Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's

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jsalk

Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« on: 3 Nov 2007, 02:22 pm »
Robert contacted us about building a pair of HT3's for him.  He had a list of potential veneers, koa being on the top of the list.  He asked what we thought might work.

Since koa was his first choice, it didn't seem worth investigating the others.  Instead, we found a real nice batch of koa veneer and went to work.

Koa batches generally come in a broad range of colors, but most have a golden tone.  Some batches are lighter and others are darker.  One really nice thing about koa is that is has a great deal of natural luster.  You can't really appreciate it in a photo, but it does look VERY rich with a lot of natural sparkle.

Here are his HT3's...




And a close-up...



Happy listening Robert!

- Jim
« Last Edit: 3 Nov 2007, 02:35 pm by jsalk »

bpape

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #1 on: 3 Nov 2007, 02:26 pm »
Wow.  Those are absolutely gorgeous.  They'd look really nice with my Teak furniture...

Bryan

Meicheng

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #2 on: 3 Nov 2007, 03:52 pm »
I really enjoy looking at Jim and Company's work as the results are always beautiful and you can tell a great deal of pride is taken in the work. 

BPuckett

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #3 on: 4 Nov 2007, 12:33 pm »
Simply stunning, Jim!  They turned out better than I imagined.  I can hardly wait to see them up close and listen to them for the first time.

Bob (aka Robert)

BPuckett

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #4 on: 18 Apr 2008, 08:29 pm »
Well, here it is – my assessment of how HT3 loudspeakers sound.

First off, here is what comprises the rest of my system:

Musical Fidelity A3CD Player
McIntosh C15 Preamplifier
2 McIntosh MC162 Power Amplifiers, each running in bridged mode, one for the left channel, one for the right channel.

My turntable is a Music Hall MMF5, but it is hooked up to my secondary system and has not been used with the HT3s.

My HT3s were born on November 1, 2007.  I received them the third week of November and have been listening to them regularly since then.  My first impression when listening to them for the first time was that they seemed to have too much bass.  They replaced a pair of Definitive Technology BP30 speakers that, for as long as I owned them, seemed to have well balanced sound.  After experimenting with placement within my listening room and removing/reinstalling the spikes, I settled on leaving the spikes off the HT3s and placing them so that the rear of each speaker is fifteen inches from the back wall, the outer side of each speaker is five feet from its respective side wall and the toe in of each speaker is set to thirty degrees.  All of my experimenting made only minor changes in how the speakers sound.  But, I believe that I have found the best placement and set up for my listening room.

Okay, now for how the HT3s sound.  For lack of a better term, the HT3s sound…ACCURATE.  What I initially thought was a surplus of bass turned out to be a deficit of bass in the BP30s.

I have listened to nearly all types of music through the HT3s during the past five months.  I have listened to music recorded over the span of several decades, with greatly varied recording quality.  I have listened to music played softly, satisfyingly loud and loud enough to have my neighbors across the street ask me to turn it down.  I have listened when I am well rested and when I am tired.  I have listened at all times of day and night.  I have listened when I am in a good mood and when I am in a bad mood.  And I have listened when I am well and when I am ill.  So, I have covered pretty much all combinations of music, volume, recording quality, emotions, and physical health.

The most revealing thing I can say about the HT3s is that they reproduce exactly what is present on the source material.  If there is a lot of bass, the HT3s produce a lot of bass.  If there is a lack of bass, they produce a lack of bass.  If the recording quality is poor, they  produce music that sounds like it was recorded poorly.  If there are any timbral inaccuracies in the source material, they reproduce the inaccuracies faithfully.  But when the source material is just right and all the other variables are just right as well, the HT3s sound better than any other loudspeakers I have ever heard.  And I have heard many, many other loudspeakers, from bookshelf speakers to floor standing behemoths that cost more than a new entry level luxury car.

The greatest compliment I can pay to Jim and Dennis is to say that I plan to keep my HT3s for a long, long time.  In fact, I might not ever let them go.  They are that good.

Regards,
Bob

Carl V

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #5 on: 18 Apr 2008, 09:24 pm »
nice looking wood...as usual.  What species of wood was used for the contrasting trim?

idiotec

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #6 on: 18 Apr 2008, 09:38 pm »
Very nice review, and absolutely stunning speakers.

Congratulations!

martyo

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #7 on: 18 Apr 2008, 09:40 pm »
Thanks for the update Robert. Very pretty speakers. I'm glad to hear the HT3's were all you wanted and more. At some point I'll be doing the same thing, We've had our since Dec 22.      8)

Nuance

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #8 on: 18 Apr 2008, 10:11 pm »
Very beautiful.  Congrats Robert! 

Frisco

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #9 on: 18 Apr 2008, 10:24 pm »
from a person from the Hawaiian Islands.........very nice!!!!

jsalk

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #10 on: 19 Apr 2008, 02:38 am »
Carl V -

nice looking wood...as usual.  What species of wood was used for the contrasting trim?

The trim was koa as well.  Koa has a greater variation of colors from tree to tree than many other woods.  The solid koa trim was much darker than this batch of koa.  I just received a batch of koa veneer that a customer picked out for a pair of SongTowers.  I had lighter colors as well, but most of it was as dark as the trim on these speakers.

The nice thing about koa is that it is very rich looking with a lot of sparkle or iridescence.  It is also very nice to work with.  You can't go wrong with koa.

- Jim

Steidl Guitars

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #11 on: 19 Apr 2008, 06:31 am »
Lovely. 

And Jim, that special shining iridescence that koa has is called "chatoyance" among wood loonies.  And koa is pretty special in that regard. 

Bob


jsalk

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #12 on: 19 Apr 2008, 11:15 am »
Bob -

Lovely. 

And Jim, that special shining iridescence that koa has is called "chatoyance" among wood loonies.  And koa is pretty special in that regard. 

Bob



Thanks.  You are very correct.  I was aware of that, but I don't like using words most people wouldn't recognize.  I have used that term in the past with other wood workers and they had no idea what I was talking about.  So I figured it didn't make sense to use it here.

- Jim

Steidl Guitars

Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #13 on: 19 Apr 2008, 03:20 pm »
Jim,

Of course.  I mention it only because it's a fabulous word!  Again, lovely work, as usual. 

Bob

bkatbamna

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #14 on: 19 Apr 2008, 04:47 pm »
Lovely. 

And Jim, that special shining iridescence that koa has is called "chatoyance" among wood loonies.  And koa is pretty special in that regard. 

Bob


"Chatoyance" sounds like something that happens when a live internet talk session doesn't get the desired results.

GloP

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Re: Robert's Hawaiin koa HT3's
« Reply #15 on: 21 Apr 2008, 02:18 am »
Haha that's awesome :) it's actually French though you probably already knew.