Energy Connoisseur CB-10 Bookshelf Speakers — 90dB, 125W
$175.00
Energy’s Convergent Source Module puts the 1-inch hyperbolic aluminium dome and the 5.5-inch poly woofer close enough together to behave as a single source, which is why these set up easily and sound right from more than one seat. Crossed at 2.8 kHz, rear-ported through a port two inches across, 90 dB, rated 20 to 125 watts. Graded Very Good. The original grilles are not included.
1 in stock
Energy Connoisseur CB-10 — Compact Bookshelf, 90 dB, Rear-Ported
A compact, surprisingly muscular bookshelf pair from Energy’s Connoisseur series — designed in Canada, reviewed by Stereophile, and capable of far more output than a speaker this size has any right to produce.
The NRC Pedigree
Energy has been building loudspeakers since 1973, developing its designs in conjunction with Canada’s National Research Council, and the CB-10 was engineered in 2008 by the company’s Canadian design team. At its centre is Energy’s Convergent Source Module (CSM): the tweeter and woofer are mounted in close proximity so they behave as a single coincident source, delivering wide, constant dispersion and a flat on-axis response — the practical result being a speaker that sets up easily and sounds right from more than one seat.
Drivers and Surround
The 5.5-inch poly cone woofer uses Energy’s patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround, which increases excursion and effective piston area while lowering distortion, making the CB-10 an easy load for modest amplification. The 1-inch hyperbolic aluminum dome tweeter crosses over at 2.8kHz and delivers clean, accurate highs with genuine power handling. Stereophile’s reviewer found the CB-10 dug deep into recordings, surfacing low-level detail he hadn’t expected, and noted that it could really rock — delivering power and impact well beyond its dimensions.
The Rear Port
A large rear-firing port — two inches across, flaring to nearly three — is the key to the CB-10’s bass output, using boundary reinforcement to generate weight a cabinet this size shouldn’t manage. It’s a generous, full-bodied bass rather than a lean one: place these on a shelf or against a wall for maximum extension, or pull them a few inches out into the room if you prefer a tighter, drier balance. That flexibility is genuinely useful, and it means the CB-10 can be tuned to the room by placement alone.
Build Quality
Build quality holds up: a rigid, low-resonance MDF enclosure in black ash with a high-gloss black baffle, gold-plated five-way binding posts accepting bare wire, spades, pins, and single or dual bananas, magnetic shielding for safe placement near a screen, and threaded inserts for wall-mounting. Rated 20 to 125 watts per channel, they pair happily with anything from a modest integrated to a full AV receiver.
Condition and Service
This pair has been thoroughly inspected and tested to confirm full functionality. Both cabinets have been fitted with Radique Audio high-density felt pads in our signature magenta — they protect shelving and furniture surfaces, decouple the cabinets from whatever they sit on, and keep the speakers from creeping during heavy passages.
Condition
Cosmetically graded Very Good, this pair presents cleanly with the gloss baffles and black ash cabinets in fine order. The original grilles are not included — worth noting that Energy designed this series to look, in the company’s own words, as attractive with the grilles on as off, the gloss baffle and silver drivers being a deliberate visual feature. Grille absence has no effect whatsoever on performance.
Real output, easy setup, and Canadian design pedigree in a cabinet that fits anywhere — equally at home as a compact music system or the front pair of a home theatre.
Energy Connoisseur CB-10 Specifications
- Design: 2-way magnetically shielded bass-reflex bookshelf with rear-firing port
- Tweeter: 1-inch hyperbolic aluminum dome
- Woofer: 5.5-inch poly cone with patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround
- Convergent Source Module (CSM) driver arrangement for wide, consistent dispersion
- Crossover point: 2.8kHz
- Frequency response: 66Hz to 20kHz
- Sensitivity: 90 dB (in-room)
- Impedance: 8 ohms nominal
- Recommended amplifier power: 20 to 125 watts per channel
- Gold-plated 5-way binding posts
- Threaded inserts for wall-mounting
- Enclosure: rigid MDF, black ash finish with high-gloss black baffle
- Fitted with Radique Audio high-density felt pads in signature magenta
- Designed in Canada; voice-matched to Energy’s 2008 Connoisseur series
- Dimensions each: (Width x Height x Depth) 7.1 x 11.4 x 8.5 inches (180 x 290 x 216 mm)
- Weight: 8.9 lbs (4 kg) each
✅ Buy With Confidence — The Radique Promise
Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. When you’re ready to move on, we’ll take it back. That’s the Radique difference.
📦 Watch how we protect your gear — our unboxing video.
📺 Curious about our business? Check out our YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes videos and more!
📞 Questions? Use the Ask a Question button above, or call us at 613-416-9995.
| Weight | 20 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 12.5 × 20.2 × 15.4 in |
You may also like…
Energy Connoisseur CC-10 Centre Channel – 92dB, 200W
Tweeter and woofers sit as close together as physically possible — Energy's Convergent Source Module — so they behave as one source and hold the balance across a wide seating area rather than one chair. Dual 5.5-inch woofers on the patented Ribbed Elliptical Surround, a 1-inch hyperbolic aluminium dome, 92 dB and up to 200 watts, rear-ported to 60 Hz. The grille is not included. Condition very good.
Gold Plated Banana Plugs by Radique Audio – Dual Set Screws
Dual set screws rather than a single screw or a compression sleeve, so the wire is held at two points and will not work loose behind the rack. Six-leaf gold-plated springs for a tighter grip in the binding post, full-length non-conductive jackets colour-coded for polarity, and gentle knurling that will not fray heavy cable. 19.4 g a pair, 25% heavier than the brand we used to carry. Fits 12 to 18 AWG.
Related Products
Bowers & Wilkins WM2 Outdoor Speakers, Pearl White, w/ Brackets
On an outdoor speaker the condition is the whole story — these are almost never retired for how they sound, but for sun turning a white cabinet chalky and yellow, freeze-thaw working at the seams, and grilles blooming with rust. Pearl White shows all of it more plainly than black would, and this pair grades Very Good, factory wall brackets included. B&W did not design a weatherproof box and then find a driver to fit it either: a 130 mm woven fibreglass cone crossed at 3.5 kHz to a 25 mm dome, the same material philosophy as their indoor speakers.
Castle Knight 1 Bookshelf Speakers — Real Wood Cherry, Pair
From a Yorkshire company that spent forty years being known for its cabinets above all else. The cherry veneer is deep-figured real timber, book-matched across the two cabinets so the grain mirrors when they are set up together, then sealed and waxed by hand over more than five days. Underneath is an honest two-way bass-reflex with a 130 mm woven natural-fibre bass/mid driver and five-way binding posts. Very Good condition.
PSB Alpha A/V Shielded Bookshelf Speakers — 6.5″ Woofer, Canada
The final 6.5-inch version of the speaker that made PSB's name — the 1998 Alpha A/V, with the upgraded tweeter, crossover and banana-plug terminals, and magnetic shielding so it can sit right beside a screen. Ninety decibels sensitive, so a modest receiver drives them well. Black ash, graded Very Good, bench-tested here. Pair.
Paradigm Monitor 3 v3 Bookshelf Speakers – 8″ Woofer, Canada
An 8-inch woofer in a cabinet small enough to sit on a stand — a 210 mm ICP cone on a die-cast chassis, with a third-generation titanium dome on the Studio-series waveguide faceplate, crossed at 2.0 kHz. Low frequency extension to 38 Hz and 91 dB room sensitivity, so 15 watts drives them and 150 is just headroom. Built in Canada, in Black Ash. Very good condition.
PSB Century 300i Bookshelf Speakers – 6.5″ Woofer, Canada
MartinLogan Motion 15 Bookshelf Speakers – Folded Motion, Boxed
The reason to want these is the tweeter — MartinLogan's Folded Motion driver is a pleated ribbon rather than a dome, so it squeezes air out from between its pleats and barely has to move. A 5.25-inch aluminium cone below it, 92 dB sensitivity, and the high-gloss black clean of the swirls these show so readily. Original boxes included.
Polk Audio RTi6 Bookshelf Speakers – Real Wood, Bi-Wireable
JBL 62T Bookshelf Speakers – Rosewood Finish, Titanium Dome
Discounted for the aftermarket screw holes a previous owner left in the back panels, and very good everywhere else — original drivers, clean rosewood finish, both tested here. A mid-1980s two-way with a pure titanium tweeter that runs out to 23 kHz, and an easy 89 dB load that a thirty-watt vintage receiver drives properly.
Mission 731 Bookshelf — Made in England, Inverted Driver Design
Two things to tell you: a ding on the top side edge of one cabinet, and third-party binding posts a previous owner fitted to one speaker. Otherwise good — and the design is the interesting part, since Mission's inverted geometry puts the tweeter below the woofer to bring the two into step at seated ear height. Made in England.















