Tom W
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Hi Archie,
I recently came across your original post re: your new HR-1s and I thought you might be interested in an email exchange I began with Bob Z. (the builder) when i took delivery of mine back in September of 2014. I apologize if some of it is a little cryptic as you're only hearing one side of the conversation - I had compiled this for Bob so we could read the history of the break-in time. I demoed his pair of HR-1s in his listening room a couple times, so I sometimes refer to his front-end Decware amps and other gear during our earlier listening sessions.
Cheers, Tom
Here's a cut and paste of the thread:
DAY ONE:
Unpacked and hooked up. No damage as far as I can see outside of a 2 inch surface scratch on the side of one of them - but i don’t think it’s from shipping; looks more like a slight crack in the veneer. It’s pretty subtle - I would never even have noticed had i not gone over every inch because of the UPS factor…
Initial Positioning: I set them up and listened to them for about 4 or 5 hours yesterday. I think my triangle is around the same size as your space: 6 feet from center cone to center cone, 7.5 feet from tweeter to ear position, 5 feet from rear wall, 2.5 feet from side wall; toed in so the tweeters fire about 2 inches away from earlobe; not on spikes yet; floor is thick carpet, ceiling smooth, wall behind speakers is all Sonex, left sides are mixed surfaces, wall behind listener is split: 14ft behind left ear, 9ft behind right ear. Treated with Sonex here and there at primary nodes and where the wall meets the ceiling.
Associated equipment: Bi-wire (MIT MH-750 Shotguns) to a McIntosh MC-302 Power Amp from a McIntosh C220 Pre-Amp (w/ a matched pair of Telefunken 12AX7 dated Oct 1962, ~300+ hours play time on them)
Sources: MacPro: USB to a Musical Fidelity V-Link -or- Mark Levinson No. 31 Reference CD Transport into a Mark Levinson No. 360S Digital Processor (no turntable listening yet)
Connectors: MIT MI-330 interconnects between processor and pre-amp Madrigal MDC-1 AES/EBU XLR digital cable between 31 & 360S AudioQuest Ruby XLR interconnects between pre-amp and power-amp
First impressions out of the Box
1. HOLY SOUNDSTAGE!! As expected, my entire back wall is filled with musicians, left, right, center and DEPTH - something I’ve never really enjoyed. The stage extends beyond the wall and well beyond the width of the speakers. The thing that impressed me the most about them when I first heard it (even set up poorly with what I felt was an anemic tube power amp, remember) was the pinpoint imaging. The detail is really remarkable - I mean, REALLY remarkable. The second listening at your place was with the tube monoblocks - plenty of power, but even then the soundstage wasn’t so surprising - and this was an hour out of the box.
2. The upper midrange is a little forward. I’m sure this will settle down after some break-in, correct? (also, I’m sure the solid state power amp plays into this a little - the tube power amp probably adds the warmth I’m lacking - but I don’t want to give up that detail I’m hearing - acoustic instruments especially are incredibly realistic - and the crack of a well-recorded snare.)
3. The high-end seems pretty accurate - cymbals and reverb sound natural and not smeared.
4. Over all, the speakers sound a little “stiff” for lack of a better word, compared to your white pair. That is probably contributing to the over-emphasis in the mids. I think they’ll quicken over time, correct?
4. The big one: I’m missing a bunch of low-end. Everything below about 60Hz is either missing or much politer than I’m used to - now, part of this is probably because my Meadowlark Herons were too blumpy, so there’s a swatch of information between 40-80Hz that just feels sucked out. (and of course, the subterranean stuff below 40 is gone altogether.) After listening for several hours, I found I missed it less - but certain recordings are missing that wonderful kick drum punch or low-end bed. The system has no “earthy slam” - HOWEVER, I do have a Legacy Audio Point One HD which is completely wasted in my home theater in the living room - I’m thinking if I added that to the mix, I could blend in all the low-end I could ever want. It’s a pretty decent and well-regarded sub. What do you think?
5. I’m going to reverse the bi-wire hookup when listening tonight to see if that changes anything. (If I had some decent standard speaker cables, i’d just use those and the jumpers, but right now, this is all I have)
DAY TWO Listening Notes in no particular order
1. I spent the better part of 4 hours+ listening to classical, jazz and acoustic sources, almost exclusively from the Levinson front end
2. Side Note: I’m noticing that with the detailed (and forward) upper-mids, I’m actually starting to get annoyed by the artifacts coming from my Mac -> USB -> V-Link -> 360S path when listening to anything less than a full resolution AIFF or WAV file - something that was never an issue before either because my Herons were too “forgiving” or because I wasn’t so tuned into it. Anyway, I’m avoiding any kind of MP3 or compression of any kind when using the computer now…
3. The HR-1 does an amazing job with smaller scale ensembles and chamber music. The detail and sparkle of well-recorded violins and cellos is astounding. For instance, I have some Kronos Quartet recordings that I take with me when auditioning gear, and the realism on a good system gives you goose pimples - the HR-1s in my studio sound just so.
4. Larger scale classical sources are a mixed bag - I have a variety of Mozart’s Requiem that I like to rotate: all of them lose a little bit of “bigness” because of the lacking lo-end - but choral pieces from Arvo Part sound phenomenal - you can pick out individual voices across the “stage” and suspend your disbelief that they’re not actually in the room with you…
5. On the jazz side, I have a reference recording of Brubeck’s Time Out that really shines. Miles’ trumpet on Blue in Green from Kind of Blue is a cut I always use as a sonic benchmark - as well as the upright bass and brush on the snare - this recording sounds amazing - a little crisper than I’m used to because my old speakers used to add a touch of blump to bass - I think the HR-1s deliver closer to how it’s supposed to sound. Like I mentioned in my previous email, the upper-mids are little forward - but it’s very exciting nonetheless. I listened to the entire album from start to finish because I was enjoying it so much. The drums on “All Blue” are another highlight - absolutely stunning on the HR-1.
6. I have a favorite performance of Arvo Part’s Fratres that I use to evaluate piano - the only set of speakers I’ve ever heard that have done it justice better were a pair of Wilson Sophia II’s hooked up to a mega $$ front end. Again, the HR-1s do an amazing job with smaller and medium scale classical ensembles - wow, sounds fantastic.
7. Johnny Cash’s American Recordings (the first of the series that he did with Rick Ruben) is one of my "make or break” sources. The jury is still out on this one - when listening, you have to account for the proximity effect on his vocals, but I’ve come to love that extra deep, exaggerated resonance on songs like The Beast in Me and Bird on a Wire. By comparison, the live stuff like Tennessee Stud sound GREAT.
8. These speakers were made for female vocals. I spun Cassandra Wilson, Eva Cassidy, Billie Holiday, Margo Timmons (Cowboy Junkies), PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Tori Amos, Alison Kraus, and even Portishead - next to the Miles Davis LP, these satisfied me the most.
9. Tonight I’m going to see if I can pinpoint better what’s lacking on the bottom with some heavier sources - rock and some electronica. I’ve already spun a couple benchmarks: Metalica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Queen’s “Dragon Attack” for instance. At first blush, without the low end, these sound brittle and maybe even a little strident - need some balls. I hooked up the sub woofer just to see what it would the results would yield - it was mud, but I think primarily because it needs service: once I get it into the shop for repairs, I’ll be able to dial in just the low-end from, say, 45 or 50Hz down - that would hopefully give me the slam and deep bed that’s missing - whether I can do this without smearing the beautiful soundstage or creating a distraction remains to be seen.
FIRST WEEK
As far as the low end goes, I think there are a number of factors at play:
- the biggest factor i think is the room - I spent years taming the room because there was too much mush and blump - I checked the response from the HR-1s with a demo disc and they’re delivering everything faithfully down to about 35-40Hz just like they’re supposed to. I’m going to slowly “untame" the corners and experiment with placement to see if I can get a little more scrotum in the air.
- as you pointed out, the HR-1s are much truer than my previous pair - I am definitely aware of this because my Professional ADAM monitors at my mixing desk are also unforgiving across the spectrum - I use the ADAMs for mixing and near field monitoring while recording on the other side of my studio
Here’s a curious thing: I’m noticing that while listening over time, I’m either hearing more low end, I’m missing it less (depending on the source material) or something blooms in one of the components. For instance, I warmed everything up this morning and put on some music to start my day, but it sounded tinny and thin. Over time I noticed that it seemed to fill out a little, and then after about an hour and a half, I was noticing that I could hear some nice lower-midrange and upper low-end in some rock tracks that I’d played earlier in the morning that certainly was missing from earlier.
Could it be the speaker just needs to pump for a while before the low end blossoms? Is it a break-in issue? Or maybe the tubes in my pre-amp need to do more than just idle for a time? Or, is my ear/mind playing tricks on me and becoming more forgiving as I become more accustom to the sound of the HR-1?
OTHER RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
I’m positive that a tube power amp like the mono-blocs you had installed during my last visit would smooth some of the etching - but there’s nothing like the power of this SS amp when listening at higher volumes - the speakers seem to really come alive at about 3 watts. Bouncing the needle around 3.0 watts and peaking around 30 watts seems to be the sweet spot for most everything. I’m pretty sure that’s a louder level than what we were typically listening to in your room - but these speakers sure do love it - especially on bowed instruments and female vocals.
The toe-in angle seems less critical to the soundstage and center image than my previous pair - placement doesn’t seem as fussy as I would have expected - again, maybe it’s because I’ve not had enough time yet with them and am still distracted by the detail and soundstage.
FIRST MONTH
I’m still experimenting with room placement, treatment and source material - but much less so now that have a few hundred hours of break-in.
Here’s a rundown in no particular order:
- Either the low end has opened up just a little OR my ears have become more forgiving and I’m filling in the missing parts in my mind. Still, I miss that subterranean authority on certain material - even acoustic material where a nice punchy drum is involved or well-recorded upright bass. My subwoofer as it turns out is not working properly so until I can find someone who can repair the electronics, I’ll make do without it.
- The HR1’s don’t seem to be too picky about their placement in my listening room - their stage and imaging is really sharp - noticeably larger stage than your room, but a little smeared compared to yours - probably due to the odd shape and nothing on the smooth ceilings. Still, an undeniable improvement over my previous speakers.
- Whether it is because of their sensitivity, or because of the difference in the tubes vs. solid state, I much prefer the HR1s with my 300 wpc McIntosh Power Amp. The extra muscle sharpens up some details that I wasn’t hearing when we had your white pair hooked up to Steve’s tubes (or the mono blocks you had - which I prefer to Steve’s)
- In A/B-ing the paper vs. poly - I’m finding it’s really an apple vs. oranges thing - I find the poly a little more forgiving of some material (the entire first half of the zeppelin catalogue for instance, and some of the over compressed rock of the 70’s and early 80’s), but ultimately prefer the detail and “warts and all” presentation by the paper cones. There’s no going back when it comes to strings, acoustic guitar and female vocals of any kind - whether it’s Chrissie Hynde, Bessie Smith or Aretha…
- BTW, I’ve tried two different kinds of Black Diamond Racing cones underneath them - I can’t hear any difference between the two (there’s no way to a/b them obviously) - but both seem to help focus the lower-mids and upper bass a little (just as they’re supposed to). The benefit disappears if I place them less than 3 feet away from the wall - but when I do, the bass has a little more beef, so I’m trying to find a happy medium with the cones.
- If you’re interested, off the top of my head, there are a bunch of tracks that I keep returning to that I feel demonstrate the best of what these speakers can offer - and I’ve been using them as my measuring sticks whenever I make a change to the room or placement:
Morphine - Buena Peter Gabriel - Mercy Street Muddy Waters - (anything of of Folk Singer, but especially Big Leg Women) Doug MacLeod - Bring it on Home John Butler - What You Want Tom Waits - Shore Leave Thelonious Monk - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (wow! that piano!) Youn Sun Nah - My Favorite Things Graham Nash - Another Sleep Song Robert Plant - Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down (nice bass & stage) Robert Plant and Alison Kraus - Please Read the Letter Beatles - I’ve Got a Feeling & Two of Us (off of the Let It Be…Naked re-master) Elton John - Madman Across the Water (typical early 70’s overproduction, but wow - never sounded better) Janis Ian - At Seventeen (impeccable!) Fleetwood Mac - The Chain (remastered version) Arvo Pärt - Fratres (Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarett from the 1984 Tabula Rasa LP on ECM) Little Odessa Soundtrack - Track 4 - Reveille and Track 2 - Love is Sacred (no idea who the composers are… FANTASTIC!)
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