So a little while back, I'd posted something about Hansen Audio Prince speakers. My post was mainly skeptical, about how the Princes could be rated Class A by Stereophile, when JA's measurements seemed to voice certain reservations, especially about the crossover. Well, anyway, I got an email from Wes Bender, who's the US Sales Director for Hansen Audio. He'd read my email & issued a Pepsi Challenge. So how could I refuse?
I went to his apartment in Brooklyn, which was packed with amazing vintage cameras (he's a photographer) and bookshelves stuffed with gorgeous records (*drool*). Wes had an amazing system, obviously. The black Hansen Princes looked just ravishing. On the top of the rack was a prototype Redpoint MG turntable, which weighs 240 lbs (!). There were 2 arms mounted: one was Ikeda IT-407 with Dynavector XV1s cart (which was the only arm we listened to), and the other was a TriPlanar, I think (?); I can't recall because we didn't use that arm at all. The digital sources were Reimyo CD777 for redbook and Sony SCD1 for SACD. Innersound triodes putting out 150 wpc for power.
To make the long story short, the music flowed through the Hansen Princes in a way I didn't expect from "big-box" speakers. I literally couldn't hear the box, and I thought that kind of rhetoric was mere cliche before hearing the Prince speakers. I'm sure Wes's expert set-up had a lot to do with it, too, but it was beguiling how all I could hear was the flow of music - very liquid, clear, compellingly musical. Wes's listening room is relatively small, but it was crazy how (warning: another cliche coming up) the music from the Princes obliterated the walls, boundaries. Soundstaging is definitely not what I listen for, but it was hard to ignore, especially on the Valery Gergiev's "Rite of Spring" and Ivan Fischer's Mahler 2nd. Is this the kind of hi-fi wizardry that people say is an illusory effect? I don't give a s&*^ because what I heard was the uncanny depth and field-spread of the orchestra, like I've never heard before. The off-stage horns & percussion group truly sounded like as Mahler had intended - they really sounded like a call from an otherworldly place. It made you say, Jesus Christ, which I'm sure Mahler would have been happy with. 
Spun some songs by Rickie Lee Jones from her "Pop Pop" LP. Some Dave Holland, some Chesky Records stuff on SACD. With anything, the Princes sounded very transparent and natural. There was an ease about how they went about playing back the music. And when the music called for rudeness or violence, as in the Gergiev's Stravinsky disc, the Princes did so with full brunt of that violence, nothing soft-pedaled or ameliorated. Everything sounded very honest, period.
The Redpoint MG TT, btw, sounded tremendous as well. It had a really nice grip & control on the music. Probably the best bass-control I've heard from a TT. If anything, I kind of wanted a bit less of that control, wanted the music to ease up a tad, but it was definitely one of the very best TTs I've yet heard in my limited experience. It was definitely THE most dynamic-sounding turntable that I've ever heard.
I especially love how the Hansen Princes flatter the triodes. They really aren't the audiophile-type mega-watt-demanding full-range speakers, although I'm sure with mega-watt SS amps, they'd respond well, too. The fact that they opened up Wes's reality-sized NYC apartment living room like that was truly impressive & mind-blowing; I won't pretend to understand how they accomplish that. From intimate vocal solos to huge orchestral pieces, the Princes just let the music course through to you. No musical reproduction is unmediated, but with the Princes, I felt blissfully close to the purity of the musical message. Perfect speakers to go through the Ring cycle with, I'd imagine, given the way how they rendered the Mahler 2nd, which means they really are my dream speakers. I actually want to hear the smaller Knights, knowing what the Princes are capable of, I wonder what those smaller floorstanders can do... Isn't the Mega-Millions drawing today?!?
So a little while back, I'd posted something about Hansen Audio Prince speakers. My post was mainly skeptical, about how the Princes could be rated Class A by Stereophile, when JA's measurements seemed to voice certain reservations, especially about the crossover. Well, anyway, I got an email from Wes Bender, who's the US Sales Director for Hansen Audio. He'd read my email & issued a Pepsi Challenge. So how could I refuse?
I went to his apartment in Brooklyn, which was packed with amazing vintage cameras (he's a photographer) and bookshelves stuffed with gorgeous records (*drool*). Wes had an amazing system, obviously. The black Hansen Princes looked just ravishing. On the top of the rack was a prototype Redpoint MG turntable, which weighs 240 lbs (!). There were 2 arms mounted: one was Ikeda IT-407 with Dynavector XV1s cart (which was the only arm we listened to), and the other was a TriPlanar, I think (?); I can't recall because we didn't use that arm at all. The digital sources were Reimyo CD777 for redbook and Sony SCD1 for SACD. Innersound triodes putting out 150 wpc for power.
To make the long story short, the music flowed through the Hansen Princes in a way I didn't expect from "big-box" speakers. I literally couldn't hear the box, and I thought that kind of rhetoric was mere cliche before hearing the Prince speakers. I'm sure Wes's expert set-up had a lot to do with it, too, but it was beguiling how all I could hear was the flow of music - very liquid, clear, compellingly musical. Wes's listening room is relatively small, but it was crazy how (warning: another cliche coming up) the music from the Princes obliterated the walls, boundaries. Soundstaging is definitely not what I listen for, but it was hard to ignore, especially on the Valery Gergiev's "Rite of Spring" and Ivan Fischer's Mahler 2nd. Is this the kind of hi-fi wizardry that people say is an illusory effect? I don't give a s&*^ because what I heard was the uncanny depth and field-spread of the orchestra, like I've never heard before. The off-stage horns & percussion group truly sounded like as Mahler had intended - they really sounded like a call from an otherworldly place. It made you say, Jesus Christ, which I'm sure Mahler would have been happy with.
Spun some songs by Rickie Lee Jones from her "Pop Pop" LP. Some Dave Holland, some Chesky Records stuff on SACD. With anything, the Princes sounded very transparent and natural. There was an ease about how they went about playing back the music. And when the music called for rudeness or violence, as in the Gergiev's Stravinsky disc, the Princes did so with full brunt of that violence, nothing soft-pedaled or ameliorated. Everything sounded very honest, period.
The Redpoint MG TT, btw, sounded tremendous as well. It had a really nice grip & control on the music. Probably the best bass-control I've heard from a TT. If anything, I kind of wanted a bit less of that control, wanted the music to ease up a tad, but it was definitely one of the very best TTs I've yet heard in my limited experience. It was definitely THE most dynamic-sounding turntable that I've ever heard.
I especially love how the Hansen Princes flatter the triodes. They really aren't the audiophile-type mega-watt-demanding full-range speakers, although I'm sure with mega-watt SS amps, they'd respond well, too. The fact that they opened up Wes's reality-sized NYC apartment living room like that was truly impressive & mind-blowing; I won't pretend to understand how they accomplish that. From intimate vocal solos to huge orchestral pieces, the Princes just let the music course through to you. No musical reproduction is unmediated, but with the Princes, I felt blissfully close to the purity of the musical message. Perfect speakers to go through the Ring cycle with, I'd imagine, given the way how they rendered the Mahler 2nd, which means they really are my dream speakers. I actually want to hear the smaller Knights, knowing what the Princes are capable of, I wonder what those smaller floorstanders can do... Isn't the Mega-Millions drawing today?!?