Initial Impressions: HR-1 by Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
Y'all,
A fellow local to me put up some of these on the 'Gon and he was kind enough to allow me to demo them for a day or two while deciding if I want to make the purchase.
A link to Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
So far so good. The manufacturer clams a very flat frequency response and so far I hear no reason to doubt.
They seem a bit on the forward side, but too much so.
The tweeter is pretty detailed, but it may be bordering on being rolled-off too much.
Bass response is great for a bookshelf, but an 8" woofer should have good response.
At louder volumes the midrange is a bit thin and a touch grainy. Granted it only has dual 4" mids. OTOH, at moderate and low volumes the mids are very easy to listen to with a decent amount of texture.
Imaging has been good thus far. It kept everything well separated on the Latin jazz CD I had in earlier as well as the Sarah McLachlan Live CD.
The soundstage seems a bit on the narrow side even while trying to add some non-SDA compensation in.
Intangibles, non-sound-wise anyways:
The fit and finish certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe these are an early set or they have been rode hard and put up wet, but the veneer is coming lose at many of the edges of the speaker. I think some feet would certainly help.
The grills of the mids are stuck on using velcro. I would expect at least a friction-fit system like the SDA's or something similar. I'm chicken to try and pull of the grill of the woofers.
The binding posts seem to have come straight off the RT55's, FWIW.
The verdict so far: B-/C+ If I was still an apartment dweller I think these would be great, especially with a decent little sub. I'd also seriously consider them for a bedroom or office system. I can't bring my self to give them a straight "B-" due to the fit and finish of this example. If I weren't looking hard at some SDA 2.3tl's in the Bay area (thanks shadowofnight) I'd think a lot harder about hanging on to these.
Equipment: Kavent CD-731 Tube CDP | AQ Diamondbacks | Audio Alchemy DLC | Vampire CCC IC's | Parasound HCA-1000 | AQ Granite single-wired
Tunes: Jazz 101: Introduction to Latin Jazz (highly recommended), Sarah McLachlan AfterGlow Live, John Mayer Heavier Things, Angie Aparo The American
Wes
A fellow local to me put up some of these on the 'Gon and he was kind enough to allow me to demo them for a day or two while deciding if I want to make the purchase.
A link to Blue Ridge Sound Engineering
So far so good. The manufacturer clams a very flat frequency response and so far I hear no reason to doubt.
They seem a bit on the forward side, but too much so.
The tweeter is pretty detailed, but it may be bordering on being rolled-off too much.
Bass response is great for a bookshelf, but an 8" woofer should have good response.
At louder volumes the midrange is a bit thin and a touch grainy. Granted it only has dual 4" mids. OTOH, at moderate and low volumes the mids are very easy to listen to with a decent amount of texture.
Imaging has been good thus far. It kept everything well separated on the Latin jazz CD I had in earlier as well as the Sarah McLachlan Live CD.
The soundstage seems a bit on the narrow side even while trying to add some non-SDA compensation in.
Intangibles, non-sound-wise anyways:
The fit and finish certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe these are an early set or they have been rode hard and put up wet, but the veneer is coming lose at many of the edges of the speaker. I think some feet would certainly help.
The grills of the mids are stuck on using velcro. I would expect at least a friction-fit system like the SDA's or something similar. I'm chicken to try and pull of the grill of the woofers.
The binding posts seem to have come straight off the RT55's, FWIW.
The verdict so far: B-/C+ If I was still an apartment dweller I think these would be great, especially with a decent little sub. I'd also seriously consider them for a bedroom or office system. I can't bring my self to give them a straight "B-" due to the fit and finish of this example. If I weren't looking hard at some SDA 2.3tl's in the Bay area (thanks shadowofnight) I'd think a lot harder about hanging on to these.
Equipment: Kavent CD-731 Tube CDP | AQ Diamondbacks | Audio Alchemy DLC | Vampire CCC IC's | Parasound HCA-1000 | AQ Granite single-wired
Tunes: Jazz 101: Introduction to Latin Jazz (highly recommended), Sarah McLachlan AfterGlow Live, John Mayer Heavier Things, Angie Aparo The American
Wes
Link: http://polkarmy.com/forums
Sony 75" Bravia 4K | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Rotel Michi P5 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d
Sony 75" Bravia 4K | Polk Audio SDA-SRS's (w/RDO's & Vampire Posts) + SVS PC+ 25-31 | AudioQuest Granite (mids) + BWA Silver (highs) | Cary Audio CAD-200 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Rotel Michi P5 | Signal Cable Silver Resolution XLR's | Cambridge Audio azur 840C--Wadia 170i + iPod jammed w/ lossless audio--Oppo 970 | Pure|AV PF31d