May 2002 Reviewed by Vince Hanada	Energy Speaker Systems Take 5.2 Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: Take 2.2 speakers (mains and surrounds) Price: $220 USD per pair Dimensions: 6.75"H x 4"W x 6"D Weight: 3.5 pounds each Model: Take 1.2 center-channel speaker Price: $160 USD Dimensions: 4"H x 11"W x 6"D Weight: 5.5 pounds Model: Energy S8.2 subwoofer Price: $300 USD Dimensions: 16"H x 10"W x 11"D Weight: 22.5 pounds System Price: $900 USD (with one S8.2 subwoofer) Warranty: Five years parts and labor

Features 3.5" homopolymer/aluminum woofers 1" multi-laminated aluminum-dome tweeter Injection-molded woofer basket Magnetically shielded Integrated mounting system MDF cabinet construction Front-mounted controls (S8.2) 8" polypropylene-composite woofer (S8.2) 100W (400W peak) amplifier (S8.2) Audio/video EQ (S8.2) RCA and speaker-level inputs (S8.2) Gloss black and gloss white finishes

Energy Speaker Systems is one of the divisions of Canadian-based Audio Products International. API, one of the largest speaker manufacturers in the world, also produces the Mirage and Athena Technologies brands. To say they produce a wide range of speaker products is an understatement.

Energy made a big splash when they released the Take 5 home-theater speaker system a few years ago. It garnered a lot of acclaim from consumers and the press because it performed well and was lifestyle friendly. Energy followed it up with the superb Encore system and, recently, they released the Take 5.2 system, which replaces the Take 5.

Product description

The Energy Take 5.2 system consists of four identical Take 2.2 speakers for main and surround duties, and a Take 1.2 horizontal center-channel. The Take 1.2 and Take 2.2 are so tiny that all five speakers fit into one compact box that you can tuck under your arm on your way back to the car from the audio store.

Each magnetically shielded speaker consists of a 1" aluminum-dome tweeter employing neodymium magnets and a 3.5" long-throw woofer. The 1.2 center-channel differs from the 2.2 in that it has two of these woofers, which are made from a material that combines what Energy refers to as a "homopolymer" and lightweight aluminum. This results in a very stiff but lightweight driver, according to the company. The cabinets, although quite small, are solidly built from MDF.

Removing the speaker grilles reveals that each satellite speaker cabinet has a convex plastic front baffle. The center-channel, alternatively, has a concave plastic front baffle. The rounded rears of the speakers are finished in a rubbery plastic. Each speaker is front-vented, with a .5" flared slot below the woofer (or, in the case of the Take 1.2, on the outer edge of each woofer). All of the speakers have gold-plated five-way binding posts. The speaker samples that I had were finished in a high-gloss black, although the 2.2 is available in a high-gloss white finish as well. The Energy Take 5.2 speakers look superb, with high-quality fit‘n’finish. Energy rates the Take speakers as having 89dB sensitivity and 8-ohm impedance, which should make them amplifier-friendly.

The subwoofers that Energy supplied are the S8.2. Yes, you read correctly: Energy sent me two subwoofers with the Take 5.2, so I could try various configurations. Although the S8.2 is designed to match the Take 5.2, it is sold separately. The 100W S8.2's 8" woofer is mounted high on the subwoofer's front baffle, while its large port is directly below it on the baffle's left corner. The S8.2's controls are mounted on the speaker's face for easy access, a great move on Energy’s part and a feature not seen on most subwoofers. The adjustments include bass level, an audio/video bass-boost switch, and a low-pass variable filter ranging from 50Hz to 100Hz.

Around back, the S8.2 has a line-level input, a line-level crossover-bypass input, and left/right speaker-level inputs and outputs. The subwoofer has an on/off switch, but you can leave this switch in the "On" position and the subwoofer will turn off automatically when it sits idle for 15 minutes. The S8.2 I auditioned was finished in a black-ash vinyl. Although attractive, it didn’t quite match the appearance of the high-gloss Take 5.2 speakers.

The Take 5.2 system is well equipped for mounting anywhere that one chooses, which makes it quite flexible. The Take 2.2 satellite speakers can be mounted on a wall with the included mounting brackets. Exceptionally versatile speaker stands are available separately for $75 per pair. These consist of hollow rounded tubes in three sections that screw together. You can use each tube singly or in combination with the others. Using all three tubes together results in a height of 50" (measuring to the top of the Take 2.2). In addition, the speaker can be angled up or down or pointed straight ahead. Thin-gauge (14AWG or smaller) speaker cable can be run inside the speaker stand, resulting in a clean exterior appearance.

Home-theater set up and performance

The Energy Take 5.2 system was set up and enjoyed in my family room. I used all three sections of the speaker stands for the main and surround speakers. The center-channel speaker was placed on top of my 32" direct-view TV. The front left and right speakers were placed at 30-degree angles relative to the center-channel speaker. The surrounds were at approximately 90 degrees to the sides of my listening position. Although I prefer surround speakers to be slightly to the rear of the room, the compact size of the Energy Take 2.2 speakers allowed them to be angled slightly behind me. From my listening position, each front speaker was about 9’ away, and each surround speaker was about 6’ away. The subwoofers occupied positions adjacent to the front left and right speakers.

This is the first time in my system where I’ve had all speakers, including the center-channel, at the same height. As it so happened, the excellent Take 2.2 speaker stands perfectly matched the height of my 32" direct-view TV. I believe that in order to get the most out of a home-theater system, having the front left, center, and right speakers at equal heights is desirable. Having the Take 2.2 surrounds at the same height is not as necessary, but it made it easier to evaluate front-to-rear pans. If you can't set them up quite like this, don’t worry too much. Energy claims that the Take 5.2 system’s wide dispersion makes the sound even and consistent wherever you are in the room, which, if true, adds even more to system set-up flexibility.

One of the DVDs I used to evaluate the Energy Take 5.2 system was The Patriot. The sound on this DVD is superb, and this speaker system performed exceedingly well. I was simply not prepared for the huge soundstage that these speakers presented. The orchestral score by John Williams spanned the entire front wall. The small size of the Take 2.2 satellites allowed the speakers to disappear visually and sonically. For example, in chapter 15, there is off-screen laughter on the right side of the room. Over the Take 5.2 system, it didn’t sound as if it were coming from the right speaker but somewhat outside of the speaker. This is an impressive feat, to say the least.

Another area of performance that surprised me with my Energy Take 5.2 system setup was the ability to image in the center rear. Throughout this review, I used the Outlaw Model 1050, which has a 6.1 surround mode. Although I left the center surround setting off and listened in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1, I kept checking to see if the 6.1 surround mode was active! In chapter 3 of The Patriot, there are cannon explosions in the ambient sound field, including the center-rear section of the room. In chapter 19, a dog bark can be heard in the center rear as well. This ability to image behind the listener may make you think twice about the need for a center surround.

Another DVD with standout sound is Unbreakable. While watching this DVD using the Take 5.2 system, I noted excellent transition of pans from the front to the rear speakers. In chapter 1, it was easy to follow the sound of the train whizzing by. In chapter 22, there is a scene that takes place underwater. The waves of water splashing from front to back were continuous, and didn’t jump from front speaker to rear speaker. In my room, the surround Take 2.2 satellites worked so well that I didn’t miss my usual bipole surrounds at all.

The Take 5.2 system is highly detailed in the high frequencies. This trait was best illustrated in chapter 11 of Unbreakable, when Elijah falls down the stairs to the subway and his glass cane splinters on the concrete. The shatter of glass was crystal clear through the Energy Take 5.2 system. Voices through the Take 1.2 center-channel speaker sounded natural, though male voices, such as Mel Gibson’s narration throughout The Patriot, had a slight thinness in the upper bass.

Although Energy was kind enough to send me two S8.2 subwoofers to try with the Take 5.2 system, I initially used a single S8.2 subwoofer in a conventional 5.1 configuration. With the Outlaw receiver, I set the crossover frequency at 100Hz, and bypassed the S8.2’s internal crossover.

If you’ve got a large room and are looking for a subwoofer to shake the walls, look to a sub like Energy’s S10.2. However, in my medium-sized room, the little S8.2 proved to be a very capable performer. In chapter 3 from The Patriot, the explosions sounded convincing. In chapter 22 from Unbreakable, the rock music explodes when David Dunn walks through the train station. The S8.2 kept up with the music, unleashing the strong bass notes. Although the Energy S8.2 did not hit the deepest frequencies, the quality of the bass was very good. It did not sound boomy, as other small subs that I’ve heard can, although I detected a slight tendency for the bass to linger at times. Bottom line: In my medium-sized room, the quantity of bass was more than capable of reproducing movie soundtracks convincingly.

I next tried two S8.2 subwoofers in the system, using one sub for LFE duties and connecting the other sub to the speaker-level outputs of the main channels. I fired up the opening chapter of the Dinosaur DVD. In this configuration, the bass became less directional and tended to even out within the room. When the T-Rex chases after the little dinosaur (sorry, I’m not up on my extinct reptiles), the foot stomps filled the room. Instead of being able to easily detect where the sub was located, I had more difficulty, which is exactly what you want from your subwoofer.

Comparison

Another small packaged system that I am familiar with is Axiom's Epic Micro system ($869), which consists of the MZero Ti speakers, the VPZero center-channel speaker, the QS2 surrounds, and the EP125 subwoofer. This system is similar to the Energy Take 5.2 system in many respects, including price and size. Both systems have compact satellite speakers and are augmented by subwoofers. Where the two systems differ most significantly, is in the design of the surround speakers -- the Energy system has direct radiators whereas the Axiom system has "Quadpolar" rears.

A good place to start any comparison is with movie dialogue. Simply put, the Energy Take 1.2 center-channel sounded more natural with voices. In listening to the restaurant scene from The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, I was able to follow the dialogue quite easily through the Take 1.2 center-channel. I had to concentrate more when listening to the Axiom VPZero to understand what the characters were saying. Score one for Energy in the dialogue-intelligibility department.

In terms of tonal character, the Energy Take 5.2 system had a high-frequency emphasis whereas the Axiom Epic Micro sounded more neutral. Listening to the title track from Mighty Sam McClain’s Give it Up to Love [JVCXR-0012-2], I had noted that the Axiom MZero Ti, "sounded sweet, with a natural reproduction of the cymbals." In contrast, the Energy Take 2.2 speakers sounded a bit harsh when playing back the same track.

The Energy Take 2.2, a direct-radiating monopole design, produced a convincing rear soundstage. Although the surrounds in the Axiom system may ultimately be more enveloping, I was highly impressed with the surround effect I was getting with the Take 2.2 satellites. In chapter 15 from Fight Club, I felt the ambience of the basement fighting room with the Energy Take 2.2 speakers nearly as well as the Axiom QS2 surrounds. And bass response was comparable on both systems -- each did a good job reproducing the LFE channel on soundtracks.

Conclusion

The Energy Take 5.2 system will appeal to anyone looking for an excellent performer for use in a small-to-medium-sized home theater. This system is ideal if placement options are limited in your room but you don’t want to sacrifice sound quality. The Energy Take 5.2 system clearly rates high in Spousal Acceptance Factor -- from the high-gloss black finish and excellent stands, to the front-mounted subwoofer controls, the Energy Take 5.2 system was unobtrusive and easy to set up and live with. Its size and finish also makes it one of the most attractive small speaker systems I’ve seen. Couple that with the excellent surround-sound performance this system offers, and you have a downright bargain for a compact home theater.

Manufacturer contact information:

Energy Speaker Systems
3641 McNicoll Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M1X 1G5
Phone: (416) 321-1800
Fax: (416) 321-1500

Website: www.energy-speakers.com

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