chowkwan@aerospace.aero.org (08/20/90)
Summary: ------- The Hales Signature: pinpoint imaging and loads of detail. You'll hear things on your records that you never heard before. A bit lean in the bass. Piano and violin do not sound as natural as on the Spendor, but the tonal balance is certainly not way out of wack. Spendor S100: natural tonal balance. A loss of detail compared to the Hales but this may have been because of the ancilliary equipment and room placement. Ancilliary Equipment: -------------------- Hales: Benz MC3, Versa 1.0, MFA Luminesence, VTL 120 in triode mode. Cardas Hexlink throughout. I'm guessing the room dimensions as 20' X 40'. Room had a live end/dead end set up with extensive foam on the walls that was 3" thick. It looks like the stuff in camera cases. The building was in an industrial park with concrete floor and walls. The speakers were left on the floor with no spikes or stand. However, they weigh 170lbs and made good contact with the floor (carpeted but no pad). Speakers were set well away from the walls. i.e. the presentation was good. We also listened with a Classe preamp but this did not mate well with the VTL so I'll restrict myself to describing what I heard with the Luminesence. Spendor: AT (?), Unknown arm, Roksan, Naim electronics. The listening room had the dreaded L shape. It was a basement room with concrete floor and walls. Again a thin carpet on the floor, no room treatment. i.e. less than ideal conditions. The speakers were on stands about 6" off the floor. They were very close to the back wall - about 12". This positioning and lack of room treatment may have contributed to the poor imaging. The dealer was unwilling to relocate the speakers because of their weight (100lbs). I'm not a big fan of AT either and I think the ancilliary equipment inferior to that enjoyed by the Hales. What I Heard: ------------ 1. Beethoven Piano Sonata Op. 101. Emil Gilels. DG. Track 2 Hales: It's like you can hear every digit, clearly and independently of all the others. I think I know now what reviewers mean by "air". Each note appears distinct from the others. I'm not a bass freak, but when Gilels pounds away with the left hand, it didn't have quite the thundering authority I thought it should have. This is an atypical DG recording with good bass. Spendor: It sounded like a real piano. I don't want to give the idea that the Hales were tonally distorted - they were good but there just never was that spot on sense of the tone being exactly correct that you got with the Spendors. The image was considerably fuzzier than with the Hales. 2. Opus 3 Depth of Image Test. Track 1. Hales: The female singer's voice appears to come from dead center and is easily distinguished from the other instruments. Spendor: It's like the singer is in the same room with you. The tone of her voice is perfectly natural and she might well be standing in front of you. 3. Walton Violin Concerto. Kyung-Wha Chung. London. Track 1 Hales: On the louder orchestral passages, the amp clipped so it was hard to tell how the Hales were performing. Woodwinds sounded warm and real. Spendor: The violin was not as natural as the piano was but still excellent. Woodwinds were good but not noticeably better than the Hales. 4. Miles Davis and John Coltrane Live 1960 recording. (not heard on the Hales) Spendor: This Mono recording was full of dynamism and very alive. The band was from the Kind Of Blue era and was in fine form that night. This was a record from the dealer's collection. Highly recommended but difficult to find. I'm looking for one. Probably the best recorded disc we heard all afternoon. -- ray