Luis Gabriel Gerena
Second Unit
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2000
- Messages
- 411
Greetings!
Let me start by thanking Mark Schifter for this wonderful product and the passion you put into all your speakers. Needless to say, without your help, I wouldn't be reviewing this today.
Disclaimer
I dont claim to be an audiophile or anything like that but I have been involved with music since I can remember. I started playing the acoustic guitar when I was 5 thanks to my dad.
Later I started playing piano (not a lot) and finally started to do what I love the most professionally...sing! I travel with a very famous latin band and experienced live percussion, trumpets, sax, etc...during rehersal and the
actual shows to really know how those instruments sound.
In any case, sound is very subjective so my experience here should not be taken as the final word on this speakers and their performance.
I will always recommend to try for yourself but since thats not always possible..well here is my very own humble opinion.
Equipment:
[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/b/bf/htf_imgcache_5285.jpeg]
[/url]
Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR-635
DVD/CD Player: Toshiba HD-A1 and Computer (X-FI Fatal1ty)
Onix XCD-99 CD player
Pioneer 563a DVD-A/SACD player
Radio Shack SPL and AVIA
Music used for evaluation:
*Spanish Harlem-Rebeca Pigeon (Chesky)
*If I Could Sing Your Blues (Chesky)
*Cuando Salga La Lun - Placido Domingo
*Ayudame Dios Mio - Placido Domingo
*Latin Tropical music....
*Many more
As a reference Ive auditioned or owned the following speakers (among others):
Acoustic Research 318PS
AR PSC25
Klipsch RC52
Klipsch RF82
Paradigm Titans
Paradigm CC-70 (center)
Advent tower (cant recall the model)
Insignia
Onix X-CS
Onix X-LS
Onix X-SLS
HTD Level 3 Center
HTD Level 3 Tower
Swans 2.1
Rockets 250 (1st gen)
Plus some others...
Packaging
Top notch! It takes a while to get them out of the package but you feel very happy knowing that they were that protected during the trip. The chances of having problems due to getting hit during shipment are slim IMHO.
Great job!
EVALUATION
Spanish Harlem
VOICE : Sounds very sweet. One thing I like about the HTD tower is how the voice seems to be like a bubble right in the center of the soundstage with good definition of space to all sides of it.
Well, the MINI breaks the "bubble" and puts a person right there...feels like a hovering soul singing. Yes its not a very technical description but music is about emotion not numbers and graphs.
The space behind, to the front, left and right is extremely well defined...its quite dramatic.
One thing to note is that at first, I was missing this and was a bit concerned that the Minis couldnt match the HTDs in that regards.
Well, I moved the crossover point from the ~90hz to 80hz and that did the trick for me. Not only match but easily surpassed the HTD tower.
Placido Domingo's voice is even more dramatic and gives you a stunning "in your room" feeling. Not only that but imaging is so good that you can "see" every instrument player in a different space surrounding the singer which stands right between the speakers and in the middle of the huge soundstage.
PIANO
Warm piano (recorded like that) with a nicely defined placement. Other speakers seem to have a harder time giving it a firm location.
VIOLINS
Very realistic and moving...you can feel the body and the actual violin not just a detached sound. The plannar drivers are indeed a beautiful thing.
GUITAR
The guitar strum is awesome...not just a mesh of a sound but a well defined combination of the strings forming it. Fret noises also sound very clean and realistic plus the guitar resonance comes thru with the detail you expect from this marvelous speaker.
SHAKER
Its very easy to tell the difference in "tonality" of the shaker and the detailed sound is another proof of the speakers very revealing nature.
BASS
The bass, as expected from the Minis, is superbly clean, tight and powerful...very powerful! Of course, it takes time to fine tune it to your room and preferences but when you achieve it, you are in sonic nirvana.
This are not boomy notes..no, these are clear bass lines that let you hear the instrument where they are coming from.
IMAGING
WOW! While most of the speakers Ive reviewed have great imaging, the Minis are just a different world.
Its so incredibly easy to "see" where everything is that I cant help but drool even when listening to same song over and over again.
I need to use one of those often mentioned descriptions but the Minis really deserve it...this IS what I call a 3D effect. Not only are instruments and singer clearly defined from left to right but also, and even more impressively, is the definition from back to front.
When you play a song with the Minis you just cant help but listen and forget evaluations and testings...thats why it took me so long to do this review!
SOUNDSTAGE
Huge soundstage and very deep. When trying the depth test song "If I can sing your blues", the Mini is the speaker that really makes me feel the trumpet is 10' away (well more like 6' in my room due to size issues). The other speakers are not able to put it that far and its a bit harder not notice the sound is coming from the speaker.
With the mini, the trumpet is totally detached from the speakers...it becomes just a trumpet in the distance.
Soundstage is also very high....the cymbal was at about 7' high to right side and 10' deep (same as HTD towe which is extremely good at soundstaging too).
When you combined such a huge soundstage with the pinpoint accuracy of the speaker's imaging capabilities, you get a tremendously involving sound field that grabs you and wont let go.
Its really mesmerizing to say the least.
CONCLUSION
Well, I could go on and on with more examples but there is no need. There have been other reviews that are way better than mine and express in a clearer way their views. Mine is just more of a validating opinion that this speaker IS the real deal.
BTW, they work extremely nice for movies too...the subs really make a difference for me since my subwoofer is a crappy KHL! lol
In trying to think what is the thing that I like most about the Minis...its hard because the bass is awesome, controled and detailed...the highs..coming from a ribbon lover, these highs are just even better. They are very detailed and have that airy thing that makes people sing and breath (instruments too).
Still, I think what I like most is how revealing they are and the way they make everything seem just more real life like. Think of it like this, while the other speakers I have reviewed have the capability of reproducing the sound of human voice and acoustical instruments (among other things) with great quality...the Mini not only does that with higher quality and definition but instead of just reproducing the sound, they reproduced the WHOLE instrument.
You can really hear the instrument in action and the notes coming out of it not just a detached sound and that adds another touch of realism that is normally missing even from great speakers and IMHO is what makes people love these speakers so much.
Reading some of Mark's comments, its scary (or should I say a joy!) to realize that when I eventually get to own a SP3 to upgrade from my Harman Kardon, they will even sound better...
Its hard to imagine but if Mark says he cant love them with his 3805 after he have heard how good they could really sound, then I just cant wait to hear these beauties performing even better!
Still, while I get my hands on a SP3 all I can say is the Minis are simply stunning and kiss your movie collection good bye cause after getting this all I can do is sit down and go with the flow of the music...
Thanks for reading and pics coming up soon!
Regards
Luis Gabriel Gerena
[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/5/52/htf_imgcache_5288.jpeg]
[/url]
[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/b/b9/htf_imgcache_5289.jpeg]
[/url]
I got some more but need to edit them.
Regards
Let me start by thanking Mark Schifter for this wonderful product and the passion you put into all your speakers. Needless to say, without your help, I wouldn't be reviewing this today.
Disclaimer
I dont claim to be an audiophile or anything like that but I have been involved with music since I can remember. I started playing the acoustic guitar when I was 5 thanks to my dad.
Later I started playing piano (not a lot) and finally started to do what I love the most professionally...sing! I travel with a very famous latin band and experienced live percussion, trumpets, sax, etc...during rehersal and the
actual shows to really know how those instruments sound.
In any case, sound is very subjective so my experience here should not be taken as the final word on this speakers and their performance.
I will always recommend to try for yourself but since thats not always possible..well here is my very own humble opinion.
Equipment:
[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/b/bf/htf_imgcache_5285.jpeg]
[/url]Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR-635
DVD/CD Player: Toshiba HD-A1 and Computer (X-FI Fatal1ty)
Onix XCD-99 CD player
Pioneer 563a DVD-A/SACD player
Radio Shack SPL and AVIA
Music used for evaluation:
*Spanish Harlem-Rebeca Pigeon (Chesky)
*If I Could Sing Your Blues (Chesky)
*Cuando Salga La Lun - Placido Domingo
*Ayudame Dios Mio - Placido Domingo
*Latin Tropical music....
*Many more
As a reference Ive auditioned or owned the following speakers (among others):
Acoustic Research 318PS
AR PSC25
Klipsch RC52
Klipsch RF82
Paradigm Titans
Paradigm CC-70 (center)
Advent tower (cant recall the model)
Insignia
Onix X-CS
Onix X-LS
Onix X-SLS
HTD Level 3 Center
HTD Level 3 Tower
Swans 2.1
Rockets 250 (1st gen)
Plus some others...
Packaging
Top notch! It takes a while to get them out of the package but you feel very happy knowing that they were that protected during the trip. The chances of having problems due to getting hit during shipment are slim IMHO.
Great job!
EVALUATION
Spanish Harlem
VOICE : Sounds very sweet. One thing I like about the HTD tower is how the voice seems to be like a bubble right in the center of the soundstage with good definition of space to all sides of it.
Well, the MINI breaks the "bubble" and puts a person right there...feels like a hovering soul singing. Yes its not a very technical description but music is about emotion not numbers and graphs.
The space behind, to the front, left and right is extremely well defined...its quite dramatic.
One thing to note is that at first, I was missing this and was a bit concerned that the Minis couldnt match the HTDs in that regards.
Well, I moved the crossover point from the ~90hz to 80hz and that did the trick for me. Not only match but easily surpassed the HTD tower.
Placido Domingo's voice is even more dramatic and gives you a stunning "in your room" feeling. Not only that but imaging is so good that you can "see" every instrument player in a different space surrounding the singer which stands right between the speakers and in the middle of the huge soundstage.
PIANO
Warm piano (recorded like that) with a nicely defined placement. Other speakers seem to have a harder time giving it a firm location.
VIOLINS
Very realistic and moving...you can feel the body and the actual violin not just a detached sound. The plannar drivers are indeed a beautiful thing.
GUITAR
The guitar strum is awesome...not just a mesh of a sound but a well defined combination of the strings forming it. Fret noises also sound very clean and realistic plus the guitar resonance comes thru with the detail you expect from this marvelous speaker.
SHAKER
Its very easy to tell the difference in "tonality" of the shaker and the detailed sound is another proof of the speakers very revealing nature.
BASS
The bass, as expected from the Minis, is superbly clean, tight and powerful...very powerful! Of course, it takes time to fine tune it to your room and preferences but when you achieve it, you are in sonic nirvana.
This are not boomy notes..no, these are clear bass lines that let you hear the instrument where they are coming from.
IMAGING
WOW! While most of the speakers Ive reviewed have great imaging, the Minis are just a different world.
Its so incredibly easy to "see" where everything is that I cant help but drool even when listening to same song over and over again.
I need to use one of those often mentioned descriptions but the Minis really deserve it...this IS what I call a 3D effect. Not only are instruments and singer clearly defined from left to right but also, and even more impressively, is the definition from back to front.
When you play a song with the Minis you just cant help but listen and forget evaluations and testings...thats why it took me so long to do this review!
SOUNDSTAGE
Huge soundstage and very deep. When trying the depth test song "If I can sing your blues", the Mini is the speaker that really makes me feel the trumpet is 10' away (well more like 6' in my room due to size issues). The other speakers are not able to put it that far and its a bit harder not notice the sound is coming from the speaker.
With the mini, the trumpet is totally detached from the speakers...it becomes just a trumpet in the distance.
Soundstage is also very high....the cymbal was at about 7' high to right side and 10' deep (same as HTD towe which is extremely good at soundstaging too).
When you combined such a huge soundstage with the pinpoint accuracy of the speaker's imaging capabilities, you get a tremendously involving sound field that grabs you and wont let go.
Its really mesmerizing to say the least.
CONCLUSION
Well, I could go on and on with more examples but there is no need. There have been other reviews that are way better than mine and express in a clearer way their views. Mine is just more of a validating opinion that this speaker IS the real deal.
BTW, they work extremely nice for movies too...the subs really make a difference for me since my subwoofer is a crappy KHL! lol
In trying to think what is the thing that I like most about the Minis...its hard because the bass is awesome, controled and detailed...the highs..coming from a ribbon lover, these highs are just even better. They are very detailed and have that airy thing that makes people sing and breath (instruments too).
Still, I think what I like most is how revealing they are and the way they make everything seem just more real life like. Think of it like this, while the other speakers I have reviewed have the capability of reproducing the sound of human voice and acoustical instruments (among other things) with great quality...the Mini not only does that with higher quality and definition but instead of just reproducing the sound, they reproduced the WHOLE instrument.
You can really hear the instrument in action and the notes coming out of it not just a detached sound and that adds another touch of realism that is normally missing even from great speakers and IMHO is what makes people love these speakers so much.
Reading some of Mark's comments, its scary (or should I say a joy!) to realize that when I eventually get to own a SP3 to upgrade from my Harman Kardon, they will even sound better...
Its hard to imagine but if Mark says he cant love them with his 3805 after he have heard how good they could really sound, then I just cant wait to hear these beauties performing even better!
Still, while I get my hands on a SP3 all I can say is the Minis are simply stunning and kiss your movie collection good bye cause after getting this all I can do is sit down and go with the flow of the music...
Thanks for reading and pics coming up soon!
Regards
Luis Gabriel Gerena
[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/5/52/htf_imgcache_5288.jpeg]
[/url][url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/b/b9/htf_imgcache_5289.jpeg]
[/url]I got some more but need to edit them.
Regards
