This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the HEDD TYPE-05 A-CORE powered studio speaker (monitor). It was sent to me by the company and costs US $700 each.
Speaker sports the company trademark AMT tweeter. It eschews the DSP in the more expensive model for a pure, analog audio path, eliminating latency (and lowering cost). Back panel shows consumer friendly input in the form of RCA connection (although I highly recommend balanced):
Continuous bass and treble controls are better than simple dip switches. The large level control knob is appreciated as well.
Overall build is solid as you expect from a professional brand/product.
EDIT: I ran the CEA-2034 measurements by the company and they said it correlates with their anechoic measurements.
HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE Monitor Measurements
As usual, we start with our family of frequency response measurements using Klippel Near-field Scanner:
Overall on-axis response is flat but with a noticeable bass boost and slight treble lift -- both of which likely can be adjusted to some extend using the controls provided. There are some resonances that you can see the cause of in near-field driver responses (shown later). What is impressive for this little speaker is its bass extension, going as low as 35 Hz despite having just a 5 inch woofer in a small enclosure! Flat response is provided down to 50 Hz.
There is some directivity error which we see in the early window responses:
But when mixed with on-axis, it actually smooths out fair bit:
Here is the near-field response, showing port/cabinet resonances causing minor midrange/low treble disturbances:
Horizontal beam width is good and reasonably wide:
Vertical is not but that is typical of 2-way, non-coaxial speakers:
Recently I have added 91 dBSPL distortion measurements which came in handy here:
As noted, all was clean until I reached 96 dBSPL where the woofer started to complain loudly. At the other two SPLs though, it was pleasantly compliant.
Waterfall shows the resonances we have already seen:
Step response is uneventful:
HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE Listening Tests
I placed the monitor about 4 to 5 feet from me with the tweeter at my ear height. First impression was the bass extension, providing warmth. Alas, it also triggered a room mode, causing some amount of excessive bass notes. I tried to dial in filters to back out the bass boost in the measurements but could not find a good solution. I reached in the back and adjusted the bass knob to what you see in the review picture. I lost a bit of bass but clarity and overall balance remained excellent so I stayed with that. Proper solution would involve measuring the room and identifying the cause but good to have a quick solution like this.
I played my sub-bass heavy tracks and was amazed at the ability of TYPE 05 A-CORE to play those notes at fairly loud levels and with minimum distortion! Hard to imagine a little box doing this. Turn up the volume a bit more though and the ports become cool air blowers, pushing your hair back!
At that point, distortion is borderline so I backed off.
Partially due to backed off bass level, the highs while delightfully standing out, where a bit above what I like so dialed in a lazy high shelf EQ:
Again, proper EQ would call for multiple PEQs but this did the job as would probably the knob in the back.
I experimented with correcting a couple of resonances. As you see the amplitude is quite low so to be sure my perception was correct, I tested their efficacy blind. With the 590 Hz I could not reliably detect that (I had reduced its level by ear). The combination of all three was reliably detected mostly due to that high shelf.
I then sat back and enjoyed track after track. All of my reference music sounded wonderful as long as I kept the volume manageable. Note that my testing is with one speaker. With two, I would have gotten more loudness.
Conclusions
From classical evaluation point of view, the TYPE 05 A-CORE goes 90% toward perfection. There are some resonances and directivity errors. However, it brings a very important thing to the party: deep bass extension in "pocket sized" monitor! Research shows that 30% of our preference is in bass (hence the reason "with sub" preference scores are higher). You basically have a full range speaker here. The trade off is lower playback level although you can reduce the bass and get some of that back. So many people reach out to me for a studio monitor in small spaces: the HEDD TYPE 05 will be a good fit for many.
I am going to recommend HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE.
------------
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/
Speaker sports the company trademark AMT tweeter. It eschews the DSP in the more expensive model for a pure, analog audio path, eliminating latency (and lowering cost). Back panel shows consumer friendly input in the form of RCA connection (although I highly recommend balanced):
Continuous bass and treble controls are better than simple dip switches. The large level control knob is appreciated as well.
Overall build is solid as you expect from a professional brand/product.
EDIT: I ran the CEA-2034 measurements by the company and they said it correlates with their anechoic measurements.
HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE Monitor Measurements
As usual, we start with our family of frequency response measurements using Klippel Near-field Scanner:
Overall on-axis response is flat but with a noticeable bass boost and slight treble lift -- both of which likely can be adjusted to some extend using the controls provided. There are some resonances that you can see the cause of in near-field driver responses (shown later). What is impressive for this little speaker is its bass extension, going as low as 35 Hz despite having just a 5 inch woofer in a small enclosure! Flat response is provided down to 50 Hz.
There is some directivity error which we see in the early window responses:
But when mixed with on-axis, it actually smooths out fair bit:
Here is the near-field response, showing port/cabinet resonances causing minor midrange/low treble disturbances:
Horizontal beam width is good and reasonably wide:
Vertical is not but that is typical of 2-way, non-coaxial speakers:
Recently I have added 91 dBSPL distortion measurements which came in handy here:
As noted, all was clean until I reached 96 dBSPL where the woofer started to complain loudly. At the other two SPLs though, it was pleasantly compliant.
Waterfall shows the resonances we have already seen:
Step response is uneventful:
HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE Listening Tests
I placed the monitor about 4 to 5 feet from me with the tweeter at my ear height. First impression was the bass extension, providing warmth. Alas, it also triggered a room mode, causing some amount of excessive bass notes. I tried to dial in filters to back out the bass boost in the measurements but could not find a good solution. I reached in the back and adjusted the bass knob to what you see in the review picture. I lost a bit of bass but clarity and overall balance remained excellent so I stayed with that. Proper solution would involve measuring the room and identifying the cause but good to have a quick solution like this.
I played my sub-bass heavy tracks and was amazed at the ability of TYPE 05 A-CORE to play those notes at fairly loud levels and with minimum distortion! Hard to imagine a little box doing this. Turn up the volume a bit more though and the ports become cool air blowers, pushing your hair back!
At that point, distortion is borderline so I backed off.Partially due to backed off bass level, the highs while delightfully standing out, where a bit above what I like so dialed in a lazy high shelf EQ:
Again, proper EQ would call for multiple PEQs but this did the job as would probably the knob in the back.
I experimented with correcting a couple of resonances. As you see the amplitude is quite low so to be sure my perception was correct, I tested their efficacy blind. With the 590 Hz I could not reliably detect that (I had reduced its level by ear). The combination of all three was reliably detected mostly due to that high shelf.
I then sat back and enjoyed track after track. All of my reference music sounded wonderful as long as I kept the volume manageable. Note that my testing is with one speaker. With two, I would have gotten more loudness.
Conclusions
From classical evaluation point of view, the TYPE 05 A-CORE goes 90% toward perfection. There are some resonances and directivity errors. However, it brings a very important thing to the party: deep bass extension in "pocket sized" monitor! Research shows that 30% of our preference is in bass (hence the reason "with sub" preference scores are higher). You basically have a full range speaker here. The trade off is lower playback level although you can reduce the bass and get some of that back. So many people reach out to me for a studio monitor in small spaces: the HEDD TYPE 05 will be a good fit for many.
I am going to recommend HEDD TYPE 05 A-CORE.
------------
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/
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