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Take two of Take 5
The newer Energy sub-sat system
by Michael Jones
October 2001
Energy Take 5.2 sub-sat loudspeaker system. $2999
Of
all the loudspeaker companies in the world that make sub-sat systems,
one of the most successful has been Energy Loudspeakers of Canada.
Not only does Energy sell thousands of sub-sat systems but they’ve also gained deservedly good reviews for their systems. (This writer has fond memories of the Energy Encore system).
The Take 5.2 system has its genesis in Energy’s original sub-sat system, the Take 5. Energy’s designers wanted to upgrade the original Take 5 and bring a performance closer to that of the Encore system.
They succeeded, but at a price. The Take 5.2 system costs around 50% more than the original Take 5. So the Take 5 has also been tweaked to fit into its original price bracket. Curiously, that system is called the Take 5+1, while the system under review is the Take 5.2. Confused? You won’t be the only one.
Energy’s Take 5.2 system follows the standard configuration for sub-sat systems. There are four identical satellite speakers, a centre channel designed to be placed on top of a TV and a subwoofer.
The satellites feature front and rear moulded plastic baffles, which allow a more curvaceous shape to the speakers.
Drive units consist of a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter and a 90mm injection-moulded polypropylene cone. All of the satellites are front ported. The centre speaker has a horizontal format and includes two woofers flanking the tweeter.
A very clever wall bracket system comes in the box, which enables the speakers to be angled up and down and sideways. Plus there are stands with multiple sections, so you can tailor the height at which the speakers are placed.
The active (powered) subwoofer includes a 200mm woofer powered by a 100 watt amplifier. The front of the woofer includes a level (or volume) control for matching the level with the satellite speakers, plus a low pass filter for rolling of the top end of the woofer.
There’s also an “audio-video equaliser” which simply boosts certain bass frequencies when in video mode (to make dinosaur footfalls more frightening, for example). Being a snobby audio purist I left it switched to audio.
Listening
Set up of the Take 5.2 system was easy. The surround satellites I attached
to the wall with the Energy brackets, the centre on top of my Loewe television
and the front speakers on the Energy stands. I set my Denon AV receiver
to small for the satellites and fed the signal from the Denon’s sub-out
socket into the Energy subwoofer.
The first thing I tried to do was blow up the Take 5.2 system!
On went the opening of Toy Story 2 with its gobs of high level low bass. This chapter of Toy Story 2 has caused many speakers distress, so if the Take 5.2 system was to be damaged, this was a good test.
No problem. The system played at a decently loud volume and nothing broke. While the small woofers in the satellites were pumping in and out at an alarming-to-look-at excursion, the subwoofer didn’t bottom out.
This scene in Toy Story 2 has some great directional sound cues, which were splendidly rendered by the Energy system. Plus Buzz Lightyear’s voice (by Tim Allen) was well reproduced without any sizzle or chestiness added by the speakers.
Most home theatre systems do double duty and are also the stereo system for playing music. So I spent a bit of time assessing the Take 5.2 system playing music in stereo mode.
And I was very impressed! Many sub-sat systems fall down in reproducing the broader midrange, often lacking the body and weight that is needed for good music reproduction (and no, this can’t be compensated for by an over-active subwoofer).
I was very pleased by the Take 5.2’s reproduction of voices. Only on some deep male did the system sound as if some power was missing - an excellent result for a sub-sat system.
Much to my surprise, the bass articulation (another area where sub-sats usually are poor - at their best - to excruciatingly bad) through the Take 5.2 was also very good. Unlike many sub-sats, bass guitar pitched properly and the bass had some semblance of timing and articulation.
Final thoughts
Simply
put: this is an excellent sub-sat loudspeaker system. It features an excellent
tonal balance, superb midrange, smooth yet detailed high frequencies and
an articulate bass. It looks great and sounds very good.
A recommended sub-sat system.
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