[sluntz]

I just brought the Super 3Rs up from the basement for the 3rd time.  They now have over 300 hours on them, mostly in the basement, out of phase.  There is just a hint of treble shout left.  I hear it in the top octave of classical piano LPs.  Aside from that, they are now civilized and interesting speakers and do all kinds of music reasonably well, if you are not hungry for bass.  Their strength is upper midrange with an arresting sense of presence.  I think they do this a little better than the Fostex drivers, but the real improvement is in the rest of the frequency range and in improved robustness.  I’m not shying away from orchestral music with them as I did with the Fostex drivers.  For classical guitar they're as good I can imagine affording.

I can’t find the money for a Deep Hemp now, but I do want to make these my main speakers for a while, so I’ll probably buy a small HSU subwoofer.  Maybe a small amount of low frequency fill-in will be satisfying enough.  If it is, the disparity in speed shouldn’t be obtrusive.  That’s what I’m telling myself.

My main point is that 100 or 200 hours of break-in was not enough to make them tolerable, much less pleasant.  This may reflect the rest of my system, particularly the inexpensive Parasound phono stage, and may reflect my damaged hearing, but they hurt--fortunately less at 200 hours than at 100.  I thought of giving them away.  Now I’m glad I stuck with them.  If my experience with the Fostex drivers is a transferable, they should improve through 500 hours. 

Steve Luntz

[jsaliga]

There is just a hint of treble shout left.  I hear it in the top octave of classical piano LPs.  Aside from that, they are now civilized and interesting speakers and do all kinds of music reasonably well, if you are not hungry for bass.  Their strength is upper midrange with an arresting sense of presence.

I'm having a similar experience with my MaxHemps, which now have a shade over 200 hours on them.  I think my speakers are most of the way there on the majority of recordings I have been listening to, but I still hear occasional treble stridency.  I'm confident it will even out with continued break-in.  Overall I'm very pleased.

--Jerome

[DaveC113]

Steve, yes they will improve quite a bit even after 200 hours, and I think the bass will also continue to improve as well, at least if my XRS are any indication. I was also thinking of buying the Isotek CD, it seems to be getting decent reviews:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=47580.0

I use a 10" sealed Adire XBL^2 sub, which works very well to fill in the last octave. If you use a sub with a built in plate amp, try a decent heavy gauge power cord, I built one for my sub and it made it noticably faster with lower distortion, which made it blend in almost perfectly.

Also, I'm not sure what amp you're using with your Super3s, but I found my big SS amp was far too forward and slightly harsh. It did great with my 3 way floorstanders, but I am now using a Trends T-amp, which sounds a lot better through these speakers. It will be replaced with a 6550 SET amp after I find the time to build it. Louis just got a dynakit st70 that he's happy with too.

Dave

[rajacat]

Steve,

I have the first versions of the Omega Bipoles. ~7 months ago I changed the drivers to the latest 4" hemps. The Bipoles are like two of the  Super 3s back-to-back. I must have close to 1000 hours on them and they keep getting better. Presently I'm very happy with the sound quality and have been experimenting with different amps. I'm now running them with (2) modded Trends 10.1 and a Mapletree tubed pre with the Omegas in dipole mode. I've also had some experience with a Scott LK48 which I liked a lot but  presently it is having some technical issues which render it inoperable . Currently a tech guy is trying to get it running again. I also have a set of Heathkit W5m monoblocks which are being refurbished by the same technician. When both of these amps are running I will have an amp shootout and keep the one that has the best synergy with my system. I suspect that the Heathkit monos will prove to be the winners. I'll soon find out if an all tube system is more congenial with the Hemps than the mixed system of tube pre and the little Trends which IMO offers good sound quality and excellent separation. Hang in there with the Hemps. They do take some lengthy seasoning and careful system integration. All tubes may be the way to go.

I also use a ACI Titan sub to fill in the lower freqs.  Actually the Hemp Dipoles put out surprisingly abundant bass and could stand alone without any bass reinforcement for a lot of music.

-Roy

[Alwayswantmore]

I have Omega's latest 8" drivers in my Compact Hemps. They are fast, open and render a tremendous amount of detail / resolution. What I'm hearing is not at all strident. Vocals, guitars, woodwinds and strings all sound very natural. In addition to moving to Hemps, over the past couple years I have also changed a number of upsteam components, so each link likely contributes to the final results.

[rajacat]

One thing I notice with my Hemp Dipoles, which have the 4" drivers, is that they don't seem to exhibit any audible high frequency roll off which has been one of the negatives with many single drivers. The Barber concerto has Stern's violin really stretching out in the high freq. region and the Hemps handle it quite well. No supertweeter required! Steve, yes I can't imagine classical guitar sounding much better. Almost live! aa
--Roy

[sluntz]

Jerome, Dave, Roy, Alwayswantmore,

Thanks for your kind and informative responses.  The hemp drivers have created a virtually exclusive community of interest, thanks to Louis, and the posters I read seem to be enjoying the adventure.  Me too. 

I do use a tube amp, a Cayin TA 30, in push-pull configuration rather than optional single-ended.  The signal tubes are Mullard and Amperex, the power tubes are fat-bottle 6CA7s.  As I look back, every choice I've made in assembling the system has been in favor of dynamics and detail. This goes all the way from choosing the Super 3Rs over Omega 6s to small a-b choices such as power cords.  I have no one but myself to blame if the end result is sometimes a little strident, but I envision a perfect world and just might get there.  The most detail-enhancing change in 4 years was installing a dedicated ground, much more so than the dedicated AC line.  I wish I knew another tweak like that one.

It sounds like these other varieties of hemp are wonderful speakers.  It's too bad I can't live more options in one lifetime.  Dr. Jacob Offman, headshrinker and Oakland audiophile/dealer, sold me (on) the 3Rs with his stark enthusiasm and beautiful system tuning.  The single-ended Omega system in his office/showroom was my first exposure to high fidelity.  It's funny how much of a role human interaction plays in audio.

Thanks for the Isotek and sub tips.  I'm afraid the CD might kill the cat if I left it on all day upstairs, but I might try one yet   Roy, the comments on Barber and the high reaches of violin spoke to me.  What a photograph. I hear this in Vaughn William's "The Lark Ascending", naturally enough I guess.

Finally, a tip:  "This Is Your Brain On Music" by Daniel J. Levitin, Plume Books (www.penguin.com), 2006.  Levitin is a rocker/producer turned neuroscientist.  He starts with his early awakening to the characteristic sound of different mastering tapes and builds up to the broadest possible scientific picture of the our musical experience.

Thanks again,
Steve Luntz
 

[Louis O]

Thanks Steve and it does take a while for sure and with the increase in bass the balance is better.

Does you 3Rs have the flared port?

Thanks,
Louis