Hello Hoggshead,
Thanks for your input, we appreciate it.
Have a nice day,
Carl |
I'd suggest 6moons and/or positivefeedback. Both are softcopy review mags.
Jim |
Hello Audiogon'ers,
The most prevalent question I often get when I find the time to peruse this and other forums, and when people write me directly is: "when will you have a professional review of your speakers?". Well, I certainly can understand your asking (I would too!) and I'm happy to be able to tell you that the time is near.
We're ramping up truly professional-grade quality controlled factory assembly and as soon as we have final product in it's final form we'll be sending out review samples to professional reviewers and publications. One mistake I've seen other speaker manufacturers make is to release a pre-production sample that may have issues not found in final production and the review has to end with something like "we hope they solve these issues in final production models". I'm not going to make that mistake, we'll send out final production speakers for testing.
Since most of you out there are audiophiles and much more knowledgeable than those in other forums I thought I'd ask here on the forum which publications (whether hard-print or online) you'd like to see a review from? Which ones do you trust? I already have a commitment to send ToneAudio a review sample because they were the first of many to approach me asking for a review pair, and I'll be approaching Stereophile and some others as well, but the input of the Audiogon community would be very helpful to me so that I can provide just what you've been asking for.
Thank You in Advance,
Carl Halling,
President, BRSE
WWW.BlueRidgeSoundEng.Com
President@blueridgesoundeng.com |
Considering the performance claims, I am guessing that the component speakers are modded by techniques developed by Peter Belt and/or Machina Dynamica.
Perhaps a rename to Clever Little Speaker is in order? |
let me be clear on a couple of things........1.i do not consider allison ic20's as one of the best allison designs. 2.the last generation of allison one's will compete with any 30k speaker made today in regard to tone....3. i have no opinion on the actual sound of BRSE, because i've never heard them. 5. when someone does take the plunge, post a review and tell it like it is. |
You would go a long way to restoring credibility if you would shut down your shill, hifisoundguy. He even posts at Audio Asylum under different monikers. If he is indeed not on your payroll, it might be wise of you to distance yourself from his trolls.
And BTW, as others have stated, it would also be nice to provide a phone number for potential customers to speak with you. Other small time outfits, such as Merlin, Reimer, and GMA provide this service and probably take up far too much of their valuable time on the phone. I know because I have spoken to Rick, Bobby, and Roy personally. But it's time well spent if you ask me.
Oz |
Hello All,
I can honestly say that I regret much of the tone of what I originally posted on our website, I was perhaps a little overexcited and overzelous about our product. I've been trying to change a number of things on the site, but Yahoo.whydidIusethem?? , the host of my site, will not let me change a thing with their software, and will not let other software into the mix. In short, I'm stuck with things I'd like to change. While (I'm told) it comes off as a very professional website, I created it myself and I'm an engineer by trade, not a web-designer, and as you've noted, not an orator. Sorry.
The very first thing I'll change is the very first line, the comparison to $30K speakers. Yes, our speakers sound better than many very expensive speakers, but the comparison is simply not reasonable. Will you allow that I was so excited about my new product (as any of you would be) that I became a little overzelous when single-handedly starting a successful business while remaining true to my audiophile roots and creating a website by my own hand that most thought I'd paid a high-ticket ad firm for??
Blue Ridge Sound Engineering was created by one man, not a team of high-paid magicians who create the image of most companies. I was lead engineer, chief technician, web designer, financier, and everything else. Now, we're a much larger team, but let me ask you this... who, of you out there, could do what I did? I don't even ask for a pat on the back, just look at my high-quality speakers for what they are and give them a fair shake, and, dear God, give me a break from the ridicule you love to sling at larger corporations who may well deserve it. I'm just a family man with the right background to do get this job done, and whose customers all appreciate my efforts.
One of the first things I'll change when able, is the reference to Roy Allison's excellent IC-20's, which, while excellent speakers in any regard, are certainly not everyone's idea of the ultimate.
Our HR-1 speaker is not intended to be the ultimate loudspeaker either. The reason we're so excited about it's performace is that it's so far beyond what it's price (especially here on Audiogon and on eBay) would indicate. What we have here (as one of our earliest customers, smillin, testifies in his posts here) is a high quality, high resolution, very accurate loudspeaker that belies it's price.
Best speaker ever at any price? Certainly not.
Best speaker available now? Probably not.
Best, most musical and true speaker under $3K? There's alot of cometition here, but I'd put it up against any of the competition any day, any time.
My website needs to be updated and changed, and as soon as I have a break in the # of orders I'm receiving so that I have the time to do it (and the site-host allows me), I'm there, with apologies for the tone the site now carries.
For now, please refer to the feedback of actual customers on ebay and here on Audiogon rather than the opinions of those who have not heard the speakers and (while many of them may be highly knowledgeable) don't know enough about my designs to judge them. Everyone has an opinion, and that's fine, but you must weigh someone's opinion against the knowledge they have of what they opine over. Only my customers have full knowledge of my speakers, and it's mighty hard to ignore that they're all 100% positive, and 100% happy with our speakers.
Everything below the asterisk line following this paragraph is from a post I made this evening at another forum (I don't think I can mention the name here, but it rhymes with AVS) and the post (I hope) carries a new tone for this new year. Happy Easter to all!
****
Hello Gents,
Since someone (thank you, sterankoman) actually said "welcome" to the forum, perhaps I'll give it another shot.
I'm in this for the long haul guys. Making money is not my ultimate goal, making speakers that please the ear is. I love music, and I have a deep passion for the kind of equipment that produces it properly. That kind of equipment is rare indeed, the kind that when you close your eyes and let the music take you away can make you nearly startle and open your eyes to check and see if reality matches what you're hearing. This experience is very rare and in my opinion needn't be hugely expensive.
Few of us have the time or money to go to live concerts very often, but most of us can afford to flip on the stereo at least a few times per week to have some quality down-time. It is my desire to see as many people as possible be able to appreciate this hobby to it's fullest. Tward that end, and because it's my passion and particluar God-given talent, I build the best speakers I know how to for the least money possible. I do not believe that only the wealthy deserve to have the kind of audiophile systems that can take you away from your troubles and even bring tears to the eyes.
This is the basis for my business. It would have been quite simple and easy to position my business as a super-high-end company that can quote expensive and exotic components that comprise our speakers, OR, I could have (and did) simply take great-quality components that are not rediculously expensive and remake and refrom them into high end speakers worthy of many thousands of $$ but sell them at an everyman price.
Perhaps it seems too good to be true? Why would someone actually live up to their claims? Ok, I'll entertain reasonble questions like that, but if I'm going to do that, some of you out there need to open your minds and give something new a chance. I have risked my life savings, and all that is me, on the belief that I can offer something new and different to the audiophile community, and by God I've done it... all you need to do is wait and see. If you don't think you have enough information to offer an intelligent opinion on my product (and you don't) , please don't. Soon, after I've ramped up to full production I'll be so incredibly happy to release test samples to each and every one of the reliable audiophile publications (like Stereophile, who IMHO I deem to be one of the rare pubs that really test and really compare before publishing an opinion, some of you out there might take a lesson here..) so that my claims can be verified.
Do I make the best speakers money can buy? While that is my goal... I'm pretty sure I'm not there yet. Do I make truly musical speakers that will continue to please and bring new joy to many who have put 10K+ speakers in the closet or on auction in favor of mine? Heck yes. Will I continue to do so? Absolutely!
All I ask is a fair shake. I've put my name, endless efforts, every penny I've ever had, and all of the years of time I've spent working for thankless "bottom-line only" companies into a design I fully believe in. Can you, just for a moment, have a leap of faith and trust that I've got something worthy of your notice?
If you can't have the faith to wait for forthcoming reviews, can you at least actually go to my website and see what actual customers are saying? It seems that most of you mistrust the customer comments on my website, OK. But what about the many customers who have purchased my speakers on eBay (not my main sales avenue, but a place where I can't possibly sway feedback if I wanted to) and have had 100% approval and 100% positive things to say about my speakers?
I ask you, do you want to beleive the judgements of those who may have glanced at my website and have come to (who can blame them, in this day and age?) quick and unfounded opinions or those who have actually purchased my speakers and are totally pleased with them? Are happy customers everything??? YES!!!
Until the reviews come out, you'll have to rely on my customer's feedback, because not a single one of you out there has enough information to judge my product otherwise. Please see username blueridgesoundeng over at eBay for comments from those who've actually heard and own my speakers. In addition, there's one customer review and two customer feedbacks on Audiogon for your perusal.
Deep inside, don't you want to beleive that I've actually done the seemingly iimpossible? To produce a relatively inexpensive speaker that does a total beatdown on much more espensive speakers? Isn't that what you wish you's gotten with your last speaker purchase??? Think about it. Come on over into the light my friends, I've done it, and it's yours on the cheap.
To those of you who doubt, and I can't say I blame you to a certain extent, I say please read the feedback and wait for the reviews... you know full well that you don't have enough info to make a valid judgement compared to those who own my speakers.
To those who want truly great speakers for a pittance that were designed by someone who's heart thumps only to the beat of music, Blue Ridge Sound Engineering is happy to provide.
BTW: Which unfotunate pic are you guys looking at that seems to show one mid misplaced? While our speakers are totally hand-made, including hand-soldered connections throughout instead of press-on terminals like 95% of the garbage out there, we don't ship anything substandard and while it's been months since Yahoo.crap has let me update my website they're so-called hosting, I'd really like to put a more representative pic on.
Thanks, and God Bless you on this Holiday Weekend!
Carl Halling,
President, BRSE
|
Smilin, thanks for the clarification. I absolutely agree with you that any speaker priced so reasonably that plays with true full range capability is an excellent deal. My inquiries revolve more around Blue Ridge's website-advertisement, which sets a bit of a more extreme tone about their product. It seems (to me) like this company actually thinks that their speaker is just as good (or even better ) than any speaker at any price, i.e. my questions here to why they use Allison as their "ultimate" reference speaker to benchmark against. |
Eric, These are not as good as your 20/21's, or sasons, but, for the auction prices, and even 2k, they are dam* good, especially if you want tiny speakers, that sound amazingly big, accurate, entended, and give a great soundstage. |
Jaybo, perhaps I need to clarify my inquiry about Blue Ridge's statement that boldly states the Allisons are "Widely considered to be one of the finest, if not the finest sounding loudspeakers ever produced". Really? I've never heard anyone here on this forum put the Allisons right at the top of the mountain of ALL speakers EVER produced. Blue Ridge's wording "ever produced..." is one heck of a statement and seems much more than just a qualifier about a good classic design speaker to reference against. Saying that the Allisons are AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME right near the very top of all speakers, bar none, ever made, has me seriously scratching my head. |
many of the original allison designs and acoustic research designs can still hold their own with the likes of loudspeakers costing 20k or more. allison 4's, though not technically as fullrange as the bigger allison one, is more tonally accurate than many expensive speakers that are though to be s.o.t.a. the fact that blueridge uses a classic design to use as a benchmark for building new models is commendable.....with many other new speaker companies, it is indeed 'the blind leading the blind'. |
No, I'm not connected with this company in any way. I found out about the review when I did a google search, it was on the Steve Hoffman forum. I'm just trying to find out more on these speakers, if anyone had them and what they had to say about them.... |
Duke,
I think you are absolutely right. I thought the same thing, but didn't think my post would see the light of day.
Oz |
Duke: The third link you posted is especially curious. How would anyone other than the manufacturer and perhaps their dealers (but BRSE only sells direct, eliminating that possibility) know of a review yet to be published?
Yup, it looks like a duck. |
Is there a connection between Carl and Hifisoundguy?
Hifisoundguy has posted the exact same question, word for word or almost word for word, on four other boards, along with a link to the company website.
He then follows up with a post saying that he has found more about the speakers, along with a link to a discussion on Steve Hoffman's forum.
Finally he posts a notice of an upcoming review in Tone Audio online magazine.
I'm seeing a pattern. It looks to me like Hifisoundguy is posing as an interested potential customer in order to promote Carl's product. So far, not once has he engaged in a discussion with anyone responding to his threads.
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/speakers/messages/246921.html
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/speakers/messages/246939.html
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/speakers/messages/247003.html
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/475895.html
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=38823.0
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=825328
It walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck.
Duke
ps - those are not actually the same link over and over; it just looks like it. |
I congratulate this company for trying to bring a full range speaker to market for such a reasonable price. Unfortunately, I completely disagree with Blue Ridge's assessment where they state that their reference Allison IC-20 speakers are "Widely considered to be one of the finest, if not the finest sounding loudspeakers ever produced". Now I do know that old school reviewers like Julian Hirsch and the likes (from the days of High Fidelity and Stereo Review) were fond of these. But those same reviewers told us that all amplifiers sound the same whenever they have the same frequency response measurement (ARGH, Wrong!). IMHO Allisons are not in the same camp as the myriad of recent generation “Uber speakers” made in more recent decades. It will be very interesting to see how the Blue Ridge's offering actually stack up against some "real" audiophile speakers. |
Hi Carl,
First of all, my compliments on your innovative design. In a size and price range dominated by 5" two-ways, you have certainly chosen a road less travelled.
Obviously you have paid a great deal of attention to getting a smooth on-axis frequency response, and the resulting curve attests your success in achieving your goal. I believe John Atkinson uses 1/6 octave smoothing on the curves he runs, which leaves gives very good resolution of small, relatively inconsequential response wiggles. I see virtually no such wiggles in your frequency response curve. What sort of smoothing are you using?
Can you tell me where the crossover is between your midranges and the tweeter? Are the midrange cones crossed over before they go into breakup mode?
I estimate that you probably have no more than 1/2 cubic foot internal volume for the woofer section. Given the calculated efficiency (derived from specified sensitivity and impedance), your frequency response curve shows amazing bass extension for that size box. Is that a true simulated anechoic measurement - no boundary reinforcement?
Your impulse response and phase response curves are something of a mystery to me. If one is correct, I don't see how the other can be. The impulse response shows obvious arrival time differences and phase rotation between drivers, which isn't reflected in the phase response curve. Can you shed any light on this?
Thank you and best of luck with your venture,
Duke |
Hey Blue Ridge,
What is your:
Address (not a PO Box)
Phone Number
No one should expect to buy directly from someone we cannot contact in proper.
Why the weird fish thing on your website? I'm not interested in religion, I'm interested in speakers.
Thanks! |
This thread is fascinating!
So $2,000 bucks a pair is the bargain basement price for speakers these days?
With a better website designer, they could raise the price by at least 20%.
I paid $1200 for my Tympani IVa's in perfect condition.
My $300 Epos speakers sound pretty good too. |
Carl the tn28 is a sealed tweeter what could you do to it;)And the hi-vi woofers what are you replacing or moding the spider, basket, cone, voice coil,surrounds? Not asking how just a basic answer would be nice. Are the drivers made by hi-vi special ordered from factory with changes? If so sure would need a large order.I have used much hi-vi the costly ribbons are pretty good but the other drivers are a bit hard on my ears had to match them to each other specs where a bit off. The end result is what maters and I do wish you luck. |
All I can say is I have owned these, and for the $$$. They are frikin fabulous. |
>That said, our drivers are highly modified and not available off the shelf in the form that they're used in our speakers.<
Yeah. You are the first manufacturer to ever tout that little detail.
Oz |
Greetings from Blue Ridge Sound Engineering,
Thank you for your interest in our speakers.
I think itball says it well when he states that "we should be paying for sound". In any great speaker, the engineering that makes it sound great is worth far more than the component parts that go into it. Just as the metal, plastic and other materials that make up both a Porsche and a Kia may come from the same place, it's the engineering that makes the Porsche much more of a car.
That said, our drivers are highly modified and not available off the shelf in the form that they're used in our speakers.
In our case, we feel that we're selling Porsche performance for not much more than a Kia price, and our customer feedback supports this as well. Especially at auction prices, our speakers sell for less than the average speaker at bargain discount Hi-Fi shops, yet none of those bargain speakers have the slightest pretention tward the high end, where our customers agree that our speakers fit in very solidly.
Building speakers is both a science and an art. Starting with solid engineering, it also takes lots of knowledge, finesse and more than a little of what is perhaps best referred to as magic to create a truly musical audiophile grade loudspeaker. We're blessed with this elusive talent, this magic, and it's easily heard in our speakers. This is what makes them worth far more than the component parts.
I'd invite all of you to view our feedback here on Audiogon, our feedback on eBay, and our customer comments section on our website. The value of our speakers (and any other worthy loudspeaker) lies not in the individual parts but in the end result. The end result here is a bargain high end audiophile loudspeaker that sells for far less than other speakers with similar performance.
Please feel free to write me directly at President@BlueRidgeSoundEng.Com with any questions/comments.
Also, if you haven't already, please see our auctions here on Audiogon under BRSE and on eBay under BlueRidgeSoundEng
Thank You,
Carl Halling, BRSE |
Retail markup in almost any product category is 100% or more so this perhaps is not out of line. That said, I am surprised in general about how cheap most of the drivers are that we buy in our speakers. Check out http://www.madisound.com/catalog.html#Loudspeakers to get a sense.
But I think in speakers we should be paying for sound - true that quality drivers play a part but beyond that it's engineering. A great speakersmith can make cheap drivers sing. A bad one can make great drivers sound like crap. Buy what sounds and looks good to you. If "economic sense" is important to you, this will prove to be a frustrating hobby/obsession. |
Tone Audio is going to do a review on these speakers soon.... www.tonepublications.com/toneAudio.htm |
Yep, cheap fer sure. 240.00 worth of drivers + cabinets(300.00?) + labor(?) + xover parts (100.00?) = 2000.00 for finished product. Even though I am skeptical about how they might sound, the markup seems to be in line with other high end speaker manufacturers.
>but for $26 a pair a deal for sure;)<
Not sure what you mean by that?
Oz |
Wow you get a HI-VI tn28 tweeter full retail $13 .Heck looks to be most all HI-VI, stuffs ok but cheap is cheap.To me the tn28 is a painfull transducer not much can be done with it but for $26 a pair a deal for sure;) |
Here's more on these speakers... www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/acrhive/index.php/f-5-p-114.html |
