Heybrook HB4 speaker test

The British company Heybrook is not very well known in America yet, but in fact it has quite a long history. The company was founded back in 1978., getting its name from a picturesque cove near the company’s first factory. In 1998. The company became part of the Audio Group International Corporation and moved to a new location near Plymouth, where it is still based today.

TEST RESULTS

CONSTRUCTION FEATURES: Heybrook has never had a wide range of speakers. The company preferred to gradually improve what it had, and particularly successful models were produced unchanged for years. Let’s say the company’s most famous model, the HB1 “shelf speaker,” voted by What Hi-Fi as the best speaker in the under $250 price category for three consecutive years from 1984 to 1986., The Heybrook HB was in continuous reprint for a whole 17 years until 1998. Even today the Heybrook concepts have not changed much. After releasing in the beginning of the new century “anniversary” series 2000, consisting of seven speakers, among which were special speakers for DT, the company has recently updated it. The new series is called Silver and it consists of seven speakers with the already established names HB1, HB2 etc. d.

In our test we have the “older” floor model Heybrook HB4. This is a formidable loudspeaker with a 70-litre enclosure. Solid MDF enclosure walls with a silver front panel measuring 36 mm thick. The edges of the panel are softly rounded to eliminate diffraction effects. The beveled bottom edges of the bezel are a design element inherited from its 2000 series predecessors. But another characteristic of the “old” HB4s has faded into oblivion. Designers decided to refuse from double front reflex ports. The only other speaker in the Silver range to feature this type of arrangement is the junior HB loudspeaker.5. All other speakers, including the HB4, have single reflex ports on the back of the enclosure. Internally, the cabinet is bolted together with eight cross-links and a separate compartment for the woofer. For weighting the speakers in the bottom of the cabinet there is a chamber for filling in sand or shot. Additional insulation to the floor is provided by metal studs of adjustable height. Wiring is through plastic-insulated, lined-up universal terminals. The number of terminals allows the use of Bi-Wiring/Bi-Amping methods.

The Silver speaker drivers have been redesigned. A 25mm diameter aluminum dome with a powerful neodymium magnet replaces the textile squeaker. The midrange/midrange drivers have Kevlar cones, as before. The HB4 is equipped with a 130mm midrange driver and a 165mm woofer. The yellow braided Kevlar cone surfaces contrast nicely with the silver coloration of the phase caps and the whole front panel. All HB4 speakers, including the tweeter, have plastic baskets. The tweeter is mounted with four metal screws, the MF/HF drivers take six screws to connect.

AUDIO QUALITY IN STEREO mode: the HB4’s frequency balance is built with a preferred relationship to the edges of the audio spectrum. Deep bass

is reproduced with a good attack, which only benefits from the increased volume of the sound. True, with confident dynamics, the bass of the speakers is somewhat simplified in relief. The top is detailed enough, though the after-sounds of the cymbals sometimes become “sandy”. Middle frequencies are flat, with medium microdynamics. Timbres are drawn a little schematically, however, the basis of sound is naturally conveyed.

The musical scene is of medium width in azimuth and is not very voluminous, the depth of the scene is not much developed. Only the soloists are clearly located, while the accompanying instruments are relegated deep into the shadows.

So jazz and classical music in the HB4 “look” a bit gloomy, the speakers give only a general idea of the fine details of sound. But the speakers seem to “come alive” on rock music. Burning drive of electronic instruments, powerful and deep bass allows them to fully convey the expression of rock sounds. They clearly enjoy a rhythmic sound with accented bass chords. The speakers have good impulse sound characteristics, starting in the lower midrange and going deeper, easily handling the bass pumping sound in almost the entire midbass area. All in all, the HB4 is the loudspeaker best suited for modern music.

PRICE: $970.

SUMMARY

DESIGNS: deep, accented bass, the ability not to blur the dynamics of sound at high volume.

DISCONDITIONS: Average microdynamics, flat music scene.

CONCLUSIONS: HB4’s sound character, aimed at effective reproduction of the lower and upper frequencies, is perfectly suited for reproduction of modern music genres. These speakers play rock, dance music, rap really well. The HB4s also perform well as home theatre ‘fronts’.