High Efficiency Speaker Asylum: Re: Questions for HE10.1 owners by Kevin P

Well... first off the disclosure. I'm DIYCable so keep that in mind when reading the answers.

I personally like more than 3.5W with the HE10.1s. It isn't that the Paramours are not a good match in some situations. We used them at VSAC in a small room with a powered sub and at the listening levels we used it impressed a lot of people. In my home I prefer more power. In fact they respond well to up to 15W-20W of power and sometime after that any more is just overkill. I used to spend a lot of time using the Billies (8W SET) on mine but as of late I've spent more time using the Ella (40W PP EL-34s). It is a taste thing to some extent and I can see people who would prefer either one or another. The Ella is the bargain though as you don't need a preamp with it's built in volume control as long as your using just one source.

If you want to stick with Paramours you might be better off with the new HE12.1 that is arriving soon. It will be a little more sensitive, be a slightly easier load and go a deeper with the sacrifice of being larger and a little more expensive. Pick your poinson.

In terms of your questions 1-5.

#1 The treble is flat. It is flat when driven with SETs, or with PP tubes or with SS amps. Subjectively pretty much nobody has described it as agressive. Laid back is the typical adjective.

#2 It tears a hole in your pocket. It isn't a bang for you buck type of purchase. The stock HE10.1 sounds very good and the Sigs are just an exercise in excess. Cardas parts/wire, expensive inductors, resistors and caps. We also went a little nuts on the cabinet. You can build the HE10.1 and use some or all of those mods yourself. The differences are subtle on the crossover parts. The 1.8uF cap in the tweeter network probably made the biggest difference. Cabinet changes were much more significant. I think if I were to build myself another pair and money was no object I'd use 1" Baltic Birch and vent it out the rear. Brace it use some 5/16 wool felt about 1"-2" from the back and top wall of the cabinet. Check your cabinet for tuning frequency (61HZ) with a PartsExpress super duper woofer tester to confirm your getting the tuning frequency right.

#3 Buy the stands. You can pick up a good pair at PartsExpress for about $100. Part #240-744 is great. I sell them to customers who want me to send them a set of stands for the HE10.1. You can use the smaller 240-742 but it will tip easy. You might get by with it if you don't have kids or pets. It is only $40 more for the better stands. They have as big an influance on the sound as using fancy wire. My advice is not to skimp.

#4 Cannot help you on this one. Only been to San Diego once and that was on a backpacking trip. I arrived on the Amtrack and took a bus out to the Mexico boarder. Hiked up to just north of Los Angeles. Really great trip and I loved every minute of it.