kevykev

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.50 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $255.00 from Ebay

Summary:
I had been listening to speakers all over town, looking for a high quality bookshelf speaker. I have a small living room and the speakers will be used for 2 channel stereo. I chose the Energy speakers based on the great sound, and found them for a great price on Ebay. I highly recommend the Polk's and PSB as well, but both were on the high end of my $500 budget that I set aside. I picked up the stands for $75 bucks and still paid less than I would have for the others. When shopping for speakers, I took 4 CD's, Diana Krall's "Love Scenes" Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" Beck, and a live Grant Green CD. The three speakers mentioned above were able to capture this diverse group of music. I'm driving the speakers with an old B&K ST-140 amplifier.

Strengths:
Plays acoustic music beautifully. Good bass, great vocals, live recordings felt visual, like you could see where each musician was sitting/standing. They look great!

Weaknesses:
For my needs, None.

Similar Products Used:
Polk Audio Lsi7, Paradigm Mini Monitor, NHT SB3, B&W 601, Monitor Silver S2, PSB B25

warpdrive

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Audioshop

Summary:
The Energy C-series has been a longtime favorite of my budget audiophiles. These are no nonsense speakers, a good cabinet with the custom designed drivers using the knowledge gained from their own high end speakers, and a simple philosophy of wide flat frequency response. No frills here, just solid engineering. These are the speakers that bridge the gap between the entry level HTIB speaker sets, and true high end speakers. This series has modest two way bookshelf speakers to full range tower speakers. The C-3 incorporates the well regarded Energy aluminum done crossed over at a low 2Khz, to a 6.5 inch woofer with design elements shared with their high end Veritas high end line. The sound of these speakers is really something else. Clarity is their main characteristic. They aren't laid back, and they sound lively whether playing jazz or really rocking with low bass lines from a typically Madonna CD. The tightness of the bass is really a big plus here, the cabinet really keeps check on the bass from getting too tubby, and the midrange is nice and full, the vocals really have a lot of presense. I did notice a bit of coarseness and graininess on some CD's, but it's nothing objectionable. In fact, when I first listened to these, I had listened to some other pretty impressive speakers, Paradigm Studio 20/40, B&W 704/705, Energy Veritas 2.2, and I was surprised that the C-3 wasn't completely embarrassing after all that impressive company. While those other speakers did sound better in some respects, the fact that I liked the C-3's shows that these C-3's really are good. In fact, I had originally setting on the Paradigm Studio 20 which are 50% more costly, but the Energy's had a nicer fuller midrange, and was much cheaper made me sway toward the C-3's (the 20's did have a nicer bass to them, but the C-3's are no slouch in this department)

Strengths:
nice wide 3D image, solid bass, flat response, lively but not overly bright highs

Weaknesses:
Can sound a bit grainy with some heavily electronic music

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm

Price Paid:  $900.00 from Sydney hifi

Summary:
I was looking for a special performance in my room. I did audition a few spekers before i got these. They are no doubt great value for money. Now the important thing is that you have to feed them with good power if you want to really make them sing. I am runnin them off the NAD c320 bee which is 50 x 2 but really its not as other people who have used NAD products would know. In real terms they would be about 80 or 90 Watts. NAD runs them pretty well...but if you can get a better amp do that ....i tried a parasound HCA 1000 A which is a 125 x 2 power amp and that amp really did show what the c 3 is capable of. If you do have a bit more money do audition Dynaudio audience 42 or 52 they are a bit pricey but they r really amazing apeakers.

Strengths:
Highs are better than i have heard in this price range. Amazing tweeters.

Weaknesses:
none really, again at this price range

Similar Products Used:
NAD, B&W, Dynaudio......a long list

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I am one of those people who are frustrating for electronic salespeople to deal with. I go to the store, listen to all of the available options, and then go home. I repeat this process at all of the available stores in the area, and about 50 times at each store individually. Not a big fan of rush decisions--combination of being incredibly anal on decisions and not having a billion dollars to throw at anything I get an urge to buy. I only mention these characteristics of myself to illustrate the almost painful, thorough process I put myself when buying anything major. I have listened to a great number of speakers--big fan of the side-by-side comparison--and these speakers quite frankly blow away anything else. I know and respect the fact that people hear things differently, but the difference between these speakers and all the others I've auditioned seems to almost objectively put them in a class several notches above the rest. The music (big music fan, vs. audio) seems to just jump off of these with a purity and clarity that is incredible. In comparison, the others that I've heard seem rather uninspired, flat, and bloaty. These throw out a BIG soundstage. When combined with decent power (I am a big fan of the Denon line, currently owning the 3802) and clarity, these just sing like angels from above. Dramatic, I know, but so was the difference in my extensive listening sessions. Obviously better speakers do exist, but I honestly believe you have to spend a great deal more money to achieve the same level of sonic nirvana. I would heartily recommend these to anyone searching for a strong reference bookshelf speaker within the mortal price range. One thing I have appreciated with these (and not noticed on prior audio equipment) is the ability to now hear very clear differences in the quality of recording that different cds possess. One example of an exceptionally well-made album is Madonna's "Ray of Light." Not everyone may be a Madonna fan but, in terms of clarity, separation, dynamic range, soundstage, and overall presence, it is a wonderful album to use as a tester or simply listen to. These speakers are also very well made--magnetic grills are a great design concept--and they look very classy. If I haven't made this point abundantly clear already (which I'm sure I have), these speakers are wonderful and I believe most people, given the same listening experiences I went through, would very much agree. I encourage anyone searching for speakers to do a good deal of listening, including the side-by-side method, and to include these speakers in such tests.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I Just heard these speakers at a friend's house two days ago. He burned them in for over 200 hours before doing any critical listening to them. Not only are they one of the most Tonally accurate,inexpensive monitors i've ever heard, but these little speakers produce clean bass down to around 35Hz in my friends apartment. They are connected to a Bryston amp, which is what the people at Energy used in designing the Connoisseur series product line. You would think because of their low price, the C3's are made to be used with cheap receivers & low-end surround sound crap from Circuit city. But they are really designed to be used with high-end Separates,or a well made intergrated amplifier.

Strengths:
equals or betters loudspeakers costing upwards of a $1,000

Weaknesses:
None at this price