Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: BESL 2MT Speakers by Edp

Model:	2MT
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$995
Description:	BESL Model 2MT two way
Manufacturer URL:	BESL
Model Picture:	View

Review by Edp ( A ) on July 23, 2004 at 12:29:20
IP Address: 130.150.112.143

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Disclosure
First it is important to me to have the reader understand that I have a non-financially tied interaction with BESL and its designer. I have Web known BESL's founder/designer for over 7 years. I have only briefly met him in the non-Web world once. We haunted the same loudspeaker home constructor web sites/forums. He has always had the BESL business during that time but has shared his extensive xover and measurement knowledge to home constructors. So for those who don't like these type of ties or this disclosure, I suggest you hit the back button on your browser and read no further.
Model description
Stand mounted monitor two way dynamic loudspeaker. Midbass is a paper based cone 18 cm unit with pole piece phase plug that BESL had special made by SEAS. Tweeter is 27mm softdome tweeter also by SEAS from their highest line Millenium series. Drivers are not vertically aligned, with mirror image tweeter offsets to reduce diffraction effects. Enclosure is 0.5 cubic ft . The enclosure manufacturer BESL uses creates very fine, high quality units in both fit and function. You will find that units are styled along the classic lines of ProAc, Totem or Splendor. There are no sensuous Italian curves but well per portioned height to width to depth plan form.
BESL makes a enclosure loading choice not often used anymore. The unit is sealed. No reflex or TL alignments. This is a very daring choice as competition in both size and price will almost always use a reflex loading to overcome the lack of perceived bass depth of a smaller driver/enclosure. The compromise balance decision of articulate bass vs. extention/spl must have been a difficult one to commercially compete. This differentiating choice of sealed should ultimately find its buyers.
Systems and Rooms description.
Setup A - Tube Pre/SS Amp/Tube Dac/large room
Setup B - SS Pre/SS Amp/Tube Dac/large room
Setup C - Tube Pre/SET Amp/Tube Dac/large room
Setup D - Tube Pre/PP Amp Ultra/Tube Dac/large room
Setup E - Tube Pre/PP Amp Triode/Tube Dac/large room
Setup F - SS Integrated/Changer/small room
Placement A - Audio Physic wide space, toe in and back wall sit
Placement B - Audio Physic wide space, little toe in and 3 feet out from back wall
Placement C - Equal distant triangle, little toe in, 3 feet
Selections - All the same selections were played on All Setups.
Vocals, old/new, male/female
Solo Piano
Traditional and Modern Jazz
Classic Rock
Performance synopsis
The units present a paradoxical combination of warmth with detail/resolution. Mostly this is the opposite of boom/tizz. This speaker will not work for dealers and salesfolk who want the dazzle the buyer with 10 minute demos and move boxes. The units speak to buyers and listeners who choose the purity and tonality of the midband over the thrill ride whomp/sparkle of Hi-Fi sound. These units sonic presentation are akin to marks like Sonus faber, Audio Physics, Vandersteen, rather than B+W, JMLab and Wilson.
The choice of sealed for small enclosure, may reduce sales, but ultimately is a better articulate speaker than its reflex competition. The slower roll off rate of a sealed unit along with the low Q (low bloat, overhang) produces both bass quality, bass articulation and texture not found in vast majority of reflex loaded competition.
But by paradox, it is not a speaker that is muddied or smeared or overly forgiving. It does deliver detail, but not in the overly etched/in your face always sort of way that is often found in creations more focused on "new technology drivers" than on natural presentation. That is not to say that these units can play recordings that just don't sound good. I found that classic rock, especially those CD's that were laid down during the "perfect sound forever" era of the mid to late 80's can be very thin sounding. There is a overall restrained boogie factor to these speakers, a bit button down shirt type attitude, not a loosen your tie and dance nature.
So the paradox of refined detail with warmth will focus the listener on detail and retrieval which on cuts like from Led Zep II that will tend to be thin. Listeners will have separation of notes and instruments like few speakers truly offer, but with a distracting nature away from "lets just rock and crank it". Too much information in this case.
These units offer imaging and soundstage that is more realistic than razor sharp. They are not the most imaging conscience speaker I've heard, but do it in a "its happening, but I ain't slapping you about the head" sort of way. Not distracting, but balanced in its soundstage and imaging. Good thing in My Book. The asymmetric nature of the driver layout and their relationship to the placement (distance apart, size of room, sitting distance) can determine the amount and overall tone of the speaker. Significantly and another good thing in My Book.
Placement/room/system results.
Placement - One might be tempted to utilize a Audio Physic type setup (wide, high toe-in, seat at back wall) due to the preconceived notion of sealed speaker and large room. This did NOT work. Gave to much of a warm thing. Steel strings became nylon, Ella had a chest cold and piano was to wooden. Now once the seat is moved to a more classic "3 feet away" non Audio Physic, then the chest/darkness really subsided.
So is that saying that the units need a big room. Nope, because even in AP setup, the bass did NOT bloat. Upper midrange was suppressed without dramatic bass bloom boom. One of the overall most satisfying setups was Setup F. Typical bedroom sized setup. With that room size, the bass was damn near perfect in both depth and articulation. Room gain very much works with and not against this unit. Put that with the usual "bit bright" nature of inexpensive SS amps and the overall warmth, soul and midband texture of the speaker, extremely fine/refined sound was the result. Truly the marks significantly mate well in this setup/environment.
The units are not overly inefficient or underly efficient. Systems with sub 100 and plus 20 watt range were all very fine. No noticeable lack of control or running out of steam within that range. Setup A was one I returned to more than others. The units were "too much of a good thing" midband/warmth with Setup C. Setup E would qualify as the most Audiophile sound setup. Grace, refinement, euphonic, control and soundstage width/depth and overall volume were most prevalent in this Setup E.
The speakers did not change their character as the output was increased. So often a speaker "comes alive" or "overly alive" when the volume goes up. That is, its nature changes from a "reticent warm" unit to a "shouting yelling icy" unit. These BESL units maintained their nature throughout the volume scales.
Bass - They ain't, by design, bass "shake the house man" type speakers. So if you want full realistic bass kick drum or standup bass illusion, or organ tones, either get ye a sub or get ye something else. If you want to hear that bass is not the usually bloated one note smeared together presentation, then this might be for you. I only briefly hooked up a sub to the system. Integration will be easy for the xover point, but for those with one note wall shakers, you will smear what the positives are on these units in bass articulation. Smallish room and no need for sub (unless you just gotta feel it in your eye teeth). Nuff said on that subject. I listened 99% without any sub.
Conclusions:
These units are like refined, grownup Spica TC or LS3/5a units. Less of what those things did wrong and more of what they did right. They are voice for the midband and other folks will state them to be dark and constrained. They are much better than a set of Sonus faber Concerto (old non-Home) I had on hand for comparison. They share the nature, but are more refined, more articulate in all octaves except ultimate bass impact/depth. The bass, lower mid, mid, handoff to lower treble, treble were akin, but more refined than the Sonus. The designer clearly implemented a very fine xover. In all cases(overlap, phase, output) the handoff between the midbass and tweeter was damn near flawless.
Just because I can
As a home constructor, what would I change if it were my design.
Don't mean it would be better for most, but better for me.
I'd be tempted to modify the amount of BSC slightly.
I'd work around the mirror image offset tweeter. Plus and minus in setup/room placement vs. diffraction. Hair splitting.
I'd loosen up the grill snaps. Someone is gonna break one off or break the grill frame taking it off. For such little snaps, they sure are stubborn.
I'd pick the beech colored ones over the rosewood colored ones. I'm Scandinavian for Christ sakes.

Product Weakness: Grunt and Boogie. Not overly efficient, but not inefficient. Placement and orientation can modify the tonal flavor and imaging/soundstaging significantly.

Product Strengths: Full and soulful voices, not overly chesty, not weak either. Tone and texture towards the warm forgiving with paradoxical definition.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	many read review
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	many read review
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	many read review
Speakers:	duh
Cables/Interconnects:	both long and short ones
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	many read review
Time Period/Length of Audition:	1 month
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition

Product Weakness:	Grunt and Boogie. Not overly efficient, but not inefficient. Placement and orientation can modify the tonal flavor and imaging/soundstaging significantly.
Product Strengths:	Full and soulful voices, not overly chesty, not weak either. Tone and texture towards the warm forgiving with paradoxical definition.