiny). Also anti-static.

We've only had the RC mini center for about 2 weeks now. Before that I tried a center wall speaker above the projector screen, but didn't like it. It was too voice-of-god like. I guess normally one would have the bigger center. The problem for us is we have an overstuffed chair where the center needs to be and the LCR just was too big. I decided to try the RC mini center and am quite pleased with it.

Soundwise it's a nice match to the RC30s. The blend between the RC-30s and the center is very good. The towers haven't overpowered it. That little speaker is an overachiever. Considering it's mostly for dialog, the lack of low end is not an issue. When it's showtime I just pull down the screen and put the mini on the seat of the chair. This works pretty well. We watched Across the Universe a week ago and it was magical. So far, no complaints from me about the new setup and the WAF is good.

For music listening it depends on the source. Some recordings sound ok with the center. But on other cuts, it seems to shrink or blend the soundstage a bit too much. Generally I listen to music with it off and park the mini on a shelf behind the chair. But I'm still experimenting and don't have a collection of DVD-Audio yet.

Have you searched this thread TD? I have a pic on here of mine only a few pages back, pretty easy to find.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post13563359

In fact, you posted two posts after this one. What don't you like about it? Thought it conveyed the size pretty good myself

This is how it looks on mine...
http://www.geocities.com/knight_40k/135_105245.jpg
fairly large, about the size of my receiver but not as deep.


Also, since upgrading to the LCR, I no longer have use for my C-C100 so its going up for sale. If anyone is interested, PM me, it will be on e-bay within a week or two.

Hey guys,

Was hoping you could help me. This weekend I basically took my whole room/HT setup and rotated it 90 degrees. It allowed me to really spread my front speakers out. I am running 7.1 (C-C100, C-500's x 2, C-R100's x 4). There is one issue though: I have my two back speakers and my right surround in a fine place, they can easily be put up on the wall. But my left surround happens to be right in front of the window. Obviously I can't mount it into the window, so I was wondering if somebody could suggest a ceiling bracket for the C-R100? It would need to come down about 2-3 feet from the ceiling so I can line it up with my right surround.

Any suggestions? Is this possible with a surround speaker that isnt a teeny tiny bose satellite?

Not sure if others noticed, but Amazon is now selling Energy stuff and for decent prices with free shipping. Not the greatest selection (only RC-minis and C-series stuff mostly), but some good deals there.

For example: ESW-V8 sub for $499 with free shipping

ESW-V10 for $699 with free shipping

As I bemoan the fact that all you canucks get to shop closeout specials on Energy stuff at a B&M like futureshop, at least a big name etailer is starting to carry them.

EDIT: as a postscript, looking at Audio Advisor I just noticed they are now listing the mythical flaming RC-8 subwoofer as a demo sale: http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...mber=1ENRCSUB8

I thought they never actually produced those?

yeah, it's most-likely one of the few left-over demo's (as it say's). I guess there were a small quantity that was actually sold on the market. Apparently these were very good sub's, just a problem with their amplifiers (burn up in flames). I'm surprised AudioAdvisor would still sell it to the public.

Oh crap! I'm sorry, Krunch. I don't know how I missed it, but thank you very much.

One of my Energy Veritas 2.3 has a frozen tweeter/mid again. It doesn't show on everything I play with it, but it shows extremely badly on a new CD that I just made with my piano teacher playing the Goldberg variations. It's like scratching. Hurts my ears. There is nothing wrong with the recording with any other speaker system or headphones in the house. Sigh.

That Veritas has already been in service twice, back when it was under warranty. The dealer was Good guys, and no longer exists.
I have a Veritas system in my home theater (2.0Ci and 2.0Ri). The front are the non-i model 2.3.

Questions :

1) are the 2.3WM (in-walls) more reliable than the floor-standing ? Are they the "i" generation ?

This might be something I would be interested in since the 2.3s do take a lot of space. But I'm wary of spending more money on energy.

2) if I want to get rid of those Energy 2.3s and replace them with something more reliable and not made by Energy, which other speakers do you think would match best with the 2.0Ri and 2.0Ci ?