About 6 weeks ago I received a pair of Tetra Living speakers from Peter at Acoustic Reality. I’ve been planning to write a review since they first arrived, but I have been very busy with work, stressed out over recent layoffs at work (not me, yet…), fighting a sinus infection, and generally feeling lousy just about every way possible. But I let things break in, played with speaker positioning, and just generally got a good feel for the speakers.
My system consists of a pair of Acoustic Reality eAR One MKII monoblock amplifiers, an extremely modded Bottlehead Foreplay, a modded Philips CD-80 transport (borrowed from my neighbor for now but I hope to buy it), an Analog Research Segue DAC, Bolder Nitro IC between the preamp and amps, Bolder M-80 between the DAC and preamp, and the older style Bolder speaker cable.
Let me introduce you to my system: The CD-80 transport is awesome and is built like a tank. It is modded and has a very good, low jitter, digital output in it. The Segue DAC replaced my smART D/IO, something that I didn’t think could be done, by being simply better than the D/IO in every way (I was very surprised!). I got an amazingly good deal on it from the designer and couldn’t pass it up. The monoblocks are fantastic amps as I and others have said before. The preamp was compared to an AI Modulus 3A preamp and held it’s own. The M3A had a wider soundstage and was somewhat more dynamic, but the Foreplay was more musical and enjoyable to listen to. I had been thinking of buying an M3A but after the comparison decided I liked the Foreplay better. I like this system very much but hope to get a better CD player and better speaker cables at some point.
The speakers arrived over multiple deliveries via DHL in the days after Christmas. The speakers are made up of a top part and a bass module. The tops were each in their own box, and the bass modules were together in one box. Everything was packed EXTREMELY well. If you own an eAR amp then you know how well Peter packs his equipment. There was no damage to any of the boxes, though one box was quite wet in one corner. But the equipment inside was protected from the outer box and so did not get wet. The base module box had a lining of wood, and my neighbor (who helped me set them up) noticed (and was impressed) that it was furniture quality wood!
I was surprised at how small the speaker boxes were. The speakers are actually rather slim and do not dominate a room visually. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Setup involved attaching the top of each speaker to a bass module (via a very short piece of speaker cable which was provided with the speakers), attaching the speaker cable from the amps to the bottom of each bass module (kind of hard to do since it is on the bottom), attaching spikes to the bottom of each speaker, and setting the top of each speaker onto its bass module. Small cylindrical rods connect the top part and bass module together. This was all fairly easy to do but having a second person to assist was very helpful.
The speakers come with spikes but also with little disks that can be placed under the spikes to protect the floor. The spikes are height adjustable as well.
The speakers are stunning to behold. They can come with different finishes, and with or without speaker cloth. I chose the cherry wood finish and speaker cloth. They are tall but are not visually dominating because of the way they decrease in size as they get taller. My room is not very big, but these 72” high speakers fit in very well. They are so striking visually. Everyone who sees them is really struck by their looks. They also look completely flat when looked at straight on. You can’t see the sides unless you walk around them a bit.
Initial setup of the speakers was completely ad hoc. We just set them down in front of and to either side of my audio rack and fired them up. At first the sound was compressed and dark. But that was expected. Within just a few minutes the sound opened up. And then it just kept getting better and better with each passing minute.
So just how did they sound? Well, I’ll tell you first what Ron said. He said that the Tetras had the best bass extension of any speakers he has ever heard. Now, please understand where he is coming from. He has been an audiophile for at least 20 years, has worked in audio stores, owned an audio store, and has owned and heard more speakers than I can even imagine. He also said that the tonal balance was just about perfect – that instruments sounded just the way they did in real life. (Ron is also very into listening to live music.) He said that the sound was effortless. Finally he said that they were as good as a pair of $40,000 Burmester speakers with which he was familiar.
So what did I think? Well, I’ve only been an audiophile for a short time, and have not heard nearly as many speakers as Ron. I can’t make the kind of comparisons that he did. But to me the sound was magical. Instruments did sound so real and lifelike. I have never, ever heard such good bass. It goes lower than my RM1s, but the volume does drop off bit at the very low end. The bass is not boomy or bloated, nor is it overemphasized (which I feel it is with my RM1s). It is so well controlled – it’s like the woofers are possessed by the amps. The high frequencies are to die for – cymbals sound so good it gives me chills. There is an openness to the music, but there isn’t. How do I say this… There is no need for it to be “open” – the music is just there. The sound isn’t “open”, it’s just there – just music. I hope that makes sense.
The speakers completely disappear. There is no sense that the sound is coming from the speakers. The bass is just so surprising. Several times I pointed to the bass modules and said to Ron that I couldn’t believe so much bass was coming from such a small woofer.
One of the things I am most happy about with the Tetras is their off-axis performance. There is only the slightest loss of quality when listening off-axis. I can get up and move around the room and the sound is still awesome. In fact, I find myself getting up and dancing in front of these speakers. Now if you knew me well, you would know that I DON’T DANCE. Just ask my wife! But with these speakers I just can’t help myself!
The speakers can be hard to move given their shape and because of the spikes. Also, although the top part and bass modules are held together by small metal rods, a good push on the top part will cause separation from the bass module. It’s easy to set them back together, but it makes moving the speaker a little bit difficult. I found that putting plastic Magic Mover type furniture mover things under the spikes makes sliding the speakers around very easy, but you have to use the floor protectors between the spikes and furniture movers so that the spikes won’t poke through the furniture mover. I remove them after the speakers are moved, including the floor protector, so that I can get a good connection with the floor.
OK, I am feeling really wiped out and am losing the ability to think clearly, and I want to get this out because people keep asking for it, so I’m just going to write down everything else I can think of and then maybe I’ll post a follow up message at some later point. Possibly incoherent brain dump follows:
The midrange is truly magical. Instruments just sound so real, and so well defined that it is like you can reach out and touch them. There is a balance to the sound from low to high, and a rightness.
One of the first things I noticed with the Tetras was that I could hear so much more detail than before. WAY more detail.
There is a sense with these speakers that I can just stand up, walk between them and actually find myself standing with the performers. Hmmm, maybe I should try that…
The position of the speakers in the room is important (of course). I’ve found that even small changes in position can cause large changes in the sound. They always sound good no matter where I put them, but in just the right spot they truly sound phenomenal.
Soundstage size is very good. It depends on placement but I can place them so I get a wide, deep soundstage or a smaller, more intimate soundstage.
I can hear differences in cables, CD players, and so on much more now than before. In fact, I really feel like I am NOT hearing the speakers at all – that I am listening directly to the other parts of the system. It really feels this way to me. For example, I can hear clearly now that my DAC, which is very good, is affecting the sound in a certain way. I can hear it clearly, but could not before.
They play all kinds of music well. I listen mostly to Jazz and Alternative Rock, and both sound great.
In fact, the biggest impression of these speakers on me is this: they just tell the truth. It’s like there are no speakers, just music.
I love these speakers! Just like the eAR amps, these speakers are magical! I actually hugged one of them one night! My goodness that sounds dorky, but it’s true!
I’m sorry that I don’t have more of the audiophile types of things to say, and for the lack of detail, but I haven’t had time to analyze the Tetras to that level yet. Plus I am still hunting for the very best position in my room.
Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.
As always, try to listen to the speakers and make up your own mind. These are my opinions and may not match your own.
I’ll try to get some pics posted in the gallery soon.
Check out
www.av-reality for more info.
Ernest
