Customer Reviews

Energy ESW-8HG 8" 200 watt Take Classic subwoofer

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Allow me to start off by saying I am by no means an audiophile, and don't feel it necessary to spend more on a sound system than the components I am connecting to it. This subwoofer nicely complements a small bookshelf audio system, and if you intend to use it as a secondary audio system, or in an apartment or other setting where you can't have it up too loud, it sounds very nice at lower volumes.

However, that's about all this subwoofer is good for. It is obvious that the driver and amplifier are of good quality - they can handle low frequencies at room shaking volumes with ease. Unfortunately, the box is poorly constructed, resulting in "port noise" that completely overpowers the volume of the bass it's producing at frequencies as high as 50hz. Considering the box is allegedly "tuned" for frequencies as low as 35hz, that is unacceptable. (For reference - while frequencies of 20-35hz are largely inaudible, they are the frequencies you "feel" during explosions etc in movies)

Packaged beautifully and did not charge extra for delivery to Alaska unlike so many other compannies. Best part was it does the job! No audible hum was observed unlike another poster. Wondered if he did not break it in properly with the 50 hour strongly recommended break in limit. Subwoofer is beautifully crafted....looks and feels like the outside of a black baby grand piano. I bought this in conjunction with the Energy Take 5.0 speaker system as the Energy Take 5.1 system was generally $70.00 more and this subwoofer is the exact same one that is included in the 5.1 system. Go figure! (I paid $179.00 for the 5.0 speakers and $149.00 for the subwoofer. Prices include shipping costs.)

This little guy looks sharp and delivers the goods. I really like the auto power function. It will turn itself on when it receives a signal from the receiver and turn itself off a few minutes after it no longer senses anything coming from the receiver. The bass is powerful and clear. Good value for the price I paid.

Where can you find a better subwoofer for less money? Certainly if you can do with more bang, don't stop here. But if you need a small sub that won't disturb your neighbors, this is a good little buy. I live in a small condo with cement walls, floor and ceiling. The floor is carpeted so much of the sound is absorbed, yet my place still rocks. The 8HG is intergrated with my old Energy speakers. For years I've had surround sound without a sub. Now at age 65 I've relented and proud to say I enjoy the bang I get for my buck. So far no complaining neighbors knocking at my door(maybe I just can't hear them); still, I won't use the sub after 11 PM just is case. Setup and placement were easy and no further adjustment of settings has been needed.

I bought one of these from [...] to replace a Yamaha YST-SW216BL. Yamaha YST-SW216BL Advanced YST II Front-Firing Active Subwoofer

This speaker has much cleaner bass and goes deeper. I'm using it with a Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-111FD. I've even used the TV and this sub to listen to classical music, The Planets by Holst for example. Even Mars, the Bringer of War sounds good with this speaker.

I never could get things to sound right with the Yamaha. With this speaker getting it dialed in was a snap.

This sub is simply lacking some basics:
1) "Auto power-off" just does not work. Hours after turning off receiver, this puppy still rumbles away with standby noise.
2) No "line out". For all receivers lacking a "sub out", you need to run a dedicated speaker-level output from your reveiver, sucking down power, and your bookshelf speakers still get the full spectrum to work with. Why have a sub if you're not going to include a crossover to give your small speakers a break on the bass?
3) Pretty limited output, given its rated 200W power. Maybe it's due to having only an 8" driver. Seems kind of muddy/ delayed too. I expected a smaller driver would be more punchy, but no.
This one's going back...

What a disappointment. This is a poor example of a 200W sub. My old 100W BIC is far superior and it's just average. My biggest complaint is that the sub had an audible hum. When I called to return it the company still charged a 30 dollar restock fee and I had to pay return shipping. I had carefully unboxed it, plugged it in once and boxed it back up. When I called and emailed to return it the response was, "sorry you weren't satisfied, there will be a restock fee if the box has been opened". I purchased this item new through Amazon from a company called Galorcoinc.

Pros:
- matches perfectly with the Energy Take Classic 5.0 speakers
- Lots of volume and power when desired (I don't look for booming bass - just full rich sound)
- versatile connections (speaker level and mono)
- EXCELLENT Customer support - more about this below

Cons:
-versatile connections. (Yes this is a pro and a con). Although its great that this sub was designed to work on both mono sub systems and take a speaker level input, a little more engineering would go a long way. The Low-pass filter on the sub works great, but it would be really nice if you could turn it off completely and just provide a pre-amp signal directly to the amp. This would be useful with a receiver where you can set the filter in the receiver (Like mine). Although you can essentially 'turn off' the filter by setting it all the way up (i.e. everything passes through), this adds an additional electronic component that can fail which is what happened to me. The filter failed in my unit and made my sub essentially useless even though I didn't need the filter. Essentially, the sub would just cut out (or never come on in the first place). For a short while I was able to get it to come back on by making fine adjustments to the filter settings (why I suspect the filter), but that didn't work for long. (I also tried a better interlink cable, speaker level signal, and a y-adaptor - none of which worked. I finally borrowed a friend's subwoofer (a 'pure mono' samsung) and it performed perfectly so I knew my sub was the culprit).

Thankfully, Energy (i.e. Klipsch) stepped up and is mailing me a replacement amp assembly even though my warranty had expired (by 2 months or so). I'll have to do it myself, but they certainly weren't required to give me anything, so I really appreciate that. I will update this post once I get the amp if things don't work out

Once final note is that in my Classic 5.0 Speakers, one of them arrived defective (a very VISIBLE defect that you could hear as soon as ANY bass or volume was applied - I have pictures if you're interested). Again, Energy replaced it no questions asked, but either I have bad luck, or they could stand to improve their quality control.

So, 4 stars for great sounding speakers, great warranty/service, but some quality control issues, and some features being 'over flexible'

I use this with the Energy Take 5 surround sound speakers and a Pioneer VSX-919AH A/V receiver (120W per channel). I am picky about bass - I want it to go as close to 20Hz as possible and clean, absolutely no hint of mud and no exaggerated volume. The first time I heard deep bass on it (closing theme song of Leverage TV show), I hit rewind on the DVR several times to hear it again because I was impressed. Amazing (albeit powered 200W) sub, especially for the price. So I really like it! And the controls have more than enough flexibility to satisfy both my wife and I (she likes less bass so it's easy to reach behind and adjust bass volume separately from receiver).

I gave this as a gift to go with the speakers that he had already purchased. He is totally satisfied. Fast Service.