Al asked that I post a review of the HT2's I had on loan back in January. I am afraid I have been a bit remiss in getting this posted, sorry Al.
First, why I wanted to try these. I own a pair of ESS Heil air transformer speakers. For those of you not familiar with these amazing speakers they were built in the late 70's. The tweeter is a 4 inch ribbon style that has an amazing clarity. I would be inclined to put them on the bright side of the listening spectrum, but the detail and transparency has been difficult to match. The closest speakers I can find that match them today are the Martin Logans with their electrostatic mid/tweeter. The room that the Heils currently reside in is large, 12' X 14" with a 9.5" ceiling and the entire back wall open to the rest of the house. I don't run a sub, the Heil's are full range and give me enough low end for my tastes. What I was really looking for was a good center channel.
When I came across the HT2's I was hoping that the MTM Ribbon design might be a good match. I decided to take advantage of the tryout offer. After waiting several weeks they arrived and the trial began.
After getting them unpacked and spending some time drooling over them I hooked one up as a center channel and did a quick sound pressure check. The first thing I noticed was that they were much less efficient then the Heils. Once the levels were set I began to use it as a daily speaker for the next week or so. Speech reproduction was better then what I had, but I could tell that there was a significant timbre match problem. I also set them up as a stereo pair in the main room and found them unable to really fill the room properly.
My next placement was in my much smaller computer room. I have a smaller home theater setup in there using a pair of AR M2's as the main speakers. These are OK, and had a pretty good reputation in the early 90's. I don't find them objectionable and can listen to them for a long time without getting fatigued. I set up the HT2's as the main speakers and it was here that they really began to shine.
Even though I am forced by circumstances to keep the speakers nearly flush to the back wall the low end was surprising. The overall sound was lush without the slightly harsher highs of the AR's The detail was there and in the smaller room the sound pressure was there, something lacking in the larger room. I really fell in love with them in this application, and when finances permit I will be ordering a kit.
As a side note I did find a speaker that matched well with the Heils. It was a Home Theater Direct Level 3 center channel. During the purchase of the Level 3 I had a damaged case of the first one I ordered and wound up with 2 of them for several days while I was waiting for a return label. Since it is an MTM design as well I thought it would be fun to do an A/B comparison with the HT2s. First the HTD is much more efficient so I had to use a SPL meter to keep things even. I did give the HTDs a few days to break in, but I am sure that it was not enough, even so in just a few hours of use the sound pressure increased 2 or 3 db on the SPL meter.
Setting up the HTDs in the same room as the HT2s allowed me to get a feel for the two. I found the RAW HT2's to be lusher, less harsh and overall more pleasing. The HTD Level 3's really needed a subwoffer to fill out the bottom end, and the overall sound was fatiguing in my small room.
When I set up the HTD as a center channel in my main system then it really matched well with the Heiis, it's even 1 db more efficient then the Heils, the RAWs were about 5 to 7 db less efficient. I did keep the Level 3 as a center for my main system, I found that the overall timbre match was very close to the Heils and after using it for several weeks I believe that it has finally fully broken in and settled down. I find that I like the HTD center in the main room. It fills the room well, and vocal clarity is superb. In the right place with the right setup it can be a very satisfying speaker.
A quick look at the crossover in the HTD showed a circuit board with very small caps and coils, one of them was wound on an iron core. I wouldn't be surprised that you could really improve this speaker by simply recreating the current crossover with better components. RAW uses huge caps and coils, components that significantly reduce distortion, you get what you pay for.
There is no comparison between what you get from RAW and HTD, RAW wins hands down. Better drivers, better crossovers better cabinets and better sound. I really liked the RAW sound and can recommend it to any serious music enthusiast. I have a pair of RAW speakers in my future, I can feel it in my bones.
Jim Johnson
Port St. Lucie, FL
