Energy Connoisseur C4 vs C8

ZeroG

Super Member
Hello,

I just picked up a pair of Energy Connoisseur C4, and I'm impressed with the clarity and depth these add to my HT system . My HT (plus SACD/DVD-A) system is separate from my 2-CH and consisted of six Energy AC300s driven by separates. I'm happy with the upgrade the C4 makes to the fronts, especially on SACD or even PLIIx, plus they were a great deal.

Now I've come across a set of Energy Connoisseur C8, and I'm wondering if the improvement they might generate over the C4 would be worth the cost of the upgrade.

The difference between the two models is an additional 8 inch woofer and a different crossover. Probably one should expect the C8 to go lower and with more punch, but I've never heard them. For now, I'm figuring that my old Velo ULD-15 sub is handling the bottom end, and so the C4 should be sufficient, right? Of course, sometimes "sufficient" feels like a concession.

Would the C8s be a major upgrade over the C4s? Hopefully some of my AK brethren who have owned both might chime in here. Thanks!
 
Hey ZeroG!

Quick question, I just snagged a pair of mint C-4's for $60 from a 65 y/o gentleman that listened to nothing but low volume radio. I hooked them up to my B&K AVR-307 and they were so sweet sounding I almost cried....lol. Anyway, yesterday I was listening to a NIN SACD in multi-channel, cranked pretty good but not anywhere near distortion levels, just loud and crisp. When I turned the volume down I heard the tell-tale rattle of a blown woofer. The right channel speaker blew. Not sure if it was just age related, they were never broken in or I simply sent too much juice and didn't hear clipping....the NIN SACD is "noisy" so it would have been hard to tell if the speaker was struggling due to the techno/distortion nature of that band. Anyway, do you know if the C-8 uses the same identical woofer as the C-4? I found a pair of C-8's on ebay and from what I can find they are the same but the C-8 has two per cab instead of one and of course uses a different crossover. The price is right but I'm wondering if I should go OEM or put better woofers in both speakers if they have a tendency to blow easily. Not much info on the net, hoping you might be able to help. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the info. I assume your not sure about the woofers being the same. While digging I did find that they seem to look and spec the similarly, the crossovers change the specs a bit I assume. Here's what I found, I'm thinking the C-8's will be identical, it's just the crossover that changes the specs, what do you think?



C-4 Connoisseur
Vented 2 way
Tweeter: 1 -25mm aluminum dome with cloth suspension
Woofer: . . 1 -20.3 cm injection molded alumminum/ polypropylene woofer with polypropylene diaphragm and rubber suspension.
Frequency Response (+/-3dB): 35Hz - 25kHz
Crossover Points: 1800Hz
Room Efficiency: 91dB
Impedence: 8 ohms nominal, 4.5 ohms minimum
Recommended Amp Power: 30 - 175 watts (RMS/CHNL)
Dimensions:
H x W x D 83.8 (33") x 24.4 (9 1/2") x 30.5 (12")

C-8 Connoisseur
Weight: (ea.) 19.2 kgSystem Type: Vented, tapered 3 way
Tweeters: 1 - 25mm aluminum dome with cloth suspension
Woofers: 2 - 20.3 cm injection molded aluminum/ polypropylene woofers with polypropylene diaphragm and rubber suspension.
Frequency Response (+/-3dB): 28Hz - 25kHz
Crossover Points: 1800Hz
Room Efficiency: 93dB
Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 4.5 ohms minimum
Recommended Amp Power: 30 - 300 watts (RMS)
Dimensions:
H x W x D (in.) 39” x 9 1/2” x 16”
Weight: (ea.) 63 lbs.
 
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I originally had the 6's and sold them. Now I have the 8's and they are great sounding speakers. More than adequate bass with proper amplification. The tweeter is very smooth to my ears (I can not handle harsh trebly tweeters). I listen to hard rock and these have no issue at any volume level. I even bumped my pioneer hpm-100's to give these some play time. My only complaint is the veneer finish is very easy to damage. I have the rosewood finish and the veneer is chipped and lifting along the bottom. And any scratch shows easily.
 
I originally had the 6's and sold them. Now I have the 8's and they are great sounding speakers. More than adequate bass with proper amplification. The tweeter is very smooth to my ears (I can not handle harsh trebly tweeters). I listen to hard rock and these have no issue at any volume level. I even bumped my pioneer hpm-100's to give these some play time. My only complaint is the veneer finish is very easy to damage. I have the rosewood finish and the veneer is chipped and lifting along the bottom. And any scratch shows easily.

I believe it. The C-4's with just the single woofer blew me away. I put on an SACD with "Girl From Ipanema" 2 channel and turned off the sub. Couldn't believe how well it handled everything including the low's, adding the sub back in actually muddied it up a bit.

Now here's the bad part. The two C-8 drivers I ordered are NOT compatible with the C-4. As soon as I pulled the blown C-4 woofer I immediately saw it was a 4ohm speaker. The C-8 uses the same looking/dimensions etc. driver but it's a pair of 8ohm. I did more digging and found when you run two 8ohm drivers in parallel they become 4ohm add a 4ohm tweeter and the C-8 is now 8ohm. Now with the C-4, add that 8ohm single from a C-8 and add a 4ohm tweeter and suddenly you end up with 12ohm, not good, cant use. I'm really bummed as the seller doesn't take returns, now I will have two C-8 drivers. Are you in the market for a backup pair?lol
 
parallel wire a 8 ohm resitor onto the 8 ohm speaker in there..

I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand that, i'll have to do some googeling. Is that something easily done? I assume that would mage the 8ohm act as a 4? Sorry, just over my head. Excited to hear there may be an option so thank you!
 
i may be mistaken but put wire leads of resistor onto speaker terminals then solder together..should be 4 ohm now..the resistor is no different than a speaker both are 8 ohms
 
Just to add some reference for future searches on the topic, I've owned a pair of C-4's for about a year and was also impressed with the smooth high end and bass extension. So impressed I went hunting for and bought a pair of C-8's. All excellent condition Rosewood finish. So to compare them (with cd's thru a Luxman R-117), I would say GET BOTH!!!! The C-4 does a wonderful job at a low to pretty decent volume levels. The bass is effortless, great imaging, sweet sounding. But I can easily top it out with my volume knob, at which time I switch from Channel A to B and the C-8's. Similar sounding but waayyy more room to turn it up. The bass does dig that bit deeper as the specs suggest and can do it much louder. I have been getting better soundstage from the C-4 but not convinced I have the big ones set up perfectly yet. I think they can do better than they are right now.

All in all, I am really enjoying them. I do not find them bright, or quite as laid back as several of the vintage speakers I've had over time. I think it's my sweet spot so they're all staying, and I'll add some C-6 too when I find some. Because ya kinda have to now, right? Well hope this helps someone one day... all the best.
 
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