Posted by Sonar_Vermin (A) on June 04, 2002 at 12:41:27

Well, I've just about settled on the HE10.1 Signatures for my mom's system, but I've never bought speakers unheard before, and these are a different enough design from anything I've heard that any assumptions about it's sound are likely to be meaningless. I have searched the archives of AA for reviews and comments, and most listeners rave about them. But I have a few specific questions:

1. The only co-axial speaker designs I have heard were KEF bookshelf speakers. It's been several years, but I recall good imaging, and a nice coherency. Is there any specific aspects of performance that owners attribute to the coaxial alignment?

2. My limited experience with horn-loaded compression tweeters has not been good. I've only ever heard this type of tweeter in car audio systems. When driven by SS car amps, with 1/3 octive active crossovers, and EQ'd by car audio installers, they were absolutely unlistenable. Granted, this is an apples / oranges comparison, by I have also heard similar things from horn-loaded Klipsch speakers in the KG series. Still SS driven, and nowhere near as bad as the car-audio ones, but there was still to much treble overall, and what there was was not to my taste. What do you all think of this tweeter, strengths and weaknesses?

3. Since the woofer in this system is so different from what I've heard, what should I expect when Foreplay / Paramour driven? I've never seen a stand-mounted speaker with a 10" woofer. I imagine that a 10" driver in a large box, close to the floor, will perform quite differently than that same woofer in a smaller box, 3 - 4 feet of the floor. My overall experience with woofers over 8" has been lots of bass, with more boom and overhang as woofer size increases.

5. The picture of the HE10.1 Signature on the DIYCable.com site shows the speaker with the inside of the port tube veneered. I think this really makes the speaker look special. Does the veneer kit allow for this, or can you only get it by buying the fully-assembled speaker?

6. Long shot here, but is there anyone in the San Diego area who has a pair that I could arange to hear?

Thanks for all of the help so far, I'm sure I will be using this resource a whole lot as this project gets underway.

--Shannon