sknnyc: whew, that was at least 2 bankruptcies ago. haven't heard em' in years but remember they sounded good, for their time, with classe's, of their time. -kelly |
Yes, I am quite familiar with them. A close friend had them with the Muse 18. It was fantastic! Great imaging and excellent tone, soundstage, etc. They mated perfectly with the Muse. He had them in an all Krell system. At the time it was Krell MD10, Studio, KRC-HR, and MDA500's.
Hope this helps.
Richard |
Thanks for the updates on the System II. Would either of you know if they would work with tube amp and what their efficieny was. Right now, I'm using them with a Classe DR6/DR15 combo but would like to look into tube amps. Thanks again. |
I also have system 11 sig's. They work well with my Rowland model 8. Have also heard them with Classic 60 ARC also very smooth.
Sadly this speaker seems to be getting some bad press recently on some of the chat rooms.
I have compared it against most of the other speakers in Hales line and against NHT's, Von Schweikert 4.5s and various other lines including electrostatics. IMHO they are superior to all of the above.With or without the Muse sub.
Speakers with ceramic domes or tioxid domes seem to have more upper end air and extension and most of the BIG speakers like Dunlavy's have far more bass extension but that's it. |
I wasn't aware of the negative publicity on chat rooms (which
chat rooms, anyway). I just remember that these were Class A on the Stereophile list for a while and got 3 stars in TAS a few years back. Would anyone have the specs. on these speakers (ie efficiency, etc.)? |
check out some of the threads on Speaker Asylum... If my memory serves me right these speakers are 89db efficient.
They weigh in at 181 lbs each, the front baffles are supposedly four inches thick and the sides are two inches thick. The drivers are two Dynaudio 17W7's in a D'Apploito config with an MB Quart titanium tweeter.Mine are finished in walnut, unsure if any other finishes were offered. |
i had a pair years ago. i think they are damn good. i still have not figured out the muse deal yet. i tryed two of them one with the 2s one with sound labs. i had the cards and every thing. i feel the muse subs have one note bass. the hales need good tubes ,and the sound great. they might miss a little in the bottom but everything has some compromise. |
Interesting post Kirk930, what speakers do you have now?
I am a little suprised that the Muse was not a big improvement. The 2's might sound good with the Carver sub, I will probably try this. What amps did you like with them?
I am currently using a Rowland model 8 which I really like, but others have told me that a tube amp would be better.
Odd thing, I feel that the 2's are actually a better speaker than hales came out with in his later models. Heard them all except the T8. Still this is just MHO. |
I just got a pair of VTL 100 watt monoblocks and they are a definite improvement over the Classe DR15 amps I had been using. I know that the speakers are wired with Cardas Golden cross but I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences with cabling. I think a Carver sub is definitely in the works next up (the Muse is much more expensive and requires that darn personality card). |
daveyf i have both jm lab utopias and soun lab a-3s.the rowland is my favorite solid state. i like the earlier 7s and the newer gear.when were the 8s made? i love tube research, but they are a little steep for most people. i would say inexpensive tubes ; maybe the bat vk-60. or cj 11a. the bat has more stomp. |
Actually Sknnyc, The sig's are wired with Cardas Hex5, they had not come out with the Golden 5 or Cross at the time of Sig production. This cable probably contibutes to their weakest link unfortunately. I use Highwire cable with good results, used to use Cardas Hex Golden 5 which was very poor in comparison-- fat, tubby bass with rolled off highs and smeared. The highwire I use is a later version called 700Ls series, which is part silver and part copper, with RFI blocks built in the cable. I use this from the phono to the speaker. Have recently heard the Silversmith cable, a slight step up, but what a price!! |
Kirk930, the model 8's are still being made, they are now the 8ti's, I believe. My version is an original 8 from about 1991 or therabouts. I have done some mod's om it, but have left the original choke power supply. I feel this sounds a little superior in overall clarity and punch to the updated dual mono toroidal supplies. However, many in the far east had problems with hum, and so Jeff changed the design to accomodate this. ( At least that's what I have been told)
The newer transimpedence mod is supposed to be very good, but I have not had a chance to hear this. Has anybody? |
I heard my Sig 11's today with the REL sub. This is a match made in heaven.
The Sig 11's really cook.Earlier, I had heard the same sub with a pair of Verity Pasifals, and the Sig's just blew the Verities away in a biiiig way. Both set up's were driven by Rowland's.
Amazingly the Verities list at $14k!! |
The Hales System IIs actually use the 17W7EXTs (extended frequency) drivers. I learned this the hard way by ordering the 17W7 instead of the EXT from Madisound. Another post stated that the Muse 18/Hales Signature combination did not work very well (not very well defined low end). I use a pair of the Muse 18s extremely affectively with the Hales personality card (seemless sound from top to low bottom). It is important to note that with most tube preamps inverting polarity, one must, not only reverse the speaker wires on the Hales, but also must do so on both Muse speakers (two speakers per sub). |
Anyone consider bi-amping the sig's. I am considering bi-amping with the rowland model 8 on the woofers and some kind of tube amp on the tweets, any suggestions? |
BTW I just looked up the efficiency in my Hales manual and the sig's are 87db efficient. Also according to the manual they use Cardas golden section internal cableing. |
