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I first posted a version of this on the Hawthorne forum but I spend a lotmore time here (as a lurker on the forum pages and an occasional buyer and seller) so thought I'd put something here as well, since it was here I discovered these little marvels.
I recently had the privilege of an extended loan of a pair of 10in Silver Irises on baffles made by a young chap from Coventry called Robert - known on a couple of hifi boards including this one as 'Hoopsontoast'.
They arrived at quite an eventful time in my system, having first off changed from Fostex-based folded horns to Quad ESLs (the original 57s), then later changing amps from Audion Silver Night 300b parallel SET monoblocs (16w) with Audion preamp, to an EAR V20 integrated using a battery of no less than 30 tubes! (still only 20w .. but what amazing watts ...)
The decision to move from horns to ESLs came after three years or so of high drama, a real love-hate relationship with the horns (made according to aTom Zurowski design), torn between what horns do wonderfully (chamber music, vocals, things with simple line but lots of micro-expression) and what they do badly (big ensembles, deep bass, anything very loud). Plus you get boxy colourations, not to nearly the same degree as with regular speakers but they are still there.
The Quads appeared to be an instant fix for many of the problems - wonderful openness, fantastic imaging, much deeper bass (anyone who says these don't do bass has never heard them properly), much better with larger ensembles. Fabulous expression and micro-dynamics. And not a trace of boxiness (for obvious reasons...). But still slightly compromised, giving, with the Audions at least, something of an 'in your face' front row quality, and a bit of a woolly bass presentation which I was told was due to the fact the Quads like a bit of feedback - so not ideal partners for these SET monoblocs.
Enter the 10in Silver Irises. I'd never heard Open Baffle speakers before and didn't know quite what to expect. Was it too much to ask for a speaker with the spatial and dynamic characteristics of the horns, with the clarity and openness of the Quads?
Well, plugging them in using the Townshend Isolda DCT300 speaker cables that worked so well with the Quads - first thingI noticed with some Buxtehude trio sonatas was the sound stage. A nice 3D picture, fleshy and rounded, well positioned (though without the pinpoint left-right accuracy of the Quads). Detail and micro-expression (crucial for the chamber music I mostly listen to) were well represented (though again not to the nth degree of the Quads). What I seemed to be hearing was a transparent, spacial folded horn sound without the horny honkiness (or the boxiness ...).
Switching to larger ensembles gave a nice sense of scale but also pointed up another weakness of these 10-inchers used open baffle- lack of bass. Not surprising with a 10in speaker (fading out above 70hz). To use these every day, I think you'd need a supporting subwoofer (or more likely, a pair).
Still, the experience was sufficiently positive to set me off exploring all about Hawthorne Audio - who did, indeed, I soon found out, produce an appropriate supporting bass woofer (the Augie...). But I was most excited to read aboutthe 10in speaker's big brother the 15in Silver Iris. I was soon off exploring prices, emailing Darrel and Diana (the wonderful couple who run Hawthorne) with questions, and discussing having some baffles built by a Londoner whose own fabulous pair of 15in Silver Irises plus Auguesfeature among the finest examples featured on the Hawthorne Audio builders' gallery. Almost ready to push the button ...
Then, towards the end of my time with the 10inchers, I got a sudden opportunity to change amps (in a straight swop, no money added deal, withanother Wammer), away from the lush and detailed, but with the Quads, perhaps a little uncontrolled-down-under 300b Audions ... to the push-pull EAR-Yoshino V20, once described by Ken Kessler as Tim de Paravicini's finest hour (out of all the amazing kit produced over the years by the designer for Luxman, Michaelson & others, as well as his own EAR-Yoshino). This absolutely transformed the Quads - rounding out the sound in a wonderful way, tightening up the bass, sustaining a euophonious but still tight and detailed sound right up into the highs, and actually working to ameliorate nearly all of the Quads' weak points. Notably this meant that I didn't need to turn up the volume to get a realistic sound - meaning I could be a little less 'front-row' in my listening. If there's a more perfect partner for the ESLs I'd be astonished.
With the little 10inchers, the V20 also worked some magic - having much the same effect on the midrange. But there was still of course, a bit of a lack of bass. As before, the soundstage was full and almost tangible but now, the Quads had caught up considerably in that department (and were audibly superior, it has to be said, all round in everthing bar the 3D effect, with more precision, more detail and more expression. But still, what a soundstage from the little guys ... and the Quads are, after all, still one of the finest speakers around, and hard to beat almost at any cost if you are prepared to live with their foibles, so it's no disgrace to come behind them).
What was most interesting was how much my wife liked the little speakers (even in their unfinished baffles), with either amp, loving the soundstage, and their relative smallness (compared to the giant Quads which do quite dominate any room). She is always prepared to forego the nth degree of detail in favour of emotion and musicality - something the little guys had in spades.
So ... decisions! In the end, I've decided still to go ahead with a 15in open baffle project -the speakers are ordered and I should havecompletedspeakers come the New YearThe V20 doesn't have a pre-out, which restricts options on subwoofers, meaning it will be a single pair of 15in drivers, no supporting sub. On what I've heard, the 15in Silver Iris(assuming it fills in that lower patch between 40hz and 70hz, should address the bass failings of the 10inch.
A shootout between the 15in OBs and the Quad ESLS, could be interesting .. might even needtwo listening rooms, for use depending on mood! I'll post an update when that comes about ...
I recently had the privilege of an extended loan of a pair of 10in Silver Irises on baffles made by a young chap from Coventry called Robert - known on a couple of hifi boards including this one as 'Hoopsontoast'.
They arrived at quite an eventful time in my system, having first off changed from Fostex-based folded horns to Quad ESLs (the original 57s), then later changing amps from Audion Silver Night 300b parallel SET monoblocs (16w) with Audion preamp, to an EAR V20 integrated using a battery of no less than 30 tubes! (still only 20w .. but what amazing watts ...)
The decision to move from horns to ESLs came after three years or so of high drama, a real love-hate relationship with the horns (made according to aTom Zurowski design), torn between what horns do wonderfully (chamber music, vocals, things with simple line but lots of micro-expression) and what they do badly (big ensembles, deep bass, anything very loud). Plus you get boxy colourations, not to nearly the same degree as with regular speakers but they are still there.
The Quads appeared to be an instant fix for many of the problems - wonderful openness, fantastic imaging, much deeper bass (anyone who says these don't do bass has never heard them properly), much better with larger ensembles. Fabulous expression and micro-dynamics. And not a trace of boxiness (for obvious reasons...). But still slightly compromised, giving, with the Audions at least, something of an 'in your face' front row quality, and a bit of a woolly bass presentation which I was told was due to the fact the Quads like a bit of feedback - so not ideal partners for these SET monoblocs.
Enter the 10in Silver Irises. I'd never heard Open Baffle speakers before and didn't know quite what to expect. Was it too much to ask for a speaker with the spatial and dynamic characteristics of the horns, with the clarity and openness of the Quads?
Well, plugging them in using the Townshend Isolda DCT300 speaker cables that worked so well with the Quads - first thingI noticed with some Buxtehude trio sonatas was the sound stage. A nice 3D picture, fleshy and rounded, well positioned (though without the pinpoint left-right accuracy of the Quads). Detail and micro-expression (crucial for the chamber music I mostly listen to) were well represented (though again not to the nth degree of the Quads). What I seemed to be hearing was a transparent, spacial folded horn sound without the horny honkiness (or the boxiness ...).
Switching to larger ensembles gave a nice sense of scale but also pointed up another weakness of these 10-inchers used open baffle- lack of bass. Not surprising with a 10in speaker (fading out above 70hz). To use these every day, I think you'd need a supporting subwoofer (or more likely, a pair).
Still, the experience was sufficiently positive to set me off exploring all about Hawthorne Audio - who did, indeed, I soon found out, produce an appropriate supporting bass woofer (the Augie...). But I was most excited to read aboutthe 10in speaker's big brother the 15in Silver Iris. I was soon off exploring prices, emailing Darrel and Diana (the wonderful couple who run Hawthorne) with questions, and discussing having some baffles built by a Londoner whose own fabulous pair of 15in Silver Irises plus Auguesfeature among the finest examples featured on the Hawthorne Audio builders' gallery. Almost ready to push the button ...
Then, towards the end of my time with the 10inchers, I got a sudden opportunity to change amps (in a straight swop, no money added deal, withanother Wammer), away from the lush and detailed, but with the Quads, perhaps a little uncontrolled-down-under 300b Audions ... to the push-pull EAR-Yoshino V20, once described by Ken Kessler as Tim de Paravicini's finest hour (out of all the amazing kit produced over the years by the designer for Luxman, Michaelson & others, as well as his own EAR-Yoshino). This absolutely transformed the Quads - rounding out the sound in a wonderful way, tightening up the bass, sustaining a euophonious but still tight and detailed sound right up into the highs, and actually working to ameliorate nearly all of the Quads' weak points. Notably this meant that I didn't need to turn up the volume to get a realistic sound - meaning I could be a little less 'front-row' in my listening. If there's a more perfect partner for the ESLs I'd be astonished.
With the little 10inchers, the V20 also worked some magic - having much the same effect on the midrange. But there was still of course, a bit of a lack of bass. As before, the soundstage was full and almost tangible but now, the Quads had caught up considerably in that department (and were audibly superior, it has to be said, all round in everthing bar the 3D effect, with more precision, more detail and more expression. But still, what a soundstage from the little guys ... and the Quads are, after all, still one of the finest speakers around, and hard to beat almost at any cost if you are prepared to live with their foibles, so it's no disgrace to come behind them).
What was most interesting was how much my wife liked the little speakers (even in their unfinished baffles), with either amp, loving the soundstage, and their relative smallness (compared to the giant Quads which do quite dominate any room). She is always prepared to forego the nth degree of detail in favour of emotion and musicality - something the little guys had in spades.
So ... decisions! In the end, I've decided still to go ahead with a 15in open baffle project -the speakers are ordered and I should havecompletedspeakers come the New YearThe V20 doesn't have a pre-out, which restricts options on subwoofers, meaning it will be a single pair of 15in drivers, no supporting sub. On what I've heard, the 15in Silver Iris(assuming it fills in that lower patch between 40hz and 70hz, should address the bass failings of the 10inch.
A shootout between the 15in OBs and the Quad ESLS, could be interesting .. might even needtwo listening rooms, for use depending on mood! I'll post an update when that comes about ...
