thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
I received a great little speaker from a fellow AKer here, the Baltec 30.
A Latvian speaker brand, the build quality of these little guys are excellent. More on that later. To the sound...
The tweeter has the appearance of a cheap Radio Shack, but don't let the looks fool you. Highs are much better than expected. While the highs won't give you nose bleeds or cut glass, they surely prove they are able to do the job of a proper, good quality tweeter. Very revealing of the sighs of Holly Cole during her jazz numbers, Nick cave's piano tickling (very nice here!), the ache and cracking in Greg Brown's voice, and various twangs and buzzes of stringed instruments.
The little woofers, around the 5" mark, are deep-cone beasties, deep like inverted funnels. feed 'em the tunes, they really move the music. They bob and dance aggressively, pushing out the air and notes with vigor. Switch to an 8" woofer, the difference seems marginal but noticeable. Go to a 10", well, sorry, at this point it becomes apparent the bass from the small woofer isn't going to wow your socks off, it just isn't there in comparison. But it still holds its head up high, like Sean Astin in that movie RUDY. These little fellas have plenty of guts and pride.
Overall build quality is fabulous. The crossovers are beefy, with big, buff caps and solid workmanship. The stuffing in the speaker is held in place with a vinyl hair net. I'd have thought it was an accident- a Latvian worker's misshap, accidentally leaving his/her hairnet in the speakerbox, but I found it in both speakers. So therefore it was intentional. a neat, quality addition, a true sound of craftsmanship. Woofers feature a heavy, cast frame- very nice. The only visual letdown on these is the plastic covers for the tweeter and for the woofer frames, designed to cover that afformentioned heavy cast frame on the woofer, they cheapen the look of the speaker a bit.
Overall, a great speaker to listen to. Your mind/ears quickly forget you're listening to a small speaker, so bass seems plentiful. Voices are robust, strings are sharp, reeds are woody, and the overall sound is rich, full enough to satisfy no problem. Not a bit fatiguing, and only lacking when you bring out the big guns to compare. Wich really isn't fair.
My only problem wirth these is a buzzy woofer on one speaker. Both buzzed and rattled a bit initially, something I attributed to the fact the wood screws were a bit loose on the pair, and not allowing any bite to solidify the driver to the box.
Some wood putty was used, ands the screws bite wonderfully now. But although the speakers no longer rattle, the left speaker buzzes terribly. Really too bad- these speakers are an endearing pair for sure. I look forward to finding a second pair, for cheap, or jeez, at all, if I can (they're Gypsies, you know!), to replace that crapped out woofer. These were intended to be either giveaways or kitchen speakers. I can't give 'em away due to that buzz, but if I can fix that driver, these will surely due duty in the kitchen, and be the best kitchen speaker I could've ever dreamed of. It's almost a shame to use it as a lowly kitchen speaker, the sound is suprisingly much too good for that, but maybe that Latvian flavour will rub off on my cooking...
I wanted to dislike these, but I really can't. They impressed me with much better sound than expected. I need to give credit and respect where needed.
Wish me luck finding an original replacement driver, or a similiar driver worthy of 'em!
Feel free to agree or dissagree with my review, and be sure to post comments. I'd like to see if you think I've nailed it, or if I'm off mark. Argue and dissagree with my thoughts on this speaker, or tell me you feel the same. And being a Latvian speaker, I'm well prepared for your jokes- let 'em rip! :thmbsp:
A Latvian speaker brand, the build quality of these little guys are excellent. More on that later. To the sound...
The tweeter has the appearance of a cheap Radio Shack, but don't let the looks fool you. Highs are much better than expected. While the highs won't give you nose bleeds or cut glass, they surely prove they are able to do the job of a proper, good quality tweeter. Very revealing of the sighs of Holly Cole during her jazz numbers, Nick cave's piano tickling (very nice here!), the ache and cracking in Greg Brown's voice, and various twangs and buzzes of stringed instruments.
The little woofers, around the 5" mark, are deep-cone beasties, deep like inverted funnels. feed 'em the tunes, they really move the music. They bob and dance aggressively, pushing out the air and notes with vigor. Switch to an 8" woofer, the difference seems marginal but noticeable. Go to a 10", well, sorry, at this point it becomes apparent the bass from the small woofer isn't going to wow your socks off, it just isn't there in comparison. But it still holds its head up high, like Sean Astin in that movie RUDY. These little fellas have plenty of guts and pride.
Overall build quality is fabulous. The crossovers are beefy, with big, buff caps and solid workmanship. The stuffing in the speaker is held in place with a vinyl hair net. I'd have thought it was an accident- a Latvian worker's misshap, accidentally leaving his/her hairnet in the speakerbox, but I found it in both speakers. So therefore it was intentional. a neat, quality addition, a true sound of craftsmanship. Woofers feature a heavy, cast frame- very nice. The only visual letdown on these is the plastic covers for the tweeter and for the woofer frames, designed to cover that afformentioned heavy cast frame on the woofer, they cheapen the look of the speaker a bit.
Overall, a great speaker to listen to. Your mind/ears quickly forget you're listening to a small speaker, so bass seems plentiful. Voices are robust, strings are sharp, reeds are woody, and the overall sound is rich, full enough to satisfy no problem. Not a bit fatiguing, and only lacking when you bring out the big guns to compare. Wich really isn't fair.
My only problem wirth these is a buzzy woofer on one speaker. Both buzzed and rattled a bit initially, something I attributed to the fact the wood screws were a bit loose on the pair, and not allowing any bite to solidify the driver to the box.
Some wood putty was used, ands the screws bite wonderfully now. But although the speakers no longer rattle, the left speaker buzzes terribly. Really too bad- these speakers are an endearing pair for sure. I look forward to finding a second pair, for cheap, or jeez, at all, if I can (they're Gypsies, you know!), to replace that crapped out woofer. These were intended to be either giveaways or kitchen speakers. I can't give 'em away due to that buzz, but if I can fix that driver, these will surely due duty in the kitchen, and be the best kitchen speaker I could've ever dreamed of. It's almost a shame to use it as a lowly kitchen speaker, the sound is suprisingly much too good for that, but maybe that Latvian flavour will rub off on my cooking...
I wanted to dislike these, but I really can't. They impressed me with much better sound than expected. I need to give credit and respect where needed.
Wish me luck finding an original replacement driver, or a similiar driver worthy of 'em!
Feel free to agree or dissagree with my review, and be sure to post comments. I'd like to see if you think I've nailed it, or if I'm off mark. Argue and dissagree with my thoughts on this speaker, or tell me you feel the same. And being a Latvian speaker, I'm well prepared for your jokes- let 'em rip! :thmbsp:
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