| The Hafler M5 Passive Speakers | |
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Publication: RADIO WORLD Author: W.C. Alexander Date: August 2, 2000 |
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 Hafler introduced the M5 two-way passive near-field monitor at the spring National Sound contractorıs Association (NSCA) convention in Las Vegas. The speakers have been designed for use in recording studios, post-production and broadcast applications. Hafler sent RW a pair of M5 monitors to try out. I was interested in finding out how well a company that is known for amps and active monitors could make plain old speakers. The M5 is a relatively small monitor, measuring just 6-3/4 inches by 12-3/16 inches by 7 inches, with only 5.3 liters internal volume.
Solid Cabinet The first thing I noticed taking them out of the box was that these speakers weighed a lot. At 10 pounds net weight, the 5/8-inch-thick cabinet is solid. The m5ıs are magnetically shielded, which are becoming more important in todayıs computerized production and recording studios. IN many applications, monitors are installed in close proximity to one or more computer monitors. To minimize reflections, no grille is provided, nor is there any provision for attaching one. Not surprisingly, the center of gravity seems to be forward and low something that should be taken into consideration when mounting them. Most of the back of the cabinet is covered with a recessed plastic piece in which the connector binding posts are set. This probably eliminates using the back of the speakers as a mounting point. There is no room to affix an Omnimount or other mounting bracket. Reference monitors In our broadcast production studios, we use several types of comparable reference monitors. That gave a good place to start with this evaluation. I found the M5ıs to be at least as good as, if not better than, our other speaker systems. The M5 provided an excellent, uncolored sound that was as good as any reference monitor I have used. It worked best when pointed directly toward the listener and with the tweeters in vertical alignment with one another. This arrangement provides the listener with the most mobility within the near-field environment while still maintaining good response and stereo imaging. The M5 features a front-firing slotted port that, according to Hafler, porttune the system to 70 Hz. I did not saw one open, but a representative at Hafler said strategically placed internal bracing reduces wall flexing and mid-bass resonance. I will take their word for it. The thick cabinet walls and the high rigidity also improve mid-bass coupling. The M5 is designed for small console, workstation or meter-bridge applications. The 5.25-inch mid-bass driver is custom-designed and manufactured for the M5. According to the manufacturer, it provides fast and efficient low-frequency damping and uniform piston control while minimizing intermodulation distortion components. This driver uses a long 1.25-inch diameter voice coil set in a computer-optimized magnet structure. It can handle up to 200 W. The M5ıs tweeter employs a proprietary 25 mm silk dome and exponential horn waveguide combination. A Hafler representative said this exponential horn loading "locks in" the width and depth of the soundstage. A front-panel rocker switch allows the user to select flat or 3 dB control in tweeter output. Gary Church, chief acoustic engineer for Hafler, said, "The M5 high-end is exact and honest and reflects what was actually heard during a monitoring session, whether live or recorded. IN order to maintain the integrity of the M5 system, it was designed and voiced to compare alongside the Hafler TRM8 and TRM6 active monitors." He said the M5 is an easy load to drive with anything from a Hafler P1000 to a 9505. The crossover network used in the M5 uses a symmetrical fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley passive filter set at 3.2 kHz. This sums both high- and low-pass filter sections to a flat magnitude response and allows both drivers to be wired in the same polarity. The 3 dB tweeter pad is integral to the high-pass section of the crossover. All the capacitors used in the crossover are high-quality polyester film types and all inductors are low DCR air-core types. In my test, I fed the pair of M5ıs with about 25 W RMS with an air monitor feed. I chose to use this rather than a studio mix because I am intimately familiar with the sound of the stationıs air-chain with all kinds of source material and on many different types of monitors. I found the resulting sound to be flat within the range of my hearing. I could detect none of the low-end coloring that is prevalent with other relatively small monitors. The midrange was clear and the high end was transparent and crisp. For only $299 list each or $598 for the pair, the M5 is an excellent monitor to use for evaluating a stationıs on-air sound. By the same token, a studio mix that sounds right on the M5 will, no doubt, sound right after passing through an air chain. The M5 is sold individually for putting together a 5.1 system without a subwoofer. There was none of the "coloring" of the sound in the studio mix as a result of unfaithful monitor sound reproduction that is so common to other monitors. Chris Alexander is the director of engineering for Crawford Broadcasting.
For more information contact Hafler in Arizona at (888) 423-5371 or visit the Website at www.hafler.com Many types of filters exist and perform in different ways. Familiar types include Chebechev and Butterworth, but perhaps a name less familiar is the Linkwitz-Riley filter. Butterworth filters, which are familiar to most engineers, have a cutoff frequency at the 3 dB point or about 70.7 percent of the pass-band amplitude. Strapping two 12 dB per octave Butterworth filters in series offers response similar to a Linkwitz-Riley filter 70.7 percent of 70.7 is roughly 50 percent. The Linkwitz-Riley filter is less susceptible to phase and level shifts. Also, in bi-amplification uses, high-pass and low-pass Linkwitz-Riley filters result in a flat combined out-put at the crossover point, where a Butterworth filter sums 3 dB higher. And the 4th order filter discussed in the accompanying article assures that the highs are in phase with the lows at the cutoff frequency. A helpful source of information on the 24 dB per octave Linkwitz-Riley filters can be found at the Web site http://kahuna.sdsu.edu/~tucker/diyaudio/xover.html where author Matt Tucker also shows plans for an acetylene-propane potato launcher. |
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Hafler • 546 S. Rockford Dr. • Tempe, AZ 85281 • U.S.A.