As the science of astronomy moves forward, many of the ideas about how the universe has formed continues to evolve. The accepted theory used to be that galaxies formed from gas clouds and star clusters coming together. Over time gravity gathered enough material together to form the various galaxies in the universe. Only lately has another credible theory has emerged, where massive clusters of matter were fractured at the Big Bang in which the universe came into being, and that this matter continued fracturing over time to form the galaxies we see today. Which theory is correct? No one knows, and neither may be right. Now the question that is relevant to audio hobbyists is "How do audio companies form?" While not as weighty as the question regarding the moment of creation, this is an interesting question to ponder. There are well recognized mega companies that dominate the audio landscape, such as Rega, Cambridge, JBL, Pioneer, and so on. These established giants define the audio landscape in many ways, yet they do not completely dominate our hobby. There is a cluster of high-end companies that started as small projects from humble means. You will recognize these companies, they have names like Audio Research, Magnepan, PS Audio, Krell, Aragon, and a host of others too numerous to list. Some companies and designers faded into obscurity, while others found fertile ground and thrived. Yet this is the genesis of where great audio gear is created, as these companies are founded by passionate people who have a vision to bring what they perceive as a quality component to market. It is within this context that I will introduce you to Holt Hill Audio and the Cionnsaile Monitor speakers.
Holt Hill Audio is based in Andover, Massachusetts, and is the incarnation of Brian Salazar's desire to build a quality speaker at a price that the value conscious hobbyist can afford. The Cionnsaile Monitor is not the typical small footprint speaker that has unobtrusive looks, and is built to the same parameters as every other manufacturer's stand mount speaker offering. This speaker does not have a diminutive cabinet that consumes about half a cubic foot of air space, is fitted with a 5.25" mid bass driver, and some sort of dome tweeter. Those are speakers designed to blend into a home décor; while the speaker Brian has designed is for the hobbyist who cares about the excellence of musical reproduction, and is willing to embrace a speaker's form factor that maximizes the abilities of the design concept. You see the Cionnsaile Monitors are a large format stand mount speaker, which is something that is not typically encountered in today's audio world. There is precedence for this type of speaker though, as several companies offered this type of product in the 1980s to 2000's. These Cionnsaile Monitors are hand crafted offerings are built in the US, with distinctive design, and a price that is quite affordable at $1499 a pair.
The Cionnsaile Monitors are a two-way design with a 6-inch mid-bass driver, and ¾-inch coated fabric dome tweeter with integrated waveguide. The mid-bass is a robust driver, as it uses a cast aluminum frame and a hybrid magnesium/aluminum cone. This material combination ensures a rigid and light diaphragm, which results in improved midrange performance. The tweeter is unusual in that an oversized diaphragm suspension which allows for an extremely low resonant frequency (Fs) of approximately 700Hz. This suspension works in conjunction with the waveguide to provide usable frequency extension down to 1650Hz. The drivers have been sorted and hand selected for this speaker, and each driver meets the specific needs of this application. The crossover is a standard Linkwitz-Riley architecture, with a 12dB slope on both drivers. A single notch filter is incorporated into the crossover design to optimize the integration between the two drivers. The crossover is built with Jantzen air core coils, and Audyn Q4 capacitors, which are high quality parts for a speaker built at an affordable price point. Terminations are a single pair of binding posts, instead of the typical bi-wire arrangement.
The cabinets of this speaker are a bit larger than the typical bookshelf speaker, specifically regarding overall depth, because they use a quasi-aperiodic loading design for the woofer. The port chamber inside the cabinet is essentially a folded port that is 24" long. In this design, Brian states that not only does the port size and cabinet volume contribute to the bass response; also, the use of dampening material inside certain areas of the folded port play a part in extending the bass response of the speaker. The driver selected for this speaker is considered a mid-bass driver, however the 3dB down point of the speaker is 38Hz, which makes it a genuine full range speaker. The speaker efficiency is 87dB, it measures at a stable 6 ohm load, and has a maximum SPL of 100dB.
Most hobbyists understand that the cabinet of a speaker plays a significant role in overall sound quality. Cabinet vibrations will create aberrations in tonal balance, so the ultimate goal is to have a cabinet with is totally devoid of resonances. Speaker manufactures have created cabinets from concrete, cast resins, manufactured stone, aluminum, and other exotic materials in order to minimize cabinet resonances, and none of these methods are affordable. Brian chose to build the Cionnsaile cabinets from MEDEX®, which is a type of MDF used in the sustainable building material environment. MEDEX has a 40% greater density than standard cabinet grade MDF due to the use of a soy based binding agent rather than the conventional polymer adhesives. Every panel of the cabinets are 1 inch thick, and the design utilizes the folded port structure as internal bracing. The cabinets are built in Massachusetts on a CNC machine, and have these nifty magnetic grills whose parts are invisible since they are machined into the cabinet. This is a nice touch that adds to the overall feel of a quality product.
Rounded edges are incorporated into the cabinet design to reduce edge diffraction effects. The end goal is to provide excellent imaging abilities; however, this construction technique necessitates the use of a sprayed finish. This pair I received has an elegant piano black gloss finish, that is just stunning to look at. The finishing process consists of primer, 2 coats of base color, and 2 coats of clear coat, with sanding between each coat. The final finish step is a hand polish with a furniture grade wax. The base coat and clear coat are an acrylic material, and the finish is extremely durable. I haven't told Brian this yet, but I had a turntable dust cover resting next to the speakers after I had unboxed them. I bumped the cover into the speakers, and I panicked as I had thought the finish would be marred. Upon inspection I saw no marks, and I was relieved! This is a quality finish, and while some may prefer a veneer, this is an attractive speaker that is not easy to scratch.
The Cionnsaile Monitors weigh 42 pounds apiece, and should be placed on a set of sturdy stands that are 22 to 24 inches tall. I used a pair of steel Lovan stands that are filled with bird shot. Speakers are placed 8 feet apart, 5 feet from the front wall, and 3 feet from the side walls. The listening area is 10 feet from the speakers, and I found the best image to be had with the speakers having a moderate degree of toe in. The Holt Audio speakers are connected to a First Watt F 7 amplifier and First Watt B1 preamplifier combination. Digital source consists of a Mac Mini, combined with an Audio Magic Kukama DAC and PS Audio LANRover. Vinyl is played on a Technics SP 10 MK II, with a Riggle Engineering String Theory arm and ZYX 4D cartridge. The phono pre-amp is the remarkable Liberty Audio B2B-1. AC power regulation is achieved with a PS Audio P10 AC Regenerator and PI Audio power cords. Speaker wire is the Wireworld Eclipse 7 and interconnects are from the Spectrum CU series by VH Audio. With the preliminaries now out of the way, let us have an in-depth discussion on how the Holt Audio speakers sound.
A fundamentally sound speaker design is going to have reasonably flat tonal balance across the full spectrum of music. In speakers where cost is a factor in the equation, I would rather see the design limited in bandwidth rather than having the designer resort to the typical bag of acoustic trickery to spice up a design. For instance, I would prefer to hear a bit less bass extension and slam then have the speaker juiced up with a boost at 80 to 100Hz. This accepted practice among inexpensive speaker designs makes an electric bass guitar pop in a song, yet muddies up an acoustic bass or cello. I am happy to report that the Holt Hill Audio speaker is a well-executed design in terms of overall tonal balance. Now this speaker is not ruler flat, and in all fairness, it is impossible to build an affordable speaker and have it perform at the level that reference studio monitors do. Yet Brian's design gets the lions share of music right, and the compromises that are made are intelligent and reasonable. First of all, the bass extension is even, extended, and has a sizeable portion of dynamic attack. The opening bass line on "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes [Elephant; Warner Music 1101152] is powerful, taught, and has remarkable tone. The subtle resonances and effects that Jack White uses are clearly evident, and this is an attribute that can be traced to the combination of larger volume cabinet and the unique port tuning arrangement. While a subwoofer can add an extra octave of extension to the Cionnsaile, this is a speaker that can be enjoyed on its own in regard to bass performance.
Continuing through the subject of tonal balance, I find the mid-band of the Cionnsaile Monitor to be thoroughly enjoyable. The midrange is expressive, lithe, detailed, and surprisingly refined for its price point. Mary Chapin Carpenter is an all-time favorite performer of mine, and the Holt Audio speakers recreate her dark and broody vocals extremely well. On "John Doe No. 24" [Stones In the Road; Columbia CK 64327] Carpenters voice is expressive and introspective, and yet tells the story of an unwanted man whose life is winding down, and is a ward of the state. The Cionnsaile Monitors possess the ability to express emotional content of a song, to allow the listener to connect viscerally with the performer, and to transport a person into the story that is being woven. I find the mid-band to be the greatest strength of this speaker, and this aspect alone more than justifies its selling price.
When viewed holistically the tweeter in this speaker is quite respectable, although there are some attributes that should be discussed. The tweeter is crossed in extremely low, and there are benefits from doing so; yet there are perhaps some offsetting associated costs. While I found the upper registers to be nicely detailed and layered, I did notice a slight emphasis in the lower treble region. This slight bump may be an effect of the waveguide, or perhaps an inevitable limitation to the driver that is built to a price point. Realistically speaking, this is not a $200 Scanspeak Revelator tweeter, and there are certain compromises that must be accepted in its design and production. Yet the design team at Holt Hill Audio should be commended for crafting a speaker that maximizes the strength of this driver, and keeps its aberrations to a minimum. From my listening sessions, I hear a slight emphasis in the lower treble region of this speaker. Now the effect is not unpleasant, and it adds a slight halo effect to female vocalists. However, it also adds an emphasis to certain string instruments such as violins and violas, or the upper registers of various brass instruments. On "Weaver of Dreams" by Freddie Hubbard [Ready For Freddie; Blue Note ST-84085] I found the opening horn passage to be just a touch brash in the upper registers, and the warmth of the lower notes to be slightly diminished. Yet even with these limitations, I found the Cionnsaile Monitors to be easy to listen to, and never overly hot or shouty. Actually, it is easy to forget I am listening to a moderately priced full range speaker, and find myself comparing it against far more expensive speakers I have listened to in the last year.
Even though the Cionnsaile Monitor is a large bookshelf, this speaker has remarkable imaging abilities. When properly set up, the speaker disappears from the soundstage, and an aural tapestry is left in its place. Brian made a concerted effort to maximize the imaging abilities of these drivers, and several parameters of the cabinet design were selected to this end. On "I Before E Except After C" by Yaz [Upstairs at Eric's; Sire Records 23V-71] the speakers produce an expansive sound stage that not only fills the width and height of my listening room, it also relays a great deal of the depth contained in this recording. The multiple voices in this track are precisely located within the recording, and background instruments are distinct even though they are recorded at a lower level. Various synthesized sounds move through the soundstage clearly, and the precision imaging capabilities of the speaker is on display. The slight anomalies in the lower treble can be noticed here, but it certainly is forgivable considering all the other aspects of the music this speaker gets right. The Holt Hill Audio speaker images quite nicely for a component at this price point, and this is undeniably a strength of this design.
The Cionnsaile Monitor is a hand-crafted product from a small company, and there are certain aspects of its creation that may not appeal to everyone. A quick discussion of these attributes is in order, so that potential owners can have a complete picture of what they are considering. When evaluating the overall sound quality generated by these speakers, there is very little to fault it given its relatively affordable selling price. Now the cabinets are somewhat large in scale, and that may not fit into some folks' lifestyle needs. While the finish of the cabinet is impeccable, there is a rear access panel that appears out of place given the sleek modern appearance of this cabinet. Yet there is a practical benefit from the rear panel, as it allows for an easy access to the drivers and crossover if any maintenance is required. Yet it does have a craftsman feel to it, and not everyone will appreciate the effects on the aesthetic presentation of the speaker. The constraints of small batch manufacturing of the cabinets preclude the use of veneers for a finish, and some people must have a wood finish to their speakers. That is not possible on the Cionnsaile Monitor currently; although there are other color options available to customers if they request it. Other than these few points, there is nothing else about the first offering from Holt Hill Audio that I can find to be objectionable. This is a well executed product that is a solid value in terms of price versus performance.
Small audio companies are the lifeblood of this hobby. Designers with a passion for audio reproduction are driven by their love of music to bring their products to market. Not every component is perfect or successful, however they are often creative designs that move this hobby forward. Many of the well-known giants of the audio world started from humble beginnings, and through hard work and perseverance a great company was grown. Holt Hill Audio is starting down that road, and the Cionnsaile Monitor is an impressive first offering. These speakers are excellent all-around performers, with solid bass response, pinpoint imaging abilities, and posses a reasonably even octave to octave tonal balance. Given the affordable price tag of $1499 a pair, there is a great deal of value in this offering. This is a speaker that appeals to the value conscious hobbyist; the person who needs quality audio reproduction and values a hand-crafted product. The effort placed in the cabinet materials, technology, and finish are impressive, and Brian is clearly offering a speaker that is an expression of his audio passion rather than trying to maximize a revenue stream. I would suggest giving these speakers a serious audition, as I believe you will find the Holt Hill Audio Cionnsaile Monitor to be an excellent speaker that is eminently affordable.
- Ported/Hybrid Composite Wood Enclosure
- ¾" Coated Fabric Dome Tweeter (with shielding)
- 6" Aluminum-Magnesium Hybrid Cone Woofer (with shielding)
- Modified Linkwitz-Riley Crossover @ 1650Hz
- 38-27,000Hz (+/- 3dB) Frequency Response
- ~87dB Sensitivity
- ~100 Watt Max RMS Power Handling
- ~100dB Total Dynamic Output
- Dimensions: 15.5" high x 10.5" wide x 15.5" deep
- Weight: 42lb/19kg each, Total Shipped Weight: 48lb/21.7kg each
Cionnsaile Monitor
Retail: $1499 /pair
(Stands have been developed by the Holt Hill Audio team to compliment the speakers, with color-matched top and bottom platforms and real wood veneered uprights. The stands were not available at the time of this review, but retail direct from Holt Hill Audio's web site at $499/pair.)
Holt Hill Audio, LLC
Andover, MA 01810
617.605.1922
