• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Energy 22 Reference Connoisseur Speakers

A member noted my original post in wrong thread--editing--hope this one is in the right spot!

I am looking at and close to buying a pair of Ref Conns. The owner blew the speakers in one, and replaced with a set from a pair of the Pro 22.

Should I be concerned about this or no big deal??

Quoting his message:

Hi Jim, I'm the original owner of the connisseurs and I purchased them back in the late 80's. I had an Adcom amp with bad caps. and it fried the woofer and tweeter on 1 speaker and I replaced them with speakers from a pro 22 and the only real difference is the tweeter protrudes slightly more and is not real noticeable and with the cover on you cant tell at all of course. Cosmetically and function wise they are excellent

I have a series of pictures of them if that would be of any help.
 
Last edited:
I just took a close look at the two tweeters, and they look identical except the replacement one from a Pro Monitor protrudes out as noted in the thread.
 
don't worry....

It's only cosmetics.... the tweeters were the same in both speakers although the RC apparently were matched with each other to closer tolerances than the pro 22.
After all these years, the tolerances would have likley shifted enough(ferrofuid dried up, caps weakened) that they are likely out of spec a bit anyways.
If the price is right, buy them and if the cosmentics worry you, keep your eyes open for a used tweeter that matches either of the ones you have and then have them both re-built.
 
First post here - joined to resurrect this thread and ask a question about my Ref Cons. Doesn't look like I was the first to do that!

I've got a pair with original drivers, in a beautiful glossy red-stained birds eye maple. I'll be getting the drivers re-done by Chris at some point, but I was wondering about the rest of the internals. I've been told that upgrading the crossover caps with new matched pairs may make a difference, but I'm a bit hesitant to go ahead and start replacing things when Energy put so much effort/expense into getting it right the first time!

Any advice here? Is this definitely a necessary upgrade?

Thanks in advance
 
Anyway that 47uf electrolytic cap should probably changed, value may have drifted out of spec by now. the other caps look like they're good quality and I'm hesitant to change those. I have a pair of 400V 47uf Solen Metallized Polypropylene fastcaps sitting beside my speakers waiting to get installed...just have to find time. I don't see the point of changing the coils and resistors since those are what the speakers were voiced with during the design process.

Chris redid my tweeters and am very happy with the results. The replacement foam is a little thicker than the stock foam but I like it better, the wires don't show under it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
My Pro 22's are stock and I'll likely run them till the tweeters need a trip to the East Coast.
Despite the sentiments that they'll sound better when redone I think they sound great as is. If it ain't broke don't fix it :)
 
Heh heh... well mine are in pretty good shape to be honest - and to my knowledge there aren't many (any?) glossy birds-eye maple that were stained red, so I figure I'll hold onto them for now. Maybe I'll take a picture. ;)

These were so closely matched that I'm not too sure why I would want to mess with them, you know? But is it the case that the value drifts out after so many years? I assume someone has a schematic? I'd have to be really sure that the values were no longer accurate before I'd seriously start considering tearing out some of the stuff that made this such a good speaker in the first place! I always get a little puzzled when I see ones that have been ripped out and re-done.

How much are those caps you mentioned? I'm curious about what sort of cost that would be as well... considering that the tweeters definitely aren't cheap!

Also, what wires "show" underneath the foam? I'm a little curious about that statement....
 
Those Fastcaps are around 15 bucks each from Solen in Montreal. A lot of guys on here use Dayton polypropylene caps that are also very good and not expensive. Solen was easier for me to buy as I'm in Canada,

The wires I'm talking about are under the foam on the tweeter....they are the thin leads that go to the voice coil from the terminals. they can create a small bulge in the foam that can be seen depending on the angle of light. They run horizontal from each side of the dome for a couple inches.

I'll be testing my caps when I replace them out of curiosity, Electrolytic caps have a limited lifespan, the electrolyte inside will eventually deteriorate and dry up over time. This may take 15 years or 25-30 years, it varies with different caps.
found an article that explains electrolytic capacitors and why they fail.
http://www.epanorama.net/blog/2010/03/23/electrolytic-capacitor-failures/
 
Ok cool - thanks for that info. I'll probably get the tweeters re-built sometime later this fall, and then look into the cap issue at that time. I suspect the tweeters will be the main difference however! I've been running them with a Yamaha CR-2020 amp, which probably could also use an upgrade as well, given how inefficient these beasts are... but one thing at a time!

Here they are for your viewing pleasure. Not sure what the white spots are - maybe the digital camera's dying?! :saywhat:
 

Attachments

  • CIMG1728.jpg
    CIMG1728.jpg
    107.7 KB · Views: 93
  • CIMG1734.jpg
    CIMG1734.jpg
    130.7 KB · Views: 96
  • CIMG1735.jpg
    CIMG1735.jpg
    125 KB · Views: 134
Man, those are nice :thmbsp:
I find the Ref 22's I had and the Pro 22's I currently have really like Yamaha amplification.
 
shortcuttomo said:
Ok cool - thanks for that info. I'll probably get the tweeters re-built sometime later this fall, and then look into the cap issue at that time. I suspect the tweeters will be the main difference however! I've been running them with a Yamaha CR-2020 amp, which probably could also use an upgrade as well, given how inefficient these beasts are... but one thing at a time!

Here they are for your viewing pleasure. Not sure what the white spots are - maybe the digital camera's dying?! :saywhat:
Click to expand...

Nice cabinets - bird's eye maple is pretty rare. Can't see the Klipsch pillagers over in Indiana ever bringing back bird's eye on an Energy cabinet. Even their advertising for the current Energy lineup looks more like an Audiovox or Kraco ad than an ad for high end speakers.:rolleyes:

http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/
 
strangiato said:
Nice cabinets - bird's eye maple is pretty rare. Can't see the Klipsch pillagers over in Indiana ever bringing back bird's eye on an Energy cabinet. Even their advertising for the current Energy lineup looks more like an Audiovox or Kraco ad than an ad for high end speakers.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Yah they are sweet looking speakers. I know they did a few interesting finishes on the conns. Its hard to believe that the majority of 22's were sold in stores with names like "Maxx Electronics" and were usually surrounded by dishwahers and microwaves. Very few people back then knew how good they really were and blew the tweeters trying to drive them with the plactic recievers that ruled the day.

The conns faired a bit better because their price reserved them for people that knew better. I still have 6 drivers and 7 tweeters but don't run 22's any more

marc mc
 
dnewma04 said:
I'm not sure I see birdseye maple there. :scratch2:
Click to expand...
No?

Birds eye maple

It's stained red so it's harder to notice in my pictures, but can you see the pattern? It's sort of all over the place I think.

Apparently these were a one-off that Energy built for an audio show they did. I got them off the proverbial guy who knows a guy etc. who worked for Energy. Not sure if that story is 100% true, but I've never seen another one with a red stain, so I'll call them "collector's items" and run with it. :smoke:
 
Now that you point it out, I agree with you somewhat hahaha...it doesn't really have those darker "dots." What would it be then I wonder? Anyone know what finishes they offered?

Edit: well it does look like this:
birds_eye_maple.jpg
 
The first two woods I thought of was pomelle sapele or mottled makore, but if it's stained, it could be a figured maple of some sort. There are a number of woods that have similar figure to them. The spots are what make birdseye maple, birdseye. :) It also could just be a matter of the stain/dye they used covering up the birdseye in the photos. I'd hope that energy would have left the birdseye maple, if that's what it is, in it's natural color.
 
dnewma04 said:
The first two woods I thought of was pomelle sapele or mottled makore, but if it's stained, it could be a figured maple of some sort. There are a number of woods that have similar figure to them. The spots are what make birdseye maple, birdseye. :)
Click to expand...

I saw the birdseye Reference 22's from Ian Paisleys collection and they looked nice.

As for the finishes available for the conns they did a few with the piano black and brazillian Rosewood being the most popular. Both were around $2200-$2500 back in the 80's if memory serves.

I would still run Conns on a system if it wasn't for Phil Clements and those damn RT-7's



marc mc
 
Last edited:
So would the "birds eye maple" sample at the top of the page be considered birds eye maple?

I'm not up on my wood so I don't know. It does look like that sample, however. As far as I knew the piano black and the burl walnut was the most expensive finish, with birds eye maple coming in between the other natural woods like rosewood and oak, and that black pebble-like finish was the cheapest. But again, clearly they did some in-betweens like mine, so I don't know....
 
shortcuttomo said:
I'm not up on my wood so I don't know. It does look like that sample, however. As far as I knew the piano black and the burl walnut was the most expensive finish, with birds eye maple coming in between the other natural woods like rosewood and oak, and that black pebble-like finish was the cheapest. But again, clearly they did some in-betweens like mine, so I don't know....
Click to expand...

That sounds about right. I did see all those finishes and it is amazing how they all made the speakers look different in size. But IMO they are still to low to the ground. I felt the same with the Kef 104/2's that I had.

marc mc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom