Speaker company :HHR exotic speakers

My best friend has a set of Dale’s TLS-1s. To my ears they are the most natural, coherent, non-fatiguing loud speakers I’ve ever heard. Single driver with no crossover. And they’re capable of producing lows that could induce a bowel movement.

I’ve been chasing the sound of his system with traditional box speakers for years and haven’t really gotten close.

I’m on the edge of pulling the trigger on a set.

Two things.... they are not cheap, but this would be a lifetime speaker for me.

And most importantly, you cannot drive them to excessive levels. You will crush the driver like a beer can, which my friend has not done in the 11 years he’s owned them.

Cheers,
Joe

I heard them at Axpona and thought they were great. The imaging made the old Ohm F’s sound like a toy. If you like Omni sound they are amazing! What does the TLS-1 sell for these days?

Audionoobie did you decide whether to buy the speakers?

I have not. I'll probably have to wait for my IRS refund.

I'm based in NZ and put a deposit on some TLS2s in early 2019.

Whilst waiting for my build to be scheduled I managed a work trip to NY. I took a detour to Cleveland were Dale hosted me in his home to listen to the TLS1s.
They are an impressive speaker. The seem to have a line source quality in terms of the listening distance versus power equation. The way the energise the room means they sound good when listening from another room.
The bass was deep however little indistinct. The rest of the range was clear and coherent.
Imaging was not 'audiophile' but natural. Sound was located where it was meant to be, but not laser focused. I was unable to make any judgement on image depth.

Unfortunately due to limitations in Dale's music server and internet connection I was unable to play music I had brought with me, or connect to Tidal. Thus I was listening to a lot of unfamiliar music in an unfamiliar room which meant other important attributes were untested. This was disappointing but not a show stopper.
What was a show stopper was the inability to play most music at 'live' levels. Dale's calibrated SPL meter showed we were hitting 90dB peaks at the listening position.
I listen to a wide range of music and not all of it loud. However when the helicopter from 'The Wall' pans from right to left it should sound like it's in the room. There were other instances where the visceral impact was missing due to the inability to go loud.
I have an large room and sit 12-13 feet from the speakers. In talking with Dale even the TLS2s would not provide the SPLs at the listening position with risk of crushing the cones.
I cancelled my order and forfeited what Dale had paid out to that point to cover my build.
If these could reliably do 100-105dB peaks they would be in my room right now.
I understand from Dale this is just not possible with the current design / materials. If I have this right the issue is the excursion required to deliver more than 90+ dB reliably will crush the cone. To rectify would introduce extra mass into the moving parts which impacts the ability to go to 20kHz and beyond.
I really, really wanted the TLS2s, and still do, but the trade-off was too great. If the music that moves you can be limited to 90-95dB peaks then these are a unique and awesome option.

If I listened to classical, vocals, and wasn't a rock and roller... these would be first on my list without question.  I've heard them playing classical at moderate volumes at shows and they are ridiculously good.

But if I popped in 90% of my collection at the volumes I like... I would shread them.

A speaker that can not reliably do 105 dB peaks is pretty worthless. I was never a big Walsh fan. Low bass Doppler distorts everything else the driver is playing. String Quartets Only.

Experiencing TLS1s a couple of years ago at Axpona remains one of my most memorable audio highs. BUT... even in a smallish hotel room Dale would not play them at higher than moderate volume.  It probably doesn't matter, as I don't reach 90db anymore in my system. This approximates the SPL of a lawn mower.  My main concern is possible destruction from a transient pulse such as an accident with a phono stylus.  Maybe a sub with an active crossover would an acceptable workaround, albeit antithetical to the single-driver crossover-less time and phase coherent Walsh design.            

I owned a set of the original Ohm Fs back in the mid-1970s and they were my favorite speaker of all time. In a home environment the volume limitation never bothered me, even though I was in my 20s then. To this day, my average listening volume is about 85 dB max. I currently have a set of Ohm 1000s which I enjoy greatly, though they do seem to miss that last bit of magic that I remember hearing with the Fs. (Interestingly, the modern Ohms don't have a volume problem.) However, I don't have the room for anything bigger than the 1000s so the issue of HHRs is irrelevant for me.

To resurrect an old thread, I would mention that German physiks makes a Walsh type driver out of carbon fiber that can play quite loud. To avoid over driving it they do cross it over at about 110 hz to a woofer. I own a pair and probably will stick to this type of speaker from now on

That’s disappointing to hear that these new Walsh speakers have similar limitation as the old ie can’t go loud without damage.

The Ohm Walsh line with the CLS driver design That replaced the Ohm F definitely solved that problem years ago. 

In fact I have found them to be relatively indestructible and they love to go loud even more so than most but of course they are not single Walsh driver full range. Nor are German Physiks.