Human Loudspeakers Model 81 Review Thread

[Craig Chase]

Hi All - This is a long term review thread for the the Human Speakers Model 81. The Model 81 is a modern adaptation of the EPI Model 100 from the 70’s, a long time classic design in American made loudspeakers. Let’s start with a little history. "Human" loudspeakers is a company owned by Huw Powell. Thus ... "Hu-man."

EPI speakers from the 70’s had some of its people leave and start Genesis Physics in the late 70’s. Huw went to work for Genesis in 1985, and when Genesis closed its doors in 1987, Huw took over doing warranty work for both EPI and Genesis Physics, which led to his opening Human speakers.

Spin forward to 2019, and the $540 per pair Human 81’s are what used to be considered a medium size bookshelf speaker with an 8 inch woofer and a 1 inch dome tweeter - as did the EPI 100 in the 70’s. There are many differences, as speaker design has changed a lot in these 40 years.

According to Huw, he has refined the approach and design of woofer, tweeter and crossover during this time to put out what might be considered a "5th generation" EPI 100.

Huw makes his own drivers, crossovers and cabinets in his New Hampshire facility. I ordered the speakers on March 18, sending in a check for $582 to cover the price of speakers and shipping. They shipped on Monday, March 25 and are scheduled to arrive on Friday, March 29.

It will be fun to hear how these stack up against some pretty pricey stuff, so look forward to some impressions this weekend.

Participation is welcome.

 

[Jack]

Looking forward to your finidings and thoughts, I LOVED my Genesis ll speakers and miss them dearly. Would love it if the Humans replicate those.

 

[Tony V.]

Would love to see some pictures as well

 

[Todd Anderson]

Got the popcorn ready.

Bring on the info! Look forward to this!

 

[Grayson Dere]

Awesome! I own the Winslow Burhoe designed Silent Speakers II that are manufactured in the Human Speakers factory..they sound fantastic. I've always been interested in how the Model 81 speakers sound since the look kind of reminds me of 1970s Acoustic Research speakers my dad owned. I can't wait for you review! : )

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

It’ll be nice to see your review, Craig – it’ll be the first I’ve seen for any Human speakers.

I’ve been using an early version of the Human 61, little brother of the 81, since the early ’90s. It’s a nice sounding speaker, very linear response. I originally bought five of them to go with the Genesis Physics Model 44 speakers I had at the time for main L/R, using them for center, surround, and front effects for Yamaha’s DSP processing. They were an excellent, if not perfect, timbre match for the 44s. Center-to-side pans were seamless.

When we moved to a new (to us) house in 2005 I “promoted” the 61s to main L/R duty and sold the 44s. These days I’m finding the highs a bit soft and am moving to Canton, which is a brighter speaker. I’ll be selling the 61s eventually.

I’m surprised that you were able to get the 81s shipped so fast. I’ve had problems with orders for replacement drivers taking many months to get delivered, but admittedly that’s been probably 15 years back or more.

BTW, Huw also sells replacement drivers for EPI and Genesis speakers.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[tesseract]

W. Burhoe heritage, continued. Excellent, can't wait to see what you hear, @Craig Chase !

 

[Jack]

It seems that the parts for the Genesis Physics Corporation ll appear quite reasonable at some $400.00.
Once I can move about a bit more it will be time to head to the garage and make some dust. The cabinets should be easy enough and the wood is already in my shop. Hmmmmm...

 

[Craig Chase]

Hi guys - The speakers arrived and are burning in. Let me start by apologizing for the condition of the listening area. My daughter and her fiancee' camped out in my room and left it a disaster. Here are some pics from my cell phone. The 81's are burning in to some Spyro Gyra "Good To Go-Go." I listened for about 10 minutes, and the first impression was lots of clarity, no bass boom and good dynamics.

Hope these pics are not too bad.

 

[Grayson Dere]

Just curious, Craig...what are the cylindrical speakers in the back? or are they subs?

 

[Craig Chase]

Grayson - Those are the Ohm Walsh SSC-4900's.

 

[Craig Chase]

Ok - The speakers are now on my trusty Sound Anchor stands, and after 24 hours of break in, it was time for some music and listening.

First up is what many have used as a standard for 30 years - The Cowboy Junkies "The Trinity Session." For those who don't know this disc, it is a live recording at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. One microphone is used. The sound staging is just plain fabulous, and the pace of the music is much appreciated.

It starts off with Margo Timmons singing "Mining for Gold" acapella. When properly presented, her voice is haunting, and one can hear the background of the church easily, and the 81's do a solid job on this. They don't hit Legacy Signature, Axiom LFR-1100 or Ohm Walsh SSC-4900 level, but they do it better than expected for a $540 loudspeaker.

Then the disc gets into her voice being accompanied by the musicians - guitar, bass, harmonica, accordian ... the music on song after song is so well done. How these musicians keep this pace, song after song, is remarkable. I was fully planning on just listening to parts of a few tracks and then getting to watching the NCAA game, but it was just too much fun listening. The subtle details are all there - the finger sliding on the steel guitar by Kim Deschamps - Peter Timmon's brush on the cymbals - all presented with excellent clarity.

Tomorrow, let's see if these guys can rock.

 

[Grayson Dere]

Ok - The speakers are now on my trusty Sound Anchor stands, and after 24 hours of break in, it was time for some music and listening.

First up is what many have used as a standard for 30 years - The Cowboy Junkies "The Trinity Session." For those who don't know this disc, it is a live recording at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto. One microphone is used. The sound staging is just plain fabulous, and the pace of the music is much appreciated.

It starts off with Margo Timmons singing "Mining for Gold" acapella. When properly presented, her voice is haunting, and one can hear the background of the church easily, and the 81's do a solid job on this. They don't hit Legacy Signature, Axiom LFR-1100 or Ohm Walsh SSC-4900 level, but they do it better than expected for a $540 loudspeaker.

Then the disc gets into her voice being accompanied by the musicians - guitar, bass, harmonica, accordian ... the music on song after song is so well done. How these musicians keep this pace, song after song, is remarkable. I was fully planning on just listening to parts of a few tracks and then getting to watching the NCAA game, but it was just too much fun listening. The subtle details are all there - the finger sliding on the steel guitar by Kim Deschamps - Peter Timmon's brush on the cymbals - all presented with excellent clarity.

Tomorrow, let's see if these guys can rock.

Thanks for the early review! The speakers sure sound like they are doing most things right!
I can't wait for the updates : )

 

[Craig Chase]

Today's disc was the SACD of Roger Water's "In The Flesh." It's an unusual disc in that it has dozens of challenges for an audio system - powerful bass, soaring female vocals, odd sound effects, grungy amps ... the list is pretty long. In "Another Brick In The Wall," there is a bit in which a strongly accented gent is yelling something. Lesser speakers (including some expensive ones I have auditioned here) don't quite make the words clear.

The 81's were crystal clear ... "You ... yes you ... stand still, laddy!"

The bells at the beginning of "Time" are delivered with no harshness. The Bass portions in "Breathe" are well defined, if not subwoofer deep. The percussion in Perfect Sense has both the snap and depth that one wants from a quality loudspeaker. The wonderful, soaring female vocals in Perfect Sense I and II are delivered with power while the musicians are all staged well around her. I once again found myself relaxing and playing both discs from start to finish, over 2 hours of listening with no fatigue.

In contrast to the Axiom LFR-1100's and Ohm SSC-4900's - which are both about 8 times the price as a "street price," and 10 times at MSRP, the 81's do not go as deep in bass, and do present a smaller sound stage, but they are remarkable for an 8 inch woofer, a 1 inch tweeter (thus Model 81) and modest price. While the sound stage is not up to the $4000-$5000 range speakers, it is still nicely placed and brings one "into the performance," which is unexpected at this price.

Keep in mind that both the Axiom and Ohm are also "omni-directional" designs with a lot of research behind them, and they are top shelf in terms of making a big sound stage, both besting speakers like the Legacy Signature SE's and the Infinity IRS Sigmas.

This is a lot more fun than anticipated.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Just curious Craig, how did you discover Human? It is a pretty obscure brand after all.

IIR, I needed a replacement driver(s) for my Genesis 44 speakers and went to a local dealer in Houston (where we lived at the time) that I knew had sold the brand. They put me in touch with Huw, from which point I found that he made speakers that would be a good timbre match for the 44s in a home theater.

Regards,
Wayne

 

[Craig Chase]

Wayne - In 1980, I was fortunate enough to land the dream job for a guy paying his own way through college - selling audio equipment for a store called Transcendental Audio (the owner was a hippie who opened it in 1972 at the age of 22). Our lines included Technics, NAD, Bose, Hitachi, Carver and Genesis Physics speakers.

We sold a LOT of Genesis - the model 44's mopped the floor with the Bose 901's. I actually almost got fired when our Bose rep overheard me extolling the virtues of the 44's over the 911's for music lovers. The only caveat is the 911's were unbreakable, where the Genesis speakers were subject to blown tweeters. The issue was guys buying a cheap Technics receiver rated at 60 WPC vs. the NAD 3020 at 20 WPC. The NAD was so superior, and with soft clipping, never "blew" tweeters. We took a lot of receivers on trade to get NAD gear.

Anyway, the Bose rep (a woman named Dagmar - you can't make this stuff up) totally wigs out and demands the owner reprimand me. I was all of 20 years old, and my only defense was "have you listened to the two side by side?"

THAT didn't go over well.

I had a pair of 44's to go with a vintage Marantz 250M power amp / 3600 preamp. The music was amazing - until someone stole my stuff.

Spin forward almost 40 years - I had seen some buzz about Winslow Burhoe's Direct Acoustic "Silent Speakers" and was interested. Of course, Winslow's site refers one to Huw's site, and when I saw all the stuff he had done, and what he was building, getting a pair of 81's was an easy decision.

 

[Jack]

Back in the day, I bought my Genesis lol speakers from a small company named “Audio Enterprises” and loved them for years until I discovered Magnepans.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Great story Craig - thanks!

BTW, the main reason the 44s would blow tweeters is that they had a crossover frequency of 1200 Hz (*gasp*). With a little advice and help from Huw, I modified the crossover in mine to push the frequency up to 1800 Hz.

BTW, LOVE that old Marantz gear - simply beautiful!

Regards,
Wayne

 

[Craig Chase]

Time for a quick update - It has been a long week at the dealership, with some easy listening at night. What these speakers did with another old favorite, Steely Dan's "AJA" is wonderful. I was totally lost in music, with a real appreciation for how they get the bass just right. It will be a challenge adding a subwoofer without ruining how good these speakers are. $540 per pair is a bargain!

 

[Grayson Dere]

Time for a quick update - It has been a long week at the dealership, with some easy listening at night. What these speakers did with another old favorite, Steely Dan's "AJA" is wonderful. I was totally lost in music, with a real appreciation for how they get the bass just right. It will be a challenge adding a subwoofer without ruining how good these speakers are. $540 per pair is a bargain!

I'm curious how the speakers sound compared to the KEF LS50, even though the prices are very different...
your Model 81 sure seems to be a deal of the century!

 

[Craig Chase]

Grayson - The LS50's certainly have gotten some great press. The -3dB spec on the 5.25 inch driver is 79 Hz vs. -2 dB at 41 Hz on the 81. The larger enclosure and driver (a bit over double the radiating area) will make for a much fuller sounding speaker with the 81.

If one reads enough reviews in the standard audiophile press, one will see that speakers like the LS50's, with their lack of bass, get raves for their detail. Deeper bass reproducing speakers can still deliver all the detail, but have accurate bass. We don't ask a bass guitarist with a 4 string bass to not play the 41 Hz note. The LS50 will miss this note completely. The 81 does a great job with it.

The LS50's, with a properly dialed in subwoofer, can deliver some amazingly accurate sound, but they do need a subwoofer.

The 81's are not perfect, but to put it in historical perspective, if adjusted for inflation, it would have sold for $170 per pair in 1980. It would have been a bargain then, and is a bargain now. They are so good that I am looking at some ideas Huw has for floorstanders. One of his kits requires cabinets of 72 x 16 x 16 inches and uses 4 of his 8 inch woofers per speaker. The kit is about $1200 - I have ZERO building skills. If I could get someone to build the cabinets, I would jump at it.

 

[Craig Chase]

Hi all - A quick update: I have been swamped with business issues, one of which is a major hail storm that damaged every vehicle on our lot. Insurance is stepping in nicely, and we will be fine, but listening time has been sparse.

The listening lately has been casual movie watching, but even then the level of detail is really good. "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" was on this Sunday, and the exhaust note of Nemo's car was deep and authentic - it sounded like a proper sports exhaust system. I am off to one last conference tomorrow, back on Saturday, and more listening is in the program this weekend.

 

[tesseract]

Well, that's no good. Glad the insurance company is on the ball, Craig.

I've come across the Human brand being mentioned by the EPI crowd but have not had the chance to listen to a pair. Sounds like I need to.

 

[Grayson Dere]

Well, that's no good. Glad the insurance company is on the ball, Craig.

I've come across the Human brand being mentioned by the EPI crowd but have not had the chance to listen to a pair. Sounds like I need to.

I completely agree with your comments on needing to hear these speakers...so far from what I've been reading on this thread they are nothing short of audio bliss! : )

 

[Craig Chase]

Hi guys - This was one heck of a ten days for the dealership. The crew fixing the cars has been amazing. Some of the vehicles had more than 500 hail dents, and when fixed, one would never know there was ever any damage.

Back to the speakers - Last Sunday, I added the EP-800 to the mix to see what a good subwoofer could add. With a sub, the 81's are just plain outstanding. Look for a complete write up on the 81's in another couple of weeks, but for now, I am winding down each night with some fantastic listening sessions. The Tony Bennett/KD Lang SACD is astonishing with these $540 speakers crossed over at 40 Hz.

Tesseract - Would you like to spend some time with these guys when I am done? You have a great set of ears, and a review from you would be most helpful.