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Loudspeakers between £2,500 and £3,999
The Huron 3 is a speaker that we’ve really needed for years. It combines unusually high efficiency with a very easy impedance load, good bass extension and low colouration. The result is a big, enveloping sound, with excellent dynamics, speed and clarity. The sensitivity of over 95dB/1 watt means that any quality amplifier can be used, almost regardless of power -
The impedance is high as well, averaging over 8 ohms, so it draws very little current from the amplifier (most other high sensitivity speakers on the market are closer to 4 ohms, which gives them an extra 3 dB of sensitivity on paper -
The cabinet is unusually deep, but as it has been designed to be positioned close to walls it actually takes up no more space than other similarly priced floorstanding speakers, and the extra cabinet volume allows well extended low frequencies. The wide dispersion means that positioning is very easy and there’s no small sweet spot to worry about.
What this all adds up to is a speaker that is simply great fun to listen to, it pulls you right into the recording and gets your foot tapping.
Dimensions: Width 24cm, Depth 46cm, Height 104cm
Finish: Cherry or Walnut real wood veneer. Satin Black or Satin White paint. High Gloss Black or White paint for a premium.
Heretic Audio Huron 3 speakers: £2,500/pair
High Gloss Black or White paint finish +£500
Russell K is the new speaker brand from designer Russell Kauffman. It’s an unusually designed speaker which gives it some really audible strengths. Whilst it may look from the outside as if it’s a normal ported speaker, in fact it’s rather more complex. The box is internally divided with the rear output of the bass/mid driver being loaded into a small undamped cavity, then through carefully sized vents this loads into a more conventionally reflex ported cabinet chamber. This complex cabinet design means that the boxes are very stiff thanks to the bracing of the internal divisions, and due to the small volumes it has been possible to completely dispense with damping material.
The sonic result is bass with great speed, timing and tonality, there’s an absence of obvious box colouration throughout the registers and none of the normal hump in the bass that a lot of manufacturers engineer into the response of smaller boxes. The midrange is also similarly fast and natural sounding (thanks to the paper cone) and the treble (from a large soft dome) blends seamlessly -
What also surprised us is how easy they are to drive for a small speaker, with a 7 watt single ended 300B valve amplifier being a great match for them, so basically any quality amplifier, almost regardless of power, will make a great combination.
Finishes: Oak with white baffle, walnut with black baffle, or black oak with black baffle
Dimensions: Height 40cm, Width 26cm, depth 27cm
Russell K Red 100 speakers: £2,795.00
Optional grilles: £245.00/pair
ProAc DT8
The ProAc DT8 is the successor to the Studio 140 and 148 lines. Housed in a slightly smaller enclosure, and now with the tweeter beneath the top bass mid driver, this speaker carries on the tradition of offering good efficiency and extended bass. It’s a two way design and is particularly unusual as it combines two very different drivers covering the mid/bass region, the lower one a paper cone and the upper a polypropylene.
They produce a sound that has good bass weight and scale in a reasonably compact package, they’re easy to drive and relatively flexible with room positioning thanks to the floor port working onto an integral plinth.
Finishes: Please see pricing below
Dimensions: Height 98cm, Width 19cm, Depth 23cm
ProAc DT8 in Maple, Cherry, Oak (pictured above), Mahogany, Walnut, Silk White and Black real wood veneers: £2,825.00
ProAc DT8 in Rosewood and Ebony real wood veneers: £3,635.00
Audio Note AX-
The AX-
Finishes: Walnut or Black Ash real wood veneers
Audio Note AX-
Due to popular demand Heco will hopefully be producing another batch of the Direkt towards the end of 2022 (they were discontinued for a while due to supply issues), so we are looking forward to the return of this great design. We are taking pre-
The Direkt is a design that will probably polarise opinion on its looks alone. It’s unashamedly retro, it’s a reclined, shallow, wide fronted box, exactly the sort of thing that is becoming fashionable once more, and for good reason too. Narrow cabinet designs can give neat precise imaging, but they tend to struggle to portray scale, and apart from those manufacturers who put drive units on the side, or use a large number of smaller drivers, the radiating area is somewhat restricted, hampering dynamics and raising distortion. With the Direkt a large 11” paper coned drive unit covers the bass and mid range which crosses over to a shallow horn loaded, large diameter soft dome tweeter at just over 2.3kHz.
The result is an impressive 95dB sensitivity and an easy impedance, making them suitable for all sorts of quality amplifiers, almost regardless of power (they certainly thrive on the 7 watts of a 300B amplifier). The lower frequencies are nicely extended, with an effortlessness throughout that comes with good efficiency. The mids are smooth and big -
Two finishes are available, satin black and satin white, both with stylish ‘racing stripes’ reducing the visual impact of their width. The fit and finish deserves special mention, they really are quite exceptional at this price level, even down to the quality of the chunky metal feet which really need to be handled to appreciate the quality on offer here.
Dimensions: Height 900mm, Width 440mm, Cabinet Depth 200mm (actual depth in use: 397mm)
Finshes: Black or White
Heco Direckt speakers: £2,999.95
Audio Note AN-
The AN-
The large 8” paper cones bass/mid driver makes them relatively efficient and easy to drive with almost any quality amplifier (they’re great with the 7 or so watts from most 300B amplifiers and upwards). There are two cabinet levels available, the entry level AN-
The sound is very natural, with a superb midband and they simply seem to ‘get out of the way’ that only really well engineered and evolved speakers can -
Dimensions (excluding stands) Height 47cm, Width 27.5cm, Depth 19cm
Finishes: Please see the AN-
The models available are as follows:
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Stands:
A choice of stands are available including Audio Notes own design (a flat back stand that requires mass loading) and the fully welded skeletal Something Solid XF (please see speaker stands section) are suitable.
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