I used to work in electronics retail in the 1980s and we carried the Energy 22 lineup so it is nice nostalgia remembering all the familiar models. We could buy them at cost, so most in the store owned one version or another and I have listened to all 3 still enjoying the References. These speakers retailed for $800 but had the performance of speakers costing many x as much. They were kind of ubiquitous too for awhile after a national marketing campaign, like the Bose 901 , kind of another first in a truly recognizable brand name and model.
We all loved them, w their accuracy it was amazing what you could hear in the music compared to any previous speakers you owned. Their bass response was by far better than anything I had ever heard before either, like the reviews say they were almost sub woofing. They were made w the best materials as well. The tweeter( actually it was a dual tweeter w a dome sitting inside a cup so the speaker is really 3 way, was made of egyptian cotton vs the standard carbon fibre and the woofer was made of polypropylene again better than carbon paper. The cabinets were 3/4" press board. I recall they used to call it the $1M tweeter because that was how much was spent on its design and engineering.
Here is a post from Winslow Burhoe who did much of the design work on the 22 w the National Research Council.
http://directacoustics.com/?page_id=128
I couldn't hear the difference between the 22s and the Ref 22s that much but you can definitely hear the bass difference between the Reference connoisseur and the other 2 models. I was young and moving a lot so went w the ref 22s, the others were kind of beasts to move around lol.
