Is Energy quality slipping?

[riker1384]

Energy was bought by Klipsch which was bought by Audiovox.

They've been using their names on cheaper and cheaper speaker lines. Veritas used to be the high-end line, and now they use it on midpriced speakers. Connoisseur used to be midpriced ($500/pr bookshelves), but now it's on cheap speakers ($270/pr).

There are some measurements of the Energy Connoisseur CB-10 in the back of this month's Stereophile. It has a huge resonance at 1 kHz IIRC and the review (not a full review) wasn't very good. It's clearly inferior to earlier, pricier Connoisseur speakers (such as the C-3 or RC-10) and also not as accurate as competitors in its price range.

Are the other models from Energy also going down in quality? Energy used to make very accurate speakers for the price. Is this the end of Energy as a high-quality speaker maker?

 

[MinusTheBear]

Energy was bought by Klipsch which was bought by Audiovox.

They've been using their names on cheaper and cheaper speaker lines. Veritas used to be the high-end line, and now they use it on midpriced speakers. Connoisseur used to be midpriced ($500/pr bookshelves), but now it's on cheap speakers ($270/pr).

There are some measurements of the Energy Connoisseur CB-10 in the back of this month's Stereophile. It has a huge resonance at 1 kHz IIRC and the review (not a full review) wasn't very good. It's clearly inferior to earlier, pricier Connoisseur speakers (such as the C-3 or RC-10) and also not as accurate as competitors in its price range.

Are the other models from Energy also going down in quality? Energy used to make very accurate speakers for the price. Is this the end of Energy as a high-quality speaker maker?

API > Klipsch > Audiovox

Since API has been bought out, the prices have dropped substantially on a lot of the Mirage and Energy line. Almost blow out type prices. But who knows if those past API models are even engineered and manufactured to their original spec.

As for any new products, I'd imagine they would be designed by entirely new engineering staff.

I don't know anything about Audiovox, but Audio Products International employed some of the best speaker designers during their history in Canada.

 

[TLS Guy]

API > Klipsch > Audiovox

Since API has been bought out, the prices have dropped substantially on a lot of the Mirage and Energy line. Almost blow out type prices. But who knows if those past API models are even engineered and manufactured to their original spec.

As for any new products, I'd imagine they would be designed by entirely new engineering staff.

I don't know anything about Audiovox, but Audio Products International employed some of the best speaker designers during their history in Canada.

Audiovox gobble up famous brand names and turn out junk products with the famous badges as fast as they can. AR was a good example.

Anything made under the Audiovox banner is an absolute avoid, if you want any semblance of quality.

 

[avnetguy]

Energy is not doubt going through some changes as well as some blurring in the model lines.

Their C line(s) have always been budget oriented and have offered good bang for the buck with some speakers better than others, at least to my ears.

I find the RC line up, with the current pricing, to be excellent value and quite the step up from the C line for sound quality. Also, to my knowledge, the RC builds are the same quality as the old ones. It almost seems to me that they are depleting stock and when it dries up, the RC line will be gone forever.

I have not auditioned any of the Veritas so I can't comment on their sound but their price point seems a little high.

BTW, I picked up some CB20s last week to replace the Athena B1s I repurposed for my 2.1 computer setup. For $200 they are decent speakers, close to the B1s but have a much stonger bass response. I found that they sounded much better to me after I plugged the ports and would consider them to be a minor step up from my older Athenas.

For any new models coming out, time will tell if they depart from the previous Energy quality and sound. I personally don't buy any speaker I can't audition at home and then return if I need too.

Steve

 

[alphaiii]

The signs are there... the Energy brand is being killed.

It started with Klipsch, cheaping out on the build quality of the Connoisseur line (although many, including myself, that heard the new CF/CB vs. the last generation felt the newer line was a bit better sounding).... and even worse, prettying up the RC line and slapping the Veritas name on them, at a higher MSRP to boot. It's obvious, with the current "street" prices of the new Veritas line, that they were priced WAY too high at MSRP.

Now Audiovox has taken that a step further, rebranding cheap Jamo towers as Energy EF-500 and marking them up to turn a profit.

Audiovox has officially killed Mirage already, and any Omnipolar products from here out will be under the Jamo brand.

 

[TLS Guy]

bbbbb

The signs are there... the Energy brand is being killed.

It started with Klipsch, cheaping out on the build quality of the Connoisseur line (although many, including myself, that heard the new CF/CB vs. the last generation felt the newer line was a bit better sounding).... and even worse, prettying up the RC line and slapping the Veritas name on them, at a higher MSRP to boot. It's obvious, with the current "street" prices of the new Veritas line, that they were priced WAY too high at MSRP.

Now Audiovox has taken that a step further, rebranding cheap Jamo towers as Energy EF-500 and marking them up to turn a profit.

Audiovox has officially killed Mirage already, and any Omnipolar products from here out will be under the Jamo brand.

Expect more of this sort of thing. Just look at the brands trashed here.

It won't be long before everyone is forced into the high end to get any semblance of quality.

 

[kaseaman]

I am enjoying my energy veritas v6.3 right now.... Even if they may be essentially the rc line with better cabinets (which were very highly regarded when they first came out). I managed to get the five speaker set for a hair over 2k, which I would argue is a great deal, considering these speakers cost as much as my old klipsch system I bought 8 years ago and sound substantially better to my ears.

I get that the perception of energy is changing, but that doesn't mean that the current veritas line are not a great sounding speaker, when taking a step back and comparing them to speakers in the same current price range. Just my .02 and hope I don't cause any arguments by posting my thoughts!

 

[alphaiii]

I am enjoying my energy veritas v6.3 right now.... Even if they may be essentially the rc line with better cabinets (which were very highly regarded when they first came out). I managed to get the five speaker set for a hair over 2k, which I would argue is a great deal, considering these speakers cost as much as my old klipsch system I bought 8 years ago and sound substantially better to my ears.

I get that the perception of energy is changing, but that doesn't mean that the current veritas line are not a great sounding speaker, when taking a step back and comparing them to speakers in the same current price range. Just my .02 and hope I don't cause any arguments by posting my thoughts!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the current Veritas isn't a quality line... it is, and based on my experience with the V-5.2C, it improves upon the foundation of the RC series... although I personally prefer the mellower treble of the RC line.

The major complaint by many Energy fans was Klipsch's decision to use the name that was formerly associated with the best Energy had to offer. Again, it doesn't mean the current Veritas isn't a good product, but it's clearly not the from the same cloth as previous generation of products bearing that name.

The current street pricing (well Vann's pricing) really reflects how inflated the MSRP was.

 

[alphaiii]

bbbbb

Expect more of this sort of thing. Just look at the brands trashed here.

It won't be long before everyone is forced into the high end to get any semblance of quality.

Yeah... I have to agree - it looks like history is doomed to repeat itself.