Hello,
I've been lurking here for quite a while, doing research on my next set of speakers... This is my first post.
Today i took a drive out to see Al, and his speakers. I've been researching stuff from all over the world, England, Australia, the US. Funnily/lucky for me, Raw Acoustics is a 20 minute drive away! Too bad i didn't know of this before i spent a bunch on my previous speakers... ANYWAY....
For some background, i've had a lot of different speakers over the years: Mission, B&W, Klipsch, Advent, Mackie monitors, Energy, Mordaunt Short, etc. I've got a small recording studio at home and build/mod tube amps. My current active lineup are some KT90 single ended tube monoblocks, rega P3 turntable, various cartridges, custom tube preamp, Nakamichi CD, hand built interconnects/speaker cables (secret formula explained at end of message). Klipsch and Mission speakers - but i'm not happy with them - hence this trip. I like gear at that performance/value apex. After a point, it's serious diminishing returns with many items.. ridiculous money for micro incremental improvements. Anyways, i'm digressing, on with the review!
I'd like to share my thoughts on a review today of a few speakers in Al's line. The HT3's, HT8's, 95dB towers, and the Apex II's. Thanks for your time today AL
I brought two discs to test them with: Goldfrapp 'Supernature' and Portishead 'Dummy' because they're well recorded, very dynamic, have female vocals and a lot of bass at a variety of frequencies. The Goldfrapp album in particular, can really freak out some speakers due to it's wide response, raw recording of some elements and very punchy melodic bass, together with very delicate sections (plus i love the music
--HT3's-- Wow. These speakers have a serious identity crisis. You know those small dogs that think they're dobermans? That begins to describe the HT3's. Initially my brain had trouble accepting what my ears heard from what my eyes saw. The side firing Extremis coupling to the floor offers a level of bass that's a bit beyond surprising. Very clear midrange, big open light and effortless soundstage. They're a little thirsty (84-85dB) but Al was powering them with a Yamaha integrated amp of no significant pedigree, which did just fine. Surprising that he demo'd with such an ordinary amp, but i guess that goes to show what you can expect with even moderate gear.
After comparing the HT3's to the other speakers, they did show limitations in quantity of sound, as well as their presentation style- but hey, this is against much bigger and more expensive speakers. I felt they were really dynamic and alive, youthful in a way, however their presentation wasn't as forward or as detailed and refined, say mature, as their bigger relatives.
For the price, and their size, they just blew me away. If size/SAF is an issue and you want some big sound from a small tower, these just can't be beat. When you factor the price, they're a steal.
--HT8's-- I'll cut to the chase. I bought the HT8's. Somewhat bigger than the HT'3s, but still very small for the amount of sound they give out, these were just the perfect balance of size/performance. Utterly effortless giant soundstage. These ribbon tweeters are a marvel, the sweetspot is so massive - you can walk towards the speakers and the center image stays until you're practically in the middle between them. The lateral off-axis response of the tweeters is ridiculous, but they don't have as high a vertical dispersion, so if you're tall and standing, you can get outside of them when you're close. Tight controlled musical bass, and that airy dynamic midrange. I heard things in the music i brought that i previously hadn't before. Slight distortion on some of the sounds, different amounts of compression on elements in the recording. Very exposing, but not in a dry way like, say, planar speakers can be, they just were extremely accurate. Their higher sensitivity than the HT3's at 88dB - was a contributing element to my decision because i'll use tube amps for quiet listening. The were just -more- than the HT3's, and they should be. The extra midrange in the d'appolito config does add substance to the midrange, and theoretically a larger sweetspot.
One interesting aspect of the HT3 and HT8, with the side firing extremis bass, is that you can configure them in different ways to control room response. Al informed me that having the drivers on the outside facing the wall will couple the room/corners more adding significantly to the low end response. Switching the speakers will minimize that. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide. That's a cool option for when you might be in an apartment, but want the scalability of you move to a house, or have a party, etc. etc.
For me the HT8 was the perfect price/size/performance choice. Initially, i was planning to get the Apex II's, but after seeing their size, and hearing that the differences between the HT8's and them were noticeable but not significant enough when i considered the size (to me) the HT8's got the vote. I got the upgraded capacitor option for the midranges, also feeling that was a good price/performance stance.
--Apex II's-- I was surprised by how large these were. I actually intended on purchasing the Apex II's, but the size threw me off a bit. While very handsome, i'm not blessed with an overly large 2 channel room, so these would not be ideal for me. They were however, fantastic. That back-firing driver really adds some spooky depth to the image. I heard keyboards dangling above and waay behind in the soundstage which was a little unbelievable. They felt similar to the HT8's - but like the HT8's were to the HT3's, these were even 'more' compared to the HT8's, but less of an increment. If you have the room, you'd be hard pressed to ask for more of anything with these.
--95dB's-- (Al, is there a proper name for these guys yet??
These were the best speakers there, and perhaps the best i've yet heard. I wanted to stay there for hours and try out all sorts of stuff, but that wouldn't be fair. To be fair to myself, i shouldn't have even listened to them since they're not yet available! On paper, these are practically perfect: 95dB, small footprint, pretty, high SAF. In practice they were incredible. I'll spare you my verbal prolixities. I'll just leave it by saying that these things just teleport music into a room like i've never heard before.
They're not yet ready, i probably won't be able to afford them, i'm moving to Austrailia before they'll be done, i'll try not to think about them anymore starting..... NOW.
Thanks for letting me visit Al. I can't wait to get my HT8's rolling. You've made some wonderful speakers.
Cheers,
/Adam
A
PS The secret best interconnect and speaker cable i've found is this: Go to a used computer store. Buy old SCUSI printer cables. They're pure OFC, 60 conductor, woven and shielded. Wire half hot and half cold and ground the shield. Their impedance and capacitance is EXTREMELY low. You'd have to pay hundreds if not more to surpass them. You can also find them for $5 each sometimes. Booya!
