decware err radial speakers

Just found this thread, and I have experience with both Ohm and ERR from Decware. Apologies in advance for lengthy post.

I own refurbed Ohms - 2000 driver in 100 cabinets. I have attended Decfest the last two years, and at the recent 'fest I had a nice, long visit with ERRs. (Also Decware's HR-1 - more on that later.)

My ohms are far from optimally set up (front and one side wall are basically missing, meaning speaks don't have proper support balance), and I have some modes in my listening room, greatly lessened by two homemade bass traps. Decware's room basically doesn't hold in bass, so they don't have any modal issues there. I have a high-current, but far from audiophile, Integra SS amp and a lousy Blue Ray player connected by HDMI. At Decfest, ERRs were fed by superb tube amplification through nice ICs, and sound was sourced by a modded (tubed) high quality CD player. It's obviously an uphill climb for the Ohms.

Decware is a three hour plus drive from home, so comparisons were off of memory, so that tells you my impressions are not to be taken too seriously.

My Ohms have cavernous, awesome bass power, clean and very deep (I'd say into the 20s, though maybe not lower 20s). Sounds like a high quality subwoofer is in the system, with almost no boominess (and bass traps help). They have detailed highs that are slightly rolled off, making them very pleasant to listen to. Extremely smooth.

I listed to the ERRs nearfield (they were better that way), whereas the Ohms are a good 9 feet from my listening spot.

Essentially, the character of the sound between the two sets I found to be very similar. The ohms go a little deeper (only a little), and sound like bigger speakers. They have a more powerful sonic signature. The ERRs are a little (only a little) more detailed, with a slightly higher quality tweeter. They might be a little more nimble, though at the cost of some awesome power in their sound. All of this assuming the associated differences aren't the real reason for a variance. But, essentially, I found them to be extremely similar. Both sets are a joy to listen to.

Taking a step up, Decware has HR-1s, which are essentially the ERRs with an added midrange driver on the front. These are the best sounding speakers I've ever heard. They have all the smooth velvet and envolopment of the omnis, but they add a more direct, involving punch from the direct midrange driver. Best of both worlds, and worth it to drive out to East Peoria to hear them if you ever get the chance.

I will post again later with more detail on the build of the ERRs. They have just been taken down off the site because they are re-doing them due to changes in parts availability. I've spoken at length with Bob Z (builder of the speakers, and a true gentleman) about them, so I have some notes that may be of interest.

Cheers!

Pluto,

Nice writeup! Thanks for sharing.

The HR-1s look very nice!

THe hybrid approach using Decware's radial driver looks similar to what Blue Circle did a couple years back using an OHM CLS driver and is priced similarly it would appear.

ITs also not unlike what German Physiks does with its DDD driver based hybrid designs, though those are way more pricey.

Is the DEcware radial driver a Walsh style driver geared more towards the midrange and high end? They don't really say, though the radial driver orientation and configuration would seem to suggest that might well be the case.

OHMs CLS driver is hybrid by nature as well, but different in that a conventional dome tweeter is used to make the high end more directional than the rest, which is omnidirectional, whereas Decware radial and GP DDD drivers are the opposite, ie more omnidirectional with the high end. That's a big difference alone.

Also DECWare's business is built around tube amplification and it seems a safe bet their speakers are designed to work well, perhaps best, there. I can't think of any other omnis likley to work best with tube gear. Dueval maybe? Not sure.

Map,

ERR and HR-1's are both similar to Ohm CLS. Actually, Steve's (the owner) write-ups of the development of the ERR suggest that the Hegeman Model 1 and Ohm Walsh speakers were his inspiration.

The Decwares don't have any rear attenuation. John S @ Ohm suggested to me that this would cause some more trouble placing the speakers, and also maintaining the image throughout the listening area. I mostly listened to ERRs nearfield, and was having a little too much fun to remember to test that theory. The main radial driver in each Decware runs w/o crossover, with a single cap limiting tweeter. The cap can be changed, giving you some tweakability (Decware definitely has a tube-centered, tweaky philosophy). Tweeter is directional, and I think blended in somewhere around 6k (radial driver has natural roll-off at about that spot, apparently). Nice, deep, taut bass is driven by the radial driver loading a passive radiator at the bottom. Can run on 8-ish tube watts, but they were too limited for me there (and Decware will tell you that too), so they really need a good 25 watts at least.

So the ERRs and Ohms are almost identical (other than rear attenuation) in philosophy. ERRs are more efficient, a little more refined, smaller, and physically more delicate. The fit and finish surpasses both my 2000s and my Center channel microwalsh. Duevel, German Physiks, most MBL, Omnisphere, Morrison, Huff (if he's still in business), HHR... they all splash treble around the room, and use some conventional pistonic drivers, whereas Ohm, Decware, and Parallel Audio have directional delivery for high frequencies, and omni-directional delivery for everything else.

As far as bending wave action (sound propagating sideways off the driver, instead of coming off the face of the driver), all pistonic drivers do this, but in most designs it's to be avoided (contrary to Lincoln Walsh's design philosophy), and to what extent the current Ohm CLS driver and Decware radial drivers truly use this principal I couldn't tell you. I did flat out ask John if they still use that transmission line principal and he assured me they're still designed in this fashion. I have absolutely no reason to doubt him, he more often has talked me out of a purchase than he has tried to talk me into one (which has never happened).

The HR-1s add a midrange driver forward facing (and a little schnazzier cabinet). I believe it also uses 6" radial instead of 8" on the ERR. That midrange driver does have a passive crossover in front of it, which is somewhat of a departure for Decware. That was apparently quite a nut to crack (10 years??) to get it to blend. Wow was it worth it. Musical, deep, very quick, silky smooth, and (best of all) completely engaging.

I visited the gentleman, he goes by ZIGY over on the Decware forum, who makes the ERR speakers and his own design, the HR-1, last year at his home. His dedicated listening room is small but very well treated. Listening is basically done in the near-field. He did not have any ERRs available at the time, so I listened to the HR-1s and a prototype of the DM945. This was before he and Steve Deckert came to a formal agreement to distribute the HR-1s.

I have not heard any omni design, so I can't compare the HR-1s to Ohms, Physiks, Duevels or Planets, or the Holistic Audio omni. I thought the HR-1s sounded very good but had a more conventional type of sound than I was expecting, due probably to the front-firing mid-range driver. Source was a CD-player and tube amplification was used.

I liked the HR-1s but I loved the room.

And, as an FYI, the ERRs, while still available, are undergoing a re-design so one won't find them listed for sale on the Decware website.