- 5.1 Take Classic Home Theater System (Set of Six, Black)

I consider myself as a veteran home theater enthusiast. Having worked for 5 years part time for Circuit City before they went under as a Home Theater Sales Associate. I’ve had the unique opportunity to review and test a wide range of speakers. I owned high end Infinity Kappa speakers for the longest time, but ended up giving them to my brother-in-law when we moved to a new house. I went for over 2 years suffering with a cheap Sony home Theater-in-a-box that sounded muddy and downright….well….cheap. I finally saw Amazon put these speakers on sale for $299 so I bought 2 sets of them (I’ll explain why in a moment). A little about my system. I watch a lot of Blu-ray movies in hi-def surround formats and we have a PS3, Xbox One, and a Wii-U integrated into my system as well. There is also a Grand Videoke TKR371MP as a top of the line wireless Karaoke system that my wife uses that also outputs hi-def audio on certain song choices. I use Verizon Fios as my cable provider. I purchased 2 of these Energy systems because I wanted to do a 7.2 setup in my man cave. The extra speakers left over will hopefully someday be integrated into a 9.2 Dolby Atmos setup down the road. Here is my unbiased review of these speakers: PROS: a. The sound quality is much better than I had expected them to be. I have a slight hearing disability so dialog from the center channel is difficult sometime for me to hear, especially on cable TV. The Energy’s center speaker is crystal clear on all sources and I have yet to struggle with any dialog. Even my Infinity’s were not this clear and they cost thousands more! b. The blend between the subs and the satellites is the best I’ve encountered for a system in this class. I’ve tested similar sized systems from Polk, Infinity (TSS Series), Definitive, and JBL. None blended so seamlessly as this Energy system does. You must set your volume on the sub to the mid-way point and set the cutoff frequency to 110hz, then do the auto calibration with your receiver. I have an older Sony STR-DH-810 and I hate the auto calibration DCAC that Sony uses. I much prefer Audyssey, but had to use what I got for now. With the Sony DCAC I still had to do a few minor manual tweaks here and there, especially on surround levels (there was a bias of too much volume on the left side). I fully intend on getting a new Denon next year once they finally work out the HDCP 2.2 issues for 4K, so I can calibrate these with the Audyssey XT32 calibration system instead. c. The two 8 inch subs put out cleaner and tighter bass than my 12 inch infinity sub ever did. Put the new Godzilla in during the Honolulu airport scene and you will know exactly what I am talking about. d. The satellites are small and easy to position around the room. I recommend putting them on dedicated wall mounts so that the bass tube on the back of the speakers can breathe. You can wall mount them flush with a nail as there is a key hole slot on each speaker including the center, but for best performance, let them breathe a little away from the wall. e. They work very well for both music and movies! Something that many speakers can’t do (it’s either one or the other). I listen to a lot of 80’s metal so guitar work is the focus when listening to music. I listen more for the guitar work from the likes of Randy Rhoades, Zakk Wylde, Jake E. Lee, and especially George Lynch, so I wanted speakers that could handle this type of music. The Energy’s did not disappoint! f. If you’re into the karaoke thing, they will pleasantly surprise you. We had my Karaoke system hooked up to an Onkyo system and a Bose Lifestyle system at two different friend's houses and my Energy’s smoked the competition on voice clarity and overall sound quality from both the background music and the singers voice (disclaimer: They will not make you a better singer. If you can’t sing, there is no speaker on earth that will help you….trust me, this is me! I don’t sing, remember, it’s my wife’s system not mine….see autotune for help on that). g. If you want that IMAX feeling in your man cave. Definitely do the 7.2 setup if your receiver will allow, you will be totally blown away! The 2 subs combined with the processing of the extra back channels of the 7.2 system will put you right in the movie, literally. h. Construction of the actual speaker modules (tweeter and the midrange) are superb and look and feel like they would last forever. The housing is ok but nothing to wright home about. It is durable enough that you don’t have to worry too much about scratches or peeling, but it is a laminate/pressboard finish so definitely not indestructible. My infinities were real wood so I guess I got spoiled a little. Energy does make higher end speakers with better material but you will pay an arm and a leg for them. Keep in mind these were only $299 for me on sale with Amazon! CONS: a. Fingerprint magnets. The high gloss finish will need to be cleaned after you handle them or anytime you touch them. This is a very minor gripe by the way. b. As other reviewers have noted, there is a break in period for these speakers due to the type of material they are made of so out of the box they may sound a little bright at first but will gradually become warmer sounding after a few days of using them. The manufacturer recommends 50 hours of use to properly break them in. Mine are already sounding much better than day one when I first hooked them up. Just be patient. Summary: I highly recommend this system to anyone wanting smaller speakers for a surround system. The performance of these speakers greatly, and I mean GREATLY outweighs the cost. It is money well spent because they perform like high end speakers allowing you to use the rest of your home theater budget on better equipment such as a higher grade receiver or that overly comfortable man cave couch. I would buy these again for another room without hesitation and I have already recommended this system to a good friend of mine who is currently in the process of hooking up his own new home theater system. Again, it is money not wasted….enjoy!

I can not believe how amazing these speakers sound! I have auditioned these speakers for the past three days. My first day, the center channel was not working correctly and I had trouble finding the right settings on my new receiver. This was all due to user error, I later realized. I was not very impressed and was ready to send these back. I eventually got the user error sorted out and these speakers just came to life. To give a little background, I had owned a Polk Audio 5.1 system in the past. It consisted of the M60s for fronts, M30s for surrounds, CS2 center and PSW10 subwoofer paired to an onkyo 606. It was a decent entry-level setup but not high fidelity by any means. It served its purpose but I knew I wanted more from my speakers. I ended up selling most of those speakers save the M60s. The PSW10's performance was probably the weakest link in my system, in my opinion. It produce muddy sound and did not have the tight attributes I was looking for. I went back to the drawing boards and did a lot of research on speakers for my search of the best system for the price and value. I figured my next system would cost about $2,200 in speakers alone. All the while, I was getting very antsy with just using a 2.0 stereo setup to watch movies. I was messing around on Amazon and came across the Energy Take 5 Classics. This system had me really intrigued. I proceeded with the research. I really had no intentions of purchasing these speakers, but I could not help reading all the positive and glowing reviews of the classics. I had my doubts and reservations about them being a "satellite" system. I rationalized with myself by saying, "how can a set of tiny speakers sound as great as everyone make them out to be?" My conflicting rationale paired with all the positive reviews of quality and performance left me at an impasse. So I finally closed my eyes and told myself I would try these speakers for $400 from Amazon. I ended up purchasing these to see how my standards were compared to all these reviews. As it turns out, I am completely blown away. For $400 and being a satellite system, you can not really ask for more. They really blow my old polk system out of the waters. The sound is crisp, clear, and accurate. I was not really expecting much from the 8in sub, either. I feel like foot-in-mouth for even doubting. The small beast outputs tight, accurate bass. I love it. I am currently using it in my bedroom that measures 14'x14' and it is plenty loud. I can imaging these speakers filling a larger room and faring just fine. These will definitely see living room duties until I am able to afford the full-sized speakers I am saving for. Then I will probably utilize these as bedroom speakers again one day. I asked my roommate if it would be okay if I cranked the system up for a while to test out its potential. I was very pleased. The volume was loud and accurate and I experienced no drop off in quality. I just really could not believe the kind of audio performance I was getting from these tiny speakers and for the price. I was in love. You would never believe these were "satellite" speakers. I was also very impressed with the physical qualities of the speakers themselves. I am not a huge fan of high gloss anything, but these little speakers are beautiful. They look and feel made of quality. The speakers, with their grills off, are beautiful. They also feel very solid for how small they are. They look and sound beautiful! My most favorite component of this whole system has got to be, hands down, the sub-woofer. I am still mystified how such a small sub can produce such big, bold and accurate sounds. Movies sound fantastic and music performance has taken my enjoyment to a new level. I am currently watching a lot of the bluray movies I have bought and never watched because I was waiting on my perfect system. I am having such a great time watching the blus and auditioning these speakers right now. I even played the part of a sales person and convinced one of my buddies to grab a pair. All in all, you can not beat the price and performance of these little speakers. They look and sound amazing. For $400, you have to do yourself a favor and at least give them a listen. I took the jump and am loving every moment of it. Get off the fence and just click "purchase."

These speakers were better than I expected. I replaced a set of bose speakers and could not be happier. The sound is crisp, more depth...and the price was $250 less than what I could have paid at a retail outlet. I was amazed at the quick delivery, they arrived by courier the next day. For the price and quality you can't go wrong.

Great little speakers I have the right size room for them and the sound is clear and smooth

I have received an empty box of energy classic speakers today after placing order on 7-10-16 and making full payments, feeling cheated!

Very nice sound for a basement price, when compared to well known brands. Closest negative aspect is that it would be nicer to have a little higher power speakers, but that's asking too much for the value of this system.

I am a home theater newbie, and these speakers produce good sound and were easy to hook up, they are fairly small so no problem finding room for them or mounting the rear speakers on the wall. Just make sure you get the right amp.