Customer Reviews

Energy RC-Micro 5.1 Surround Speaker System (Black)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Energy RC-Micro 5.1 surround sound speakers pack awesome sound in small and rather stylish design. I am not an audiophile, but I used to have large Infinity speakers that sat on the floor, and these Energy speakers have sound quality far superior to them.

The powered bass rocks the house and can deliver plenty enough bass to fill my 13 x 20 foot room and more. The surround speakers have a uniquely crisp sound so that your home feels as though it was part of the original video and music making experience.

Although these speakers can belt out over 100 watts per channel without a problem, I wouldn't recommend these speakers for the person who wants to listen to their music at deafening levels. The bass can deliver but the unique qualities of the surround speakers are somewhat lost at maximum power . . . or my ears can't adequately process all of the noise.

I find these speakers excellent for surround sound TV and movie watching, excellent for music at normal listening levels (where the neighbors in the next house are not complaining), and good for the times when you want to make neighbors listen to your music.

I got these here on Amazon for $599. Now to a lot of you that might not sound like a lot of money, but to me this was a major purchase. But after researching for a long time I finaly decided on the Energy RC-Micro speakers over the Orb speaker system. I will never know how I would have liked the Orbs but it would be nearly impossible to be any happier than I am with these speakers.

The package arrived very quickly, 4 days after I order and that was with the standard free shipping. Two corners on the box were flattened in a couple of inches, but Eneregy did a nice job with the packaging and everything inside was in perfect shape.

I matched these speakers up with my Onkyo TX-SR507 and Omnimount Surround Sound System Mounting Package for Micro Speakers (Both of which i also recommend, especially the Omnimount brackets that came with an adapter that fit these speakers perfectly).

After installation I am like a little kid at Christmas and spent the whole weekend in front of the TV trying out everything I could think of to test these babies. I pop in my blu-ray of Transformers. Oh boy what a way to start off. I put the volume to about 60 percent of maximum and the room was rocking. Great clean crisp highs, bass that I could feel in my seat, and voices that were clear even as the world seemed to be falling apart all around the people.

Everything I listened to that weekend sounded great. A couple of other highlights: Encore was showing the new Rambo movie. About a half hour into the movie it starts raining. I swear that it sounded so realistic that I muted my sound because I thought it was raining outside (It had been earlier). Another movie I was watching has 2 neighborhood dogs barking at each other. My dog has never paid any attention to anything on the TV before and when this started up he suddenly sat up and started following the dog barks from left to right depending on which dog was barking. He even barked back once.

The only thing I can see that might not meet everyone's expectations is the bass. I am more than happy with the bass performance but it is not a window shattering bass that some people want.

I don't see how, but they say that these are going to sound even better after they are broke in for 50 - 60 hours.

I know there are better systems out there for a lot more money, but unless you need or want more bass, I do not believe anyone will be unhappy with these.

After reading several positive reviews about these speakers in the internet I recently purchased them for my home teather system (my room is 12" X 14" approx). I was a bit worried as i did not have the opportunity to listen to them before (no local dealer), but saw them in Amazon for US 599 and decided to take the risk based on the reviews. Now having installed them I am very happy, the sound is clear, voice reproduction is clean and balance between the satellites and the subwoofer is perfect (you can adjust it). I was esceptical about little satellite systems because the ones i had heard before always left a sensation of emptiness, lack of clarity and some sounds totally lost. This system does not have all those problems, i have tested with action movies, normal TV signal, and musical dvds and still sound great. They are a very good purchase for the price.

This is a highly regarded, top quality speaker system offering the primary benefit of impressive surround-sound without overwhelming your living room with large speakers.

I am not an audiophile, but after buying the HDTV, I did a lot of research for a lower-priced 5.1 system with speakers small enough to blend into the room and I am indebted to all the audiophiles who post on the assorted audio forums that are out there. I settled on the now discontinued Energy Take 5.1 Classics, which I ordered from Electronic Expo for $349. It turns out that Electronic Expo was out of stock of the Take Classics but they offered me these Energy RC-Micros for the same price! First of all, Electronic Expo is to be commended for their first-rate customer service. What a deal for me!

These RC-Micros sound better than the Take Classics and are even smaller. They're very easy to discreetly place around the room, great for those who don't want their living room dominated with large audio components. (My wife is such a person.) The prevailing wisdom seems to be that large floor speakers offer the ultimate audio experience but with these RC-Micros, the room maintains it's decorative integrity with minimal audio compromise. They really sound great.

Please note: They did not impress me out of the box. The manual stressed that the speakers required a breaking in period of 40 - 50 hours. One can hear the sound quality evolve as the speakers break in. Placement of the speakers seems to significantly affect the quality of the surround-sound effect and it's worth spending time trying different placements but only do so after the breaking-in period is completed.

Some basic tweaking of the settings on your receiver (and the back of the subwoofer)are important to bring out the best of these speakers. Again, I'm no audiophile but there's a lot of helpful information on the web and I also called the manufacturer, Energy, on a couple of occasions for technical help and they were fantastic. Don't be intimidated by this. Tweaking settings really matters but Energy will guide through the process and it takes only minutes. Never hesitate to call Energy's tech help. You'll get a real person right away, friendly and helpful.

Monoprice is an excellent source for speaker wire. I bought a good quality 14 gauge wire though 16 gauge is probably sufficient unless you're running the wires a great distance.

If you're looking for great sound in a small speaker, the RC-Micros are an excellent choice!

I've been hesitant to review these speakers too quickly, as I wanted to allow for a break-in period and make fine adjustments to the system, etc. However, I am already so pleased with them, that they can only improve with additional break-in and adjustment!

Pros:
The first really positive thing about them is the price. For the quality of these speakers, they are very well priced. I was looking for something besides Bose (I don't hate Bose and have them in other rooms... just wanted something different here), but I didn't want to sacrifice quality or looks. These speakers are beautifully fininished, in a piano black laquer that makes them at home among the finest furnishings, or a dorm room. They are small enough to easily blend in, just about 30% or so larger than a Bose cube.
The sound is extremely good. Very crisp and clear. I haven't pushed them hard, but they seem to maintain clarity very well at high volumes. The sound is also rich and full.

Cons:
The cons are not enough to diminish the star rating, but just little things that could be improved, or that they prospective buyer should know in order to make an informed choice.
- The mounting mechanism could be a little bit better... the speakers accomodate either keyhole style or screw in, but the latter would almost have to be custom fit. The keyhole is a bit tight for the speaker mounts that I have... it works, but takes some tweaking.
- The speaker wire connection could stand to be larger to accomodate large gauge wiring. I use two 16 ga. wires in a twisted pair for each connection and they just barely make it... again, not a big drawback, but would be an improvement.
- The subwoofer is good, but will not rock the house... not out of the box. However, the adjustments and settings available on the sub allow for you to compensate to meet your needs. You AV receiver likely has additional abilities to adjust the bass as you require. For my needs and my taste, it is fine - but if you want really thundering bass, it might take more adjustment and placement trials to get that.

Overall, very pleased with the Energy speakers, and I would repeat this purchase. I have them employed in a small (12 x 16) home theatre in my basement, and in that environment they sound incredible. A large room, or very high ceiling might be a lot for them to handle. For my "all black" look, they are asthetically perfect. Some others I considered had silver trimming that would have cheapened the look. The gloss black is elegant and goes with anything.

I am thrilled with the sound quality from the Energy RC-Micro speakers, even before completing the 50-hour break-in period. I installed these in a challenging living room situation (large, open floor plan, high ceilings, recessed TV nook, limited placement options, subwoofer relegated to the center of the room), but nevertheless they produce clear, full, room-filling sound that defies their small size. I paired them with the Pioneer VSX-9040TXH receiver, and after running speaker calibration and dialing in the subwoofer settings, the sound is outstanding for both 5.1 and stereo music and soundtracks. (FYI, a crossover setting of 100 Hz on the receiver, with the dial maxed out to 150 Hz on the subwoofer, resulted in the best blend between the satellites and the sub to my ears. I also set the volume knob on the sub to its midpoint before balancing speaker and sub output on the receiver, to leave plenty of headroom to lower bass for background TV listening, crank it for music, and return to reference levels with a quick turn of the dial.)

The speakers are solidly constructed, with smooth, rounded edges, nice removable cloth grilles, and beautiful glossy black finish that complements the latest flat-panel HDTVs. The included cloth works great for rubbing off oily fingerprints. Everything was packaged extremely well in the box.

I think these were a bargain at $398 from Electronics Expo, compared to similar packages such as the Klipsch HD Theater and Definitive Technology ProCinema series.

One last word about using the threaded inserts on the RC-Micro satellites for wall mounting -- because the threaded inserts are unusually recessed into the speaker about 3/4" from the back side, the common "universal" speaker mounts most likely will not work right out of the box (the screws in the mount kits and the screws included with the speakers will both be too short). I had to use 1-1/2" 1/4-20 machine screws with multiple washers to make a snug fit. Otherwise, no problems. The speakers are light enough to tolerate multiple speaker mount extensions if you need to extend them out several inches from the wall (to be even with a wall-mounted TV, for example).

I paired the speakers with an Onkyo sr507 receiver and I couldn't be happier. As for the stands I went with the Atlantic satellite and made them work. These were not the recommended stands and I did have to "persuade" them a little. I originally tried to purchase Energy Take classic but the seller (Electronics Expo) was out of stock. The seller immediately contacted me and offered to send me the Micro's for the same price which was quite a deal. I was a little nervous about getting speakers this small for a large living room. The room I put these in is not only large but completely open. The speakers sound amazing!!! Some have commented about these not sounding great with music and I have to disagree. I like loud music and these little gems can kick out the jams. I originally placed the sub in the corner and now have it positioned next to the front right speaker and it sounds much better. I also did contact the manufacture with several newbie questions and they were great.
The best thing about Amazon is the customer reviews. I was going to buy a completely different set up but I'm glad I did the research. Knowing that another customer has the exact same set up made my decision so much easier. Buy these speakers and you won't be disappointed.

I got these in a timely fashion as expected. Packaging was the speaker box with a cardboard top and bottom strapped to it.
The speakers sounded good the the subwoofer quit working after a week checked everything finally took it to BB they tested it for me and it would light up but no sound. So could not just get a replacement sub had to take the system down off the walls and box it up and send the whole thing back. I did reorder the same system but had to get it from a different vendor so now had to pay additional for more shipping charges. Overall sound was good enough I reordered the same system but if it happens again a component fails I will not reorder this one! Three stars for the build quality and additional costs for shipping it back and forth. Sound at this price point is really good. I would give it 4 stars if I did not have the quality issues.

These speakers are very clear. Haven't even broken them in yet and they sound excellent. I have them hooked up to a onkyo sr507 which i highly recommend for this set. For speaker stands i used the Sanus HTB3 Tear Drop stands there a very nice add on for these speakers. I ran monster 12ga speaker cable. My only complaint which is purely personal preference, is that if you are used to a bigger sub for example the logitech z5500's that have a 12inch which i replaced with these speakers your gonna be a little bit disapointed with the punch of the sub because its only an 8inch 60watt rms sub. So i just replaced it with the Polk Audio PSW505 which i also highly recommend this sub if your looking for some clear, but also heart pounding bass when you need it. All in all this speaker set is the best Ive heard at its price range you would have to spend over a 1000 bucks to match it.

What a great small compact speaker system. I don't have alot of room for large speakers in my den-wife just would not have it. So I went with the Engery RCMicro
from Electronics-expo.com. Very small speakers with a very big sound! I found a coupon (WS901X5750) that gave me a total price of $427.73. If you have the wife factor as I do and your looking for great sound in a small package give them a try.