[audiojerry]

I was recently contacted by Prof'essor Bob, Mr. SP Tech, about his latest round of refinements to his new line of Essence speakers. I have decided to deem him the "Professor" because of his recent scholarly dissertations in various discussions here on AC. Even though I concede that most of it was over my head, his narratives were eloquent, informative, and apparently accurate since I'm not aware of anyone disputing or questioning his views.

Anyways, Bob couldn't contain his excitement, and he solicited me to evaluate the new Essence in my system. I was flattered and surprised. I don't own SP Tech speakers, and my first review of his Timepiece 2.0 dilineated the reasons why they weren't ideal for me. Even so, Bob explained that he felt my description of the Timepiece's very impressive performance was accurate and in line with the design goals he had set.  I appreciate the fact he respected my views, and felt I presented a fair and objective perspective.

To be honest, I haven't been following the new developments coming from SP Tech, but apparently things have progressed quite a bit since I reviewed the Timepiece almost two years ago. I'm pleased to see that Bob is apparently doing quite well. Not only is he a creative and talented builder of very high quality products, he is a great gentleman - considerate, helpful, ethical, and genuine.

I love his enthusiasm and passion.  According to Bob, he came up with the idea of creating a competitively priced speaker targeted at the home theater audience. This required  a design encompassing economical cost saving choices in parts selection, build complexity, and cabinetry. But after critical listening during development, Bob told me he was surprised by the performance, which far exceeded his expectations. He soon determined that the Essence had the potential to become a bona fide audiophile speaker. This is what must have motivated him to tweak and refine his original design.

Which is where I come in. Bob apparently believed I would be a good candidate to evaluate the Essence for its 2 channel performance. Since I've gone through dozens of speakers in my years of auditioning, I guess you could say I am a bit fussy. It was so evident Bob couldn't contain himself over his new "economy" priced speaker. He felt so strongly about the Essence that he was confident I would like it, even though he understood I'd be difficult to convince. He believed I might even like the Essence more than the far more expensive Timepiece.

How could I say no to an audition when he put it that way, especially when there were no strings attached? I didn't have to buy anything. It didn't cost me for shipping. And I enjoy trying new components. Aside from that, nothing was promised to me by Bob, and Bob got no assurances from me, other than a fair evaluation (from my personal views and tastes). I might have ended up liking nothing.

So how did I like the Essence? For one, they were too big for me – especially for a stand mounted monitor: 21.5" tall by 12.5" wide by 14.5" deep, and about what, Bob, 35-40 lbs? For those who haven't seen them yet, pictures are posted on the SP Tech forum. It employs the same waveguide technology as its higher priced siblings. That's impressive.   With the Essence you are getting a lot of speaker for the money. If you look at it as price per pound, it's a real deal – cheaper than sirloin!

They may be big physically, but  they play even bigger. These speakers really project into the room, filling it with larger than life images on an enormous soundstage with a sense of vast spaciousness. Wow! I'm not used to this kind of presentation. The last time I experienced anything like it was when I heard the monstrous Avantgarde horns.  Does the waveguide have something to do with that? I am speculating that the Essence has a very wide dispersion pattern. My recollection of the Timepiece was its very impressive speed, dynamics, and punch. Though the bass doesn't go as deep, the Essence possesses the same qualities. Transients and percussives grab your attention because they are delivered with such snap and authority.

The Essence dared me to put it to the SPL test, so I dug up some of my most challenging cd's - symphonic works from Mahler and movie soundtracks like the Gladiator and Juracic Park. No matter how hard I pushed it, the Essence handled all challenges effortlessly. I had so much fun cranking up the sound and just blasting away. I hadn't done that in years. Of course, it couldn't be enjoyable if the sound was harsh and irritable. Compared to my recollection of the Timepiece 2.0, the tweeter on the Essence seemed airier and less aggressive. They'd probably sound even better in a larger room and where near-field listening is not required. The best I can do in my listening room is about 8' from the speakers.
             
On the whole, the Essence delivered a balanced, open, and uncolored sound with a caveat. The audiophile 2 channel virtues of imaging and soundstaging were also displayed with an impressive degree of competence. OK, here's the caveat:  The Essence wasn't built as a cost-no-object reference speaker, and this was most evident to me in the manifestation of some cabinet resonance. There was a fair amount of ringing resonance in what appeared to be the upper midrange /  lower treble region. A do-it-yerselfer could probably address this by experimenting with some internal damping materials - or perhaps some additional bracing although this could have a negative effect as well. These are probably ideal speakers for the entry-level or even experienced DIY-er. It's low price is one advantage, and it would be very easy to gain access to the inside of the cabinet via the large 8" driver opening. Eliminate the resonance, add the matching SP Tech subwoofer, and you may be able go from a really good loudspeaker to an exceptional loudspeaker.  

After having so much fun with movie soundtracks in my 2 channel setup, I had to see how it worked in my modest home theater system driven by a 90 wpc Yamaha RXV 990 receiver.  One of Bob's objective's was to make the Essence less power hungry than the Timepiece, which was a real bear to drive, in order to make it compatable with normally less robust HT amplification. As fun as the Essence was to use in my reference system,  it was an absolute blast with action movies! Action scenes with lots going on like explosions ala James Bond, and car chases ala The Italian Job were so cool! The speaker's ability to play loudly and without congestion made action scenes  really lifelike and exciting.

Because of its ability to project into the room, dialog, which is usually the domain of a center channel was exceptionally clean, clear, and easy to understand, even when seated way off to the side. For me no center channel was used or needed. Again, is it because of the wide dispersion pattern? Does that very sophisitcated SP Tech Waveguide have anything to do with it? I think so. It sure is a different execution than the one I saw on the VMPS forum. Hmmm....  Nevermind – I won't go there. I wondered, man, what would it be like with some great subs? Hooowahhh!!    

Thanks Bob, That was really FUN!


Oh, PS:    
 I know I donned Bob "The Professor", and I have great respect for his skills and talent. But I must take issue with his advice about break-in. More than once Bob has recommended that it should take just a few hours to fully break in his speakers.  He has offered up this advice to me with both the Essence and the Timepiece. Maybe it's the engineer in him that can't accept the notion of long break-ins because there is nothing to  support it empirically. Early on in my audition, the bass just wasn't there. The sound was washed out and dominated by the midrange. Needless to say, Bob was worried and was trying to theorize what might be the problem.  By the next day things had improved considerably and the bass was coming around and blending much better. But it still seemed somewhat deficient.

I continued to play the Essence 24/7 for the next 3 days. Like a primitive creature emerging from an early stage of docility, the Essence matured into a ferocious beast. Now I was hearing and FEELING SOME SERIOUS BASS! Not only that, but the treble  opened up and became more lustrous and airy.

Now I understand why Bob was beside himself with excitement. Whether you are a 2 channel or home theater person, I would strongly encourage you to give the Essence a try. I don't want this to be an ad for Bob, but I always think it's a mistake to pass up on an offer to audition something for 30 days with free round trip shipping, especially something as good as the Essence. If I were Bob, I'd put another post in my Forum making this offer more prominent.

[lonewolfny42]

Nice review Jerry....thanks !!

The Essence dared me to put it to the SPL test, so I dug up some of my most challenging cd's - symphonic works from Mahler and movie soundtracks like the Gladiator and Juracic Park. No matter how hard I pushed it, the Essence handled all challenges effortlessly. I had so much fun cranking up the sound and just blasting away.

[/list:u]

Thats the same feeling I get when I'm playing my SP Tech's...sounds so good you just naturally...turn it up.... [/list:u]
Chris[/list:u]

[audiojerry]

Thanks, Chris.
I just watched/listened to some of the Krall Live in Paris video. Wow, the clarity and dynamics - just stunning! I didn't know my modest HT system was capable of achieving this kind of performance.

[ooheadsoo]

You make me glad I chose this for my next diy project.  Great writeup.

[Aether Audio]

Audiojerry & Friends,

You're over the top my friend.  I "WISH" I was a professor but...you know, I could be nothing more than a guy with a gift for gab and writing - and with a big MOUTH!  My partner Mike is known to say "even an old hog will root up a mushroom once in a while."  If any of my designs work well at all, it has to do more with being too dumb to know a thing can't be done, rather than any level of intellect I may posess.  But thanks, coming from you it is more of an honor than I could ever hope to ask for.

As far as the sound you heard, well...you are correct my friend.  It's all pretty much a result of the waveguide.  Controlled dispersion is part of it.  That keeps the speaker from sraying the nearby sidewalls with energy.  Early reflections just muck-up the sound.  Some folks may like the effect of 180 degree dispersion speakers, but unless you really treat the nearby sidewalls to absorb all that energy, you're going to hear more of your room's effect on your speakers than the speakers themselves.  That stuff will destroy the ambient signals encoded in the program material.  If you want to hear more of what's in the recording, you need to do something to minimize early reflections.  Our solution is the waveguide.  I guess it works pretty good.  It should, it's just basic physics.

The other thing that destroys soundstage and imaging is enclosure diffraction effects.  Diffraction is nothing more than little "bounces" the soundwave makes off of the enclosure's surfaces.  It's just like the early reflections mentioned above except the distance the wave travels before it reflects off the enclosure is a lot shorter.  It's a little more complicated though.  

Reflections can take place when the wave reaches sharp edges where the baffle changes directions suddenly - like where the sides and top meet the front baffle.  Even weird-er, waves can reflect right off the flat front baffle area around where the tweeter is, even though there's no sudden changes in the baffle surface.  It get's pretty deep so I won't try to explain further.

The upshot though is that these reflections sort of "outline" the enclosure boundaries and gives our brains a hint to where the sound is coming from.  A sort of cool example that I can think of comes from the movie "Daredevil."  The guy is blind but when it rains, all the sound reflections that come from objects that the rain falls on gives him the ability to "see" - sort of like sonar.

Well, get rid of the diffraction and now your ears/brain can't "see" where the sound is coming from.  In Essence (pun intended), the speaker disappears and all that remains is whatever spacial information is encoded in the source signal.  If you like to hear that stuff, then you should like our speakers - simple.

Anyway, I need to thank Jerry for his graciousness in taking the time to review the Essence AV-1's.  Jerry's a straight-up guy, as nice a guy as one could ever hope to meet and forthright.  I knew he wouldn't pull any punches and would give the speakers an honest evaluation.  After his comments about the original Timepiece, I knew just what he was looking for and that he'd probably appreciate the Essences.  Who better to give you guys the straight dope on these speakers than the first guy to ever buy a pair of our speakers, then send them a'packing back to us?  Heck, that alone takes guts to some degree.  I'm quite certain that if he didn't like them, he would have said so.

And as far as the little box "resonance" issue he mentioned - well at the price we're offering them at...that's the product.  If you want perfection, then you need the Millennial Reference Series of products.  Either that, or go with the Response Audio version by Bill Baker - the Bella SP/AV-1's ( and 2' coming soon).  He's refined these puppies to the nth degree - they just don't get no stinking better.  He's a master modifier and there's nothing that he is doing that I could improve upon - period.

Jerry mentioned something about taking the woofers out and adding damping material, i.e., Black Hole 5 or Deflex panels...to the internal side walls of the enclosre.  Well, I won't tell you that it won't make a significant improvement - because that would be telling a fib.  But officially, I can't endorse it because you would be violating the warranty.  But then we can't stop you.  Then again, if you were to have a warranty claim, the only way doing so would effect the claim would be if you somehow damaged the speaker in the process.  Adding damping material is not going to make a capacitor go bad or cause the tweeter to fail.  So if such a failure were to be the basis of your claim, we could hardly dismiss that claim because you put damping material on the side walls.  That's just being fair.

We'll be making a further announcement regarding the Essences very soon so stay tuned.  I'm telling you guys, you have no idea what these babies will do.  Or, well...now thanks to Jerry, maybe you do.

-Bob

[Bill Baker]

Either that, or go with the Response Audio version by Bill Baker - the Bella SP/AV-1's ( and 2' coming soon). He's refined these puppies to the nth degree - they just don't get no stinking better.

 I wouldn't say that Bob. As good as these Bella 1's are sounding now, I have received an inquiry or two for an all out version of the Bella II when released. This will include a 50/50 mix of Oil and Teflon in the high pass filter with 100% oil impregnated metalized poly caps for the low pass shunt. Bybees will also be used due to the high sensitivity and the fact that they will be used with tube amps. The crossovers will be assembled within a custom amplifier chassis (17" x 14" x 4") due to the ZERO-Autoformers that will also be used. The crossovers weigh in at about 17 lbs. each.

 Obviously, this will not be a simple "install parts and go" project as there are many variables that will have to be considered. A change in one component offsets all others. Just as it is with the Bella/SP line. Kinda like doing a front end alignment on a Mercedes Benz (I was a certified front end / suspension technician for 15 years)

 

He's a master modifier and there's nothing that he is doing that I could improve upon - period.

 You're making me blush Bob.... I only take products as far as customers ask me to. This is how many of my mods came about. It is nice to have a customer base that has trust and respect in your judgement.

You're over the top my friend. I "WISH" I was a professor but...you know, I could be nothing more than a guy with a gift for gab and writing

 Don't cut yourself short Bob. If anything, you should give yourself a pat on the back and a "thataboy" for your uncanning knowledge in crossover design. I have spoken with and learned from many designers over the years and can honestly say that you have a special gift in this area.

 Hats off to ya!!

[LAL]

Bob,

Any chance you will offer these as a kit with front baffle, drivers and assembled crossover for  those of us who prefer to make our own cabinets?

LAL

[Aether Audio]

LAL,

Tell me what you want - we'll probably do it for you.  The only thing I don't want to get into is using any other crossover parts than the ones we've chosen or other special modifications.  You know, the kind of stuff Bill is doing.  First off, as I said...he's the master.  We just don't have the time to chase down all those exotic caps & coils or get into wall damping treatments and such.  As a kit, we'll leave that stuff up to you guys.  You will get the schematic though if you want to build your own X-O.  If you can solder it's pretty darn easy.  Then you can use whatever brands of parts you want.  I would HIGHLY recommend that you stick with the part values on the schematic though.  Slight changes can have a lot bigger effect than you might think.

But apart from all that, we'll build the crossover using our parts if you want.  Another thing we'll do is texture paint the front baffle for you if you want.  I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if I were you, I'd highly consider that option.  Those waveguides are machined out of solid, 1.5 inch MDF.  That's a huge machined surface to paint.  if you've ever tried to paint machine MDF, you'll know why I suggest it.  Just ask Bill - they're a b***h to get them to come out nice.  Plain, un-broken skin MDF?  No problem-o.  But once you break that skin you're in for one big pain in the buttocks!

We can even tune a circuit that Bill has us put in his Bellas.  It's a tweeter compensation/EQ circuit.  The tweeter has a 5-6dB rise around 13kHz that we have developed a passive EQ to completely eliminate.  It attaches to what we call our Tweeter Mounting Plate, so the tweeter then actually becomes an entire sub-assembly.  Without some form of relatively complex analysis equipment, it's virtually impossible to do on your own.  That's because virtually every tweeter varies a little from the next.  When we're done tuning them - they don't.

Just remember, these are all add-ons to the basic price.  Since we're already essentially giving these things away, by the time you add everything up you're likely to be in the ballpark of a completely built Essence...as far as price goes.  But then, if you put everything we send you in your own super-duper, 6-inch thick, concrete shell enclosure...get out of Dodge!!!

We're talking of providing you with the core "engine" here.  You can trick it out however you like.  Just ask Bill, the potential is enourmous if you want to take the time and trouble.

Have fun,
-Bob

PS.  Thanks Bill, your too polite.  You are da' MAN on these guys though.  You're the one proving just what these puppies can really do.  I, on the other hand, am getting to be a lazy old fart.  I just want to build boxes or kits and let you guys have all the fun!