[Ravi]

This review has been a long time coming.  Truth is, I'd rather be listening to these speakers than writing about them.  But here is my mini review.  I've used an Audioreview.com review format.

I had these speakers for a 2 week audition at the end of last year. I loved them so much, I bought them. Since the wait is about 1 year to get them, I ordered the kit from Dave Ellis with the crossover already assembled, then I had Darren Thomas from Thomas Woodcraft  (www.thomaswoodcraft.com) make me a pair of gorgeous enclosures with real Mahogany baffle, finished with hand rubbed Boiled Linseed Oil and about 8 coats of gloss lacquer sprayed on and rubbed out to a flat glossy finish. You will not find to better people than Darren and Dave. To top it off, they are as talented as they come in their respective fields.

Enough about the beautiful enclosures, how do they sound?

They fit any audiophile term you can throw at them. They image in 3D, create a holographic soundstage in the right room, and have a midrange, and highs as uncoloured as any I've heard. They are smooth, and liquid, and can make you see right through the performance. With the right gear, you'll be 'right there' in the performance.

Dave Ellis has used what many consider to be the best midbass in the world (Seas Excel W18), and the best dome in the world (Hiquphon OW1), and hired Dennis Murphy to make a seamless crossover to blend the two. The end result is a huge success, and it is a benchmark at the $1300 price.

So to sum it up, their strengths are:
Liquid mids, smooth silky highs, and the best midrange, and midbass(quality wise) I've every heard.

Their Weaknesses:
Don't like bad recordings too much, but this is the case with any great speaker.  I also noticed that they like bigger rooms much better than small to medium rooms.  They really open up and start to breath when you play them in a large room.  They completely dissapear when called for, in this I haven't heard an equal to them yet.

My other favourite speakers (or ones I've listened to a lot):
ProAc 2.5, SoundDynamics RTS9, Axiom M22Ti, Magnepan 3.6, Revel F50, Linn Espek, Totem Forest, Totem Staaf

[Val]

Truth is, I'd rather be listening to these speakers than writing about them.

Be honest. You also spend a lot of time just looking at the beauties.

Thanks for the good review.

Val

[BikeWNC]

Hi Ravi,

Thanks for the review.  Can you tell me what you consider to be a medium or large room?  Also, what is the size of your room?

Andy

[Ravi]

Val, actually I've found that listening in the dark makes the music sound much better, less to be distracted with, but yes you're right, I love to look at them too  

Tsunami, I've tried the 1801s in two rooms, one (the one that sounds about 10 times better) is 37 X 35 feet.  Now I don't use the entire room, I use just one corner of it, but still, this lets me sit 10 to 12 feet away, with the speakers 3 feet away from the rear wall, and the rear wall about 15 feet behind my listening position.  They are absolutely flawless in this setup.

My other room, and the one I'm having to unfortunately use at the moment, is about 20ft X 15 ft.   This is less than half the size of my other room.  The 1801s sound good, but are not near as good sounding as the large room.  Its all relative though, because if I never heard what they were capable of in the big room, I would have no problem with this smaller room.

One person recently came over to listen to the 1801s in the large 37X35ft room... He has heard a lot of great speakers, his favourite being the Joseph Audio Pearl  (MSRP $20K).  His jaw almost hit the floor when I played his reference cuts on the 1801s.  If he had heard the 1801s in the smaller room, I don't think he would've been nearly as impressed.

[audiojerry]

We want photos!

[Ravi]

This is a picture Darren Thomas took of my speakers.

Eventually I'll get with the times and buy a digital camera  

[audiojerry]

LUSCIOUS!
Can the Bunge boys top that?

[randog]

Ravi, thanks for the review.

Can you list your components and IC's, what you think works well with the 1801's and what you would change if you would (or have changed for that matter)?

Thanks,
Randog

[Ravi]

AJ, thanks for the compliment (Darren deserves it).

Randy,

I've heard the 1801s on four different types of amplification: AKSA 55wpc, AKSA 100w monos, Odyssey Stratos (mine), EL34 70wpc tube mono's.

I personally heard much more difference between pre-amps than the amps mentioned above.  All the amps I mentioned are of such good quality, that the differences are more preferences than superiority. The EL34 gave the smoothest sound, but the bass was a little flabby and subdued.

I'm using an ART DIO that I'm modding myself.  Its very neutral, maybe to a fault.  But when the recording calls for it, it is very transparent and lets the music come through.

What would I change?  I would only wish that I could permanently put my speakers in my 37X35ft room.  However, there is so much traffic in that room, I'm afraid someone will knock over the speakers, or poke in the OW1s.  So I'm having to put them in my small listening room for the time being.

[Thump553]

That is one beautiful picture.  And thnaks for the review.

I suppose I could have a 35 x 37 room if I knocked out all the walls on the first floor of our house, but my wife is attached to her kitchen.    My currently planned listening room is a new basement room, approximately 20 x 18, with a large (half-height) crawlspace off to the side-that will probably be walled off.  Right now, it seems very acoustically "dead" in there, but is totally unfinished.

The Ellis speakers are on my very short list of picks, my main concerns are: (1) much of the music I listen to is of less than optimally recorded quality-lots of audience recorded concerts, for example (for those not familiar with these, they are far, far better quality than they were 10 or 20 years ago) and (2) college age children have a seemingly limitless drain on my finances (I'll have to work that out on my own).

[nathanm]

No, THIS is one beautiful picture.

[OBF]

Nathan,

Have you heard the Ellis 1801s?  I wonder if they would pass your 'rock out' and dispersion test better than the Criterion while still maintaining the audiophile smoothness.

[nathanm]

No I haven't heard them.  Although the woodwork looks to be very excellent, the shape itself (a rectangular box ) puts me to sleep.  So they would have to sound knock-me-on-my-ass awesome if I were to buy them.  And they very well might, who knows?  But they don't quite fit my visual  taste, despite my appreciation for lovingly finished lumber.  I dig the Seas woofers though.  I thought about using those in my Norh Prism cabinets but I got Vifas instead, which don't quite fit either. Hmph.

I definitely have to give props to the guys who take the time and effort to make beautiful work like this.  The world needs more of that mindset.

[OBF]

Personally, I don't really mind the rectangular cabinet as that's all I've ever owned (mostly floorstanders though) and I've never owned anything with that nice of a finish so it would actually be a real upgrade.  BUT, I'm a bit concerned with how well these types of refined speakers can handle high volumes and abuse and non audiophile material.  I don't listen to as much metal type music as you seem to, but, overall, I think my listening is more similar to yours than, say, audiojerry or ehider's, who both loved the Criterion more than you did.

I wholeheartedly agree on the craftsmanship issue.

[nathanm]

I think the dispersion of the ribbon in the Criterion is almost self-evident just by looking at it.  The vibrating strip is recessed inside the thing instead of being flush with the baffle, so to me that suggests it would be more directional, which is what I heard.  (not that it sounds bad folks, just talkin' bout the dispersion!) I would venture a guess than the 1801s by design would have to have a better radiation pattern.  I'm not a big fan of "one person" speakers myself.  That way you can't show off your speakers to more than one friend at a time!   But I do have a small listening area.  Probably not as big a deal for those lucky bastards with 2s and 3s as the first digits of their room dimensions!

[Ravi]

Nathan, thanks for the much clearer picture, !!!  Just a clarification on my two listening rooms.  My small one is actually 17X11 feet (I mentioned that it was 20X15 previously), so Thump, your current proposed room will be much larger, and you should have no problem.

To answer Thump's question:

"The Ellis speakers are on my very short list of picks, my main concerns are: (1) much of the music I listen to is of less than optimally recorded quality-lots of audience recorded concerts, for example (for those not familiar with these, they are far, far better quality than they were 10 or 20 years ago) and (2) college age children have a seemingly limitless drain on my finances (I'll have to work that out on my own)."

You should have no problem with this, if you listen to a lot of medium to bad recordings, simply order the 1801s with the lowest tweeter setting (Dave Ellis offers 3).  At the lowest tweeter setting, the 1801s will be as forgiving of bad recordings as any great speaker I've heard.

OBF,
I've heard the GR Criterions, and frankly, as good as the ribbon is, the OW1 has MUCH better dispersion.  You can literally be anywhere in the room, and the sound is crystal clear.  I've never quite heard any tweeter that spreads the sound out so well.

[jcoat007]

Probably not as big a deal for those lucky bastards with 2s and 3s as the first digits of their room dimensions!

Hey Nathan.  That would be me.  I have a listening room thats 2 x 3.  I have a walkman and some of those little speakers that plug into the headphone jack.  

Soundstage sucks, there's no imaging, the tonality of way off, it totally lacks bass and there is absolutly no detail.  

I'm such a lucky bastard.  


               

[nathanm]

I didn't say the ONLY digits! So if you're listening to your Walkman in the closet where do the O'Heocha-somethings (sic) go then? Now THAT's my kind of cabinet!