I have been listening to the Blue Ridge HR-1's for over 2 weeks. They are a monitor speaker consisting of a 28mm dome tweeter (mounted on top of the main cabinet), 2-4" inverted midrange drivers and a base port on the front panel, and an 8" woofer on the outside panel. My system consists of:
Shanling t200a sacd player
Bel Canto pre3 preamp
2 Cary Slam 100 tube monoblocks
other speakers used are the ohm 5 mkii's
Bose 901's
I mainly listened to the 901's in comparison because of the different presentation of the Ohm's. First the Oak veneer of the HR-1 has a deep grain that is very nice. The black grills compliment the wood. The HR-1 is well built,solid and it has that appearance. They were set 8' apart, slightly angled inward facing into a 12'x24' room. The wall behind them was 1'away. It has a glass pain center behind the speakers.
The first music track was from Ottmar Liebert's Viva,Morning Arrival in GOA. I was surprised at the depth in the soundstage. The guitar and percussions had a definite placement. Much more than Bose. Throughout this disc the guitar and piano sounded much clearer with the HR-1's than the Bose. The room is symetrical and wherever I moved to I could clearly hear both HR-1's.
Next up was Santana Abraxis. The percussions sounded very clear and the highs were crisp from the HR-1's. The sound was more straight forward than the Bose. It was easier to seperate sounds and the music projected directly at me 10' away. The HR-1's filled the room and the bass was solid.
CelticTrance/dagda has some very low notes. The HR-1's handled them easily and filled the room. The bass sound was well dispersed thoughout. The Bose could not compete in this area.
Listening to acoustic sounds form the Belfast Harp Orchestra all the way to Rock with "Who's next" I found the HR-1's very pleasing. They have clarity, substance, depth of field and are able to produce all types of music well. They totally outperformed the Bose 901's.
At low volumes string instruments still "plucked" piano keys still had feeling. At high volumes the HR-1's produced well. They did not distort. I was very surprised. They are heavy but for a small package I expected them to not be able to produce some of the low bass guitars notes or percussion sounds. They are exceptional and very pleasing to hear. Even with these fine components I have listened to speakers that fatigued me. After 10-15 minutes I would turn the music down or off. Not with the HR-1's. While I am reading I can listen to them as back ground or immerse myself in music for hours. I just did not expect such quality sound from a speaker this size.
The acoustics in my other listening (living) room are difficult. The Ohm5 mkii's do what they do best. No matter which of the 7 seats I am in I get great sound with the Ohms. A conventional box speaker just cannot meet the demands. Although I must say my wife liked the looks of the HR-1's and pushed for them in the living room over the Ohms.
Shanling t200a sacd player
Bel Canto pre3 preamp
2 Cary Slam 100 tube monoblocks
other speakers used are the ohm 5 mkii's
Bose 901's
I mainly listened to the 901's in comparison because of the different presentation of the Ohm's. First the Oak veneer of the HR-1 has a deep grain that is very nice. The black grills compliment the wood. The HR-1 is well built,solid and it has that appearance. They were set 8' apart, slightly angled inward facing into a 12'x24' room. The wall behind them was 1'away. It has a glass pain center behind the speakers.
The first music track was from Ottmar Liebert's Viva,Morning Arrival in GOA. I was surprised at the depth in the soundstage. The guitar and percussions had a definite placement. Much more than Bose. Throughout this disc the guitar and piano sounded much clearer with the HR-1's than the Bose. The room is symetrical and wherever I moved to I could clearly hear both HR-1's.
Next up was Santana Abraxis. The percussions sounded very clear and the highs were crisp from the HR-1's. The sound was more straight forward than the Bose. It was easier to seperate sounds and the music projected directly at me 10' away. The HR-1's filled the room and the bass was solid.
CelticTrance/dagda has some very low notes. The HR-1's handled them easily and filled the room. The bass sound was well dispersed thoughout. The Bose could not compete in this area.
Listening to acoustic sounds form the Belfast Harp Orchestra all the way to Rock with "Who's next" I found the HR-1's very pleasing. They have clarity, substance, depth of field and are able to produce all types of music well. They totally outperformed the Bose 901's.
At low volumes string instruments still "plucked" piano keys still had feeling. At high volumes the HR-1's produced well. They did not distort. I was very surprised. They are heavy but for a small package I expected them to not be able to produce some of the low bass guitars notes or percussion sounds. They are exceptional and very pleasing to hear. Even with these fine components I have listened to speakers that fatigued me. After 10-15 minutes I would turn the music down or off. Not with the HR-1's. While I am reading I can listen to them as back ground or immerse myself in music for hours. I just did not expect such quality sound from a speaker this size.
The acoustics in my other listening (living) room are difficult. The Ohm5 mkii's do what they do best. No matter which of the 7 seats I am in I get great sound with the Ohms. A conventional box speaker just cannot meet the demands. Although I must say my wife liked the looks of the HR-1's and pushed for them in the living room over the Ohms.