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Energy Owners Thread - Page 28

post #811 of 47779
12/23/06 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

I've come across and offer for a pair of Reference Connoisseur RC-30's used for $600 (Cherry).

sounds like an excellent deal (if they're in good condition). I use the RC-30's, they are beautiful sounding speakers. I purposely selected the RC-30's (over the RC-50's) because I live in a small 1-bedroom apartment as well. They fill the room with sound- and more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

Whould an AV receiver (something like a Yamaha 6x100, or Pioneer maybe of 120x6) be adequate in driving these speakers?

yes, I would try to get a brand-new Yamaha RX-V2600, nothing less. If you look around you can find them between $600.00 and like $800.00. It's one of the best in it's class of receivers, and will provide you with excellent sound quality and power for stereo and multi-channel music, as well as extremely good DSP modes for movies and everything else (ie. gaming, etc.,...).

I use a Yamaha RX-V1600 (as pre-pro), along with an NAD amp (150W X 2), to drive my RC-30's, it's a great combination. These speakers love good power.

Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

Something that is very important is that the setup will sound solid at low to moderate levels.

yes, it will.

Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

Also how is the Cherry finish?

excellent, some of the best I've ever seen on [any] speaker, especially for the price.
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post #812 of 47779
12/23/06 at 12:30pm
Thank you WestCoastD. I'm glad to hear that they will be fine at low levels as well. That is one of the reasons I sold my C-5's, they just didn't sound as tight as my C-3's (I was guessing the power might not have been as adequate as well, but may have been due to a different port design)

Yes, they are in mint condition, with all original packaging, etc. 6 months old.

For my reciever it will be something from Best Buy(Magnolia included) as I have a connection for the Employee Discount. I've been looking at the Yamaha's, Pioneers and Denon. I may wait a bit on the receiver as I recently acquired a PS3 and want to take full advantage of it's audio capabilities. Then after that add the RC-10's or RC surround speakers for the rears.

Thanks again,
B
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post #813 of 47779
12/23/06 at 4:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

I'm glad to hear that they will be fine at low levels as well. That is one of the reasons I sold my C-5's, they just didn't sound as tight as my C-3's

I had the C-5's they are very good speakers, they definitely respond differently to better (or more) power. Initially I used a much lower-power Yamaha receiver (RX-V450, 80W X 7), and it just did'nt sound like I'd hoped. Later I switched to an RX-V1600 (120W X 7), and it was significantly better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

For my reciever it will be something from Best Buy (Magnolia included) as I have a connection for the Employee Discount. I've been looking at the Yamaha's, Pioneers and Denon.

Well, if you have that kind of discount connection then you can consider the Yamaha RX-V2700, Denon AVR-4306, Denon AVR-3806, or a Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi.

Quote:
Originally Posted by briankmonkey View Post

I may wait a bit on the receiver as I recently acquired a PS3 and want to take full advantage of it's audio capabilities.

I'm not sure what you mean here?
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post #814 of 47779
12/25/06 at 5:13pm
Anyone notice that they are now selling the RC series over at Audio Advisor
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post #815 of 47779
12/26/06 at 7:59am
Gotcha, that makes sense WestCoastD. The receive was 100x6 (yamaha) so it probably just wasn't enough juice to control the low end.

Yeah, I was mainly looking at those types of models. Wanted to spend under 1k after discount which is possible for the 3806 and VSX84 after discount.

Oh, for that part I meant the HDMI abilities for the lossless codecs out of the PS3.
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post #816 of 47779
12/29/06 at 10:20am
Please help me choose receiver to go together with new C-500s, C-100s and C-C100 i just got at discount sale. I listened to 'em at the store wired to Yamaha 659 and quite liked the sound but alas! i can't get this yammy because it does not fit into my apparently too small equipment rack (depth is limited to 37cm), and i can't get another because my wife likes that small one too much.

I googled up receivers' sizes and found out that i can fit into my rack just these ones (i omitted el cheapo ones and those that can't be found in the stores out here):

Harman/Kardon AVR 240 ~$550
Harman/Kardon AVR 340 ~$750
Cambridge Audio Azur 540R v2 ~$550
Pioneer VSX-916 ~$400
Sony STR-DG700 ~$340
Yamaha HTR5940 ~$370
Yamaha 559 ~$450

Unfortunately i am unable to listen to most of them with my C-500s since Energy brand is very rare here in Moscow, RU. I would like to splash out no more that $600 so H/K AVR 340 is really on the verge and i would get it only if it is way better than the rest.
The set-up would be used to listen to the movies (70%), classical orchestral soundtracks (15%), rock (10%) and 70s-80s pop. There will be NO subwoofer, the room is about 15sq.m. (~160 sq. ft.)
Could someone please advise me on the receiver that should be best for me?

Many thanks in advance.
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post #817 of 47779
12/29/06 at 10:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by droidd2000 View Post

Please help me choose receiver to go together with new C-500s, C-100s and C-C100 i just got at discount sale. I listened to 'em at the store wired to Yamaha 659 and quite liked the sound but alas! i can't get this yammy because it does not fit into my apparently too small equipment rack (depth is limited to 37cm), and i can't get another because my wife likes that small one too much.

I googled up receivers' sizes and found out that i can fit into my rack just these ones (i omitted el cheapo ones and those that can't be found in the stores out here):

Harman/Kardon AVR 240 ~$550
Harman/Kardon AVR 340 ~$750
Cambridge Audio Azur 540R v2 ~$550
Pioneer VSX-916 ~$400
Sony STR-DG700 ~$340
Yamaha HTR5940 ~$370
Yamaha 559 ~$450

Unfortunately i am unable to listen to most of them with my C-500s since Energy brand is very rare here in Moscow, RU. I would like to splash out no more that $600 so H/K AVR 340 is really on the verge and i would get it only if it is way better than the rest.
The set-up would be used to listen to the movies (70%), classical orchestral soundtracks (15%), rock (10%) and 70s-80s pop. There will be NO subwoofer, the room is about 15sq.m. (~160 sq. ft.)
Could someone please advise me on the receiver that should be best for me?

Many thanks in advance.

The Panasonic SA-XR57 is smaller then all of those I believe and probably a better sounding AVR. Its also only $200-$250.
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post #818 of 47779
12/29/06 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Istari1 View Post

The Panasonic SA-XR57 is smaller then all of those I believe and probably a better sounding AVR. Its also only $200-$250.

AFAIK all Panasonic receivers got digital amplifiers, and this type is VERY unpopular here in Russia (in dedicated receivers). It usually gets trashed in reviews and so... Panasonic does not sell its receivers in Russia, period. Not that it could if it tried...

Oh, and thanks for advice. A pity i can't use it.
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post #819 of 47779
12/29/06 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by droidd2000 View Post

Please help me choose receiver to go together with new C-500s, C-100s and C-C100 i just got at discount sale. .

I would use no less than a Yamaha RX-V2600 or RX-V659, these speakers like more power.
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post #820 of 47779
12/29/06 at 12:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WestCoastD View Post

I would use no less than a Yamaha RX-V2600 or RX-V659, these speakers like more power.

Wouldn't bi-amping Pioneer 916 or "true" 55W of H/K AVR 340 help? Unfortunately both Yamahas you suggested are more than 40cm in depth.
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post #821 of 47779
12/29/06 at 6:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by droidd2000 View Post

Wouldn't bi-amping Pioneer 916 or "true" 55W of H/K AVR 340 help? Unfortunately both Yamahas you suggested are more than 40cm in depth.

bi-amping may help some. I tried it using a Yamaha RX-V1600, it really made my C-300's come to life moreso- I thought.

The HK will probably work okay, however, you will not really know until you try. I would try to get somewhere near 100W per/chan if possible.
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post #822 of 47779
12/29/06 at 8:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by droidd2000 View Post

i can't get another because my wife likes that small one too much.

you may have to work on the wife..........
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post #823 of 47779
1/5/07 at 9:36pm
Hey guys,

Just found this forum and have used it to sort out some sub issues I have, thought maybe I'd try to get some opinions on my speakers now. I have had my C-Series for about a month now and I think I have them pretty well broken in. I have C-300's in the front, C-C100 for the center, and C-50's for the rears.

When I use my receivers auto set up (Onkyo TX-SR604), it sets all of the speakers to full range. From what I have read this isn't the best configuration so I have gone in and set crossover points for them, but I'm not sure I've selected the best ones.

My receiver will allow, full band, 40Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, 150Hz, and 200Hz. Currently I have the fronts set to 50Hz, the center set to 60Hz, and the surrounds to 80Hz. Anybody have any opinion on this, or perhaps a suggestion for the best sound?

Thanks for the help
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post #824 of 47779
1/5/07 at 11:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

My receiver will allow, full band, 40Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, 150Hz, and 200Hz. Currently I have the fronts set to 50Hz, the center set to 60Hz, and the surrounds to 80Hz. Anybody have any opinion on this, or perhaps a suggestion for the best sound?

I had the same exact set-up, only using a Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver, it sounded pretty good.

I'm not exactly sure how to correlate your Onkyo TX-SR604 speaker frequency-band selections to my Yamaha (it has speaker "size" settings instead), however, I have all speakers set for "SMALL", and set LFE (low frequency effect) for 80Hz. This way all LFE (below 80Hz) is handled by the sub-woofer.

Anyway, after looking at Energy C-Series specs, it looks like 50Hz is probably good for the C-300's; I would do 60Hz for the C-C100; 80Hz for the C-50's.
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post #825 of 47779
1/6/07 at 1:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

My receiver will allow, full band, 40Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 120Hz, 150Hz, and 200Hz. Currently I have the fronts set to 50Hz, the center set to 60Hz, and the surrounds to 80Hz. Anybody have any opinion on this, or perhaps a suggestion for the best sound?

I'm not familiar with the inner-workings of the Onkyo, but just setting the crossover wouldn't do it in my receiver; there's a second setting for setting the speakers to 'small' and that is pretty common practice. If you set the crossover but left the speakers as 'large' you might not actually end up with anything happening differently.

Beyond that suggestion, the 300's really aren't big speakers. I'd cross them over no lower than 80Hz (the THX crossover point) as the initial starting point and tweak from there.
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post #826 of 47779
1/6/07 at 9:56am
Thanks guys,

The Onkyo doesn't provide a setting for large or small speakers. All it allows is for you to set the crossover point for them, as we have discussed, but it also allows you to specify the low pass filter for the lfe which I have set to 120Hz (sub is a Velodyne DLS-3750R). I will try maybe increasing the crossovers for the speakers, is there a chart of sorts that provides general crossover points for speakers based on their driver size?

Cheers.
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post #827 of 47779
1/6/07 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

The Onkyo doesn't provide a setting for large or small speakers. All it allows is for you to set the crossover point for them, as we have discussed, but it also allows you to specify the low pass filter for the lfe which I have set to 120Hz (sub is a Velodyne DLS-3750R)..

I would definitely set your LFE for 80Hz.

Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

I will try maybe increasing the crossovers for the speakers, is there a chart of sorts that provides general crossover points for speakers based on their driver size?

Now I understand the Onkyo a little better after reading thru the TX-SR604 manual, Speaker Configuration, under "Speaker Set-up" section (page 67). It provides the whole selection of cross-over frequencies, including "full-band" selection, for each speaker. Also provides a separate LFE frequency selection.

Like I mention above I would definitely set your LFE for 80Hz, especially since you're using a sub (for DolbyDigital, DTS, ProLogic II, etc.,...).

You can play around with various frequency settings for all other speakers. I'd probably start with 60Hz for the C-300's, maybe 60Hz for the C-C100, and maybe 80Hz for the C50's (this equates to approx = 20Hz above each speakers' low-end range).

However, for dedicated music (2-channel stereo) I would set your receiver, such that, the front (C-300's) are full-range, with NO sub.

I don't know of any particular charts myself, I would just go by the Energy frequency-range specs (listed at their web-site).
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post #828 of 47779
1/7/07 at 8:05am
I run my C-500's (with a Pioneer VSX -1016) as small, crossed over to the sub at 80Hz for two channel music and really find it opens up the mid range. It's subtle, but for me, I like to still use the sub for 2 channel music (although I tend to go back and forth).

I also find the receiver doesn't run as hot when the sub is handling the low frequencies and you are playing it loud.

I think it's personal preference but, if I were you, I would experiment a little with the settings to see what you prefer.
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post #829 of 47779
1/7/07 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gthal View Post

I run my C-500's (with a Pioneer VSX -1016) as small, crossed over to the sub at 80Hz for two channel music and really find it opens up the mid range. It's subtle, but for me, I like to still use the sub for 2 channel music (although I tend to go back and forth).

I find the more full-range tower's, like the C-300's and C-500's especially, exhibit a more "natural" sound with 2-channel, and multi-channel, music, by themselves (no sub).

Quote:
Originally Posted by gthal View Post

I also find the receiver doesn't run as hot when the sub is handling the low frequencies and you are playing it loud.

That could be true. However, the receiver's only driving two channels so heat, or over-loading, should'nt be an issue of concern at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by gthal View Post

I think it's personal preference but, if I were you, I would experiment a little with the settings to see what you prefer.

exactly!
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post #830 of 47779
1/7/07 at 8:54pm
Anyone have a pair of RC-10's I might be able to listen to in the SoCal/San Diego area? Pleae PM me.
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post #831 of 47779
1/8/07 at 5:16am
I'm considering some RC-10s for a 2 channel stereo system I'm building. My question is how do these speakers perform with rock/metal music. Does the revealing nature of the RC-10's make the errors in poorly recorded material and mp3s sound a little too obvious? Could they be considered too revealing?

I am planning on pairing the RC-10's with an HK 3480 and a Martin Logan Dynamo.
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post #832 of 47779
1/8/07 at 7:58am
Cool,

Thanks for the help, I will experiment with them a little bit. I noticed something that was odd about my speakers recently. I decided to take of the grills, just for a bit different of a look, and noticed that the grill posts are chrome on all of the speakers except for the C-C100's which are black. This seems odd to me that they don't match. Does anyone know if energy maybe does this on purpose, as the center channel usually sits on top of the tv and the black ones are maybe less distracting to the eye?

Thanks again.
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post #833 of 47779
1/8/07 at 5:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

I decided to take of the grills, just for a bit different of a look, and noticed that the grill posts are chrome on all of the speakers except for the C-C100's which are black.

hmmm, chrome post's?

As I remember my C-Series had (black-colored) round plastic-molded inserts for the grill (molded) plastic pegs to seat into and position the grill over the speaker.

Maybe the latest versions being manufactured have updated grill mounting pieces? Maybe you have a mix of newer and older product?
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post #834 of 47779
1/11/07 at 5:45pm
Hello all,
an acquaintance recently offered me $600 for a nearly 10-year old set of energys (2 c-6 connoiseurs, 2 2+2 audisseys, an EC-200 center and an Es-12 sub). I have no idea of that's a good deal (for me or him) and was hoping ya'll could help me out. I know that I paid top dollar for all that back in 96 or 97 but don't know how well they've kept their value.
Thx much!
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post #835 of 47779
1/11/07 at 7:26pm
WestcoastD,

The design of the speaker grills is exactly the same between the center channel and the others, it's just that the actual pegs that are mounted on the speakers are chrome vs. black. I actually contacted Energy regarding this and they weren't sure what happened there. I also called A&B Sound as I had previously noticed that in the center channel the tweeter was installed upside down, ie. the energy logo was upside down. Due to these issues A&B have offered to swap this speaker for me, so all is well.
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post #836 of 47779
1/11/07 at 7:36pm
Is there anyone on this thread running a Marantz or Sherwood to an RC set up? I'm considering these components and wondering if anyone has coments on how they match up.
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post #837 of 47779
1/11/07 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by judge_dredd View Post

I actually contacted Energy regarding this and they weren't sure what happened there. I also called A&B Sound as I had previously noticed that in the center channel the tweeter was installed upside down, ie. the energy logo was upside down. Due to these issues A&B have offered to swap this speaker for me, so all is well.

wow, that's great!
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post #838 of 47779
1/11/07 at 9:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pschwartz View Post

Is there anyone on this thread running a Marantz or Sherwood to an RC set up? I'm considering these components and wondering if anyone has coments on how they match up.

I have'nt used either receiver brand myself, however, I understand both have excellent amplifier/power-supply sections (very efficient), I'm sure they will work well with RC-Series. I would prefer at least 100W per/chan minimum.
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post #839 of 47779
1/11/07 at 9:40pm
Thanks WestCoastD, I read how effecient they are supposed to be, then I read reviews from people saying that they need plenty of high quality power. Would you think it's safe to assume, if I'm looking at the higher lines of both mentioned brands, I would not have any problems with dynamics?
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post #840 of 47779
1/11/07 at 10:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pschwartz View Post

I read reviews from people saying that they need plenty of high quality power. Would you think it's safe to assume, if I'm looking at the higher lines of both mentioned brands, I would not have any problems with dynamics?

yeah, the RC-Series love power.

However, I think you would be happy using a Marantz SR8001 (even better an SR9600, but much more expensive).

Or maybe one of these new Sherwood/NewCastle R-972's (below). Or an R-965.
http://www.audioholics.com/ces/CESpr...erwoodR972.php

On the other hand I would prefer to use a separate, 150W to 200W per/chan, multi-channel amp- ie. Outlaw 7500 (200W X 5), or an NAD T973 (140W X 7) for example, along with a good receiver, or separate pre-pro.
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