HT3 Customer comments, DIY Speaker Kits Canada & Customer Speaker Cabinets

HT3 Customer comments

I was interested in a small floor standing speaker that could visually fit into any room, provide fullrange sound when driven by a receiver or 100 watt integrated and cost less then $2000. The Raw HT3 caught my attention. After speaking with Al from Raw Acoustics for about 6 hours I ordered the Raw HT3. 3.5 weeks later the HT3s are in my room playing music.

The speakers arrived on schedule. The finish is beautiful, mildly tinted figured cherry. Al did a fantastic job on the veneer which matches the style cabinet perfectly.

Blah blah blah…so how do they sound?

As you can see from the photo these speakers are not hooked up to a receiver or integrated. Instead they are in my reference system so that I could evaluate them to their fullest potential. Speaking of potential these speakers sound way better then there size or asking price would lead you to believe.

Bass: Not sure what to say here because the bass coming from a single 7” woofer will leave you scratching your head. My room is large and heavily treated with bass traps and panels. The bass is extremely powerful, tight and clean down to 25Hz as advertised. I had to double check and make sure that the woofers from my other speakers were disconnected because it is hard to believe that this amount of bass is coming from such a small speaker that is 8.5ft out into the room and 3 ft from the side walls.

Midrange: More polite then the magnesium cones that I am used to. The last once of detail and transparency is not there but the midrange is excellent. If I had to compare the sound of the midrange to another driver I would say that it sounds more similar to a good Scan Speak paper/carbon mid. Not soft, not mushy, but it just does not sound like a metal cone driver because it is not a metal cone driver.

Treble: Outstanding!

Dispersion: Horizontal- right up there with the best I have heard. The 7” baffle and small 4.5” mid deliver here. Vertical is equal to better then most short ribbons.

Imagining and Soundstage: Again the narrow baffle, driver selection and the fact that the speakers are 1/3 into the room and 3 ft from the side walls just makes them disappear. I am sure it would get better still if there was not another pair of speakers behind them. But…I am not moving them because they are in the perfect spot and the Raw HT3’s will have their own room after I am done playing with them in my main room.

Value: At $1300 these speakers are an absolute bargain. In this system the speaker wire being used to drive them costs more then the speakers but the Raw HT3 is not outclassed. It fits right into the system and large room to deliver a large soundstage, outstanding frequency response and high SPL.

In Closing: If the appearance of this speaker leads you to believe that it would be great for a small room then you would be mistaken. They fill my 24x 14x 8 room with full range sound with no trouble at all.

Bryan

--HT3's-- Wow. These speakers have a serious identity crisis. You know those small dogs that think they're dobermans? That begins to describe the HT3's. Initially my brain had trouble accepting what my ears heard from what my eyes saw. The side firing Extremis coupling to the floor offers a level of bass that's a bit beyond surprising. Very clear midrange, big open light and effortless soundstage. They're a little thirsty (84-85dB) but Al was powering them with a Yamaha integrated amp of no significant pedigree, which did just fine. Surprising that he demo'd with such an ordinary amp, but i guess that goes to show what you can expect with even moderate gear.

After comparing the HT3's to the other speakers, they did show limitations in quantity of sound, as well as their presentation style- but hey, this is against much bigger and more expensive speakers. I felt they were really dynamic and alive, youthful in a way, however their presentation wasn't as forward or as detailed and refined, say mature, as their bigger relatives.

For the price, and their size, they just blew me away. If size/SAF is an issue and you want some big sound from a small tower, these just can't be beat. When you factor the price, they're a steal.

Adam (http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/index.php?topic=29885.0)