Summary:
When I was looking to buy a home theater, I decided I had around $600 to a $1000 to spend on speakers. I looked at the Energy Take 5, the Definitive Pro Cinema, and the NHT Superzero setup, but the same thing occured with all three. They sounded small and bad on music. They were OK speakers, but I kept looking to find something better when my main dealer told me something about a new system from Monitor Audio. It was a new sub/sat system from Monitor Authority, Monitor Audio's cheaper line. He told me that this system was better than any of the other small systems. I listened to him and bought them. You've probably never heard of these speakers, and there not on Monitor Audio's website, but if you e-mail them, they'll give you info. I'm very happy with them. They sound great on movies and music. They're slightly bigger than most sub/sat systems, and they sound that way too. When you turn the sub off, these speakers don't sound like small speakers. They throw up a huge soundstage. The sats are bass reflex and go down to 70 hz. They use a 5 and 1/4 in. woofer, with a 1 in. hard dome tweeter. The center is the same as the sats but has an 2 5 and 1/4 in. woofers. It's not bass reflex. The sub is what really sells the system. It's an 8 in. metal woofer powered by a 75 watt amp, in a ported box. It's angled in the rear to eliminate standing waves. The other speakers are designed the same way. I'm not completely sure as to how low the sub goes, but I'd say it goes down to around 30 or 35 hz. It's very fast and delivers tight, clean bass. I've had this system for about a month now, and very happy with it, both for music and movies. I don't think you could ask for a better system for under $1000. For anyone looking at buying a sub/sat system such as the Energy Take 5, you owe it to yourself to listen to these speakers. I guarantee that after one listening session you'll be wondering why you ever thought about getting those Energy's.