Now
these are loudspeakers that were built to make a statementa
musical impression not easily forgotten by anyone who has seen and
heard them in operation.
Headed
by Canadian Lars Hansen, the company began research and
development of the King about two years ago. The design goal
was to create a no-hold-barred transducer that eliminates the most
troublesome elements in the loudspeaker manufacturing business
cabinet resonance, driver complement and crossover problems.
Hansen decided to do it right, beginning with the enclosures.
However, before we get to the nitty gritty, a little about Hansens
interesting background.
He
became an audio enthusiast in the late 1960s, while still in
his teens. As did many young folks at the time, he bought a Dynaco
PAT- 4 preamp with a Dynaco Stereo 120 power amp, Dynaco speakers
and a top of the line Dual turntable with a Shure V15 cartridge.
Hansen states that he was hooked and began upgrading and spending
a lot of money on audio gear (while his friends were buying cars).
One of those upgrades was to the Dahlquist DQ10 speaker in the mid
1970s. He loved the speaker and realized that he had become an
audiophile. As he became more aware of reproduced sound, he
realized the many problems that plagued loudspeaker designers and
began thinking about building the perfect loudspeaker.
After
graduating from university, Hansen formally studied electronics
and acoustics, which prompted the design of the first line of
loudspeakers in the late 1970s. The product line was called Legacy
(no relationship to the current company or products now being
produced) and it became the foundation for understanding,
designing and manufacturing.
Later
he became involved in the business end of the industry and began
to drift away from design work. In the early nineties Hansen
returned to the speaker industry and eventually became President
of the Dahlquist Corporationthe company that started his
passion for loudspeaker design many years before (Dahlquist
himself had long since sold his company). He headed the project to
design the new DQ10, which was shown at CES in Las Vegas. However,
it soon became evident that the corporation was not going to fund
the transition to high-end audio, the direction taken with the new
DQ10. Hansen left and founded Hansen Audio, a new company that
aims to produce only the finest products. Hanson assembled an incredible
team and, with solid financial backing from "well
heeled" partners, launched an all-out assault on building
the very best speaker in the world no compromise.
Now
on to the Hansen Audio the Kings
Appearance:
Lars Hansen
wanted resonance free enclosures that would appeal to folks with
an eye for art. He consulted with an accomplished graphic designer
who presented a graceful, elegant design, different from the
traditional panel construction. The enclosures had to be a
free-flowing design to prevent any diffraction distortion, as well
as dispersion coherent and acoustically and electrically phase
correct. The Kings shape meets both technical and aesthetic
standards. Five feet four inches tall, the enclosures can not be
disregarded in any set-up. However, the finish is far superior
even to the finishes one may find in fine furniture. The shape of
the loudspeakers, their smoothness, size and feel is almost
sensuous, in terms of satisfying the audio beast in philes.
They are completely finished and look amazingly regal from all
angles. Finishes are customized for the end-user, although we only
saw the silver finish, which reminded us of the high-end colour
and finishes used by Mercedes Benz. We understand that each
enclosure is what the company calls a "Hansen Audio Class
A"a multi-step fine wet sanding technique used after
each preliminary step and a final clear coat finish that cant
be forgotten. Only two solid binding post on the Kings bottom
rear remind us that this is a loudspeaker, not a statue.
Technology:
This is where it gets really interesting. Hansen began with the
cone material for the woofers and midband drivers. These cones are
made from multi-layered esoteric materials that result in the best
prevention of sound wave deformity. The cones are suspended with
precision-made, real rubber surrounds in specially designed
(Hansen Architecture) frames. The cones are perfectly placed and
attached to a powerful motor assembly to ensuring the fastest
possible attack and the quickest recovery time while operating in
an accurate, piston-like environment.
The
in-house designed and built drivers are optimized to suit their
applications, but also matched to the 25mm high performance
tweetera precision unit made for Hansen. Along with the
tweeter, two 269mm woofers and two 182mm mid band drivers are used
in each enclosure (each driver is easily capable of operating two
octaves beyond its crossover points, both high and low). This
eliminates potential problems with "off the shelf" or
"modified" drivers that, as a rule, do not match
perfectly. The King uses a simple first order crossover design, as
it doesnt have to function as a "fix" within the
system components. High grade components and silver conductors are
used throughout the point-to-point wired and hand soldered
crossover. Hansen states that the resulting sound quality is as
uncorrupted as possible. Crossover points are 250Hz and
2,500Hz.
In
our opinion the real feat was accomplished with the enclosure
design. Hansen has incorporated all his own ideas with what he
learned over the years to produce what we see as the perfect
enclosure which we believe to be the most important factor to
attain a neutral, none-inhibiting environment for the drivers. The
enclosure material is stronger and more durable than conventional
wood products, but the most important element is solidity and
inertness. Hansen approached this by practically inventing and
developing a new materialthe Hansen Composite Matrix material.
It took many months of R&D to find the right stuffa
secret compound, known only to the Hansen folks. The Kings
enclosures use multiple layers with each layer consisting of up to
six different components. Each layer is hand applied into the
dedicated mould until the optimal thickness of each layer is
achieved. This is obviously one expensive procedure and at least
partially responsible for the overall cost.
The
Sound:
Allow us to tell you first what the Kings dont do: They dont
scream at you, even when blasting at 105dBs with a large brass
band; they dont hesitate when used with a good single-ended
vacuum tube amp; they dont shilly-shally when connected with a
powerful solid state amplifier; they dont seem to have a sonic
signature of their own and they dont limit the frequency reach
up or down. Now to a more in-depth analysis.
These
loudspeakers bear virtually no resemblance to other three-way
designs we have seen, though there are three drivers woofer,
tweeter and midrangeas in so many other loudspeaker models. The
difference here is how they behave and perform in their
oddly-shaped, funky enclosures.
Its
tough to explain the sound of a component or loudspeaker at any
time, but it is especially difficult to describe sonic neutrality.
We run across these predicaments continually, especially when we
attempt to describe a cables sonic personality. Neutrality can
be defined as having no definitive or distinctive character. The
words bland, colourless and undistinguished
appear in the thesaurus, but only colourlessas in free of
colouration applies here. The Hansens personality is
arbitrarily neutral which, in the audio industry, is somewhat
rare. This said, here are some of the Kings sonic elements that
are the marks of excellence: harmonics are faithfully
reconstructed which results in a pleasant radiance that completes
the overall listening experience with an integrity and sonic unity
that synthesizes not only with the highs, but also with the
frequencies below. The all-round listening experience is also
enhanced by the lack of midrange colouration which renders a
balanced flow of music without enhancing the midband between about
160Hz and 1300Hz. Therefore the midrange is well tempered, yet
very controlled in the transitions to the mid high stage (from
2,600Hz to about 5,000Hz). As well, there is sufficient crispness
to allow sharply focused imagery and inner detail.
Bass
deserves a bit of explanation, not because it is conspicuous, but
because it is totally organic. When bass is demanded by the
program material, the Kings will deliver and reproduce the lowest
note of an organs pedal with resolution and authority, but
without impairing the activities of the midrange drivers and the
tweeter. In other words, bass frequencies from about 160Hz down to
the lowest notesomewhere in the 27Hz regionis very well
balanced and appears to come from an instrument, rather than
loudspeakers.
Imaging
in audio lingo describes the ability of loudspeakers (and
electronics) to recreate a sound stage. While this is often
attainable in good loudspeakers, the Kings take it up a notch by
recreating the original size and location of instruments placed
across and to the front and back of its sound stage. This is done
with such realism that listeners can pinpoint horizontal, vertical
and front-to-back dimensions.
The
above (hopefully) describes what we heard using two sets of
amplifiers, one solid state the other tube; and both designs
rendered perfect synergy. For some auditions we used the Cary 500
monoblocks (reviewed in this issue), followed by the Audio Aero
Prestige monoblocks (reviewed in the last issue). This established
the Hansens reaction to fine vacuum tube and solid state
amplifiers and their compatibility with these components. Our
in-house Wyetech Labs Opal preamplifier (reviewed in Vol. 10 #2)
and Audio Aero Capitole CD player (reviewed in Vol. 15 #2) all
wired with Nordost Valhalla cables made up the balance of the
systems.
Synopsis
& Commentary:
Regular
readers will know that, in an effort to discover synergy, we look
at components as part of a string within a system. It seems that
Hansen has proceeded in the same manner seeking a synergistic
system whereby each component contributes to the whole. Hansen
looked around and listened to many loudspeaker components and
found that almost none of them can be matched for maximum
performance within an assembled enclosure. So he designed his own
components to achieve his goal. The result is state of the art
performance.
When
listening to the Kings, the sensation of effortlessly flowing
music is so profound that interruptions are annoying. Its hard
to turn the music off or do anything else but listen. The
loudspeakers are simply great, but it is of the utmost importance
that back-up components are of top quality AND a synergistic
match. Any good amplifier will work, of course, but with the right
amplifier(s) those that qualify as a synergistic complementthe
Hansens will sound superlative. We fully understand that great
sound is in the ear of the beholder, and it is quite possible to
achieve the kind of sound that suits personal preferences, as
these loudspeakers quickly adopt the attributes of the
auxiliary electronics. The amplifiers used for our listening tests
didnt work merely well with the Kings, they worked to
perfection. While the solid state Cary amps provided kinetic
energy with correctly balanced highs, mids and bass, the Audio
Aero amplifiers offered additional harmonics and that special
musical glow usually found with high-end vacuum tube designs.
However, both brand amplifiers offer synergy and provide
high-resolution audio.
We
didnt like the Hansen Kingswe loved themand so will
you as long as money is no object. However, those fortunate enough
to afford these not-so-little babies will have state-of-the-art
audio combined with visually pleasing design, resulting in what
can only be called musical art. Go get a pair.
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