Energy C9's comparisons please?

[bleeding ears]

Hi all,
I have just purchased a full set of brand new Energy Connoisseur speakers at less than half price. C9's, CC1 and C1's

Whilst I am waiting to receive them I would like to hear anyones opinions or comparisons of these speakers (particularly the C9's) with other similarly priced speakers. C9's full retail price approx $3000 Aus or $1300 US

I have heard them in a showroom and was very impressed but I am interested to hear more in depth opinions and comparisons etc.

The review of the C9's by soundstage puts them up there with B&W 804's which are 3 times the price.

What do you guys reckon?

I should stir up some good comments from B&W owners on this one? LOL

Thanks

[Shane Martin]

When looking for speakers I heard the C9's along with the Phase Tech's I bought. I thought the C9's were good but a bit harsh in the top end. The mids were a bit bloated and I didn't care for the imaging of them either. They were driven with The top end receiver from Onkyo Integra($4k or so).

You may like them, you may not. It's a matter of personal taste. I thought there were better speakers out there but 50% is a mighty good deal.

Other speakers I heard:
PSB
Klipsch
Paradigm Monitor and Reference(the 40's were the best of the bunch).
Monitor Audio( a bit too forward for my tastes).
Linn Ninka - excellent but a bit too soft sounding. No real presense with rock music.
Av123 Rockets.
Polk LSI - needs killer power otherwise don't bother.
Axiom - bleeding ears is accurate They were SHRILL!
KEF - excellent but harsh at the top end.
Snell .5 series - excellent but needs top end amps. I didn't have the budget to do them justice.
RBH = Harsh top end. So so looking speaker.
JM Lab Chorus and Cobalt - very revealing speaker but uninvolving music wise.

I did alot of comparisons befor I settled. Speakers are the most personal thing you can buy.

Give them a listen and decide for yourself. FWIW, There is a new Connoisseur line out now.

[bleeding ears]

shane, I have seen the newer Energy's, they look great, more of a timber looking finish than the older ones, but I coudnt hope to get them new at below half price probably ever.

Unfortunately price is always a consideration when buying speakers.

I noticed you did not mention B&W speakers ?

Did you not audition those also?

[Shane Martin]

Yes I did. I thought they were very forward sounding. The "look at me" type sound which didn't do it for me. Excellent midrange and solid bass. I heard the 600 series as well as the CDM series.

I have since heard the Mirage speakers(Om and omnisats) and they are a bit bright for my tastes but excellent nonetheless. The OM's were difficult to place in a room.

I also forgot to mention the Def Tech and Dynaudios I heard. The Dynes were "boring" to me. No life at all but did nothing wrong either. They are a load on an amp as well.

OTOH, Def Techs stunk at music(harsh and boomy). They were ok at HT but boomy. Their Subs were lousy.

I heard alot of speakers before making up my decision. I wanted to hear a few more but I just finally said enough is enough.

[aud19]

Looks like Shane and I have some differing opinions here

IMO are they as good as 804's? No, but they're not as far apart as their prices suggest Sure I've heard better speakers... but for the money, especially here in Canada, I couldn't find anything that came close for the money. Accept the smaller Veritas models anyways :B :lol: But I wanted large, near full range speakers so I sacrificed a little of the Verita's quality/refinement for the near as good sound and fuller output of the C-9's.

Here's how I break it down (compared to the 600 series and older CDM/CM(?) series which I compared them directly to due to pricing).

The tweeter, I give the edge to the Energy's compared to all but the top B&W lines. And even then it's more a matter of preference than quality. The energy tweeters ar wonderfully crisp and airy without ever getting spitty or aggressive. Not so for the B&W's IMO.

Midrange, I'll give a slight edge to the B&W's. They have a fuller midrange which is quite pleasing, however I suspect the Energy's are more accurate here.

Bass, I'll give the edge to Energy. Those C-9's play darn nice, deep and clean bass and they seem to do it without the need for as much power as the B&W's seem to need to do the same things.

Soundstage, again slightly to B&W as they have a deeper soundstage though I consider this to be very personal preference. Some might prefer the more "front row" performance the Energy's give vs the B&W's "mid-hall" one.

[bleeding ears]

shane and Aud,

Its good to know what amplification and processing was used during your speaker auditions / tests, thanks I think it is a big factor in what you get from your speakers.

I know how the Rotel 1066 and 1075 sound together which I assume you were using with the Energy's Aud ?

Shane, I have not heard that particular receiver and it is most likely right up there in sound quality for a receiver but I have generally found that receivers do have a harsher high end and not quite as good bass.

My Marantz Sr8200 retailed at $3999 Aus and I thought this just has to be good!
Wrong! IMO it stunk, at least until I got a seperate multichannel amp.
But it was still lacking compared to Rotel seperates like the 1066 & 1075 combo my mate has. However, using different brand speakers does make it more difficult to judge amps etc.

I am in the process of setting up my Energys with a RSP 1068 and a Sony Tan 9000ES multichannel amp (claimed 5 x 115 or 2 x 210 Watt) so hopefully it will be a good combination.

I would still like to hear opinions/tests from any B&W owners out there.
I know there is a lot of you guys that rave about B&W's so tell me what you think of them compared to Energy's and if possible tell me what amp/ processor or receiver you used to compare.

Thanks guys . Im keen to hear more opinions.

[aud19]

Oooh that's a few years ago but I'm pretty sure it was Parasound gear I auditioned them on and they're currently powered by Rotel

[Loner]

Hi BE:

I don't own B&W's or Energy's but I recently listened (A/B) to the 703's and C-9's because I wanted to hear the differences, if any. They were right next to each other in the listening room and driven by the same amp - a Denon. To my ears, the C-9's were very good....until I listened to the 703's. The 703's sounded fuller all the way around with much more detail. The 703 sound was 'front row' compard to 'mid hall' IMO.

But then again, the 703's are over twice the price of the C-9's in the US.