Energy ESM-2 speakers?

absolon

absolon

Super Member
Dropped in the recycling exchange on my way by and found a pair of these Canadian-made speakers at $1 each. Condition is fairly good but 8" polypropeleyne woofers are seriously in need of foam. Also have a 1" ferro fluid soft-dome tweet. Boxes are ported, about 24" x 11" x 11" and covered with walnut vinyl. Found specs online: 40 -22k +/- 3 dB, 12w to 100w RMS, 86 dB SPL/w/m, 2kHz phase corrected Xover. Orion says $330 in '79

Given the condition of the woofers, I haven't given them a run, but they do sound very detailed though of course short on bass.

Anyone used these and have a comment about them?
 
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I have the ESM-1 and ESM-3 - I can only speculate that the ESM-2 is as good or better than the ESM-3, with perhaps less bass than the ESM-1. Both are good speakers! I think Orion is wrong about the years but about right with the price - the Energy website has a pamplet on this series and they date from the mid to late 80's.

The foam is generic 8 inch which is cheap and easy to get. When you take the woofers out you will be unimpressed with the stamped steel basket and fairly minimal crossover. However, when you put them back together you will be impressed with how they sound. :) Very good! Plenty of bass, and the stereo imaging is pretty good. Mirror imaged and sold as matched pairs within 1/2 dB - you'd need over $400+ to buy anything new that is as good. I'd be interested to hear what else you find inside.

For a buck each you did well! Bless those rotten foam surrounds for supplying us with cheap speakers!

BTW Don't let a repair shop talk you into swapping the entire woofer out - get it refoamed or it won't sound right.
 
Have a set of 8" foams that fit, old foams are stripped and new ones will be in place tomorrow. I'll post a pic and an evaluation when they're working. You are right about the initial impression of the driver, but I know Energy is reputable so they get the benefit of the doubt. Most web information is positive as well. Cabinets are 3/4" particle board, but well braced.
 
I remember hearing and loving the ESM series way back when. I still have the original "brochure" for them (if you can call it a brochure. Two sided photo copy basically with the whole model line.) Of course, I wanted the 22's, but the ESM's were again a great example of how a good designer can make so-so drivers do great things!
Erik
 
Got the drivers foamed and back in the boxes. These are nice speakers, very neutral and detailed. Bass isn't excessive, but rather is well balanced, not at all boomy. Not excessively bright either, great for piano, guitar, etc. I'd planned on flipping them but think I'll wait a bit til the new surrounds break in and maybe send the Ohm Model Ls to a new home instead.

Packrat, not a lot in the box, just a good brace above the woofer, a simple second order crossover and a bit of acoustic insulation on the back baffle. That brochure is available for download at the Energy site.

I'll post a picture tomorrow.
 
Here's the pic.

The more I listen, the better I like them. Handle Jennifer Warnes' "Way Down Deep" with ease (no coil rattles from refoaming either :thmbsp: ). Solo piano is in the room.
 
absolon said:
Got the drivers foamed and back in the boxes. These are nice speakers, very neutral and detailed. Bass isn't excessive, but rather is well balanced, not at all boomy. Not excessively bright either, great for piano, guitar, etc. I'd planned on flipping them but think I'll wait a bit til the new surrounds break in and maybe send the Ohm Model Ls to a new home instead.

Packrat, not a lot in the box, just a good brace above the woofer, a simple second order crossover and a bit of acoustic insulation on the back baffle. That brochure is available for download at the Energy site.

I'll post a picture tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info - I was wondering about the brace behind the woofer. It's a good idea and not seen on too many speakers at the time, in their price range at least. The ESM-3 have a simpler crossover, just a cap, a coil and a resistor.

Those look to be in great shape too! I was going to re-sell my ESM-3s when I got them (they had duct tape for surrounds!) but I'm keeping them and something else will go one day. :thmbsp:
 
Love My ESM-2 Mons

My speakers seem to be different from what I see pictured on the net mine have very deep sounding low frequency punch example Dark Side of the moon harvest label has fantastic lows when you hear the heartbeat on these it sounds as though I have a sub yet I do not. My energy's were purchased long ago but have not dry rotted as they do not have foam surrounds they have a rather different butyl rubber surround that's glued to the cone and then stitched, this has never separated in all my time owning them, they are all black ash and rear ported not front as I see most are.

Any one have an idea why mine are so different then what's pictured did I get a better gen of of the ESM 2 at the time ... I can show you guys pics if you like.

O let me mention one other thing there are 4 braces that run from the front baffle board to the rear making this speaker rock solid you can see 4 screws that run into them on the back not sure the others are done that way, the cases do not vibrate at all and I am driving them with a Carver M500t and my Urei 1620 pre mixer and the perform amazingly well.

I will also try and shoot some pics of my system as I have a full rack of gear
you guys might like to check out.

It seems most own a different version of the ESM-2 then I own.
 
Sounddude, pictures would be great!

Is the woofer cone black poly, or a translucent white/clear poly? I wonder if Energy were fitting Pro 22 woofers to some of the ESM2s at some stage? The stitching sounds very Pro 22.

I had ESM2s with the foam surrounds and front porting, and they were wonderful sounding speakers. I only sold them after acquiring some Sound Dynamics 300ti speakers which knocked them off their throne.
 
ESM-2 are great speakers ! I purchased a pair several years ago at at thrift for $6.for the pair. I wasn't familiar with the company, but the cabinets were solid and heavy, the tweeter looked like a quality unit, so.... I decided to buy. Surrounds were shot. I did my first surround repair on them! The vinyl wood covered cabinets were sticky .... I think the chemicals seep out over time. Anyway some white "goop" hand cleaner and a towel quickly removed the mess. They live with my dad in Ohio, they're in his main listening system. As I mentioned up front..... they're great!
Oh, mine are the ones with the port in the front.....
 
pete_mac said:
Sounddude, pictures would be great!

Is the woofer cone black poly, or a translucent white/clear poly? I wonder if Energy were fitting Pro 22 woofers to some of the ESM2s at some stage? The stitching sounds very Pro 22.

I had ESM2s with the foam surrounds and front porting, and they were wonderful sounding speakers. I only sold them after acquiring some Sound Dynamics 300ti speakers which knocked them off their throne.
Click to expand...

Interesting that makes sense as everyone else says they have foam surrounds, ok heres what they have I will try and get ya some pic as well but for now ... yes they have what appears to be black poly cones with with small dimples if that helps and the surrounds are then glued and stitched to that.

Plus rear ported and quad braced maybe mine are based on the pros a bought them a ways back at a highend store as I loved the sound so much and was amazed at how they can produce near subbase if the cd contains that type audo information on it. Like Dark Side of the Moon harvest label as it goes down low.

Link to some pics: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1413
 
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What you have there is probably the ESM-2S model which were the last of the ESM line. There was also the ESM-1S. Those had the upgrades you mentioned and also binding posts instead of clips in the originals. Saw a pair once and noticed the nicer differences compared to my own set.
 
cball said:
What you have there is probably the ESM-2S model which were the last of the ESM line. There was also the ESM-1S. Those had the upgrades you mentioned and also binding posts instead of clips in the originals. Saw a pair once and noticed the nicer differences compared to my own set.
Click to expand...

Yes they do have 5 way binding posts and still sound great even though I have had em a long time Ah so they did make dif versions of the ESM-2s why do more people have the other version? any ideas were they priced dif I can't remem what I paid back then ... it was a lot more then the 6 dollar deals some here got :-) also note they have 4 internal baffle braces front to back rock solid design.

@cball are yours very deep my ESM's are deep around 11 1/2 inches and sit on an low angled stands you can see in the pic.
 
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Sizing for the Esm boxes were the same thru the years. Your version had a short run at the end of the the line for the model which would account for the abundance of the previous incarnation.
 
Part of a whole batch of great speakers that came from the NRC research up here. The Gov gave grants for speaker development back in the 80's so there was a ton of speakers that followed that model. They had simple cabs, black venner, 1"domes (with logos stamped on the plastic surrounds but they were all the same), generic bass drivers and good research.

None of them were as good as the Pro 22.

marc mc
 
marc mc said:
Part of a whole batch of great speakers that came from the NRC research up here. The Gov gave grants for speaker development back in the 80's so there was a ton of speakers that followed that model. They had simple cabs, black venner, 1"domes (with logos stamped on the plastic surrounds but they were all the same), generic bass drivers and good research.

None of them were as good as the Pro 22.

marc mc
Click to expand...

That may be true but mine have the Pro 22 stitched type base driver in them not the generic one with foam surrounds that rot, so they may be actually better and closer to the 22 then the other versions as they do sound fantastic with my Carver M500t.

Link to some pics: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/album.php?albumid=1413
 
Come to think of it... the Pro 22 had 7" woofers vs 8" for the ESM-2, so whilst they might look similar, they are definitely a different woofer. The Pro 22 woofers don't have a black cone either.
 
pete_mac said:
Come to think of it... the Pro 22 had 7" woofers vs 8" for the ESM-2, so whilst they might look similar, they are definitely a different woofer. The Pro 22 woofers don't have a black cone either.
Click to expand...

Yes I read that and your correct, but its the stitched type driver thats why I saw some simularity to the 22 drivers as the generic ones seem to be foam surrounds and only glued. All I can say is my set does sound awsome.
 
Ok I wanted to post this in case others did not know.

Anyway as you know Energy was bought out some time ago and I hate buy outs so I was really curious could the new Energy brand of speakers sound as good or better then my classic energy mons. Well its a sad day because I love my energy speakers and really did like the company but the new ones are a joke. I listened to the towers for the heck of it with some music they had in store on a Denon AVR and Denon CD Player I prefer Yamaha CD Players, and I drive mine with a Carver M-500t but common what I heard was so bad so colored and lifeless, I said did I choose the right speakers on the store digital selector panel? I could not believe what I heard, they should not be able to sell these for near $500 each, they have no base response and no clarity or open feeling at all in fact if I placed a large pillow in front of my Energy speakers they still blow the new speakers away, ok they look nice, that's about it. The answer is yes I choose the correct speakers and I must say that my clock radio has much higher fidelity then these ... Ok I have a Proton clock radio but still :-)

Think I am joking please do go to a store to hear the new stuff if you own the older mons as I do I think you will agree with me.

Any way I also got to listen to a pair of B&W's no not the ones at Abby Road, but the model with the same size and driver config as the towers I was testing which blew the new energy's away ... but believe it or not my energy ESM's the version I own sounded even better then the B&W towers.

I know you probably think I am crazy but then you may have never hard the Energy mon versions I have. I do not know what the other version sounds like from this line but I do not think it would sound exactly the same as its design and drivers are in fact no the same. I would not ever trade these in now that I heard the new stuff.

I am listening to my Thomas Dolby Flat earth CD on my Energy speakers and wow It sounds amazing as his stuff is very well recorded so it does make a great test CD.
Now on the other end if any one has Glen Miller in the digital mood, play it on the old Energy's if you have them, all I can say is on mine if you close your eyes it's as if the band is in the room. Cant get that from the new ones.

Any one else agree or get a chance to listen to the newer tower type speakers
Or any other of the new versions I would like to here your take?
 
sounddude said:
Ok I wanted to post this in case others did not know.

Anyway as you know Energy was bought out some time ago and I hate buy outs so I was really curious could the new Energy brand of speakers sound as good or better then my classic energy mons. Well its a sad day because I love my energy speakers and really did like the company but the new ones are a joke. I listened to the towers for the heck of it with some music they had in store on a Denon AVR and Denon CD Player I prefer Yamaha CD Players, and I drive mine with a Carver M-500t but common what I heard was so bad so colored and lifeless, I said did I choose the right speakers on the store digital selector panel? I could not believe what I heard, they should not be able to sell these for near $500 each, they have no base response and no clarity or open feeling at all in fact if I placed a large pillow in front of my Energy speakers they still blow the new speakers away, ok they look nice, that's about it. The answer is yes I choose the correct speakers and I must say that my clock radio has much higher fidelity then these ... Ok I have a Proton clock radio but still :-)

Think I am joking please do go to a store to hear the new stuff if you own the older mons as I do I think you will agree with me.

Any way I also got to listen to a pair of B&W's no not the ones at Abby Road, but the model with the same size and driver config as the towers I was testing which blew the new energy's away ... but believe it or not my energy ESM's the version I own sounded even better then the B&W towers.

I know you probably think I am crazy but then you may have never hard the Energy mon versions I have. I do not know what the other version sounds like from this line but I do not think it would sound exactly the same as its design and drivers are in fact no the same. I would not ever trade these in now that I heard the new stuff.

I am listening to my Thomas Dolby Flat earth CD on my Energy speakers and wow It sounds amazing as his stuff is very well recorded so it does make a great test CD.
Now on the other end if any one has Glen Miller in the digital mood, play it on the old Energy's if you have them, all I can say is on mine if you close your eyes it's as if the band is in the room. Cant get that from the new ones.

Any one else agree or get a chance to listen to the newer tower type speakers
Or any other of the new versions I would like to here your take?
Click to expand...

I have no idea how the new energy's sound and quite frankly I wont demo a newer version because I don't want to be dissapointed in their sound. Since my pro's sound so awesome I dont know how they can be topped by newer energy's. But you would think that with more research and newer technology sound can only get better.
I would never demo speakers on an AV receiver. I would only demo on a 2 channel stereo if possible.
 
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