Blue Ridge Sound HR 1
I have been listening to the Blue Ridge HR-1's for over 2 weeks. They are a monitor speaker consisting of a 28mm dome tweeter (mounted on top of the main cabinet), 2-4" inverted midrange drivers and a base port on the front panel, and an 8" woofer on the outside panel. My system consists of: Shanling t200a sacd player Bel Canto pre3 preamp 2 Cary Slam 100 tube monoblocks other speakers used are the ohm 5 mkii's Bose 901's I mainly listened to the 901's in comparison because of the different presentation of the Ohm's. First the Oak veneer of the HR-1 has a deep grain that is very nice. The black grills compliment the wood. The HR-1 is well built,solid and it has that appearance. They were set 8' apart, slightly angled inward facing into a 12'x24' room. The wall behind them was 1'away. It has a glass pain center behind the speakers. The first music track was from Ottmar Liebert's Viva,Morning Arrival in GOA. I was surprised at the depth in the soundstage. The guitar and percussions had a definite placement. Much more than Bose. Throughout this disc the guitar and piano sounded much clearer with the HR-1's than the Bose. The room is symetrical and wherever I moved to I could clearly hear both HR-1's. Next up was Santana Abraxis. The percussions sounded very clear and the highs were crisp from the HR-1's. The sound was more straight forward than the Bose. It was easier to seperate sounds and the music projected directly at me 10' away. The HR-1's filled the room and the bass was solid. CelticTrance/dagda has some very low notes. The HR-1's handled them easily and filled the room. The bass sound was well dispersed thoughout. The Bose could not compete in this area. Listening to acoustic sounds form the Belfast Harp Orchestra all the way to Rock with "Who's next" I found the HR-1's very pleasing. They have clarity, substance, depth of field and are able to produce all types of music well. They totally outperformed the Bose 901's. At low volumes string instruments still "plucked" piano keys still had feeling. At high volumes the HR-1's produced well. They did not distort. I was very surprised. They are heavy but for a small package I expected them to not be able to produce some of the low bass guitars notes or percussion sounds. They are exceptional and very pleasing to hear. Even with these fine components I have listened to speakers that fatigued me. After 10-15 minutes I would turn the music down or off. Not with the HR-1's. While I am reading I can listen to them as back ground or immerse myself in music for hours. I just did not expect such quality sound from a speaker this size. The acoustics in my other listening (living) room are difficult. The Ohm5 mkii's do what they do best. No matter which of the 7 seats I am in I get great sound with the Ohms. A conventional box speaker just cannot meet the demands. Although I must say my wife liked the looks of the HR-1's and pushed for them in the living room over the Ohms. |
Ozzy62, I do not use the 901s normally with this system. I have a pair of OHM5 Mk11's that are my mains. The presentation to the room is so much different than a monitor or regular box speaker that I find it hard to compare. The only other speaker I could use was the 901's. Unfortunately, I did not want to do a disservice to the HR-1.They are a very good sounding speaker. You may be exagerating the polk monitor 7 ability . |
I didn't say the Polks could outperform the HR-1, I was referring to the Bose. And this would be no contest. No, the Polks aren't giant killers. I bought them for 30.00 for my stepson a while back. But I was pleasantly surprised at how they sounded when I put them in the big rig. On lesser electronics they are merely good. Oz |
Ozzy62,I noticed you have been negative about these speakers, the web sight and comments made by other on other threads also. Do you have a beef with the manufacturer? Have you ever heard the speakers? I have 2 high end systems one with tubes and one solid state /digital. I traded out my Quad ESL 57's only becaus my wife wanted to take back the living room. Hence I use the Ohms.I like trying new technology or different types of speakers. The controversy over Blue Ridge started under "forums" made me curious. So I bought a pair. I am more impressed each time I listen. I just picked up the "Ultimate Reference SACD" by isoclean power. The drums and low sounds on "Fanfare for the Common Man" sound very good.So do many other tracts. These speakers handle a wide range of music and at low and high volumes. They have clarity, substance, depth of field. Ozzy62, if you have the money you should listen for yourself. |
http://www.blueridgesoundeng.com/ I tend to agree with ozzy62 in that small speakers do not interest me. That is why I have had the Quad ESL 57 and the Ohms. But the web sight intrigued me. So I bought a pair. I was & am very surprised. The depth of the sound and fullness is very impressive. I do not understand the white van reference. |
Hello All, I've heard of the "white van" scam too. In fact, many years ago between semesters in college I once went to a job interview that I found in the classifieds under "electronics sales" and it turned out to be one of these "white van" scams where they have absolute garbage speakers and they claim to be distressed employees unloading great speakers for nothing out of the back of a white delivery van. Needless to say I walked out of the interview, though they actually had the audacity to try to physically keep me from leaving the group of about 20 or so prospective employees until they saw that I was mad enough to be dangerous if they tried. Anyway, if anyone ever suspects us of selling great speakers for next to nothing they'd be 100% correct. We DO sell great speakers for next to nothing! Please see our website: WWW.BlueRidgeSoundEng.Com and see our feedback both here and on Ebay for verification. While we've only been selling speakers under the BRSE banner for just over a year, we have many happy customers who all make positive comments like "worth many times the price" and "a solidly audiophile-grade product" and my favorite customer feedback because it's not only the highest praise a speaker manufacturer could ever hope for but also (quite honestly) the most common comment on our speakers "they sound like live music". So, while our very low prices may spurr "white van" thoughts, our high-quality, very accruate and highly musical audiophile loudspeakers are the real thing, as verified by many happy customers. Please give a pair a try, you will not regret it. We have an auction on Audiogon nearly every weekend (or purchase directly from our website) under username BRSE and we promise a white van price with audiophile grade sound. Thank You, Carl Halling, President, BRSE [email protected] |
I have been living with a pair for about a month now and I could not be more pleased. By way of background, I am a classically trained musician although I make my living otherwise; I have made it a serious hobby to compare the sounds of different gear and different rooms. I currently own PSB, Spendor, ProAc, Usher and Harbeth speakers and have done a layman's comparison of all of those in two different rooms/systems with the HR1. I now prefer the HR1's to everything else I own. As we all know, this is a very subjective issue but without a doubt these HR1's do not take a backseat to anything I've experienced. They are very, VERY good. You will hear the music! David Northbrook, IL |
I'll try to keep this short. I have no financial interest in Blue Ridge and here are my thoughts: I was shocked by the range and clairty. I've had mine for well over a year. They are my office speakers driven by a McIntosh 4100. No this isn't giga-blah this and that fancy and expensive - but the set up produces clean, vivid, and full range sound. I shopped around a lot before putting my office system together and NOTHING compared to this set up at under $2K. Will it satisfy someone hell bent on God's greatest $100K system - probably not. BUT I will tell you that I took the chance on a mail order item and am estatic with my choice. Downside? It took three shipments to me to get both speakers delivered without the tweeter broken - but Carl had very much patience and made sure I got my speakers ASAP. The cabinet is not show quality - at least mine aren't. They look fine from a listening distance but running your hand along the veneer is not the same as a well polished wood speaker. Then again, I'm not into fondeling my audio equipment! I hope this helps. Summary: most highly recommended. |
Kingairflyboy, I would say you are really a lucky guy, for being able to get such speakers this year. Let me tell you why. I won a pair of BRSE speakers last June (eBay #220120323560). As I was overseas at that time, I asked the seller Carl (anybody mamaged to get his surname?) to hold them till I went back home. He promised so, but still sold those speakers to somebody else without noticing me. I found it when going back home last September and contacting him. Carl said his business went bankrupt and had to sell my speakers to pay some of his bills/whatever. He promised again that I can get my speakers when his factory in China get started, but no time frame given. In this case, I had to ask for refund. Carl kept on giving all sorts of excuses for not refunding. This situation lasted till some time this March, when I found him selling another pair at eBay (most likely they are the ones Kingairflyboy got). I sent Carl an email again claiming for the refund. Carl said he could send the profit of those speakers to me when auction ended. I received USD250 not long later, which I believe is the "profit" of the speakers. Since then, Carl has never come back again, not responding to my emails at all. So, Kingairflyboy, aren't you lucky? Hope Mr. Carl still visit this website and say something corresponding me... |
Kingairflyboy, I would say you are really a lucky guy, for being able to get such speakers this year. Let me tell you why. I won a pair of BRSE speakers last June (eBay #220120323560). As I was overseas at that time, I asked the seller Carl (anybody mamaged to get his surname?) to hold them till I went back home. He promised so, but still sold those speakers to somebody else without noticing me. I found it when going back home last September and contacting him. Carl said his business went bankrupt and had to sell my speakers to pay some of his bills/whatever. He promised again that I can get my speakers when his factory in China get started, but no time frame given. In this case, I had to ask for refund. Carl kept on giving all sorts of excuses for not refunding. This situation lasted till some time this March, when I found him selling another pair at eBay (most likely they are the ones Kingairflyboy got). I sent Carl an email again claiming for the refund. Carl said he could send the profit of those speakers to me when auction ended. I received USD250 not long later, which I believe is the "profit" of the speakers. Since then, Carl has never come back again, not responding to my emails at all. So, Kingairflyboy, aren't you lucky? Hope Mr. Carl still visit this website and say something corresponding me... |
