Odysseus: Adventures on the island of Great Speakerus
These have recently made their way to our place, they are the original Heco Statement from about ten years ago. Lots of lovely engineering, and a lovely heavily constructed feel make these feel much more sturdy than my Triangles (at 43KG each)!
They are taking a bit of getting used to, as there is simply a massive amount of musical information being presented here. They are really, really transparent, which I like a lot. The scale of the music is the shocker here, also the incredible amount of bass (and how it is controlled) - even at low listening levels. They really energise and fill the room with music, which is just great.
It's all a great experiment at the moment, as to whether they will really work in this room (and whether I actually need so much of everything). I am eagerly awaiting the return of my EWA Oberon amplifier after having a larger transformer fitted. I may take to using that as a pre-amplifier, and employ my M-50 as the power amplifier if it can't quite manage the Hecos. They have a measured sensitivity of just over 88dB @2.83V/1M, and impedance from 3.8 upwards (marketing says 4ohm, 93dB).
My main goal was to get real energy and dynamics at lower levels, which seems to have happened in spades. But, I'm still at the 'everything is new - yayy' stage of playing all the tracks I can think of to test their abilities; very much in the honeymoon phase still. I certainly am deeply impressed so far, but I think it'll be a while to fully assess these behemoths!
Brochure: https://www.dropbox.com/s/u7148ufwq546kgd/Heco_The_Statement_ _PS_1P[1].pdf?dl=0
Comments
You sound pleased with them. If their specs are anything to go by I can see why the bass impresses!
Interesting in hearing more impressions.
I wish I had more time for it all really, they are just wasted given the current pace of life!
I have been tweaking their positioning in an effort to solidify the stereo imaging, which is more focused (it's actually very good for a wider baffle design).
The physical in-room experience of music with so much bass takes a little getting used to, but I'm delighted that the lower frequencies start and stop pretty much instantly. When the bass is called for, it makes itself known; when it's absent from the recording then the Hecos are similarly bass light. That said, usable bass at 28hz can be quite unnerving at volume. I played 'Train Electronic' by Younger Brother yesterday, and was, well, quite unnerved!
Similarly the James Blake ridiculous bass track is extraordinary, and I've played this through Royds, Ruark Crusaders, large Triangles and Magisters with 15" bass drivers. Nothing I've heard comes close to the Heco Statement, in terms of resolving the melodic line in that sub bass. Through all that, the cabinets of the Hecos barely vibrate at all!
But that's more stunt stuff, the real action is acoustic music from smaller groups to large orchestras and bands. Here the Hecos just throw scale and dynamics at you in magisterial style. I have to say that I wanted something like this experience at lower volume but the sheer amount and scale of output likely precludes using the Hecos at higher volume. Anything much over 80dB is an assault on the senses quite frankly. It's like using Colin's M100 amplifier, in that all sense of system or hardware compression disappears entirely. The quiet becomes very quiet, and the loud is almost window shattering... That's an awful lot of reality to fit into a living room IMO. It may prove too much yet.
It's all rather easy to get lost in as my listening background is from monitor-like speakers that major on detail, hinting at reality via stereo imaging, speed and textural details. Everything I have ever heard and appreciated, and I guess a whole lot more, is still present and correct with these Hecos. It's just a much larger sonic experience, but I suppose reality is as well. I do need to train myself to keep the volume a bit lower though, I don't need the full works every time I listen.
When my EWA Oberon gets back, I look forward to seeing if it's beguiling midrange magic displays itself through the Hecos' amazing alnico miss range units. Also, bass control is something I'm curious about. The Statement are designed with valve amps in mind so they should be fine, but the suggested power rating is 300-500W per channel. The EWA Oberon is more like 37 into 8 ohm, 75 into 4ohm.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qqkttbh9xek2stb/IMG-20191006-WA0006.jpg?dl=0
OTT again buddy he he
The honest truth is they're not really suitable for us right now, in this room. But even so, what would they be replaced with? I feel a very long period of contented procrastination coming on...
https://imgur.com/OJOHpnv
https://imgur.com/W83JAIr
https://imgur.com/qdAxVve
Best I can do I'm afraid. I should have photographed the rear, there's a lot going on there. Aperiodic vent for the midrange, triple ports below and a very flexible termination board. All beautifully made to boot.
They would be much happier a little closer together (or if I were able to sit further away). Big beasties!
But who knows if I'm right? :-)
The Triangles are going! I have a buyer already, hoping to deliver them next weekend.
The big Hecos have really made an impression!
Finally took some photos at home. Not exactly pretty speakers, but I can't get over the scale and richness of sound.
We're looking at changing these for something very similar, but a little nicer looking...
However, it's evident these sound rather special. The new ones would have to beat the very very fine HF and mid-range of the Heco, and not sacrifice the low end either. These are -6dB @ 29Hz, so very extended indeed. Fortunately we have concrete floor under the carpet!
I've changed DAC as well, for a cost that would have been richer sounds budget territory not five years ago. My M2Tech Young is on eBay right now, and even sold second hand it should cover the new coat of it's higher performance replacement. It's a great time to be playing in audio.
The Hecos will be collected this week in part exchange for our new loudspeakers, which will hopefully be more similar than not. But they won't be shaped like child coffins. π
Looking forward to seeing how big / small a cadaver you can get in the new cabinets.
Because:
- Thank you Ben, for renaming the thread. π Or Dave, if it was you. Whatever, top modding.
I find decent little monitor speakers easier to listen to, as a generalisation. They don't try to reproduce fundamental bass frequencies, and by their nature they are easier to engineer - so likely sound better. They are a great window, or perhaps more like a focused telephoto lense into a performance that don't impose obvious distraction, allowing one to effectively suspend disbelief and be enveloped by music.
Mo' loudspeaker, Mo' problem... So much harder to engineer a three or four way loudspeaker, approaching a full frequency range. The multitude of problems introduced by large transducers moving lots of mass, largers cabinets with complex shapes and resonances, sophisticated (or not) crossover networks, extended bass interacting with listening environment, multiple driver integration, tougher four ohm loads and twisty impedance/phase plots... Engineering out these issues without standing between a listener and the music is so very hard, and rare!
That's why simple two ways' seen to have the edge, more often than not, a sense of musical freeness that feels like like the brakes have been let off and they can freewheel with the musical flow. That said, there are a lot of distinctly lacking two ways as well!
Larger loudspeakers always start of seeming slower than monitors, for a start because of the lower registers (which feel slower because of the extended wavelength). But a well sorted full range loudspeaker is a more a panoramic lense, there is more to take in, and take on with its music reproduction. One that can get out of the way off the music, while a rarer thing in my experience, is correspondingly more precious. They're just so difficult to find, and logistics are so much harder! But they do reward the effort.
My recent time with the Hecos was so musically rewarding that I really look forward to my next large loudspeakers. But I do miss the smaller Royds from time to time! (But I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't worth it!)
Phenomenal detail across all frequencies. Dynamic and fast, super fast. Percussion wow! Don't much miss the BBC dip from the Hecos. Dynamics rather scary. Vocals are front and centre, very very clearly defined, never heard anything like it. Like listening to a point source, drivers seen like one single thing. Dry dry dry. Texture and detail, accurate timbre but..? They can't do convincing piano yet, though the percussive element is very fine. Bass is faster and detailed better than headphones but a certain dullness on leading edges makes it hard to tell what type of bass guitar is being played.. Like really good subs, controlled powerful and deep bass but just a little something missing. Imaging is coming into focus, and they sound the same wherever I stand in the room! I don't think these could sound tiring at any volume. Changed a lot on the last three hours, every ten minutes they seen better.
I feel there could be a lot more to come as these Revels run in and the drivers loosen up, also as I mentally dial into what they do. I believe you can hear though most colorations and have truly enjoyed (even loved) very coloured speakers in the past. Already these are without doubt the best loudspeakers I have heard, I am now hoping that this technical tour de force comes together into something really musical, as they are just very very 'studio' at the moment.
That's not a reservation by the way, I'm already decided on keeping them as their abilities are jaw dropping. These aren't toys!
The Heco would drive the room in a different way, with basically dipole midrange and what I think was very high output from the rear ports (in fact an exaggerated and rather uneven bass all around). The Revels are all about a very smooth frequency response. The direct sound is exemplary, monitor like; and the reflected sound is designed to be very, very similar to the direct sound. Walking around the room, the sound changes very little.
That presentational difference is the hardest thing to adjust to, I just wasn't expecting it to be honest.
That reduction in noise from the room, and the inert nature of the cones, baskets and speaker cabinets results in a clarity which seem lean at first, but that's likely perception; the Hecos now seem decidedly warm and coloured in my memory (much as I loved them).
I think it could be referred to as a large reduction of the noise floor of the acoustic experience - rather than how the term is usually used of electronics.