Very Open Detailed and precise soundstage with realistic tmber and harmonic accuracy presented in A NATURAL way.

Not a good product for those who are into hi fi sound. Takes very good associated equipment to bring them live..

I really can't add to much of what has been said about these excellent loudpeakers except that it is important to understand that system matching is important as with any extremely good loudspeaker. It truely is a music lovers loudspeaker that rewards you with a natural harmonic balance and solid well defined images of the music event suspended in 3D space in front of you. What more can one want?
Associated equipment...Works well in my Room.

Audio Research VT100II
Resolution Audio CD55
Oval Silver speaker Cables
Stealth interconnect
Misc Power Cord
8 Gauge Dedicated line and Braker for amp w/own primary ground
10 Gauge Dedicated line for CD Player with own primary ground

Poduct deserves 10 Stars with Crossover / cabinet upgrade

Similar Products Used:

Oldies owned...Maggies, 1C, 1D, III,..Koss Model 1A, Acoustat X, 2+2, 1+1, ESS Transtatic, Quad 57, 63's, Apogee's Diva's,Mariah Acoustics 1A's, Martin Login CLS (original),Joseph Audio RM22's, Audio Concepts Sapphire..forgetting a few. Listened to ALOT MORE!!!

Transparence, Tonality, Sound staging, Detailed but not at the expense of Musicality.

Ideal listening height is a little high. Not the sexiest speaker ever designed

So many positive reviews have already been written about these speakers that there is not much to add, but here’s what I think so far. I've lived with this speaker for eight months now. In that time I have experimented with room placement, tried different associated equipment and have upgraded the stock crossover.

First off, the R645’s right out of the box had something very special going for it; they sounded musical. I think I listened for 7 hours straight. Unlike some people who felt the speaker was too bright at first, I felt it was a little too laid back. After 30 days of break-in the speaker opened up and became very present and lively. It is beneficial to level the speaker in all directions. If the ribbons are tilted too far back they lose some of their sparkle. Also sitting height is very important and your ears should be close to the middle of the bottom ribbon. I was so impressed with this speaker that there was no way it was going back after the 30 trial period. The R645 communicates the musical message of the performers better than any other speaker I’ve heard to date. There before me was a very detailed, open and layered sound stage that commanded my attention. Image specificity and focus had surpassed the Audio Artistry Dvorak’s. Plus the bass had real punch and impact to it, unlike the Dvorak’s. On the downside, unlike the dipole affect of the Dvorak’s bass, which does not interact with the room as much, the monopole design of the R645’s bass did. It didn’t help that my room was only 14’x16’ not just small but close to a square in shape. This is a challenge not just for the R645’s but also for any speaker. I built some DIY bass traps using Jon Risch’s website http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index2.htm. They definitely helped in getting the bass under control. What they afforded me was the ability to move the speaker closer to the wall behind them. This improved things in two ways. First, moving the speaker back reduced a lot of room modes, secondly this allowed me to move my listening chair forward, getting my head away from the back wall.

I tried several different amps. First up was the Air Tight ATM-2 60 watt tube amp. Although there was plenty of power to drive the speaker it didn’t have the control in the bass that I was looking for. Also, I felt that the R645 was so musical and smooth sounding to start with that it was better served by a more incisive sounding amp. Next, I tried a Coda 10.5 solid-state amp. I liked the control the amp had on the woofers and the more incisive sound. As good as the speakers were sounding, I knew they would benefit from, and were worthy of, top-notch components, so the search went on. I tried four more solid-state amps; Accuphase P450, Conrad-Johnson MF 2500, Class Audio CA 200 and the Spectron Musician. The amp of choice based solely on sound was the Spectron Musician. I was willing to spend more money but not for an amp that didn’t sound as good. (Review posted on AudioReview.com).

So, in conclusion, did the stock R645 have any faults? This has a two-fold answer. Taking the price into consideration I would say not. It replaced a speaker costing more than three times its value. Compared to state-of-the-art, yes it does have a few faults. The woofers don’t quite match the abilities of the ribbons. The ribbons are fast and very detailed and the woofers lag somewhat in comparison, so the speaker is not as coherent as the best I’ve heard.

And now for the rest of the story:

Jeff at Sonic Craft http://www.soniccraft.com/ did the crossover upgrade known as the Kitchen sink upgrade or KSU. Also the stock capacitor was replaced with the Theta cap. At first, the bass although tighter was a little over bearing in my small room. Like every new component though, the crossover took about two to three weeks to break-in. Now the woofers match the abilities of the ribbons and everything sounds like it is cut from the same cloth. Besides being much tighter, the bass is now more extended and transparent as well. Before the upgrade, certain jazz cuts from Patricia Barber and Diana Krall were much harder to listen to. When the stand up bass was highlighted, the speaker would lose its composure somewhat. Now these same cuts can be listened to at much higher levels and the woofers don’t lose their cool. As for the ribbons, which sounded so good before, they have become even more open, transparent, extended, and have better image depth!! Cymbals, which sometimes had a bit of grain or sibilance to them, now have a better-defined and smoother sound.

John Meyer of Newform Research should be commended for bringing such a fine loud speaker to market at a very affordable price. I wish to give special thanks to Jeff Glowacki at Sonic Craft for his effort in designing and installing my KSU. I also want to thank Brad, Nemo and others on the Newform forum for their advice and encouragement in upgrading the crossover. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Newformgroup. One more note worth mentioning, Virtual Dynamics power cords are the real deal. At the very affordable price of $125 for the 2i, they blew away power cords costing $1000.

The R645 with the KSU is without a doubt one of the best speakers I’ve owned or listened to. I can live with the fact that my listening height has to be a little bit higher. This to me is offset by the fact that a lot of speakers don’t come close to having the horizontal dispersion that the R645’s do. Also the slim, high tech look of the speaker has kind of grown on me. Considering the price of the speaker with the upgrade, this has to be the biggest audiophile bargain of all time!!

Associated equipment:

Accuphase DP 65 V cd player, using digital volume control
Spectron Musician II amp
Balanced XLO Signature interconnect
Bi-wired XLO type 5.1 speaker cable
Virtual Dynamics 2i power cord on amp and cd player
DH ceramic cones under cd player and amp

Similar Products Used:

Vandersteen 3A, Apogee Duetta Signature, Audio Artistry Dvorak, Acoustic Energy AE1 Signature’s

Detail, Transparency, clarity, great sound and value

None worth noting

I would like to add my voice to the consistently positive experiences everyone else has reported on the 645's and John Meyer. As a long time music lover with fairly eclectic tastes,it's a pleasure to retreat to the "music room" downstairs and listen to the great sound of John's speakers. The smooth ,non-fatiguing sound allows me to listen for hours while continuing to explore the music.
I find the 645's to perform exceptionally well with all types of music. The need for a subwoofer depends entirely on how deeply you like to plumb the depths.

The ribbons excel in providing the qualities everyone has noted.... detail,imaging/soundstaging,etc, and the Scanspeak mid/bass drivers integrate beautifically.
I can certainly reinforce the positive experiences and comments of others after listening to a variety of systems at much higher price points.
Aside from the great sound John's speakers produce, value is a major factor when considering the 645's. Except for maybe the spousal approval factor(which was no problem here), you can't go wrong at this price level.
It's a leap of faith buying without hearing, but the strong favourable response from a seemingly knowledgable and experienced group of customers certainly reduces the risks that you may not like what you hear. The professional reviews are also very good. Worst case, you can send them back.
The unusual experience of talking with the designer and manufacturer is also a treat. John is a knowledgable and committed individual who lives up to the comments others have made about his responsiveness and service.
Check them out!!

System:
Panasonic DVD as transport
Perpetual Technologies P3A DAC with P1A Digital Correction
Arcam preamp
Bryston 4B ST Amp
Nordost Red Dawn interconnects
Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cable
Paradigm PW 2200 Sub

Similar Products Used:

Joseph Audio, Hales, B&W 803, others

Superb soundstage, smoothness, clarity and transparency. Exceptional support.

Wife-acceptance factor. Ignites the chain-reaction to upgrade the gear (at least in my case).

I have been listening to classical music for over 20 years and have been in many great concert halls listening to some of the world's greatest classical music performances. To me, having a system at home that could makes me feeling like hearing live music in a concert hall is an absolute obsession.

Unlike many many seasoned audiophiles on this site, I am rather new to the world of high-end systems and thus I am not familar with all those specialized terminology such as "dry", "warm", "flat", etc....to describe the sound. But I will recognize great sound when I hear one base on my extensive listening experience. And if I could use words to describe how music sounds, then I don't need music any more.

R645 gives me exactly what I am looking for --- at a price of less than USD $2300. I only had the speakers for less than 2 weeks (i.e., 3 weeks break-in suggested per instruction) and it simply impresses me more and more. Not to mention that I am still using a rather modest setup:

Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX A/V Receiver
Marantz MA-700 monoblocks
Panasonic A-560 DVD Player (using 96K output)
Pioneer Elite CLD-59 Laserdisc player
Audiotruth Diamond as interconnects
Audiotruth Dragon as speaker cables (bi-wire)
AudioQuest Digital Pro as coaxial

Of course, the speakers look rather unusual (but impressive). And since I started with very modest equipments, the urge to do major upgrade to other components is inextinguishable. I'd say to myself "If the R645 sounds so great with those junk, what happen if...". I think the R645 deserves great supporting cast to do it justice - it is simply a marvel. Don't get me wrong: Even with modest components like myself, R546 still sings great.

Last but not least, the support from the owner and designer John Meyers is unbelievable.

Once I have my new gear and hear it for a while, I will post another review. The new supporting casts for the R645 will include...
Sonic Frontiers LINE-3 pre-amp
Sonic Frontiers POWER-3 power amp
Theta Universal Transport
MSB Gold Link DAC (may be an EVS Millennium DAC II too!)
NHT Sub Two subwoofer w/ Sunfire 500W amp

Happy listening!

Similar Products Used:

Wharfedale. Infinity. B&W. Castle.

Superb soundstaging, ease of setup, Highly revealing of front end electronics, excellent product support

W.A.F.

I won't rehash all the glowing comments below, which I agree with.
When I moved to a smaller home I had a hard time placing my Magnepan MG3's in my 12' by 20' room. After hearing a friends R630's I decided to try the 645's. Because of the mono pole design these are much easier to place with a large sweet spot and incredible image depth.
Kudos to John Meyer for overnighting a replacement bass unit after the clowns at oops, UPS, smashed one of the bass units. He is a true gentleman and incredibly helpful with set up.
I find these are very revealing of front end equipment. Being 91 DB. efficient they are an easy load and bloom with a good 30 watt push pull tube amp. I also switch occasionally to a 100watt mosfet amp with "great" results.
These speakers have been given 2 thumbs up by members of my local audiophile society.
Associated equip;
Audible Illusions Modulus pre-amp
Cal Delta transport
Cal Sigma II tube DAC
Rega Planar III turntable {Benz silver Crt.}
Music Reference RM10 tube amp
Sumo Polaris mosfet amp
Audio Magic Excalibur II {silver interconnects}

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan MG3, Tannoy PBM-8 nearfield monitors

Excellent sounding hybrid ribbon speakers, great customer service from John Meyers(Owner)

None.

I came across this speaker from this website and was impress with the number of rave reviews it received. I try to give it a try and called Newform and to find out I have been patronize by the boss himself, John Meyers. With his advise and some discussion regarding stereo equipements I decided to give his speakers a trial. Upon hearing the speakers, I decided to end the trial and make it mine.

I am using the R645 for my home theater, they makes horror movies scarier and action movies much more exciting. First, they have incredible soundstage. Second, their ultrafast midrange tweeter is so quick its like lightning, Zap!. Third, transparency was incredible best with high-end audio. Fourth, there is enough OMPH! to get your home theater going although additional of a subwoofer is best. Overall, you can't be disappointed with how the R645 sounds.

Similar Products Used:

NHTs, B&Ws

I recently purchased a pair of these speakers because the concepts behind their design made a great deal of sense to me. I have owned or had for extended periods of time many fine loudspeakers in my system ..... including Maneplanar 2.5s, Wilson Audio Watts and Acoustic Energy AE1s. For a great disappearing act, the Watts and AE1s are pretty amazing providing that the associated equipment is up to par. If not, they can be brutal to the ears, even while disappearing. I had to sell my Magnepans when I purchased a new home and didn’t have the room to make them work. I have since bought a different home with a large dedicated listening room and kind of missed some of the things that the Maggies used to do. When I contacted John Meyer at Newform, he remarked that I was suffering from planar magnetic withdrawal. The more I thought about it, the more I believed he was right. There is something about ribbons that makes music sound like music. The only complaints I ever had with the Magneplanars was that they needed some serious amplifier to sound their best and the placement was very critical with a restricted sweet spot. Please don’t get me wrong, I still love Magnepans and would have no trouble recommending them ..... BUT ..... let me rave just a bit about the Newform R645s. The manufacturer offers the speakers via direct sale with a 30 day return policy if not happy, but they WILL NOT be getting my pair back !

I have played guitar for about 30 years and have been to a great many live performances of acoustic music including piano recitals, chamber ensembles, symphonies, barbershop quartets and folk music gatherings of various and assorted instruments. I am very picky about things such as pitch and harmonics. The R645s reproduce acoustic instruments and voice (especially female voice) as well or better than any other speaker I have ever experienced. If you enjoy well engineered (read minimally miked) recordings of piano, be prepared for a dose of realism ! The SIZE and placement behind the speakers are truly amazing, giving a perspective that my previous monitor speakers were not capable of ..... as good as they were. But this effect does not come at the expense of focus, they are wonderfully focused and 3 dimensional. Another interesting thing is that you would think that a speaker 75” tall and weighing 100 lbs. would draw attention to itself sonically. Not so ..... they disappear to an unbelievable degree. A friend of mine came over for a listening session and pointed this out immediately. This friend has been around for each revision and incarnation of my system over the years and is not the easily impressed sort. But after a very brief listen, he proclaimed the R645s to be the best he had heard. Two hours later, his opinion had not changed.

My equipment is as follows :
CEC TL-2X belt drive CD transport
Genesis Digital Lens
Camelot Uther V2.0 DAC run without a preamp
Audio Research VT100 amplifier
Custom built solid silver interconnects
Solid core twisted pair copper speaker cables

As an experiment, I also tried the speakers with a pair of modified Heath W5 tube monoblocks (about 20 – 25 watts per side) and a Marantz SE-67 CD player to see how the speakers sounded with decidedly lesser peripherals. Not too bad ..... as long as head banger volume was not attempted. The high efficiency of the speakers contributed to this. With the original front end and amplifier in place, the speakers also sound fine with rock music.

As a side thought, the owner of Newform, John Meyer is very knowledgeable and helpful. If you talk to him for a few minutes, you get the feeling that you’ve known him for a long time.

There is only one drawback, PERIOD, that I can imagine with these units and it’s one that cannot be avoided. The wife acceptance factor (WAF) could be a concern for some if their mate values a conservative appearance over wonderful sound. My wife remarked that the R645s looked like a matching set of wood burning stoves, complete with chimneys. Thankfully, my dedicated listening room is a place that she rarely visits.
If this is not an issue, and you love music (especially acoustic instruments and voice), I cannot give a more hearty recommendation to these fine loudspeakers. I would imagine that Newform’s smaller speakers sound equally good in smaller rooms.

Outstanding Soundstage, crystalline highs and detailed mid-range.

None

This site is full of accolades for the Newform Research R645's. After having purchased a pair, I can tell that the reviews are deserved. These speakers are probably one of the best values for the money that I've found. People who visit my home are blown away by the incredible sound the 645's deliver. This is being accomplished with old mid-fi components. One of the additional benefits of buying the R645's is you get to deal with John Meyer,who is one of true class acts in the audio business.

sometimes indistinguisable from live instruments and voices

Not pretty

A reviewer below who claims to have heard them describes these speakers as being occasionally boxy. This is absurd. I doubt anyone playing a good recording through these gems could point to the sound coming from, or being constricted in anyway by the boxes. The sound comes from everywhere but.

Amazingly open and detailed reproducers. Don't be afraid of taking a chance on the mail order. You get first class treatment from J.M.

Wide band transparency

Just got my pair yesterday and I'm already blown away. Dropped them into my current system which has been optimized for Dunlavy SC-III's: very wide spacing across short dimension of my 18x33 ft room, and crossed to stereo Hsu 1225's @ 75Hz with 500W Hsu amp/x-overs. The 645's sang from the first moment in a way reminescent of Quad63's, my favorite speaker of all time. (I sold my pair years ago when I couldn't overcome their dynamic limits in this current largish room.)

Anyway, very encouraged by what I was hearing, I next ran the 645's full range to assess their dynamic limits and bass capability. My jaw hit the floor at the way the sound opened up in every way. Before buying the Hsu's I compared the active high pass sections of several subs and found the Hsu the most transaprent. In fact I've never heard the insertion of the Hsu high pass section as a significant problem until the 645. Wow. This puppy is transparent.

So now I'm taking John Meyer's suggestion to run the 645's full range and just bring the Hsu's in at 43, and it is phenomonal.

Problems? I think I hear some compression on the ribbon running full range, but I also think that may be getting better as it breaks in. Honestly, I do not as yet hear any other significant problems! Of course this is the common effect when changing to a "better" componant, but let me just say this: I'm definately keeping these speakers!

Similar Products Used:

Quad 63's, Carver Amazings, Maggie Typmani 4a's, Gallo Reference, Acoustats.