German Physiks - Listening Impressions Wanted


I would like to hear from folks that either own or have heard any of the German Physiks Speakers,
preferably the Carbon or Borderland.Both being MK 4 versions with the latest triple D drivers.

I have either one of these unique speakers near the top of my short list but with too many unknowns with a speaker this expensive,I will probably have to make a trip to see Larry owner of Distinctive Stereo and get a good look and demo.

The HRS-120 might be a candidate also at a lesser price point.

Kenny.
kdude66

@audiotroy - Exactly. The reason I suggested the OP read through that huge Ohm Walsh thread was to get a feel for the kind of audiophile that likes the omni presentation, the pros and cons of it. It was that thread that lead me to try an in-home demo of the Ohms. For my taste, there was enough image specificity. There might not be enough for everyone.


I do beg to differ on the room treatment issue with omnis, though. Too much absorption defeats the whole point of an omni. The sound is supposed to bounce off the room surfaces; that is what creates the large soundstage. In my room, singers are properly sized on good recordings, with the singer’s apparent hieght at about 5.5’. They may produce images a little larger than life, but I prefer that to the miniaturized images many speakers produce. I actually have removed some of the absorption panels I had up from when I had more conventional dynamic speakers. I have a 60" plasma TV behind and in the middle of the Ohms. Covering this with a thick blanket actually sounds worse than just leaving it alone. I do plan on adding more diffusion, since my room is smaller than I would like, but the point is, I think, that as long as they are not too close to the adjacent walls, omnis should be allowed to bounce their sound off of them.


I would never expect an audio reviewer to use omnis as a review tool. Dispassionate neutrality is not really what omnis and their fans are all about. As JV of TAS would say, these are speakers by and for the "as you like it" crowd. I make no apologies for being a part of that crowd. I hear a lot of loudspeakers in the course of a year, and with rare exceptions, none of them that I can afford appeal to me as much as my Ohms. After all, if there were only one "correct" speaker, eveyone would own the same thing. But everyone hears differently and, as you said, values different aspects of reproduced sound differently.

Omnis project sound and deliver sound stage and imaging MORE like what occurs in live un-amplified music. That’s the unique appeal. If the actual performers were in your room, they would be affected by acoustics more similarly. The nature of the soundstage and imaging totally depends on the room acoustics and seating location as well as the nature of the gear upstream, as is the case with any truly revealing speaker design. Early reflections are always a problem to avoid and omnis must be placed further from walls to avoid that than more directional speakers. OHm Walsh are not full omni’s however and are designed to be placed closer to walls to work better in most people's homes. OHM will customize most anything though if requested.

Bondman I would agree OHMs are poor mans GP or MBL based solely on the cost differential. Each does things quite differently though so not a strict apples/apples comparison. Should not be hard to hear the differences among the three.


Gentlemen,
Keep your opinion’s coming and I’m still reading all I can find on the subject.
I know at some point I’m just going to have to go and hear some,unfortunately no one has any kind of Omni near me.

Kenny.
@kdude66 - Where are you located?  You never know when aother audiogoner near you has a speaker you'd like to hear.  I have opened my doors to people who want to hear Ohms in my area.
I've never really gone in for the common idea that omnis are by nature "not accurate" particularly in terms of soundstaging and imaging.  As if on a direct radiator you "hear the REAL image contained in the recording" but on the omni you don't.

I've mad many speakers of all types, and even right now I have Thiel 3.7s, 2.7s, Waveform monitors, and others....as well as a pair of MBL 121 omnis.

The MBLs show me all the same relative information as any of the more direct radiating speakers do.  If a voice is panned hard to one speaker...there it is.  If it's just slightly behind and to the right...there it is. 
I can simply hear the spatial relationships more distinctly, with more dimensionality, and with the sense of the speaker "disappearing" vs most direct radiators. 

In fact, generally speaking, the more a direct radiating speaker has controlled dispersion, cabinet distortions etc, the "better" they soundstage in terms of disappearing as sound sources, and rendering depth and dimensionality.   In other words....the more like the MBLs.
My Thiel 3.7s are just about the most "invisible" and best imaging box speakers I've owned, and they are the ones that sound most like the MBLs in terms of soundstaging and imaging.