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Energy pro-22 Is it me or the speakers?

Yeah, I've seen several 22s being sold with those SD tweeters and I believe there might be an old, old thread around here somewhere in which people claimed they sounded great. But as you say the crossover and the sensitivity differences in those tweeters/speakers make me scratch my head in disbelief (although admittedly I've never heard them).

Like I said I've also seen the ESS Heil tweeters used in two sets and the builders both claimed awesome results (one of them I was interested in buying, so the standard amount of salt should be applied). Getting a couple of those would probably be cheaper than getting a rebuild, but it's still a significant amount of money to shell out without knowing the result (and for those speakers in general, depending on how much you originally paid).

Good to hear you're enjoying them so far, though. Although I suspect you'll want to keep checking those tweeters for failure.
 
Sorry Dennis I hope they come back to life for you ........I didnt know the tweeters were slipping ......
 
resurrection of this thread.

Energy 22's are an odd speaker. Very sensitive to power, source and placement. They are not a catch all speaker. Which means some things sound great on them and others awful. People jump on the tweeter bandwagon way to fast. Your tweeters either work or they do not. If the fluid was gone you'd know quickly as they would heat up and fail in short order. If the fluid is gone and you are having them rebuilt then no worries, crack them up and let them fry as the coil gets replaced in the rebuild. They do not slowly simmer bad.

Here is what is missing from the Energy pro 22's I own and all others I heard - MIDS for rock n roll. Put in some 80's metal like accept and the mids are a disaster on the 22's. That's the bad news. Good news? Plenty. Put on Jeff BEcks Truth LP, Electric Landyland .... Classical, Jazz ..... no speaker can touch the "lively" performance of the 22's for this kind of thing. The bass extension is ridiculous and it hold together. No flabby farty bass but full, deep extenstion that sound like the instrument is in the room. I still am awed by how clean and low the bass is. Highs are indeed rolled off volume wise but extremely natural sounding. Placement can change the high balance too. Very sensitive to placement these are.

Very picky about source and power. My vintage amps love them. But the 22's suck for metal or mid heavy rock completely. Thus mine only get used for certain things. Very strange I know. All my other speakers beat them to heck for metal and hard rock but put on something jazzy and the Energy 22's are like a live band. Cant explain why but that's my real life experience. They are not a speaker of all trades but if you want to hear the mix of an :Electric Ladyland" Type recording give them a go. Awesome. Piano also sounds like piano all the way down clear as a bell. My wife hated them. But then with the proper music and power she too is blown away those speakers she hated are what is playing.
 
Ironic : had bought ref con 22's and a 50 watt tube amp at the same time ....... for sh1ts and giggles I hooked them up : bright / pitiful bottom end (and "bright" because no low end)...sounded week and tight .... anemic ....... hooked them up to my Mitsu A10 ........ WOW .... opened them up BIGTIME ........ now I know what the fuss is about .... you need power to drive these ... and (ironically for some) power to protect that tweeter from distorted signal (that they absolutely do not tolerate ).... I have been told that usually the tweeter failure is a burned up lead coming out of the coil ..... with the hands of a surgeon they can be reclaimed ..... and there are those that make a good buck fixing them ... check around
 
And there are guys making a decent buck selling the tweeters just bought 3 of them . Funny two of them have the square magnets and aluminum plate the other two I have . Are round magnets and plastic plate ....When running they are a treat something about a two way....
 
Those tweeters and some of the Infinity tweeters from that era are infamous for clipping failure. I've done it myself by pushing the volume up for outside listening, with a Parasound amp with 25 wpc. More power is the answer. I've never blown a tweeter with an amp that delivers 100+ wpc and healthy current.
 
I have a pair of 22.3's with a non functioning tweeter in one of them. Been sitting idle for about a year now. ABI in Halifax is no longer repairing these. Any ideas where I can get it repaired.
Thanks in advance
 
Vancouver audio speaker Clinic will have a look at them . just as long as its not the voice coil he can replace the leads and re flow the ferrofluid.....
 
wsissons said:
Vancouver audio speaker Clinic will have a look at them . just as long as its not the voice coil he can replace the leads and re flow the ferrofluid.....
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Thanks. Any idea of the cost. I'm assuming it would be best to have them both done assuming if one goes the other is not far behind
 
There are quite a few pairs for sale. Energy sold thousands of them. Lots of working pairs around. Mine the previous owner had the fluid redone as a precaution so its another decade without worry. The fix cost is getting outrageous and is approaching what buying working ones costs on the free market.
 
I followed this thread as part of my research on the Energy Pro22 speakers. Mine were twenty bucks on CL, and both tweeters were dead. I had a pair of EPI goldrings that I had saved for a project, and they were the right size. Turned out they sounded good with these speakers on their own, but they outclassed the woofers. The cabinet construction was impressive, and I noticed a lot of attention to detail. Others who have heard these "frankenspeakers" have had positive comments.
 
More dead thread resurrection... People keep mentioning that these speakers are power hungry and need lots of good clean power to run them and protect the tweeters. Would a Kenwood KA-7300 not be enough? It is only rated at 65wpc, but I'm betting that is a lot more in today's watts.

Would a Parasound HCA-750a at 75wpc still not be enough?
 
Luka said:
More dead thread resurrection... People keep mentioning that these speakers are power hungry and need lots of good clean power to run them and protect the tweeters. Would a Kenwood KA-7300 not be enough? It is only rated at 65wpc, but I'm betting that is a lot more in today's watts.

Would a Parasound HCA-750a at 75wpc still not be enough?
Click to expand...

Zombie Thread!

I have a Kenwood kr-v7060 that sounds killer with the pro 22s.
That being said, that amp runs 100wpc.

I've never turned up more than half because it would damage my hearing and probably my house.
75wpc would probably be enough, but like others have said, it seems like the more watts you give these speakers the more they open up.
 
Hello, I'm new to the group. I have had my 22 Reference speakers for 34 years now and had the HF drivers rebuilt last year as one had failed. Had them both rebuilt in Ottawa as I live 2 hours away and they sound great again. Hadn't noticed that the performance in the HF range was slowly deteriorating. The cost was reasonable compared to the cost of new speakers. BTW, I drive them with a pair of 10 watt broadcast monitor amps and they sound great. Used to use a Dynaco Stereo 150 and really didn't need the power. The 10 watt amps give me enough for comfortable listening level.
 
whoaru99 said:
$360 for rebuilds? Ouch.

You'd think given the wide range of tweeters available that someone would have a decent cross reference/replacement identified.
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Why does rebuild exceed the value of so many speakers ? Does it take a rocket scientist to fix tweeters?
Well if you gotta the cash it’s worth it or find a replacement tweeter that works .
 
Thought I would add my 2 cents to this old thread. I currently own 4 pair of Pro 22’s and I have replaced the fluid in three pairs of tweeters. I made a how to video but have not got around to posting it on You Tube yet. Of the six tweeters I put new fluid in only one had dried up fluid and that tweeter did sound flat compared to the others. After the fluid change it sounded the same as the others. I have just recently purchased my 4th pair of 22’s and oddly enough the tweeters in that pair sound a little brighter and more open than the others. I suspect they are low on fluid or may have none at all. When I get some time I will have a look at them as well. I may make a better how to video as well when I do this pair.
 
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I know this is an old thread, but it feels like a good repository for info about the e22's. I recently bought a pair Reference 22's from a friend and they sounded great, thought maybe a touch flat. Took them to Jim at Fab Audio (formerly in Scarborough but now Cobourg ON). Jim gave them a listen and agreed that they were a touch flat. The ferro fluid had never been replaced so Jim suggested we start there. Did the fluid replacement (it wasn't quite the consistency of jelly, but getting close), and the difference was noticeable. A little more clarity on the top end and I have peace of mind knowing that these guys will perform well for years to come, assuming, as long as, per the notes above, they are hooked up to decent power, which I'm hoping my Rotel RA-985bx (100 WPC, 400 damping factor and 80A peak current) will deliver.

Big shout out to Jim for his work.
 
ASig1978 said:
I know this is an old thread, but it feels like a good repository for info about the e22's. I recently bought a pair Reference 22's from a friend and they sounded great, thought maybe a touch flat. Took them to Jim at Fab Audio (formerly in Scarborough but now Cobourg ON). Jim gave them a listen and agreed that they were a touch flat. The ferro fluid had never been replaced so Jim suggested we start there. Did the fluid replacement (it wasn't quite the consistency of jelly, but getting close), and the difference was noticeable. A little more clarity on the top end and I have peace of mind knowing that these guys will perform well for years to come, assuming, as long as, per the notes above, they are hooked up to decent power, which I'm hoping my Rotel RA-985bx (100 WPC, 400 damping factor and 80A peak current) will deliver.

Big shout out to Jim for his work.
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Enjoy those 22’s ASig1978! Just a follow up on my last post... The last pair of tweeters that I did a fluid change on were very low on fluid. Before I did the fluid change they were noticeably brighter than the tweeters with fresh fluid. So I have now done the fluid change on 8 tweeters. 6 of them were ok and 1 had dried up fluid “sounded dull” and 1 had very low fluid “sounded bright” My advice to other owners of these speakers would be to compare the tweeters to each other once and a while. If you can hear a noticeable difference in them you need to do a fluid change for sure.
 
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