Zaph's blog has an interesting and amusing new entry here:
I read it with great interest, being a fan of Energy speakers. As a matter of fact, I think that not being able to afford a pair of Veritas was part of the reason I got into DIY (never mind that by now I think I could have bought a complete 5.1 set of them with the money I've spent on this hobby! :E )
Nevertheless, I'm very fond of the old Energy, the one wholly based in Canada. At one point, I owned the entire old Connoisseur line (except for their surrounds, which I didn't care about) and in my opinion, they are some of the best budget speakers I've ever heard. Probably the best. I still use the Connoisseur C-7s on my home theater, as a matter of fact.
And sexy, too! :T
Anyway, I also own the small brother of the speaker Zaph is currently testing - the C50. I actually paid $275 for the pair, and was the last commercial speaker I ever bought.
The worst commercial speaker I've ever listened to, by the way. I had to completely rework the crossover in order to make them listenable. I may have the measurements I took of them - the fake plug on the woofer made for some terrible artifacts off-axis. I do remember that. After fixing the crossover they changed a lot, and they are pretty nice now.
Anyway, enough about that.
I still have my Connoisseur C-5's (I'm selling them) which are very similar to Zaph's C500 (only with a better tweeter, if its the same unit as the C50 - and I have no reason to believe it isn't). I know for a fact the C-5's are a 2.5 system, the C-7's and C-9's a 3.5 way.
Check out the response graph:
Now check out Zaph's comments on the C500s:
Seems pretty similar to what you see on the measurements of the old C-5's.
Interestingly enough - I love the sound of the C-5s. I find them warm, relaxing, and easy to listen to. Yes, the bass is exaggerated, and it's possible that the dip in the lower treble emphasizes the detail on the top end. But it's fun to listen to.
Whenever I listen to my DIY speakers, I'm fully aware of the shortcomings of any recording. The best recordings sound incredible, but bad ones are pretty terrible. The Energys make everything listenable, at the expense of not retrieving every last detail from good recordings, and imparting a sonic coloration of their own.
Today I had to drive my wife's car to work. It has a factory Rockford Fosgate system. As soon as I played some rock, I was blown away. Sure, it isn't "flat". I dunno about distortion, but I'm sure a 1/2" dome can't be all that good. The big woofer is obviously putting out some serious bass, although a bit muddy and one note. But it's FUN. Fun in a way my "accurate" systems aren't.
The Energy's and the Fosgate systems do things right, in a way. They make me enjoy all my music, instead of pointing out the defects and problems of certain recordings.
In plain visual terms:
<- Neutral, uncolored, accurate DIY design.
<- Energy & Rockford Fosgate system
No, I'm not trolling... I'm just thinking whether we are placing too much emphasis on measurements and accuracy, when it's a sad fact that most music isn't recorded accurately, anyway.
I hope I made sense... or, at least that you enjoyed the cheerleader pic.
I read it with great interest, being a fan of Energy speakers. As a matter of fact, I think that not being able to afford a pair of Veritas was part of the reason I got into DIY (never mind that by now I think I could have bought a complete 5.1 set of them with the money I've spent on this hobby! :E )
Nevertheless, I'm very fond of the old Energy, the one wholly based in Canada. At one point, I owned the entire old Connoisseur line (except for their surrounds, which I didn't care about) and in my opinion, they are some of the best budget speakers I've ever heard. Probably the best. I still use the Connoisseur C-7s on my home theater, as a matter of fact.
And sexy, too! :T
Anyway, I also own the small brother of the speaker Zaph is currently testing - the C50. I actually paid $275 for the pair, and was the last commercial speaker I ever bought.
The worst commercial speaker I've ever listened to, by the way. I had to completely rework the crossover in order to make them listenable. I may have the measurements I took of them - the fake plug on the woofer made for some terrible artifacts off-axis. I do remember that. After fixing the crossover they changed a lot, and they are pretty nice now.
Anyway, enough about that.
I still have my Connoisseur C-5's (I'm selling them) which are very similar to Zaph's C500 (only with a better tweeter, if its the same unit as the C50 - and I have no reason to believe it isn't). I know for a fact the C-5's are a 2.5 system, the C-7's and C-9's a 3.5 way.
Check out the response graph:
Now check out Zaph's comments on the C500s:
...First immediately obvious issue: these are bass heavy. It's somewhere between warm and boomy, maybe a little of both. ...Then there's a little too much output in the lower midbass. ... The system did indeed seem to handle power pretty well and get very loud without excessive strain, particularly with the ports open....While the upper treble seemed clean and smooth enough, it sounded like there was a mild dip in the lower treble.
Interestingly enough - I love the sound of the C-5s. I find them warm, relaxing, and easy to listen to. Yes, the bass is exaggerated, and it's possible that the dip in the lower treble emphasizes the detail on the top end. But it's fun to listen to.
Whenever I listen to my DIY speakers, I'm fully aware of the shortcomings of any recording. The best recordings sound incredible, but bad ones are pretty terrible. The Energys make everything listenable, at the expense of not retrieving every last detail from good recordings, and imparting a sonic coloration of their own.
Today I had to drive my wife's car to work. It has a factory Rockford Fosgate system. As soon as I played some rock, I was blown away. Sure, it isn't "flat". I dunno about distortion, but I'm sure a 1/2" dome can't be all that good. The big woofer is obviously putting out some serious bass, although a bit muddy and one note. But it's FUN. Fun in a way my "accurate" systems aren't.
The Energy's and the Fosgate systems do things right, in a way. They make me enjoy all my music, instead of pointing out the defects and problems of certain recordings.
In plain visual terms:
<- Neutral, uncolored, accurate DIY design.
<- Energy & Rockford Fosgate system
No, I'm not trolling... I'm just thinking whether we are placing too much emphasis on measurements and accuracy, when it's a sad fact that most music isn't recorded accurately, anyway.
I hope I made sense... or, at least that you enjoyed the cheerleader pic.
Comment