The Official Energy Speakers Thread

[callas01]

Originally Posted by MTyson3284

I'm buying my first decent speaker set up, but am still new to this whole thing. I am going for either a 7.1 or 7.2 speaker set up for a bedroom/studio for mostly PS3 gaming, movies, tv, and occasional work out music.

So far I have a new Yamaha RX-V667 Receiver, (2) CB-5 speakers for $60, and (2) CF-50's for $150 each.

I plan on getting another pair of CB-5's, I'm not sure for a sub (but I heard it doesn't need to be the same line), and either a CC-10 or C-C50 for a center. Any thought's on if this will work out? Also any feedback on the CC-10 vs. C-C50 or a sub would be much help. As well as any info on a specific wall mount for the CB-5's and a specific good wiring to hook up this system to the receiver. I'm basically buying all the good deals I've been seeing. Thanks for any help.

the CB5s should be OK as surrounds in a smaller room like it sounds like youre in. I would stick with the CC-10 as a center becuase it will match sonically to the CF-50s.

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by callas01

the CB5s should be OK as surrounds in a smaller room like it sounds like youre in. I would stick with the CC-10 as a center becuase it will match sonically to the CF-50s.

+1 for sure there is no other way with the Connoisseur towers, you need that CC-10 the C-C50 would have worked with the older towers but the CC-5 paired with CF-50 would be wishfull thinking.

[MTyson3284]

Ok so I now have:

(2) CF-30's for fronts
no center yet waiting for a CC-10 deal
(2) CB-5's for satellites and getting (2) more soon
(1) BIC PL200 for subwoofer on it's way

My receiver is the 7.2 3D channel Yamaha RX-V667 still in the box.

My question is what speaker wire brand wire do I really need... I now know I need to build my own banana clip cables but that's seems easy enough... however the wire itself I guess I should get 14 gauge but what brand some seem like 2 wires in clear plastic and others seem to be typical separated red and black wire inside the larger white cable.

Also what's a wall/ceiling mount that can definitely support these CB-5's... as usual amazons reviewers seem to say contradictory information. Thanks for any help or advice on this set up.

[adept777]

Hey guys!! (hi BigAl87 & callas01 ) I am so happy with your suggestions and advices.. itz been great!!!
I thought I have finally settled in on this current setup, up till now
Current Setup:

Onkyo Ht RC270 - Audio/Video Receiver
Energy CF70 - Front Left/Right Speakers
Energy CC10- Front Channel Speaker
Polk Audio RM75 Series - Surround Back Left/Right Speakers
Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800 - Surround Left/Right Speakers
BIC PL 200 & eD A2 300 - Sub woofers

I have saved up some money to upgrade my Onkyo HT-RC270 to the Onkyo TX-NR809 along with changing my rear surround and surround back. And here is my question:

I would like to change my Polk Audio RM75 Series - Surround Back Left/Right Speakers to the Energy CB 10 or the Energy CB 20. What is your opinion? Will this or Is this a good choice? Or am I wasting my money? And which one would you recommend considering my current set up. the Energy CB 10 or the CB 20?? Does the 100 + dollars makes a difference??

I would like to change my Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800 - Surround Left/Right Speakers to the Energy CR-10. What do you think of this? Is it a good move? Or should I just leave it like it is?

Thanks in advance for all your advices..

[callas01]

Originally Posted by MTyson3284

Ok so I now have:

(2) CF-30's for fronts
no center yet waiting for a CC-10 deal
(2) CB-5's for satellites and getting (2) more soon
(1) BIC PL200 for subwoofer on it's way

My receiver is the 7.2 3D channel Yamaha RX-V667 still in the box.

My question is what speaker wire brand wire do I really need... I now know I need to build my own banana clip cables but that's seems easy enough... however the wire itself I guess I should get 14 gauge but what brand some seem like 2 wires in clear plastic and others seem to be typical separated red and black wire inside the larger white cable.

Also what's a wall/ceiling mount that can definitely support these CB-5's... as usual amazons reviewers seem to say contradictory information. Thanks for any help or advice on this set up.

there are many that will tell you just to buy the monoprice cables. I prefer to use something of a larger gauge. I use some 10 gauge belden wire, I bought mine from http://www.bluejeanscable.com, they come already terminated. I use that for the front 3 speakers and they are nice and heavy feeling and I like that; for the rear I just use monster wire 16 gauge that I terminated myself also.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by adept777

Hey guys!! (hi BigAl87 & callas01 ) I am so happy with your suggestions and advices.. itz been great!!!
I thought I have finally settled in on this current setup, up till now
Current Setup:

Onkyo Ht RC270 - Audio/Video Receiver
Energy CF70 - Front Left/Right Speakers
Energy CC10- Front Channel Speaker
Polk Audio RM75 Series - Surround Back Left/Right Speakers
Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800 - Surround Left/Right Speakers
BIC PL 200 & eD A2 300 - Sub woofers

I have saved up some money to upgrade my Onkyo HT-RC270 to the Onkyo TX-NR809 along with changing my rear surround and surround back. And here is my question:

I would like to change my Polk Audio RM75 Series - Surround Back Left/Right Speakers to the Energy CB 10 or the Energy CB 20. What is your opinion? Will this or Is this a good choice? Or am I wasting my money? And which one would you recommend considering my current set up. the Energy CB 10 or the CB 20?? Does the 100 + dollars makes a difference??

I would like to change my Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800 - Surround Left/Right Speakers to the Energy CR-10. What do you think of this? Is it a good move? Or should I just leave it like it is?

Thanks in advance for all your advices..

IMO, I would say just get CR-10s all around if you can wall mount them all. Otherwise for surrounds use, just get the CB-10s and the CR-10s. The CB10s for surrounds will do all that you need and save you $100.

[adept777]

callas01; when you say "I would say just get CR-10s all around " do you mean to say get rid of my CF 70s too??? I don't think that is what you mean but just wanted to be sure.. and what do you think of upgrading to the TX-NR809. Is that worth the extra 300 dollars?? Or should I just wait it out too? Thanks!!

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by adept777

callas01; when you say "I would say just get CR-10s all around " do you mean to say get rid of my CF 70s too??? I don't think that is what you mean but just wanted to be sure.. and what do you think of upgrading to the TX-NR809. Is that worth the extra 300 dollars?? Or should I just wait it out too? Thanks!!

No he meant get 4 CR-10s as your surrounds.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by bigal87

no he meant get 4 cr-10s as your surrounds.

+1

[adept777]

Originally Posted by BigAl87

No he meant get 4 CR-10s as your surrounds.

Originally Posted by callas01

+1

Cool... Thanks! And what about the system? RC 270 to NR809? or any other recommendations??? I just want to make sure i am using the energy's full potential.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by adept777

Cool... Thanks! And what about the system? RC 270 to NR809? or any other recommendations??? I just want to make sure i am using the energy's full potential.

Id suggest that you buy 2 or 3 of these, that way you can power the front L/R and center if you buy a third. I say this because your receiver has pre-outs, so there is no real reason to upgrade the receiver at this point, so Id say get some power amps that will give your fronts all the power they would need, and your receiver can power the surrounds. BTW, you can get 3 of them for the same price as the 809, $999.

[adept777]

Originally Posted by callas01

Id suggest that you buy 2 or 3 of these, that way you can power the front L/R and center if you buy a third. I say this because your receiver has pre-outs, so there is no real reason to upgrade the receiver at this point, so Id say get some power amps that will give your fronts all the power they would need, and your receiver can power the surrounds. BTW, you can get 3 of them for the same price as the 809, $999.

Thank you for the suggestion.. I will look into it..
what do you think of the Marantz PM5004? I have locally found it priced @ $389!! Is that a good amp? will it work well with my set up? Is it worth the price? Or should I buy two of the Outlaw Audio Model 2200 instead? Thank you!!!

Or is this better????

[callas01]

Originally Posted by adept777

Thank you for the suggestion.. I will look into it..
what do you think of the Marantz PM5004? I have locally found it priced @ $389!! Is that a good amp? will it work well with my set up? Is it worth the price? Or should I buy two of the Outlaw Audio Model 2200 instead? Thank you!!!

Or is this better????

The PM5004 is an integrated amp, not a power amp. There is a difference, IA's have a processor and power amp in one body, much like AVRs, except that IAs dont typically have internal DSPs and DACs. They are 2-ch only and meant to be used for 2-ch music. If that is your thing, then you can get an IA like the PM5004, there are ways to connect it to the Receiver you have, and use both of them for HT and just the IA for music.

Power Amps are just a external amp and need a receiver or pre-processor to send them a signal to amplify. These amps are typically more powerful then what you get in a receiver, so you get better dynamics and headroom.

The outlaw you linked in the review was replaced by the 7125 and is $999, either would be a good purchase, however the 2200 is a monoblock amp, which means it only powers 1 channel, so you need a minimum of 2 for the L/R. mono's are better then something like the 7125 because that means that each power amp has its own power supply.

[adept777]

Originally Posted by callas01

The PM5004 is an integrated amp, not a power amp. There is a difference, IA's have a processor and power amp in one body, much like AVRs, except that IAs dont typically have internal DSPs and DACs. They are 2-ch only and meant to be used for 2-ch music. If that is your thing, then you can get an IA like the PM5004, there are ways to connect it to the Receiver you have, and use both of them for HT and just the IA for music.

Power Amps are just a external amp and need a receiver or pre-processor to send them a signal to amplify. These amps are typically more powerful then what you get in a receiver, so you get better dynamics and headroom.

The outlaw you linked in the review was replaced by the 7125 and is $999, either would be a good purchase, however the 2200 is a monoblock amp, which means it only powers 1 channel, so you need a minimum of 2 for the L/R. mono's are better then something like the 7125 because that means that each power amp has its own power supply.

Thank you for the much needed education on IA and PAs. It is very much appreciated. If you do not mind can you give me a few more models to compare.. price wise too.. I am ready to shell out $0 - $600. Since, as per your advice I am not going to upgrade the AVR I wont be getting the money from the sale of my current AVR so I am short about $300 for the time being. Unless of course I wait it out and buy only one or maybe 2 of the 2200s. Thanks!

[callas01]

Originally Posted by adept777

Thank you for the much needed education on IA and PAs. It is very much appreciated. If you do not mind can you give me a few more models to compare.. price wise too.. I am ready to shell out $0 - $600. Since, as per your advice I am not going to upgrade the AVR I wont be getting the money from the sale of my current AVR so I am short about $300 for the time being. Unless of course I wait it out and buy only one or maybe 2 of the 2200s. Thanks!

Outlaw 7125
Outlaw 2200
Emotiva UPA-2
Emotiva XPA-3
Marantz MM7025

you can look all of these. Personally, Id go for either the emo xpa-3 or the outlaw monos. I do like monos more then multi-ch amps. So if you have the choice, go with the monos.

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by adept777

Thank you for the much needed education on IA and PAs. It is very much appreciated. If you do not mind can you give me a few more models to compare.. price wise too.. I am ready to shell out $0 - $600. Since, as per your advice I am not going to upgrade the AVR I wont be getting the money from the sale of my current AVR so I am short about $300 for the time being. Unless of course I wait it out and buy only one or maybe 2 of the 2200s. Thanks!

Another option you can consider is the world of pro amps. These offer lots of power for much less money. The trade-offs are that they usually but not always have louder fans and you won't have a remote signal connection for them to turn off/on when your receiver is turned on. You will have to manually turn them off and on. I went with a pro amp and it was a very good decision for me. I just couldn't get the power I wanted at this good of a price with a home amp.

There are some very quiet pro amps out there which are usually Class D models like the Crown XLS 1000 that I use. Its dead silent and the fan rarely even turns on since it runs super cool. When it does turn on its totally inaudible. Its also a very light amp coming in at just 11lbs. and it outputs 215watts/channel RMS at 8ohms, 350watts/channel RMS at 4ohms, and 550watts/channel RMS at 2ohms. It currently sells for $299.99 shipped from Parts-Express, or if there is a Guitar Center in your area you can pick one up there for the same price. The more powerful XLS 1500 and XLS 2500 models fall within your $600 budget as well.

Other amps to look at are the QSC GX3 and GX5 amps and the Behringer EP2000 and EP4000 amps. These are Class AB amps. The QSC amps are not dead silent, but they are quieter than say...an Xbox 360...and I'd say that's pretty reasonable. I've dealt with GX5 myself and its a beast...lots of clean power with this bad boy. The Behringer's fans are louder, but many people swap out the fan with an aftermarket one. Big Daddy has a good guide posted on swapping the fan out if you interested in going that route. If you're interested in saving a good amount of cash and getting max power for your money then you should strongly consider a pro amp. You can drive your mains with the amp and your center & surrounds with your more than capable receiver. Its something to think about.

[slimmer]

Originally Posted by callas01

the CB5s should be OK as surrounds in a smaller room like it sounds like youre in. I would stick with the CC-10 as a center becuase it will match sonically to the CF-50s.

Hey Callas / Big Al,

I still see the CB-5's mentioned as adequate surrounds - is that true? I want to change out my current surrounds (Take Classics) and...at the moment...replace the L/R at the side and replace the rears at a later date.

Recommendations?

[BigAl87]

Originally Posted by slimmer

Hey Callas / Big Al,

I still see the CB-5's mentioned as adequate surrounds - is that true? I want to change out my current surrounds (Take Classics) and...at the moment...replace the L/R at the side and replace the rears at a later date.

Recommendations?

Yes the CB-5 would do just fine but depends what you want and if your room is larger you may want to consider the CB-10 or CR-10.

What room size do you haver to work with?

[darshanjoshi]

I just compared below 2 set-ups:
1.Sony DVDP -> Yamaha RX-V667 (Through) -> Pioneer Stereo Amp (667 Pre Out to Pioneer Analog In) -> RC50 Fronts.

2.Sony DVDP -> Pioneer Stereo Amp (Analog Out of Sony to Pioneer In) -> RC50 Fronts.

Out of above, Comb 2 sounds better than Comb 1.
Although Comb 1 sounded very controlled but the thump dissappeared. Combo 2 sounded alove and much detailed. Combo 1 sounded very very flat.

Is it because Yamaha has very Neutral sound or these Pre Outs are just meant for Power Amps ?

[callas01]

Originally Posted by darshanjoshi

I just compared below 2 set-ups:
1.Sony DVDP -> Yamaha RX-V667 (Through) -> Pioneer Stereo Amp (667 Pre Out to Pioneer Analog In) -> RC50 Fronts.

2.Sony DVDP -> Pioneer Stereo Amp (Analog Out of Sony to Pioneer In) -> RC50 Fronts.

Out of above, Comb 2 sounds better than Comb 1.
Although Comb 1 sounded very controlled but the thump dissappeared. Combo 2 sounded alove and much detailed. Combo 1 sounded very very flat.

Is it because Yamaha has very Neutral sound or these Pre Outs are just meant for Power Amps ?

probably has something to do with the Yamaha Pre-amp section. But I don't know for sure. If you like #2 better then go with that.