Newform Research R645 Floorstanding Speakers

Newform Research R645 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

2 way Ribbon with 45" wide dispersion, monopole Ribbon and dual 5" ScanSpeak carbon fibre pulp midbasses. Extremely dynamic and transparent new technology linesource loudspeaker with high impedance, high sensitivity for stereo or home theater applications. Heavy 1" MDF cabinet sold factory direct.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 71-80 of 85  
[Oct 18, 1999]
Christopher Brodersen
Audio Enthusiast

I first became active as an audio “hobbyist” in the mid ‘60s, when I put together some Dynaco equipment during my freshman year in college. Since then, I’ve gone through many different systems, with multiple representatives from the three “food groups” (dynamic, electrostatic and planar-magnetic), many in the form of DIY projects.
My previous speakers, Infinity Renaissance 80, a mid-size three-way system with planar midrange and tweeter, were not giving me satisfaction. These had turned into an unintended, unwieldy DIY project (see my review of them elsewhere on this Website), and my ongoing attempts at modification and tweaking were bringing diminishing returns. Perhaps it’s wrong to go about shopping for new speakers based on the faults of the old, but I felt I had to find something that would significantly better the Infinities in the area of dispersion, transparency and smoothness of response in the mid bass.
I was also inspired (or hounded, if you will) by the sound of the speakers in two friends’ systems, one being the excellent Martin-Logan ReQuest, the other the Magnaplanar MG-3.5R. Although neither is the last word in soundstage imaging, both speakers demonstrate outstanding transparency, the ability to “disappear.”
The low cost and many rave reviews of the Newform Research line of ribbon speakers first caught my attention about 6 years ago. But two aspects bothered me: the relatively high crossover (1000 Hz) between the ribbon and the dynamic mid-bass driver, and the need for a series capacitor to flatten the ribbon’s response in the high end of the spectrum. For these and other non-reasons, I put the prospect of buying Newform Research speakers “on the back burner” for a while.
After nearly buying a pair of used electrostatics (I backed out of the deal when I discovered that my 200 wpc Rotel amp would have bought the farm trying to drive them), the idea of buying Newform Research came up again, and so I decided to give it a try. My choice was the kit version of the NHB (No Holds Barred) 45, actually a slightly different model from the 645s, since it contains the 45” monopole ribbon with (2) 5” ScanSpeak mid-bass drivers. I don’t recommend a speaker project of this kind to anyone who isn’t: 1) an experienced kit builder, and 2) willing to forego the immediate gratification of a factory-built speaker for much tweaking and modifying. At $1750 a pair postpaid, you do realize a significant savings over Newform’s already low prices. The NHB 45 kit isn’t for everybody, however, as only the ribbons and mid-bass drivers are supplied, along with good-quality speaker terminals/crossovers and some (but not all) of the hardware. No pre-cut panels, fasteners, not even plans. This requires you to have the necessary knowledge and ability to fabricate and finish the bass enclosure from scratch by yourself—John Meyer will give you advice on enclosure size or leave you to your own devices, as you see fit.
Let me add my voice to the many already on record in praise of John Meyer and the service he provides. He is the embodiment of what good customer service should be, but seldom is—enthusiastic, knowledgeable, caring. A good portion of the fun I had in building these speakers is directly related to the interaction I had with him on the phone (and he is almost always around to answer your questions!).
It’s been about a month since I’ve had the speakers up and running, and only yesterday did I get the performance where I think it should (and can) be. The biggest problem (and really, the only one) centered around what I perceived as excessive brightness in the upper treble. The fix, suggested by John, was to add additional capacitance to the approximately 10 microfarads shipped with the speakers. Instead of paralleling additional caps as John suggested, I substituted a single 15 microfarad Solen cap. It tamed the upper treble to where I think it should be, and the better quality of the Solens probably smoothed out the sound some, too.
Initially, I thought that some of the excessive brightness had to do with my solid-state Rotel gear. I contemplated buying a tube preamp, but then braces for my 11-year-old have caused me to postpone any further big-ticket hi-fi purchases until next year. I would say this about the paranoia that usually sets in with hi-fi hobbyists after buying new speakers, and especially after buying Newforms: don’t sweat your electronics that much, they’re probably more than adequate. I go along with John Meyer, who says that it’s best to hold off buying any new electronics until the affordable digital amplifiers are here in 2-3 years time.
Basically, all the reviews are correct: these speakers are remarkable and nearly unique in their ability to image and create a 3-D soundstage. The precise left-to-right and front-to-back location of instruments is better than any other speaker in my experience. In addition, the Newforms are ultra-transparent and ruthlessly revealing of deficiencies in either source material or associated equipment, which is as it should be with speakers that aspire to the high-end. I attribute these features to the extraordinary dispersion of the Newforms, and to the monopole configuration. It should henceforth be declared a crime to market planar (ribbon) speakers that are not monopoles!
The NHB 45s are not perfect, but then, what speaker is? The integration with the mid-bass drivers is very good, but the mid-bass, as high-tech as it is, is probably the weakest part of the speaker (it figures, since nobody has yet developed a full-range ribbon). I notice, for example, that the tonal balance changes when you stand up, because the mid-basses are now farther from one’s ears. As has been stated previously on the Web, these speakers are meant to be listened to sitting down. The smoothness of response in the all-important mid-bass/lower midrange, however, is much improved over my Infinities.
Here is perhaps the only bad news connected with the Newform ribbons: many of your cherished CDs from the early and mid 80s will likely exhibit excessive digital grit and harshness, although few are out-and-out rejects as a result. But great-sounding CDs sound even better, and much of my listening in the past few days and weeks has centered around finding the really outstanding CDs in my collection. Think of it: the Newforms have made me focus on the music, rather than on my equipment!
For anyone contemplating buying these speakers sight unseen, especially the kits (factory-built Newforms are returnable if you don’t like them, but not the kits), hesitate no more. Just buy ‘em, build ‘em, and start listening to the music again!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 09, 1999]
Russell Lichter
an Audiophile

Music for me is a source of pleasure and wisdom. And a good stereo makes it relatively easy to submerge myself into the illusion of live music. Depending. There are days it does not pay to try. When I was in the market to upgrade loudspeakers from my KEF 101s, I was careful not to sojourn to high end stores on such days, lending a certain degree of psychological consistency at least to my auditioning.
How I ended up with Newform Research ribbons is simply told. Having loved the sound of my audio mentor's old Quads, I had promised myself that if I ever bought new speakers they would be electrostatics. But electrostatic speakers were problematical due to a wood burning stove in our livingroom. Expert opinions as to whether smoke and soot posed a problem were inconsistent. This brought me to magnetic planars, and a chance glance at an advertisement in the Loudspeaker Cookbook brought me to John Meyer, who owns Newform Research and who designed the ribbons. I have not regretted my choice.

My first pair of NRFs were R630s. This design uses a single Scanspeak 8545 6.5" driver in a front-ported MDF box, 8.25" wide, 14" deep, and 29" high, the bottom mounted to a 5/8" thick plywood plinth to lend the speaker stability. The specifications are eight ohms nominal, +/-3db, 34Hz-20,000Hz, 88db sensitivity. The box alone weights in at around 43 pounds, has two sets of five way terminals on the back for biwiring or biamplification. On top is a vertical bracket made of thick steel to which the ribbon structure is mounted. The monopole ribbon itself is 30" tall, approximately 3.25" wide and 2.5" deep, and weighs about 26 pounds. It contains two 15" x 0.75" ribbons, mounted about an eighth of an inch from the front of the structure, which is heavily beveled for good horizontal dispersion. Because the ribbon is a line source, it has negligible vertical dispersion. The crossover point is 1000Hz, better than a full octave lower than typical two-way loudspeaker systems, and the crossover itself is quite simple, consisting of a capacitor for the ribbon and an air core inductor and capacitor for the woofer.

I liked these speakers very much but found one drawback. When I stood up, the level of my ears was a couple of inches above the top of the ribbon structure and the highs dropped off dramatically (I am 5'10"). Not everyone will care about this phenomenon, and if they're 5'8" or less they may not even experience it. I did care and I was willing to pay to solve it. I returned the R630s for full credit and bought a pair of R645s.

R645s have the same box dimensions, but they contain two Scanspeak 8545s, have two smaller rear-firing ports, and weigh about ten pounds more. The mounting bracket is more robust to handle the 44 pound ribbons which contain three 15" elements. Bass roll off is a few Hertz lower and efficiency is 4db greater than the R630. The ribbon is taller than I am, so when I stand up I don't lose the high frequencies. There is noticably more bass punch, granting pipe organ music greater realism, and making the control of bass room modes a bigger issue.

What both speakers do remarkably well is create an effortless sound stage over a broad area, so while there is still an ideal listening position, the sound stage is wonderfully palpable way off center. Listening postion along the vertical plane is not critical, so long as it lies above the bottom of the ribbon and below the top of the ribbon.

The crossover transition is seamless to my ears. My preferred music is classical piano, and after living with the R645s for many months, I am still delighted and sometimes downright amazed how well they handle this music. Vocals, classical and pop, sound natural and have effortless presence. Cassandra Wilson's Blue Light 'Til Dawn CD is amazing in its immediacy and intimacy. These speakers are tremendously revealing, and every now and then I find myself looking around to see who's entered the room, realizing after a few seconds that one of the musicians in the orchestra coughed or moved his chair. As someone who delights in Glenn Gould's mumbled accompaniment, I am especially grateful for these ribbons. Finally, the R645s can play very loud without strain, and they do remarkably well reproducing rock, jazz, and even pipe organ.

Oh yes, for those who want to know, my equipment is: Parasound C/BD-2000 transport, Beogram 1700 table, Audio Alchemy VAC-in-the-Box phono stage, D/AC-1100 converter, P/LD-2000 line preamp, pair of HCA-1000 monoblocks (not bridged) with all Nordost interconnects.







OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Aug 27, 2001]
Jack P.
Casual Listener

Strength:

imaging, center focus, vivid and natural mids, smooth and balanced highs, tight bass

Weakness:

bass below 40

I was going to wait until I had tweeked the positioning of these speakers and upgraded my cables before submitting a review, but after reading the prior review, I felt I should go ahead and put in my $.02 worth.
My experience of the r645 could not be more divergent than the previous review.
Rather than "extremely vague" imaging, I'm hearing incredably great imaging with a rock-solid center focus.Rather than "veiled midrange...lacking body and presence" I'm hearing highly detailed and revealing mids with excellant presence that sound very natural. Rather than highs that are "exceedingly rolled off" I'm very impressed with the smoothness and speed of the highs, which are eminently well balanced with the rest of the sound spectrum. I have not heard any "boominess" or "obvious" cabinet resonances, only very tight, somewhat lean bass. The leanness has greatly diminished with extended break-in, however. These speakers do take a long time to break in.
I'm not calling the previous review wrong, nor will I try to explain the discrepancy. I'm just telling my story of my experiences.
Coming from a great dynamic speaker, It took me a little time to re-orient my ears to a line source, but I really like the excellant vertical coverage and image height. there is a slight difference in sound between sitting and standing, but less than in a typical dome tweeter set-up. I think the sound is slightly better when I'm seated, but it's a very slight difference. I'm also impressed with the horizontal coverage, and wide "sweet spot".
The soundstage width and depth is excellant and well defined images float in space totally independent of the speaker. Listen to live recordings and sports events for a terrific recreation of natural ambiance.
I've heard things in old recordings that were missed even with the very excellant legacy III speakers. I will not say thke r645 are necesarily better than the legacy speakers, certainly not in bass response. But for me, I love the qualities of the line source format ( but with great horizontal dispersion and no back-wave problems). I agree that it seems to be the best of both worlds (dynamic vs. planar). And I like the unusual shape of the speaker-not because it looks different, but because it is shaped correctly for the propagation of sound without enclosure distortions.
In conclusion, I love the speakers and the way they reproduce music. You can listen all day to old classics and not be fatigued as you hear nuances that you never heard before.The soundstage and imaging are fantastic as well.
It would be nice if there was a "special edition" with some of the upgrades to the capacitor and other areas, but I think that right now the company is swamped just trying to suppply the standard model.

Similar Products Used:

legacy signiture III, focus

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 25, 2000]
mark ongg
Audiophile

Strength:

As an audiophile personal service by John Meyer (he owner)is very appreciated. He really go out his way to answer questions you will throw at him.
The speaker is not a good looking beast but once youlisten to it you will forget its ugliness, and soon you will start to like if for what it is. The sound is what I call the pefect blend planar speaker's sweet, fast and accurate his and wonderful full bodied and punchy base of dynamic cone speakers

Weakness:

Not a pleasing looking speaker. I think he is an engineer and I think he need a desinger like to to make it more pleasing to eyes. After all it will be part of the permanent furniture in the room and important pieces due to its size and appearance.

. This is the first speaker I heard that was able to blend the characters. Believe me because I own Maggies, Apogee, B&W before I came across with this speaker. It does not take up the space like the planars but it need free space around it. I have mine set about 4 ft away from back and side wall. At this combination you are in for a full soundstge wider than the speaker location. The sound often times sound its coming outside of the speaker and the depth of sound stage is also awesome. You really can hear Frank Sinatra singing in front and the band is at his back and I can even hear tier of the band member sits. Well if you are not impress by this wait until you hear vocals!!. It really will knock your feet off. It sound so real that you think the artist is right infront of you when you close your eyes.
If you are an audiophile I can recommend some DIY for you to impove the performance (at least it works for me). Change the stock cpacitors in the cross over to MIT caps. Its physically much bigger but you still can install it on the existing board. You will be rewarded with beautiful hi end that extend to beyond without edginess and intrusivness. If you are willing to change the coil you can use Alphacore film coil and a.5 ohm reistor to keep the balance of sound. You are rewarded with better base response which will extend to the bottom without out any bumps and very smooth. You can add sub but make sure you cross at very low frequency. Now what you get is a 2x rating of what is already a 5 stars rating speaker. I am going to live with this speaker for a long timne. I think it will last for a long time because the rimb of the base unit is made of rubber and not foam which will deteriate in couple of years. HAPPY LISTENING that is exactly I am doing right now.

Similar Products Used:

none

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Oct 29, 2000]
Richard
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

dynamic range, easy to drive, easy to modify, incredible value, and of course, the sound.

Weakness:

Earthquake safety?

I looked at many reviews in this site for what I'd consider good speakers. All of B&W Nautilus, Legacy, Tannoy, Magnepan, Vandersteen, Thiel, Dunlavy (not in any particular order). I admit that I didn't look through all of them. I don't have that kind of time. From the ones I looked at, I couldn't find a SINGLE reviewer for these other fine speakers who mentions Newform. On the other hand, many reviewers of Newform speakers have listened to or owned many other fine speakers. I have nothing against these other speakers. Well, okay, I do. $11,000 for what? $23,995 for THAT? And I never found Martin Logans sound appealing for some reason. You can come up with a reason why all the reviews are one-way. For me, I wouldn't have given Magnepan 1.6QRs the review I did if I heard these before them.

Most of these speakers try to use physics to their best knowledge by putting cones this way, putting tweeters that way, using that crossovers, etc. Unfortunately, most don't make any major advances. Hey, I like Nautilus tweeters (sort of since they can't compete with ribbons of Magnepan or Newforms IMO). Hey, I like Thiel's all-first-order crossovers, so what? We should all be digitally bi-amping anyway. (No, I don't do that yet. I do have them bi-amped with analog electronic crossovers, though.)

Newforms seem to be like the "end of the road" speakers. You get there, you stop. Try to find a used Newform on ebay. It's almost non-existent. Actually, it may as well BE non-existent. I heard there was one guy selling R630s so he can buy R645s.

Other than the cool tweeters, these speakers are fairly conventional. I mean, they are made of good quality stuff like ScanSpeak midbass drivers and such, but they don't try to do crazy arrangements or anything like that. It all comes down to using the best components in a simple and logical way.

I've had Magnepan 1.6QR actively bi-amped (no passive inductors or capacitors) for over a year. I liked them, especially for vocals. Unfortunately, they were too limited in their dynamics and they were too picky about placement. They sucked a lot of power, too, not that I had any problem with that, having them bi-amped.

Come on guys. I don't need $40,000 - five hundred pound (each!) boat (or something else crazy) in my listening room. I couldn't afford one anyway. I just need a good pair of speakers for reasonable price.

Make whatever conclusions you want. I just feel that it's too bad these speakers don't get as much attention as they should. They do so many things so well.

For those who care, here's what I've got:

Adcom GCD-700 CD-changer (I'm waiting for SACD prices to become reasonable).
Audio Research LS-15 line-stage preamp.
Home-made phono-preamp. I got the schematics from www.sound.au.com. Thanks Elliot! (I did spell that right, right?)
Used Sherwood turntable and Grado something or rather. No, I don't listen to LP's too often.
Very long balanced home-made cable (Belden 89207 with Neutrik connectors) from preamp to Marchand XM-9 crossovers (using all Burr-Brown OPA2134's), separately housed.
Two Bryston 3B-ST's. One per side.
2 feet each of Kimber 4TC. Yeah, it isn't necessary, but at that length, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg either.
Some other stuff like Pioneer Elite DVL-91 combination player and an HTPC with AMD (yup, not Intel) Thunderbird processor. It's not related to audio, but I had to say it :)

Happy listening to you all.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan 1.6, 3.6, Martin Logan SL3, Snell, B&W, Vandersteen (I think it was anyway), and some others I can't remember.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Aug 23, 1999]
R Farner
an Audiophile

Well after having my 645's for only one week now this review may be a little premature. I have noticed an improvement in sound quailty as each day goes by so they might not be up to their full potential yet as far as being fully broken in yet. I am just so excited & satisfied with there preformance that I couldn't wait to pass the word on to anyone looking for speakers in this price range, or well above it for that matter. Having owned Celestion SL 600's & SL 700si's, Thiel 3.5, Martin Logan Aerius's & B&W 801's I can finally say I have found what I have been looking for with the 645's. Being a musician I am well aware of what sounds real & am very picky about getting that sound right at home. These are the most natural sounding speakers I have owned.
The top end is so transparent with absolutely no trace os irritating sibilance,grain or metallic sound quality; smooth, sweet & silky is what you get. It is also very revealing of all the small details that I never even knew were present on recordings thru other speakers, yet their not over analytical at all.
The midrange blends in seemlessly with a rich warm lushness.Saxophone is definitely right in the room with you as are vocals. the reach out & touch it feeling applies in spades here !!
As far as tha bass goes I really have not complaints there either. They don't have quite the weight in the very bottom end as say my 801's did though. Running the 645's full range with my Velodyne to cover just the bottom below 40hz gives me all the bass I could want. The detail on bass guitar is the best I have heard with excellent pitch definition. If you want to hear the musicians finger move on the strings you get it here.
Soundstaging is one of this speakers strong points. As good as it could get with say my Martin Logans it is just as airy here but with a much better focus of the instruments surrounded with the reverberation of the recording space. There is no blurring of the image as is true of most dipole radiating transducers.
Dynamics are also first rate with the combination of the ribbons & dual 6 1/2" drivers.The attack & transient response of percussion instruments is stunning without any overhang. Rim shots having a very realistic crack that will for sure get your attention. And yes I sometimes become startled from the sounds coming out of these speakers that makes me think that something or someone has invadid my listening space !!
And last but not least is the rhythm & pace they convey, I just can't seem to keep my foot from tapping.An over all excelent value at this price point. Well I have a lot of old recordings that I need to listen to for the first time agin so....

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Oct 19, 2000]
Doug Best
Audiophile

Strength:

soundstage, dynamic range, efficiency, balance, accuracy, value.

Weakness:

can't find any

I first heard recorded classical music in the late forties and first heard a large orchestra live in the fifties, falling in love with classical music in the process. Since becoming a teenager I have been on a quest to have the best system I could afford. As you can see from my list of similar products, I have owned some truly fine and cutting edge affordable speakers. All had really good strengths. None, at least with the equipment I could afford, could play with the dynamic range I require for the sense of scale of the music I love. (Opera, organ and chorus and full orchestra. "Power Music". The Newform Research R645's can.

The set up I have includes a Musical Concepts ST 202+ amp rolled off internally using Hovland caps at around 55 cycles where a sub woofer system takes over. I have a Meolos SHA Gold Pre-amp as a volume control and switcher, a highly modified Theta tube preamp to slightly amplify the cd signal and as a phono preamp if and when I go in that direction. The CD plyer is a Micromega Stage 3. Cables are Audioquest Emeralds, Tara Labs Pandora S and OCOS bi-wired.

It took about four to six weeks of moderate play for the speakers to break in and the improvment was significant. I have a difficult room problem and it was truly worth the time and effort to get the speaker locations as good as possible. (they are further apart than I originally thought would be best and the toe in is very slight. (Less than I imagined would be best.) Slight movements have an effect. John Meyer is very helpful with this.

I got the kit version. I took a couple of months to build the cabinets, with exceptional help from John. Nemo was also a help. I used two coats of sealer, filling marks and sanding before and in between. I then used 6 coats of gloss black enamel, sanding in between and 2 to 3 coats of Black Laquer to finish. My recommendation is if you have the tools, time and love of working with wood, then go ahead. Don't bother if the motive is saving money- buy the finished version. I loved building the cabinets, but the time involved made me wonder how John can sell the finished product at auch a low cost.

I first tried the system going straight through the Melos (no preamp amplification.) The sound was clean and detailed, but after several weeks of this I decided to try the Theta, because of its gain and the fact that many of the classical recordings I have are recorded at such a low level that I couldn't get the volumn I wanted. I was stunned at the change. Everything came alive, not just the big pieces. There was a solidity or three dimensionality of even solo voices that had not been there. My point is even though these speakers will probably work great with a wide variety of equipment, just a slight (?) change is shown up by their quality.

I am most struck by the following:

1. The dynamic range is extraordinary. Going from extremely quiet passages where the individual instrument timbre is so rich to the huge climaxes where individual instrument lines are still discernable is amazing. (example- Shostakovich 5th/ Berglund/ EMI Studio. In the huge climax, I swore I could hear how the triangle was being hit in that circular motion.

2. When I listen to a recording, I want to go throught all the recordings I have of the same piece to hear the different recording values as well as the contrast in voices and readings. It is fascinating. Extraordinary recordings pop out in their quality. (VoxBox- Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Dallas Symphony; RR Testament; Barber, on Argo with Zinman; Russian Sketches (Russian Easter) Telarc- Zinman; Chandos 9271, organ and orchestral music at Liverpool Cathedral; Snow Falling on Cedars film score; Celine Dion, The French Album; etc. Oh yes, La Boheme on DG with Hendricks, Conlon conducting; Mahler's 2nd, conducted by Bernstein.

3. I listened to "Rustle of Spring", piano piece by Sinding, London, and was transported back to mom playing that piece when I was a kid. I have listened to that recording before and enjoyed it, but with these speakers I felt the memory come alive. The sound was so much more like the real think. Also in 1960, I sang in the NY Sate choir at the Eastman Theater (Wm Dawson directing) I was in the center of the chorus, a soprano in front, a bass beside and an alto diagnally in front. I still remember the power of the alto's voice on a particular section of Arkhangel'sky's "I Think of the Dreadful Day". I played that piece (on Celestial Litanies- Melodya) yesterday and had the volume at a level that gave some of the feel of the tremendous power of that voice and work.

3.Nothing, I repeat, nothing takes my focus away from the music. I have never had a set of spekers that didn't detract in some way from the music. These don't.

4. All of the reviews here go into the individual strengths nicely (which I agree with) and I've gone on long enough, so I'll just add this for those of you who have never experienced a ribbon, electrostatic or planer speaker. When I first heard the original Quads, my mouth dropped open in shock at what was possible and after about 10 seconds I knew I had to buy those speakers. Their midrange was great, but these R645's have the whole gestalt. (At least in my set-up). They are a revelation.

Again I want to thank John Meyer for his help and for creating such an extraordinary product at a price many of us can afford.

Similar Products Used:

original Quads, Acoustat X, Acoustat 2+2, Magneplaner 3a

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 25, 2000]
Wayne Hartford
Audiophile

Strength:

Transparency
Detail
Soundstaging
Ease of set-up

Weakness:

I don't think they would fare well in an earthquake
Like most ribbons, horizontal dispersion is better than vertical

I've had these speakers in my system for 4 months and now feel educated enough to write a review. I have always considered hybrid and planer speakers to produce, in most respects, the most appealing sound. But my amp only produces 35 watts, so speaker efficiency is a big consideration. At 92db the 645's are the most efficient hybrid I'm aware of. Since Newform Research only sells "factory direct", buying a pair is the only practical way to audition them. Although they offer a money back guarantee, the buyer is responsible for return shipping costs. But in the big picture, $200 to hear them in my room with my equipment wasn't a big deal.
The design and materials used in shipping were more than sufficient to protect the speakers on their long journey. Now for the review:
there is nothing lacking in the build quality. The black finish on the 50lbs. bass unit is uniform, but thin enough to allow the grain of the wood beneath to show through. The grillcloth framework is stiff and fits snugly to the bass unit. The ribbons are contained in a heavy (50lbs.) metallic case with a smooth satic black finish. The brass, bi-wireable cable connections are solidly mounted and don't seem likely to "spin". A high quality flat cable makes the connection between the ribbon and bass units, and given a little thought, dresses out nicely behind the ribbon unit. At 75" tall and weighing 100 lbs. the "center of gravity" is higher than most other speakers, and therefore susceptible to tipping in a moderate eaerthquake, a consideration if you live in Southern California. I gave little consideration to the initial placement, with no toe in either direction, I placed them 6 1/2 feet apart and 3 1/2 feet from the rear wall, which in my case is all window. From the very first sound, I knew I had made the right choice. Right out of the box the sound reproduction was exceptional, as transparent as I've ever heard, no doubt due to the narrow profile of the ribbon section. The sound stage is also a pleasure, with life-like focus and air. It's fully 3D, although not as tall as you might expect from a speaker of this height. After the speakers were fully broken-in, I selected music that would reveal any shortcomings in the two-way crossover, after several attempts I was not able to hear or measure any abnormalities. The 6 1/2" dual bass drivers in each cabinet were a very good choice. They have sufficient speed and articulation to blend extremely well with the ribbons. If you're not overly fussy you will find that the bass extension produced by the dual extension ports, located at the bottom rear of the cabinet, sufficient. In my room it was flat to 35Hz. I can't stress the last statement enough.
What John Meyers at Newform Research has accomplished is really something special. Anyone considering spending up to 20K on speakers should strongly consider listening to the R645's before buying anything else.

My equipment, listed in order:
Sony SCD-777 Super Audio Player
Tara Labs Decade Interconnect
Conrad Johnson ART Preamp
Tara Labs Master Generation II Interconnect
Conrad Johnson Premier 11XS Amp
Tara Labs Prime 1000 Dual Speaker Cables

Also:
Adcom GFA-555 Amp for sub-woofer
HSU 1220 Sub-woofer w/HSU High-end crossover (34Hz)

Similar Products Used:

Too many to list.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 29, 2000]
Lawrence Volpe
Audiophile

Strength:

Lifelike transparency, holographic imaging, superb rendition of live music, excellent dynamics, high sensitivity, non-critical placement for optimum sound, top-notch customer support, and all at a phenomenal price.

Weakness:

very likely to have low WAF (wife acceptance factor becuase of the high tech look of the 45" tall narrow ribbon structure.

Right out of the starting gate, these speakers are the absolute, runaway steal of the millenium. I have been around live music all of my life; countless concerts beginning in 1956 at the tender age of 17, nightclub performances, piano recitals galore, big band jazz, classical symphonics, big band jazz rehearsals, acoustic classical guitar and most importantly, around piano music. Since I was a youngster, my older brother began playing classical piano when I was 7 and continued right on through college, earning his masters from the Eastman School of Music in our hometown of Rochester, NY. He is a consummate classical pianist extraordinaire, and I've probably logged thousands of hours listening to him play when I was growing up. I know what live, unmicrophoned music sounds like, especially the dynamic range of a large jazz band and the nuances of range in a Steinway grand that my brother played for decades, and is yet playing. The Newform Research 645's come hauntingly close to the real thing, folks. Rather than take my word, try them out yourself and unless you've got a tin ear, you won't be letting these babies out of your sight. The sound images float in space. The effortless clarity, even at very high levels, is like a glimpse of heaven. Awesome transparency. And for substantial reasons. This 45" tall ribbon is not only extremely narrow with rounded edges to eliminate any diffraction effects, but it's built like a proverbial tank with a very heavy magnetic structure, weighing approximately one pound per inch of height. The ribbon membrane is as light as a feather amidst an extremely powerful magnetic field. The crossover occurs at 1000 hz which makes for incredible power handling and lifelike dynamics. And what did the inventor, John Meyers use for the range below 1000hz? Only the very best midrange/woofers on the planet: the ScansSpeak 8545's. Two of them per enclosure. Try pricing out these drivers. They'll set you back approximately $143 each, and they're well worth it. To put the frosting on the cake, try integrating this killer speaker system with a good, amplified subwoofer, such as a Velodyne. Set the crossover at 40 hz and you'll have it all. And I mean all. The 645's go respectably low with accuracy, but they can't match the necessary foundation that a good sub provides. Try it out and hear what real lifelike sound reproduction is all about. And to you, John Meyers, we music lovers owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Similar Products Used:

Have owned numerous stereo component systems since 1964; included have been speakers such as Bose 901's, ESS Heil air motion transformers, M & K satellites with 18" Velodyne subwoofer, and large full range electrostatics which had a curved panel, were 7' tall and weighed 200 lbs. each

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 22, 2000]
Robert Wohlers
Audiophile

Strength:

Transparency, Details, Smoothness, Tight bass, very articulate across the spectrum. Also - great value

Weakness:

Only very low bass missing - augmentation with good subwoofer below 50 Hz yields state-of-the-art performance.

My R645's are installed and setup within a dedicated listening room. I am currently using a Cary SLP94 pre-amplifier along with a 65 watt/channel Cary SLA-70B Signature amplifier. A first order passive line level high pass filter sits between the pre-amplifier and amplifier with a crossover point of 55 Hz. I also use a powered subwoofer with a 3rd order crossover set at 50 Hz. Cables are Tara Reference interconnects and bi-wired Kimber 8TC. No analog (next on my list). CD's played on a Cary player used as a transport, an Assemblage Ultra-Jitter Bug digital conditioner and an Assemblage 2.5 DAC with parts upgrade. The listening room is 16 ft. x 15 ft. x 8 ft., is fairly well damped with substantial acoustical damping in all corners and on the side and rear walls (behind the listening position). The rears of the R645's are placed 48 inches from the front wall while the outer sides are about 40 inches from the side walls. The R645 centers are approximately 8 ft. apart with the listening chair also placed 8 ft. from each center. Large resistive bass traps are located in the front corners of the room. The sub-woofer is located behind the right R645 at a specific position to minimize standing waves (minimize room modes).

Right out of the box I was astonished with the performance of the R645's! Sound-staging is superb (as it was before with my former speakers). But I was not expecting the level of transparency and detail I experienced! I was literally set back into my chair! The frequency balance was much brighter than with my former speakers (Coincidence Super Conquests) and at first I thought it was too bright. But after several hours of listening to many different CD's, I realized that the tonal balance presented by the R645's is much closer to being correct than with the Conquests.

I've now been listening to the R645's for several weeks with perhaps 40 hours of actual playing time. The R645's have become smoother and more refined during this time and I expect this to continue for the next 50 hours or so. Initially some music sounded "zippy" with perhaps some "ringing", such as on massed strings. This has greatly diminished already.

Bass & Mid-Bass: I can't find the right words to describe how good these R645`s sound . Bass and Mid-Bass is so improved over my previous setup. Tight, tune-full, forceful but in correct balance with the mids and highs. Standup bass is superb as is tympani and bass drums. I can't imagine it being much better than this. Integration with my sub-woofer is extremely good with no tonal or spatial clues as to where very low bass is emanating from. My previous setup suffered from lower to mid-bass bloat, even though I have base traps. Not so with the R645's! Only a slight boom at around 60 - 70 Hz remains (main room mode) but at a greatly diminished level. Kudos to the dual Scanspeak mid-bass design. And they haven't been broken in yet!

Mid-Range: Fantastic! Piano is truly amazing as are percussive and strings! I still can't get over the transparency and transient capability these ribbons exhibit. Details are also superb. I now listen to my music at lower volume levels since the transient, detail and transparency performance of the R645's seem so much more linear with volume than my previous setup. Dynamic contrasts are also superb with no evidence of compression or distortion at higher volume levels. My previous speakers exhibited an annoying habit of "blurring" musical details when louder passages were played. Their manufacturer told me that this was due to the amplifier I was using. Perhaps so, but I doubted that conclusion. Now I know why! With the R645's I can listen deep into the soundstage during low level passages with ease yet clearly discern individual performers or instruments during loud passages. Quite simply, wonderful...

High's: Astonishing detail and transparency. Cymbals sound like cymbals, the first home system I've owned that could achieve this feat. The ability to separate and provide space between individual sources of upper octave music is wonderful and beyond anything I've heard under $15K. Some passages sound a little "zippy" but as yet I'm not sure that this is the music itself (CD's) or the R645's. Also, some of the higher frequency instruments seem to be pushed slightly forward in the sound stage. Again, this may be what is recorded.

Overall I am extremely pleased with the R645's and am enjoying my CD collection all over again. I now have to tear myself away from listening sessions. The R645 is a superb product that is an unbelievable value. An added plus is that the fit and finish of the R645's is very good and they look great! I will not be upgrading speakers for a long time to come, unless Newform Research comes out with an even better product. I'll now concentrate on upgrading my source equipment to 24/96 or SACD.

PS: The service John Meyer and his staff at Newform Research provides is beyond reproach and should serve as a model for ALL WEB retailers. The R645's arrived at my door when Newform Research said they would. Packaging was robust and was needed! Those UPS gorillas did their usual bang-up job but NO DAMAGE was evident anywhere. Setup of the R645's was straightforward and not difficult. Positioning of the speakers for best soundstaging and imaging was very easily and quickly performed. Spikes are provided and did make a difference in lower, mid-bass tightness.





Similar Products Used:

Not used, but heard - Maggies, Martin-Logans. Previous speakers - Coincident Super Conquests.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
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