Posted by MikeRanfft (A) on December 01, 2007 at 22:25:44

I've wanted to share some preliminary impressions on the new AN Hemp driver that is now on the AN/E HE speakers. I have had a pair of AN/E HE speakers for about 7 months or so, then just recently received the hemp driver update for them. Recall that Peter was going to do a run of hemp drivers specifically to retrofit all existing AN/E speakers, and my update pair was specifically matched to the characteristics of the old pair through their testing records. Of course, my only caveat in sharing these preliminary impressions is that I have had the new hemp drivers in the speakers for only 3 weeks, and we all know that there is a break in process still to fully develop. Yes, I have already heard the speakers open up more and go through some of the typical yin/yang break in see-saw.
But I'd honestly have to say that right from the start and through the break in changes so far that there have been identifiable and consistent changes in the sound. The AN website describes the hemp drivers giving "a further layer of low level information".
Well, I'd have to say that is an understatement from my perspective.
What I am hearing is an across-the-board increase in resolution- true musical resolution. As audiophiles, we are used to low level information that more precisely gets analytic stuff like leading edges and pitch etc. However, the information that is coming through the hemp drivers is much more complex.
What I am hearing is not just a clearer voice or tighter bass, but a deeper richer and tuneful bass; singing that is more expressive and subtle and dynamic and palpable; melodic lines that are clearer and more coherent; transparent instrumental lines that are more fixed in acoustic space without losing their richness; more realistic soundstaging that images better but also breathes better; a greater variety of hamronic colors across instrument lines; a greater delineation of recording characteristics across source material; a better sense of rythm, timing and overral dynamics.
My initial summary to Paul at Soundhounds was that there was more detail and dynamics but paradoxically more sustain in all elements of the musical signal. As audiophiles, most of us have had to give up sustain for detail in a lot of our upgrades but not here.
For some examples. tonight I listened to some of my old Mose Allison LP's and they finally sounded like I knew they should-fat, expressive and smooth-as they were recorded on lush tube gear of yesteryear. Previously on the old drivers they didn't sound as rich. My Ben Sidram Live at Montreux LP still sounded like the on-the-spot rushed recording it probably was. It sounded perhaps even a bit more edgy in the right places such as the raunchy guitar backing the soundfield, but Ben's voice was much more alive and vivid, the difference between his piano and backing trumpet as big as night and day, and the soundstaging of the whole band made sense finally. There was a whole new level of transparency and coherence without the sound becoming thin from a recording that seemed only average.
In CD replay I've also found a dramatic increase in musicality across differing quality recordings.
Barnery Bentall's Greatest Hits, still 'rough and ready' sounding, now have more pulse, nuance, sass and meaning. Steely Dan's Two Against Nature CD sounds less processed, as you can hear lots of Becker's guitar licks ending in fine vibratos that were only faintly there before. The bass and percussive parts are more dynamic and swing more, and even Fagen's singing sounds more real and compelling. My Helen Merrill CD-You and the Night and the Music-showed big changes in soundsaging form song to song, making the whole recording more dramatic.
Anyhow, I think you get the message.
For those of you that are wondering, I still have my trusty OTO SE, now modded with a Lou Reda (Finestra Designs) silver plated power cord and telefunken tubes.
And I have my AN 1.1 DAC sig with CDT2 I and my voyd based TT3 with Rega/AN arm.
So I will update this post in a month or two to document further changes according to the break in of the hemp drivers, if you like.
Summarizing, I'd have to say that I think Peter and AN have a winner here, and I really would be surprised if more companies didn't go to hemp drivers, as well as musicians in the recording industry. There is one guitar amp company presently using hemp speakers I believe.
When I finally get my archtop jazz guitar and start practicing, the amp I will buy will very likely get a hemp speaker retrofit from AN, if it is at all possible. It's just that good and musically meaningful.