Heco Direkt Premium

They have an impressively high 94dB sensitivity and an easy impedance, making them suitable for all sorts of quality amplifiers, almost regardless of power (they certainly thrive on the 7 watts of a 300B amplifier). In fact I'd say in real terms they seem more efficient than the numbers suggest - a rare thing in the world where most manufacturers inflate their numbers to look more impressive.

The lower frequencies are nicely extended, with an effortlessness throughout that comes with good efficiency, and the floor porting makes them easy to place, even relatively close to walls. 

The mids are smooth and big - not in terms of loudness, but scale and substance, a trait often evident with wide baffled speakers, yet there’s none of the presence lift found in certain makes of speakers that are desperate to impress with hyped detail. That’s a good thing as it means these speakers are forgiving of both systems and recording quality, and ultimately that makes them a very easy speaker to listen to for extended periods.

As is often the case, the high efficiency pays dividends with dynamics, bring a sense of realism most other speakers can only dream of - and this is what makes these speakers stand out from almost everything else on the market at this price level.

The well braced 78 litre cabinet is made from sturdy MDF and Heco make a point of the work and parts quality put into the crossover and internal wiring. There is the option to use a +2dB setting on the tweeter, but we have found the flat 'Linear' setting should be perfect for most settings.

Two finishes are available, satin black and satin white, both with a wood effect vertical panel which helps reduce the visual impact of their width. The fit and finish deserves special mention, they really are quite exceptional at this price level, even down to the quality of the chunky metal feet which really need to be handled to appreciate the quality on offer here.