Hedd Type 07 A-Core Monitors

[Rick63]

I've long wanted to try a set of monitors with AMT tweeters and nearly pulled the trigger on some Adam A7Vs several times, but too many reports of them being overly bright and harsh kept me from doing so. When I saw Hedd release this new all analog series earlier this year I was intrigued. I've read all I could on them and watched videos, limited as they may be thus far. I kept reading how they are much smoother than the Adams. And then after reading @Amir's test and review of their little brother the 05s I decided to order a pair. They just arrived and I've got them hooked up and I'm about to give them a long listening session. But first I'm going to make a few comments on my early impressions, and I also have a question to ask the experts here.

• First off, they are very good looking to me and they have excellent build quality.
• The controls on the back have a center detent but that's it. I wish they had detents through the complete range of the knobs.
• I was most worried about hiss, but I am very relieved to find they have very low hiss. I have to be about 1' away from the tweeter and listen hard to hear it. At my MLP of 2 meters it's a non-factor. My Dynaudio's have low hiss as well but the hiss on these is even lower.
• Ever since I recently bought an SMSL RAW-MDA1 a couple of weeks ago I noticed when I powered it on I got a very slight popping through Dynaudio's that I didn't get with my Topping DX3 Pro +. With the Hedds this doesn't happen. Not sure why but that's fine by me.

Now for something I don't understand and am looking for an answer as to why that is:

• My Dynaudio BM5 MKIIIs have a level switch on the rear, with the options being +4, 0, -10. I always kept it at 0 and with most of my music listening I have the volume on the RAW-MDA1 between -35 to -30 for TV/Movie sound between-35 to -40.
• The Hedd has a variable level knob. I figured with the RAW-MDA1's XLR output level at 5V that leaving the knob in the center detent position would be where it should be left. When I powered them on with the level at 0 listening to TV the volume level was way lower. I turned the level knobs all the way up and even then I have to have the level on the RAW-MDA1 at about -25 to get roughly the same volume ay my MLP.

I am not understanding why this is. I have no problem leaving the knobs all the way clockwise, but I'm wondering if anyone can explain why that may be, and if it is anything to be concerned about?

Time to start listening and I'll give some subjective impressions later on.

Any advice on the level issue would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rick63]

I don't know if it'll help explain the volume level differences, but here are the specs of both monitors.

 

[kemmler3D]

Probably leave the gain knob at zero unless your DAC can't drive it to full power... Which only takes 1.5v. most decent DACs can blow right past that. Hiss should be proportionally lower if you lower that knob. Just raise the gain on the DAC and you're not wasting the dynamic range as much.

 

[Rick63]

Probably leave the gain knob at zero unless your DAC can't drive it to full power... Which only takes 1.5v. most decent DACs can blow right past that. Hiss should be proportionally lower if you lower that knob. Just raise the gain on the DAC and you're not wasting the dynamic range as much.

Hmm. I'm on my first music listen with one of my favorite reference (and overall) discs. With the level knob on the monitors all the way up I need to have the volume level on the RAW-MDA1 at around -17.5 to get my usual 85 db average listening level (measured with an SPL meter).

I tried returning the level knobs on the monitors back to the center detent position and I had to turn the level on the RAW-MDA1 all the way up to about -5 to get the same SPL average levels at my MLP. The RAW-MDA1 goes up to 0 so that would leave me with little headroom on the rare occasion my upstairs neighbor isn't home and I can crank it up.

The RAW-MDA1 outputs 5.2v through the XLR outs so I thought it should have no problem driving the Hedd, so I'm confused. Is there some other reason it may not be able to drive the Hedds?

Also, the hiss level is the same regardless of where the level knob is. I like that.

For now I'm going to leave the level knobs on them at about the 3 o'clock position. I did notice when Amir tested the smaller 05 that he had the knobs around the 2 o'clock position.

 

[Rick63]

RAW-MDA1 specs. It seems to me it should be a great match for these monitors?

 

[kemmler3D]

RAW-MDA1 specs. It seems to me it should be a great match for these monitors?

View attachment 488462

Hmm, that is a little surprising that you're hearing low levels at what ought to be maximum input voltage... dunno!

 

[Rick63]

A couple real brief notes on my early impressions of their sound. I know this recording very well. I've had too many speakers/monitors to count since I first heard it and bought it around 1999, and 90% of the time it has been the first disc I played when I get new ones.

The ART tweeter definitely is more detailed and airy than the soft dome in the Dynaudio's. That is one of the main things I was looking for in a new monitor. Bass seems nice and tight. I like them! That's it for now. Like I said, short and sweet. These are likely keepers. Once in awhile you kinda know almost right away.

I have settled on the level knob at around the same position as Amir had when the reviewed the 05s and it seems like a good place for it as I still have plenty of headroom for when needed.

For reference my listening room is about 11'x14'x8'. The speakers are about 30" from the front wall and about 20" from the side walls (as far as I'm able to). They are about 5-1/2 feet apart on 24" Mononoprice Monolith stands filled with sand, and they are about 6' from my MLP, as close to an equilateral triangle as I can get. I'm going to have to adjust the spikes on the stands to tilt them down a bit because I'm an inch or so below tweeter height. This is a pretty good sounding room with my unscientificly placed cheap wall panels. It was horrible before.

I have an RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKII sub that I love for music, but I've had it turned off for a few days so I could have a few days listening to the Dynaudio's and have a better subjective reference memory of their bass when swapping them out for the Hedds.

Back to listening. I'm cranking up another favorite artist of mine, Lucinda Williams' "Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone" CD. My friend Mary Jane has joined me. Life is good.

 

[Rick63]

It's official: They're keepers and apparently, I do like AMT tweeters.

 

[Rick63]

I was going to listen to these a couple of days sans sub but after 5 discs I couldn't help myself but to turn it back on to try. Of course and as expected, it's staying on now.

My neighbor got home so I had to turn it down and it still sounds great as this level. I'm really enjoying these. Life is good!!

 

[AnalogSteph]

What kind of DAC volume setting do you need for this kind of level?

I am wondering what your digital playback chain for music looks like... seeing ~5 dB lower levels than on broadcast and movies seems a bit surprising. Unless you're also into demanding classical recordings, you may have excessive headroom there.

 

[Purité Audio]

I hope the new models are more reliable than their initial offerings, which were poorly engineered and unreliable hardly a winning combination.
Keith

 

[Rick63]

Update:

These are clearly defective and I'm going to set up a return on Monday.

There is something wrong because they are not nearly as loud as they should be through the XLR inputs. I need to have the volume knobs up to about the 3 o'clock position just to get close to the same levels as I get with my Dynaudio BM5 MKIIIs with those set at the 0 or unity gain swith.

I tried replacing the left Hedd with a Dynaudio and left the right Hedd in place and turned on some music. The gain on the Dynaudio was 0 and the Hedd was at 3 o'clock on the dial. The Dynaudio was louder, enough to practically drown out the Hedd. I then swithed the level switch on the Dynaudio to -10 and then the volume levels on the monitors were pretty equal. Something isn't right, and I've never had turn turn the gain knob past unity gain on any powered monitors I've owned. My SMSL RAW-MDA1 outputs 5.2 volts from its XLR outs for crying out loud.

I decided to try something to see if maybe there was something wrong with the XLR input. I hooked up an RCA cable thinking if it was louder through the RCA input that would narrow it down to something with the XLR.

And that's where a real disappointment occurred. As soon as I powered everything up all I got was loud buzzing through both monitors. I immediately powered them down. For reference I have good quality cables and everything goes through my APC H15, and I've never had any buzzing or grounding issues with any other gear.

I put the Dynaudio's back in place and everything is back to normal.

It's a shame because they really do sound phenomenal.

Edit: To confirm 100% there is something wrong with them, I hooked them up to my Topping DX3 Pro+. Guess what? They made the same buzzing noise....

 

[Rick63]

I hope the new models are more reliable than their initial offerings, which were poorly engineered and unreliable hardly a winning combination.
Keith

Apparently they are not.

 

[Purité Audio]

Disappointing, Adam, Hedd same guy in charge IME I would avoid.
A customer had a pair of expensive Adam ‘Tensor’ active speakers. which developed a fault, no schematics could be found!
Really poor.
Keith

 

[Rick63]

I know Dynaudio doesn't get much love here, but I love mine and they've been reliable.

Gonna return the Hedds and stand pat for awhile.

If I had EQ I could easily get the upper midrange - lower treble boost I was looking for in a new monitor out of the Dyn's, due to taste and age related hearing. The problem is my options are very limited due to my system is simply based on physical media devices, so I have no PC EQ options available. My only option is something like a a Schiit Lokius EQ and if not for the bad review I'd have already ordered one.

 

[Purité Audio]

Try streaming, all the worlds music, and contemporary ‘streamers’ have built in EQ or active loudspeakers with EQ of which there are a few.
Keith

 

[Rick63]

Well, I could also get an interface with eq. I wanted a Topping DX5 II but didn't like the reports of issues with it so I bought an SMSL instead and I like it.

 

[Rick63]

Try streaming, all the worlds music, and contemporary ‘streamers’ have built in EQ or active loudspeakers with EQ of which there are a few.
Keith

Everyone tells me that but I'm really not interested. I don't even have or want internet service, and I have a large physical media collection I'm very happy with. Yeah, I'm on of the last of a dying breed.


Back to the old avatar...

 

[Ktacos]

What a bummer, never fun to get a new speaker and have the excitement die down because it's broken. Definitely a weird interaction with the various dacs.

There's always genelec, reliable, built like tanks, sound incredible. Definitely no issue with input-to-output volume on them. sound a lot better than the BM5k3 IMO.

If you want some alternative advice, I'd say the weak link in your setup is your room. I think your money would be better spent on some better treatments rather than new monitors. Foam on the walls tends to lead to pretty poor results, especially in a small room. Your decay times are going to be really wonky, everything from 1k up will be dead but all the reflections below that will be free to do whatever they want. I'd say four panels, maybe 2" on the sides since the room is small, and something in the corners would really transform the room acoustically. If you're not using some EQ, your space would massively benefit from that as well, small rooms can be pretty nasty.

 

[ChrisG]

I must admit that I'm confused.

Is there anything wrong/broken about the sound, or is your complaint just that you're having to turn a knob further in order to get the results you're looking for?