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Heybrook HB1 (first series) any good?

They used to recommend the Heybrooks non stop in Hi Fi answers. It was one of their stock recommendations for ages so thats why they interest me.

You can see from the range including turntables that Heybrook made some really decent stuff.

I would love to hear a pair and they do appear on ebay. I couldnt collect so I gave up bidding on a pair fairly recently.
 
Minstrel SE said:
They used to recommend the Heybrooks non stop in Hi Fi answers. It was one of their stock recommendations for ages so thats why they interest me.

You can see from the range including turntables that Heybrook made some really decent stuff.

I would love to hear a pair and they do appear on ebay. I couldnt collect so I gave up bidding on a pair fairly recently.
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Oh! You mean the pair that I just bought:D

Mine are in excellent condition, the foam surrounds have been replaced, I tried them with a modified Nad 3020i and for the price I am quite surprised.
The only let down is their low WAF.

The reason of my post was to know if anybody has had these speakers and how do they compare with others. Maybe give some advice on amplifiers that would work well with them.
 
A friend of mine bought a pair in around 1985, and I think he's still using them. Very impressive for the money, detailed sound but prone to brightness as I recall.
 
I had HB1's years ago. Thought they were great speakers, open, fairly detailed & they stuck with me through several system upgrades.
Downsides are yes, they can be a bit bright, so a bit of system matching may be required + I didn't find them to do deep, thunderous bass. I'd be interested to hear them now, to find out if time has been kind to them, or if more modern designs have made big leaps forward.
I somehow doubt it.
I also remember hearing a Heybrook pre/pwr amp combo which I wasn't quite so convinced about, as it did something strange to the bass timing.
Matt.
 
pqpq said:
A friend of mine bought a pair in around 1985, and I think he's still using them. Very impressive for the money, detailed sound but prone to brightness as I recall.
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My first pair of hifi speakers. I was impressec in the shop.

Sadly they gave me frequent headaches due to the above mentioned brightness.

May require top amp and source?
 
Original HB1 Series 1s on HBS1 stands were my first speaker, and are really very good.

A few Jimmy Hughes tricks soon sorted out the brightness (only half joking). Best sound I ever had out of them was on a LP12/DNM Series 2 pre/Harmon Kardon Citation 12 power amp. It gave them deep, thunderous bass when required.

James.
 
sybil said:
Original HB1 Series 1s on HBS1 stands were my first speaker, and are really very good.

A few Jimmy Hughes tricks soon sorted out the brightness (only half joking). Best sound I ever had out of them was on a LP12/DNM Series 2 pre/Harmon Kardon Citation 12 power amp. It gave them deep, thunderous bass when required.

James.
Click to expand...

Their sealed box and 8" woofers do give an extraordinarity bass response.
A god amplifier will control the bass and the bightiness
 
My son has a pair. They are easy to drive and big fun. Yeah, a bit bright and leaner than you would expect for the size of box, don't go loud very gracefully, but matched sympathetically very musical indeed.

If you buy a pair make sure the foam surrounds have been replaced or factor in the cost and hassle of doing it. You can still buy both of the drive units brand new, which is nice to know.
 
Some regard these very highly here in Denmark where I live. So much that a hifi store have been producing a "copy" of it under the Evox brand name for 5+ years.

Are being demoed/sold on the end of tube gear (croft, manley labs etc) and exposure ss amps and with Nottingham turnables as source.

Are definatelly worth a listen even though the guys at the shop keep sayibg they cant do hifi stuff, only play music. :)
 
I sold my A&R A60 to a fella who was assembling a system and ended up-after considerable demos with the HB1/HBS1. With a cakeplatter Systemdek/LVX source, these unassuming speakers sounded just superlative...crisp, clear, punchy, rhythmic.

I even tried then on the back end of a 42/Snaps/110 and they improved again by such a dramatic degree I found myself wondering...does *anybody* need anything better?

They would be spectacular today if outfitted with some decent passive crossover componentry.
 
Actually they did have hard wired crossovers and used only film caps so they aren't so bad in that regard. I suppose the chokes could have been bigger/better but they were built to a price. Scanspeak are still making the bass drivers in Vifa's factory with Vifa staff & tooling. They are worth keeping in service despite being somewhat challenging on the WAF front.
 
My brother has had a pair for nearly 20 years and got the cone surrounds fixed 2 or 3 years ago. Unfortunately he has stopped listening to music altogether, but that's not the fault of the HB1's, which I always liked. I don't remember them being too bright. I noticed recently that there is a guy on Wigwam using them with Croft 25RS and 7R monos. I couldn't believe it; my brother's budget speakers with over £5k worth of amps, but this guy reckoned they were up to it.
 
I have a pair of HB1 S3s, with the split xover for biwiring (a concession to 90s fashion?) and a slightly different tweeter. Not the prettiest of speakers, but very well made. They were a revelation when installed in my system, in that compared to their predecessors they brought the musical performance to the fore. This vivacious character reminded me of a friend's Linn Saras I'd heard and enjoyed years before. The midrange is fantastic.

I like how they work against the wall, too. Keeps them out of the way somewhat and makes setup easier in certain rooms.

Conan said:
They are without any doubt speakers for vynil. They are bright when fed by digital source
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The HB1s *are* brighter sounding compared to other speakers I've owned, and to the HB3 S2s that I now run. Even when driven by an A60 fed by a Planar 3/RB300/AT95E in a well damped room. I find that cleaning the terminals with IPA from time to time helps tame this a bit and improves their performance generally. A better move than replacing the skinny internal wiring with beefier stuff, which I found made no difference I could hear.
 
I think they are quite unforgiving to bright sources which in some ways can mark out a good speaker that reveals what's upstream of it. Some designs like BC1s seem to sound nice on the end of anything..

I guess though the HB1s still can be considered 'bright' in the big scheme of things.

For better WAF, look for the rare Heybrook Trios. Same drivers, real wood veneer, maybe slightly smaller cabinet? Definately narrower but perhaps taller and deeper to make up for it. I have a pair waiting for me to restore amongst other things. Also have some HB1s to do the foams on too so perhaps I'll get to compare one day.
 
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