Human Speakers 81 dk Review

[OldTimer]

Yes, Winston Churchill was a superb orator.

T-Pain said: “American Woman…”

 

[dukanvadet]

Oops... I should have looked it up on the website. I guess they are one step up from that kind of scam at least

joke
"Twenty four 8" woofers and forty eight 1" tweeters are mounted in each cabinet (some are not visible from the front)."

 

[mhardy6647]

I sold a fuktonne of KLH 5s back in the day. Just about everybody who came in wanting AR-3As left with a pair of those KLHs -- not because they were better, but because the company made more $$$ on KLH because AR products had to be deeply discounted in order to close the sale and our boss instructed us to "sell away" from any product for which there was intense price competition. The 5's predecessor, the 4, was also an impressive speaker in its day -- my first wife's maternal uncle had a pair literally on a bookshelf, driven by a top-notch Sony amp and preamp. I blame Uncle Murray for my audio addiction -- his wedding present to us was a Sony R-R deck with built-in magnetic cartridge phono preamp, stereo amp, and detachable speakers with an AR turntable and Shure M44. I eventually replaced the two 4" full-range drivers in each Sony speaker with beefier Jensens I nabbed through the good offices of their rep and gave it to the impoverished drummer in my band. I kept the turntable and -- after replacing the cartridge (with a Shure V15 Type II), the (clock!) motor, and belt (at least four times!) -- I used it well into the 1990s.

The KLH Four is seldom seen in the field. I've never encountered a pair; and we've lived in MA (and, more recently, NH) for a long time. Indeed, we had a good friend when we lived in Harvard, MA who'd worked for, or with, AR (and with Villchur et al.) back in the day. Financial, I think, not technical. My point (if I have one ) is that "New England" loudspeakers were -- and still are -- common & easy to find in... umm... New England. But no KLH Four.

Page scanned from a Harvey (Radio) catalog, ca. 1961.

EDIT:
PS1 I've never heard a pair of KLH Sevens, either.
PS2 This being said, I did collect a pair of KLH Tens when I stumbled across a pair at an antique electronics fleamarket a decade (or two) ago. The KLH Ten was an oddity in that it uses a bass reflex alignment instead of the typical Kloss acoustic suspension alignment. Not the only classic KLH to do so, but one of only a couple of which I am aware.

Sorry for the digression! @Bruce Morgen started it!

 

[mhardy6647]

Now KLH Sixes? Common as sea salt!



(Far) too many of them at my house, e.g.

 

[Oreo382]

One of the members on the DIY Audio forum measured one of the Human tweeters and came up with roughly the same results as here. He noted a severe drop in frequency response above 5khz. His advice was to stay away from them.

 

[beagleman]

Not saying this to be humorous, but now, the Realistic MC-1000

MC-1000: Best Speaker in the World?

You are in for a special treat. I have what could arguably be called the best vintage speaker in the world that is ever produced. That you haven't heard of its designation, MC-1000, is not my issue. Please allow me to introduce you to the Realistic MC-1000: Don't let the low price of US...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Really does not look as bad, I mean in room response and distortion are magnitudes better than this!

 

[beagleman]

One of the members on the DIY Audio forum measured one of the Human tweeters and came up with roughly the same results as here. He noted a severe drop in frequency response above 5khz. His advice was to stay away from them.

The woofer at least looks semi usable, but only if crossed far lower into a midrange, and then an entirely new tweeter.

I wonder if any measurements were used for any of the design on this speaker.

 

[fpitas]

The woofer at least looks semi usable, but only if crossed far lower into a midrange, and then an entirely new tweeter.

I wonder if any measurements were used for any of the design on this speaker.

I doubt it. That talk of "minimalist crossovers" is usually a distant early warning you're in amateur land.

 

[Velocipede_Acoustics]

A complete dumpster fire. Anyone with a cheap calibrated mic could have done better.

 

[nerdemoji]

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Sorry for the digression! @Bruce Morgen started it!

Mea maxima culpa!

 

[Putter]

I feel compelled to mount a mild defense of Human Speakers. It's name comes from the designer's first name, Huw so it's reasonable to name his company Human. The speaker reviewed, the 81-dk was an upscale version of the 81 with a deeper cab and lower response. The 81 comes in under $700, not an unreasonable sum for a handmade acoustic suspension speaker. There are plenty of audiophile speaker designers who charge many thousands for similar designs. I also expect that the speakers with smaller woofers such as the Model 61 ($571/pr) and QT 1+ ($278/pr) with 6 inch woofers and the QT Zero ($278/pr)with a 5 inch woofer would test out better although Huw's obsession with 1st order crossovers would still be problematic.

He also provides repair services for older speakers, specializing in EPI/Genesis/Burhoe. This is a service which is increasing hard to find and an environmentally friendly alternative to the speakers ending up in a landfill. I'll admit that the tweeter does not meet spec although it's probably replacing an EPI airspring tweeter that doesn't meet spec because the fluid has dried out.

 

[adm]

First of all, Human Speakers is not a "company" as such. It is a one-man outfit, owned and operated by Huw Powell, who was formerly with Genesis Physics Corporation before the company's demise in the late 1980s. Powell originally started out doing repairs and upgrades on Genesis speakers and eventually started making his own line of speakers based on Genesis and EPI designs. I have communicated with Powell and found him to be a personable guy who knows what he is doing.

I have not heard, let alone measured, the Model 81 DK but I purchased the standard Model 81 a few months ago. The standard Model 81 has the same drivers as the DK in a cabinet one-half the depth. (I presume "DK" stands for "deep kabinet.") The DK version is nearly twice the price of the standard Model 81. Personally, I could not justify the price of the DK for just a little more bass extension but some may disagree. As someone mentioned above, the Model 81 is based on the Genesis 1 and EPI 100. I had owned two pairs of Genesis speakers in the 70s and 80s and, as a few others have said, enjoyed their sound. Consequently, the Model 81 was a known quantity for me and I felt comfortable buying it without an audition. The sound is in fact reminiscent of the Genesis Physics and EPI speakers of the past. I am using my Model 81s in a second bedroom system and they work and sound great for that purpose.

I know this site focuses on measurements and I will try to focus on them rather than on subjective listening experiences as much as possible. I will presume the measurements here to be valid, since I have no evidence to refute them. However. one of the difficulties with measurements is that the devil is often in the interpretation. Much of what I have read here focuses on what the speaker does wrong and not on what it does right. First of all, the speaker lacks any hint of mid-bass peakiness or boominess. This defect, which is often present in speakers costing several thousand dollars or more, is completely absent in the speaker under review. I am aware of the dip at the crossover region as well as the apparent rolloff in the high frequencies. However, when one looks at the smaller graphs that do not overemphasize these issues, the frequency response looks relatively flat.

I am not aware of the highs on my standard Model 81s as being expecially rolled off. But perhaps the speaker has a slightly "vintage" character that is a little bit on the laid back side of neutral. Many have commented on how non-fatigung the speaker is to listen to for long periods, which is a characteristic it shares with the EPI and Genesis speakers of the past. This could correlate with some of the measurements I have seen in this review. However, I would not call the Model 81s "colored" by any means. It is interesting that some have commented that the Human inverted dome tweeter is too "hot" compared to the original EPI and Genesis plastic inverted domes. This is purely speculation on my part but perhaps some of the negaative measurements, particualrly the resonances, are the result of the added cabinet depth on the DK version.

The above comments are just my two cents worth. Feel free to take them or leave them. But I do have some experience with the standard Model 81s, which I am very happy with, especially consdering the price and the application.

 

[AuricGoldfinger]

Hey now, I think the Minimus 7 are perfectly adequate for surround duty in a living room home theater or as test speakers for old amps which may or may not obliterate connected speakers.

A lot of people like them, and they are upgradable. They also didn’t cost $1200, so I will tip my hat to them for that.

 

[GDWL34]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Human Speakers 81 dk. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,270 (kit or finished?).
View attachment 338692
Everything from the grill to lacquer finish looks gorgeous. Like the hand written notes on the back (and very recent production date):
View attachment 338693

The grill was stiff and hard to remove so I left it in place. As usual, measurements are performed using Klippel Near-field scanner. I roughly identified center of tweeter through the grill and set it as the acoustic axis.

Company hand builds/modifies its own drivers.

If you are not familiar with my tests, I highly recommend that you watch my video on understanding speaker measurements.

Human Speakers 81 dk Measurements
Let's start with our frequency response measurements:
View attachment 338694
Ouch. We clearly have design issues around the crossover region: peaking before, dip during, followed by a strong resonance. Near-field driver measurements shows why:
View attachment 338696

I think they use a low order crossover which is a mistake together with too low of a woofer drop off relative to where tweeter takes over. Tweeter response also drops by 5 kHz or so. Off-axis response can't help but be as bad:
View attachment 338697

Resulting in poor predicted in-room response:
View attachment 338698

I was surprised how bad distortion was:
View attachment 338700


View attachment 338702

I could hear distortion during the test sweeps through my hearing protection at 96 dBSPL!

Dispersion is wide making it less critical to toe in the speaker:
View attachment 338703
View attachment 338704

We have the usual, narrow 2-way vertical smoothness:
View attachment 338705

Impedance is reasonable but shows a number of resonances:
View attachment 338706

Same as waterfall:
View attachment 338707

Finally, here is the step response:
View attachment 338709

I am a bit under the weather so no listening tests. If I get a chance, I will take a listen tomorrow and post.

Conclusions
Sometimes beauty is skin deep and that is what we have with 81 dk. Company is proud of its custom drivers but both demonstrate very obvious flaws. Woofer has a strong resonance and tweeter lacks high frequency treble response. Crossover design adds to this by allowing the woofer resonance to force its way out and a gap to exist with the tweeter response. Result is a colored and flawed speaker.

Can't recommend the Human Speakers 81 dk. Company needs to up its game, measure and fix obvious issues with its design. The enclosure is gorgeous and deserves better guts.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Human Speakers 81 dk. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,270 (kit or finished?).
View attachment 338692
Everything from the grill to lacquer finish looks gorgeous. Like the hand written notes on the back (and very recent production date):
View attachment 338693

The grill was stiff and hard to remove so I left it in place. As usual, measurements are performed using Klippel Near-field scanner. I roughly identified center of tweeter through the grill and set it as the acoustic axis.

Company hand builds/modifies its own drivers.

If you are not familiar with my tests, I highly recommend that you watch my video on understanding speaker measurements.

Human Speakers 81 dk Measurements
Let's start with our frequency response measurements:
View attachment 338694
Ouch. We clearly have design issues around the crossover region: peaking before, dip during, followed by a strong resonance. Near-field driver measurements shows why:
View attachment 338696

I think they use a low order crossover which is a mistake together with too low of a woofer drop off relative to where tweeter takes over. Tweeter response also drops by 5 kHz or so. Off-axis response can't help but be as bad:
View attachment 338697

Resulting in poor predicted in-room response:
View attachment 338698

I was surprised how bad distortion was:
View attachment 338700


View attachment 338702

I could hear distortion during the test sweeps through my hearing protection at 96 dBSPL!

Dispersion is wide making it less critical to toe in the speaker:
View attachment 338703
View attachment 338704

We have the usual, narrow 2-way vertical smoothness:
View attachment 338705

Impedance is reasonable but shows a number of resonances:
View attachment 338706

Same as waterfall:
View attachment 338707

Finally, here is the step response:
View attachment 338709

I am a bit under the weather so no listening tests. If I get a chance, I will take a listen tomorrow and post.

Conclusions
Sometimes beauty is skin deep and that is what we have with 81 dk. Company is proud of its custom drivers but both demonstrate very obvious flaws. Woofer has a strong resonance and tweeter lacks high frequency treble response. Crossover design adds to this by allowing the woofer resonance to force its way out and a gap to exist with the tweeter response. Result is a colored and flawed speaker.

Can't recommend the Human Speakers 81 dk. Company needs to up its game, measure and fix obvious issues with its design. The enclosure is gorgeous and deserves better guts.

-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Science didn't protect you from illness in order to evaluate these very good sounding loudspeakers! Don't forget that a heavy cold will reduce you hearing quite considerably.

 

[GDWL34]

First of all, Human Speakers is not a "company" as such. It is a one-man outfit, owned and operated by Huw Powell, who was formerly with Genesis Physics Corporation before the company's demise in the late 1980s. Powell originally started out doing repairs and upgrades on Genesis speakers and eventually started making his own line of speakers based on Genesis and EPI designs. I have communicated with Powell and found him to be a personable guy who knows what he is doing.

I have not heard, let alone measured, the Model 81 DK but I purchased the standard Model 81 a few months ago. The standard Model 81 has the same drivers as the DK in a cabinet one-half the depth. (I presume "DK" stands for "deep kabinet.") The DK version is nearly twice the price of the standard Model 81. Personally, I could not justify the price of the DK for just a little more bass extension but some may disagree. As someone mentioned above, the Model 81 is based on the Genesis 1 and EPI 100. I had owned two pairs of Genesis speakers in the 70s and 80s and, as a few others have said, enjoyed their sound. Consequently, the Model 81 was a known quantity for me and I felt comfortable buying it without an audition. The sound is in fact reminiscent of the Genesis Physics and EPI speakers of the past. I am using my Model 81s in a second bedroom system and they work and sound great for that purpose.

I know this site focuses on measurements and I will try to focus on them rather than on subjective listening experiences as much as possible. I will presume the measurements here to be valid, since I have no evidence to refute them. However. one of the difficulties with measurements is that the devil is often in the interpretation. Much of what I have read here focuses on what the speaker does wrong and not on what it does right. First of all, the speaker lacks any hint of mid-bass peakiness or boominess. This defect, which is often present in speakers costing several thousand dollars or more, is completely absent in the speaker under review. I am aware of the dip at the crossover region as well as the apparent rolloff in the high frequencies. However, when one looks at the smaller graphs that do not overemphasize these issues, the frequency response looks relatively flat.

I am not aware of the highs on my standard Model 81s as being expecially rolled off. But perhaps the speaker has a slightly "vintage" character that is a little bit on the laid back side of neutral. Many have commented on how non-fatigung the speaker is to listen to for long periods, which is a characteristic it shares with the EPI and Genesis speakers of the past. This could correlate with some of the measurements I have seen in this review. However, I would not call the Model 81s "colored" by any means. It is interesting that some have commented that the Human inverted dome tweeter is too "hot" compared to the original EPI and Genesis plastic inverted domes. This is purely speculation on my part but perhaps some of the negaative measurements, particualrly the resonances, are the result of the added cabinet depth on the DK version.

The above comments are just my two cents worth. Feel free to take them or leave them. But I do have some experience with the standard Model 81s, which I am very happy with, especially consdering the price and the application.

Yes, this is now BECOMING quite a nasty forum. I bought and sold a couple of D-Class amps that looked amazing on tests but sounded flay and strangely powerless. I still gi enjoy this forum very much.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

Yes, this is now BECOMING quite a nasty forum. I bought and sold a couple of D-Class amps that looked amazing on tests but sounded flay and strangely powerless. I still gi enjoy this forum very much.

What is "nasty" about this forum? Is it "nasty" because members here don't agree with statements that are not supported by logic and scientific methods, such as "a couple of D-Class amps that looked amazing on tests but sounded flay and strangely powerless"? Is it "nasty" because members point out the weaknesses of subjective thinking? Is it "nasty" because it offers insight regarding the fallibility of human behavior?

Or is it "nasty" because it asks people to understand the processes that have, over the centuries, built the technological world we see around us?

Are science and learning "nasty"?

Jim

 

[GDWL34]

One of the members on the DIY Audio forum measured one of the Human tweeters and came up with roughly the same results as here. He noted a severe drop in frequency response above 5khz. His advice was to stay away from them.

Humans can hear up to around 19Khz right?

 

[GDWL34]

What is "nasty" about this forum? Is it "nasty" because members here don't agree with statements that are not supported by logic and scientific methods, such as "a couple of D-Class amps that looked amazing on tests but sounded flay and strangely powerless"? Is it "nasty" because members point out the weaknesses of subjective thinking? Is it "nasty" because it offers insight regarding the fallibility of human behavior?

Or is it "nasty" because it asks people to understand the processes that have, over the centuries, built the technological world we see around us?

Are science and learning "nasty"?

Jim

If science solved all our probelms we would live in a perfect world? I find the comments section rather annoying. The tests are excellent but we don't have enough people gving their honest opinions....like this guy....what an awful GIF

 

[fpitas]

If science solved all our probelms we would live in a perfect world? I find the comments section rather annoying. The tests are excellent but we don't have enough people gving their honest opinions....like this guy....what an awful GIF

Can we be more muted in our disapproval? Definitely. But it's just a speaker, and not a good one. That costs over $1200.