Price Paid:  $300.00 from Audio Connection

Summary:
This was my first qulity subwoofer I'd bought. I wanted to fill in the LFE channel that my Bose AM-7 and AM-5 could not handel. The results were awesome. This sub was very clean and tight.It would however make some port noise when pushed to hard. I found by-passing the subs crossover useing the external cross over input made this sub sound even cleaner and play lower, and loader. Great sub, but had to get a bigger sub as my room was to large for this sub to handel. Oh by the way I sold my Bose, I was glad to get rid of them! I bought some Definitive Technology BP2002TLs instead.

Strengths:
Clean fast bass.

Weaknesses:
Port noise

Similar Products Used:
Own Definitive Technology PF15TL, Pro Subs 100TL, & 200TL

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Barret's Home Theate

Summary:
I purchased the Energy e:xl-S8 in January 2001. I have been using ever since then and I must say that I will need to buy a very large house on a pretty big piece of land before I will ever reach the limits of this speaker. Despite the small size of the e:xl-S8, it is cable of getting you in trouble with any landlord or neighbor. More seriously, the sound is fabulous when paired with the Energy Take 5 speakers that I have hooked up to my home theater system. The adjustable low pass crossover works very well as does the input level adjustment. I have never used with other speakers, so I cannot comment on ho it would work with other brands of speakers. Regardless, I am very pleased with this product and I recommend it highly.

Strengths:
Great sound from a rather small package. Good value. High quality built-in amplifier.

Weaknesses:
None that I have experienced.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $225.00 from Sound Pros

Summary:
My main speakers for years were the classic 3 way 10" JBL L110--terrific speakers with volumes of bass and great for rock. However, as my music tastes have changed I decided I wanted accuracy and clarity in sound and so decided to upgrade from a receiver and the JBL L110's to an Arcam Alpha 8R integrated amp and Acoustic Energy Aegis One speakers. Great equipment, but found I wanted a bit more out of the system. Upgraded cables first and that was a great thing--then decided to shop for a sub. Thought it would cost an arm and a leg and was pleased to find the reviews here of the Energy xl:S8. It lives up to everything that has been said about it. Integrates with the Aegis Ones beautifully and with some patient adjusting I've got things exactly the way I like and my music sounds great. You can spend $300 more and get more features, but this sub is a GREAT find.

Strengths:
Taut, quick bass. Price.

Weaknesses:
Connectors. Simple feature set.

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm sub, KLH sub, JBL sub

Price Paid:  $300.00 from good guys

Summary:
I'm not going to get technical here or anything else like that; however, this tiny 8" sub delivers some of the best bass reproduction I've heard. Energy's exl: ten incher cannot even hold onto what this one does, in my belief. If you're seaching for a beginner or starter.... don't let it pass you by. I love this one and would love to eventually get another - just for my tastes. Yes, the volume nob has to be turned up to around 7, and yes the speaker level inputs are clips - big deal! Doesn't really affect me cause I use that RCA connector input jobber, whatever... I'm no joke - it's worth the money.

Price Paid:  $225.00

Summary:
I wanted a small sub for listening to music. I'm not interested in Home Theater, and was concerned that all the small, affordable subs were designed for that market. They would boom out sound and sound great when watching "Die Hard", but suck at music.

I read a review of the Energy and heard other comments about their quality so I gave it a shot. I'm very glad I did. I think this little sub excels because of the design principles involved. In my opinion, it appears that Energy concentrated on a nice (although small) woofer and a good amplifier. That's it. No frills, no fancy features, nothing else but good sound.

So this is a very featureless sub. There's no high-pass filter, no outputs of any kind, only one set of speaker posts (and spring-clips, at that), no removable grill, not even an on/off switch! Energy decided to spend all the money on a quality 8" woofer and powerful (100 watts/ 400 peak) amplifier. That's how they can get away with such good sound for only $225.

My Magnepan speakers have a -3 down point of 50Hz. So I dialed the sub to 50 and started with the volume setting at around 2 (it's much more efficient than the Maggies). After a little experimentation over a few days, I arrived at setting the sub about 6 inches from the back wall, but away from both side walls. The volume setting is at 4 and I bumped the xover frequency to around 55Hz. Now they blend very well.

For mating a sub to music, especially music produced by a planar speaker, you need a "fast" subwoofer. Again, the conventional wisdom was that you'd have to spend a lot for this. But by using a small woofer -- which is easier to control than a large one -- and a very high-quality amplifier the Energy is quite "fast". I do not percieve it as not "keeping up" with the Maggies.

Finally, I could obviously put this thing in a corner and crank up the volume or xover and get more bass than even now. However, the Maggies are pretty solid to around 50Hz and I didn't want the sub to "step on" their sound. The bass I'm getting from the sub is smooth, deep and tight.

All in all, I'm very pleased with what I got for the money. For me, in a subwoofer, it was all about the sound. If you need the features, look elsewhere.

My Equipment:

NAD C350 Integrated Amp
NAD Tuner
NAD PP-1 Phono Pre-Amp
Revolver Turntable w/ Grado Cartridge
Cambridge Audio D500SE CD Player
Magnepan MMG speakers
Kimber and Strait Wire interconnects
Audioquest speaker cable (MMGs)
Monster XP speaker cable (Subwoofer)

Strengths:
Inexpensive. Tight bass for the money. Small footprint.

Weaknesses:
For the money, none.