Price Paid:  $150.00 from Edmonton

Summary:
For $150 Canadian brand new in the box, the Energy XL-150 bookshelf speakers are attractive, solid, and are used daily in my music studio. I discovered these on sale in a flyer at an electronics store in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and after testing a demo pair in the noisy shop, I knew that they would be able to perform well in my studio as monitors. I have yet to be disappointed. Other brands of bookshelf speakers and monitors have been used in my studio, but the Energy XL-150 speakers provide the cleanest and richest sound of all the speakers tested in the same configuration.

Strengths:
The price inverse equation: without exception, the best performing monitor speakers for the least amount of cash.

Size and weight: the speaker body has an ideal footprint for tight workspaces, and the best weight to overcome vibration from bass-range louder volumes without getting muddy sounding.

Delivery: high frequencies are uncompromised, mid-range tones are rich and clean, the lowest sounds are represented well but keep in mind that these are not subwoofers.

Beauty in these beasts: with or without the grillplates, they blend in well with the studio aesthetic design, and could be mistaken for much more expensive passive monitors like the ones offered by Tannoy or Samson. They come in cherry veneer and black, mine are the black model.

Weaknesses:
The posts are a bit fussy when inserting bare copper wire, although the other contacts fit in with no fuss at all. Ever so slightly disappointed with the THD and impedance, however you still know what time it is if you're getting a Rolex for the price of a Timex, and the Energy XL-150 speakers are used without fail every day with the same satisfying results. The face-grill plugs take some effort to remove and replace, so I just leave them on, since they are transparent to sound.

Similar Products Used:
JBL Bookshelf speakers and PSB Bookshelf speakers were used in comparison for performance testing. The JBLs could not deliver the bottom range anywhere near as well, while the PSBs were better but ended up mated with a PSB sub-woofer and centre channel speaker on the home theatre system.

MJAB

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Tecnologías de Avanz

Summary:
When I saw this little speakers for the first time they grabbed my attention because of their look...very atractive speakers, in fact. I wanted to change my entire Boston Acoustics Home Theater arrangement and also read a good review about this Energy bookshelfs on Goodsound, so I decided to listen them. My surprise at the listening room was because of their strong bass for its size and their capacity to sound really loud, tested with Santana Supernatural Live DVD, so I decided to buy three pairs: front, rears and one for center channel (yes, I though that, as I am introducing to DVD audio and SACD, I needed five identical speakers, so it was better an extra pair than a center channel that, by the way, costs the same and I did not liked). So I brought them to my house, connected to my NAD T743 and begun to listening. I will not waste time on its physical or technical characteristics but on its sound. First, I got the impression of hearing a more expensive speaker because of their natural, clear sound, with a wide soundstage that really goes beyond of their edges, making them almost disapear. The highs, although clear and present, are a little rolled off in comparison to other good similar speakers; they can be described as smooth and pleasant, never dull or dark. You can sense the presence of the harpshicords on Bach´s Concertos for 3 and 4 harpshicords (Archiv 400041-2) and the harpshicord on Vivaldi Sonatas sounded beautiful with the cello´s accompainment (Ofra Harnoy Vivaldi Sonatas, RCA Red Seal). The violins on the Allegro from Mozart Concerto No. 24 for piano and Orchestra (Istomin, Seattle Symph, Reference Recording RR-68CD)sounded with just the right warmth without being sibilant or "wirey", if you know what I mean. Turning to jazz, the sax never sounded harsh on Art Davis A time Remembered (JPCD 4001). The mids are somewhat laid back, affecting specially the voices and putting them a little bit on the rear, but preserving the natural bloom of that voices, as I noted with the contralto solo an the chorus on Mahler Symphony N.3 (Solti, Chicago Symph. London 414268-2). On the other hand the piano sounded great on good recordings like Horowitz, The Last Recording (Sony SK 45818). The bass response was really impressive for a speaker of this size and price, specially on heavy pop music like Madonna Inmaculate Collection, kicking butts at my actually listenig position; of course they did not reproduced the low pedal tones from Bach Toccata and Fugue in F major (E. Power Biggs, SACD SS 87983) or the bass drum rolling from Grofé Grand Canyon Suite opening (Dorati, Detroit Symph. London 410110-2), but for this you need a subwoofer. I made a direct AB comparison with another 3 similar priced speakers: Boston Acoustics CR6, Polk RT25i and NHT Super Zero. The Boston CR6 where not match for the Energy speakers; they sounded constricted, with unpleasant mids and poor bass, giving them a "nasal" presentation. The Polks have a more detailed treble, resolving better the inner detail on high frequency instruments an revealing more things like the soft, metallic sound from the touch of the guitar´s cords (Erick Clapton Unplugged), but the Energy speakers sounded more open and with less congestion on the mid bass with a better overall sounstage; they also sounded louder and with better bass response than the Polks; anyway I think that Bob Reina overrated the Polks on his Stereophile 2001 review. The NHT Super Zero were the absolute winner over the highs and mids from the Energy speakers; they sounded more open, transparent and detailed than the Energys, but as you can gess, the total lack of bass from the Super Zeros can make them sound thin and harsh, depending on what kind of gear you use; so, the overall presentation from the Energys can be more engaging for some people than the one from the Super Zeros. Which speaker I prefer? If you are not crazy about a high resolution minimonitor and just want a good enough speaker to enjoy music with good quality mid-priced gear, the Energy XL-150 can be all what you need because of its well balanced, clear sound, and for just 200 USD is a bargain. Maybe not the best speaker for a High End tube amplifier (suposing that you want to hear everything on any recording...like me).

Strengths:
Overall tonality, not harsh at all; smooth highs, clear mids and strong bass.

Weaknesses:
Mids are somewhat laidback; rolled-off treble that make them loose a little bit of detail on high frequencies, although it depends on what kind of gear you have.

Similar Products Used:
Polk Audio RT25i, NHT Super Zero, Boston CR6, NAD T743 AV receiver, Jolida 202 integrated tube amp, Pioneer 563 universal DVD player, NAD C521i CD player, Marantz DR6000 CD recorder.