Hales Design Group speakers....how good were they?


I started a threat awhile ago http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?hbest&1125332737&read&3&4&
basically asking people to outline the best home system they've ever heard. A relative (into audio) was most impressed by a friend that once owned Hales Design Group speakers. The setup was unique, with the room being one of the best natural setups he'd heard. This person was from Calgary and used an Ayre K1-X pre with a NAD amp and CAL audio CDP. Needless to say its unusual. But he swears it was best and weirdest setup he'd ever heard. Who spends $8k on a pre and $1k on the amp and source...it drove the owner of a local highend dealer bananas because he himself couldn't build a room that sounded as good, and had no system that could touch it. He had quite the arsenal of speakers at his disposal as well, including Reference 3A, Oskar, Dali, Meadowlark. At any rate I was wondering why I hadn't heard of these speakers before? I realize the company has gone belly up, and they are dated. How would they hold up to current offerings by Reference 3a, Von Schweikert, Gallo Nucleus, Totem etc...
lush

Showing 3 responses by jay_douglas_2879b79

the hales loudspeaker was one of the last truly great 'sealed box' acoustic designs, and compared to the other brands you've listed would certainly be superior in every way. a speaker which favored no audible frequency and no particular music style. a keeper for an audiophile or music lover.
the hales design group was bought by an older incarnation of wadia, and went bye bye when they did. the concept of natural or flat audio response in the hi end business is a losing battle. acoustic suspension loudspeakers are the most difficult to properly design and manufacture. they also require more power to drive than ported designs and don't particuarly favor any frequency- which is death in a demo room. being smart or right (and armed with the facts) has never carried much weight in hi end marketing. the road to china and back is now paved with casualties(ie meadowlark, soliloquy). the beat goes on, just not as accurately or as naturally as before.
i guess so...what was i thinking?...its funny, but if hales had charged twice as much for their speakers, they would have been talked about today as one of the best, and would probably still be in the game. no good deed goes unpunished.