Hi-Fi Voice - YG Acoustics Hailey 2.2 speakers

The American manufacturer YG Acoustics is one of the young brands (in fact, it is a newly "full-fledged" company, founded in 2002), but it has even more ambitions, as it is the case with youth. In addition to its extraordinary price tags, the company that bears the name of founder Yoav Geva is also known for its willingness to go to absurdly difficult and expensive lengths in construction to get its way. In the catalogue you will find a total of five series (I want to say models, but since each model has several configurations, it is practically a product line), from the relatively compact Carmel columns to the gargantuan Sonja XV four-tower solution.

Roughly in the middle lies the Hailey range, where the Hailey 2 is currently available in three variations - because these are modular loudspeakers, you can have just the top module, or in practice a large rackmount, either optimised for the role of a multi-channel effects monitor (Hailey 2R) or as a no-compromise rackmount (Hailey 2.1). And if you're serious, reach for the Hailey 2.2 floorstanding variation, which adds a large bass module to the rack.

Even so, the Hailey 2.2's space dimensions are still acceptable for ordinary living rooms - they are 122 cm high, 33 cm wide at the "most colourful" point near the floor and 54 cm deep there. However, their visual impact is clearly softened by the upwardly tapering concept of the echo chambers, which does not lack a certain modern elegance.

The echo chambers are made entirely from aircraft aluminium on precision CNC milling machines (they start life as solid aluminium blocks) and are designed to be closed, with high spikes at the bottom to minimise interaction with the floor. All the transducers point forward, the woofer is near the floor, adding sensitivity and volume, and the mids and highs are near each other at the top. At the back you will find two sets of very robust speaker terminals just at the junction of the two modules.

The company's FocusedElimination technology is also used for the echo chambers. It is essentially an interior space damping system that does not use traditional solutions in the form of wool, bitumen or other materials. The manufacturer does not mention the technology, but it is roughly the application of anti-resonance elements to precisely selected places in the sound box, which will prevent, among other things, the formation of standing waves or loss of energy in the resonances of the cabinet, so that the converters can fully use their energy. YG Acoustics even claims that the bass drivers have a higher impedance peak inside the cabinet than in free air due to their design (in a conventional sound enclosure the peak decreases and indicates a loss).

The highest frequencies are handled by the company's BilletDome dome, recessed into a distinctive ear canal that is milled directly into the soundboard. The woven cloth canopy has a common diameter (the manufacture does not specify a specific number), a wavy border and if you look closely you will see very fine lines. It is a metal support structure, ultra-light (30 mg) and strong "frame" that keeps the dome optimally tensioned during its movements. The manufacturer claims that this patented solution has better strength than domes made of exotic materials. In the tweeter we also find ForgeCore motor technology - these are CNC machined neodymium m agnets, which get a specific geometry and thus the whole system should achieve lower distortion than with traditional systems.

Speaking at the beginning of the text about absurdly demanding technologies, the midrange and bass driver are the result of just such extremely lengthy and expensive processes. For one thing, you may notice that the shape of the basket follows the slight curvature of the front wall so that there is no room for unwanted diffraction. The cone of the diaphragm is then CNC-machined from a single solid block of aluminium (the waste is 99% of the original material and is melted down and used again), making the reinforcing ribs on the back an integral part. The membrane is 0.2 mm thick. The BilletCore transducers have the same concept, just different size - the midrange is supposed to have a diameter of about 18.4 cm and the bass 26 cm. The black anodised aluminium diaphragms ride on large rubber wave hinges and have the tip of a small phase extender in the middle.

The last design finesse that YG Acoustics likes to bring to light is the complex concept of the frequency switch. This is said to be designed in their own tailor-made program, optimizing both the frequency and phase behaviour of the system. That is why the technology is called DualCoherent, because it tries to achieve coherence both in terms of time and frequency. The turnout has an extremely low first transition point (at 65 Hz) and a relatively low second one (at 1 750 Hz). Thanks to this technology, YG Acoustics delivers confident values for the Hailey 2.2 - frequency balance of +/- 1 dB in the acoustic band and phase dispersion of only +/- 5 degrees in the bands around the transition frequencies. This is extremely impressive. Each set of speakers should then be further manually paired.

The frequency switch also includes ToroAir coils (for the mid-high section) - they have a toroidal form with an air core and thus effectively prevent the induction of interference from low frequencies, which should make the signal in the highs more detailed and cleaner. The coils used in the bass section received similar care - the manufacturer calls them ViseCoil (vise = vise). They are placed in a kind of protective frame that actually clamps them and thus should achieve significantly lower tolerances, lower losses and higher linearity than normal.

YG Acoustics doesn't give the Hailey 2.2's specifications in the traditional form, but it does talk about a "usable range from 20 to 40,000 Hz," defines a sensitivity of 87 dB/2.83 V/m in half-space conditions, and gives a nominal impedance of 4 ohms and an admitted minimum of 3 ohms.

We listened to the Hailey 2.2 in the Bratislava showroom of the importer on several fairly sized sets. The primary signal source was Roon, connected via Siltech Gold Universal USB cable to Pilium Elektra. From there it amplified the Pilium Alexander / Pilium Hercules system, powered by the Torus Power AVR2 16. The whole system was built on a rack, legs and accessories from Artesania Audio. It has always been connected with a complete Siltech wiring harness with Emperor, Empress or Ruby Mountain II models. Comparisons were made with YG Acoustics Sonja 2.3 (or Harbeth Super HL5 Plus XD for short), as alternative electronics we used Jadis i50 or Ayre KX-5 Twenty / VX-5 Twenty.

Although, after various test listens and setting up the speakers, it was clear that the deep tones had a certain limit in volume and impact due to the acoustics of the space, it was felt that the Hailey 2. 2 belongs to the "expensive league" - the bass in Harry Sacksioni's "Hiccups" ("STS Test Demo CD Vol. 1" | 2014 | STS Digital | STS6111134) sounded no longer unrestricted (hard to find a better word), though not dramatic, pompous or explicitly powerful. The bass goes as deep as it is captured in the recording, has virtually no problem even with the deliberately emphasized "basement" octaves, and yet remains completely unforced, unmechanically sophisticated at every moment. It's an exceptionally unexaggerated, unpressured and calm bass that doesn't have many analogues. Every tone is perfectly articulated and it is clear that the woofers are extremely responsive to even the tiniest impulses and that their operation is perhaps as precise as the demanding manufacturing technologies promise. What is important and crucial, however, is how accurately and completely unspectacularly (which at first may be surprising because of how subjectively non-dominant the bass actually is) the speakers radiate whatever you send after them. The only limit to the amount of information and tonal shades in the bass is the recording (or the character of the electronics).

Truly brilliant transparency and openness are also hidden (or rather revealed...) by the middle tones. Karen Matheson's singing in "Aileen Duinn" ("L'Héritage Des Celtes" | 2011 | Columbia | COL 481530-2) was breathtakingly displayed almost at arm's length. You sense the absolute precision, the technical practical perfection, which in turn makes the whole performance completely non-technical, devoid of any hint of nervousness or pushing forward. It is a very calm, perhaps even subtle sound, plastic, disciplined, beautifully clear, completely uncolored - the overall acoustic unobtrusiveness is actually the antithesis of the visual impact of the metal block of the speakers. The resolution then was as good as the signal source, the Hailey 2.2's have a great, clean response and most importantly the magic of almost single band.

The impression of sound emanating naturally from the air and not from the mass of the soundboard is inherent even in the highest range, the tinkling of the cymbals in Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster's "La Rosita" ("Encounters" | 2013 | Verve | 31452147-2) was super brisk and perfectly articulated, clear but not cutting. One wants to say focused, but not sharp. They are beautifully informative pitches, going again to the innermost layers of the recording, they are uncolored and obvious pitches. Even the light whispers and murmurs at the beginning of a song, more like the approach of a drumstick to the surface of a cymbal than actual beats, heard more in the category of ultimate headphones than in large stereo systems (with honorable exceptions, which you can nevertheless calculate on the fingers of one hand), are clear here. It is actually a brilliantly expressive and at the same time non-violent presentation of high frequencies.

The sound of the Hailey 2.2 has a hard-to-describe characteristic that could perhaps be summed up in the phrase "it can bend to the music". It's as if the mechanical movements of the transducers really are so fast, so precise and so precisely controlled that anything and everything can play, and music is released from the chain, emerging all around. You can "load up" the speakers in the same way - their dynamic potential is impressive, and the big drums in the opening of Clannad's "Rí Na Cruinne" ("Extended Dynamic Experience 5" | 2017 | STS Digital | STS-6111158) sounded completely relaxed, with tremendous insight and at the same time with a strange sense of complete calm that is quite unique. Hailey 2.2 doesn't give you that feeling of compulsive hugeness of those drums, it's not that physical impact that makes your stomach churn, but it's not a bombastic sound, but a velvety calm, smooth experience, it's a beautifully delineated drum, controlled and yet let loose, completely without any feeling of forced effort. It is already a very mature, almost maximalist performance, breaking down the feeling of "reproducibility".

A rather more subtle, very calm concept is offered by the speakers in terms of resolution - as if you were not evaluating the technical aspect, it is so natural and so transparent (at least in combination with the Pilium electronics) that the mind naturally focuses on the music itself. In the live recording of "Fortysomething" ("Incredible Music & Recordings" | 2012 | STS Digital | STS-6111130), the ambient club noises (glasses, whispers, creaking floors, etc.) were very present; it's a brilliantly analytical performance that conceals nothing - neither the echoes of the room, nor the subtle sounds, but even more so the individual instrumental lines, superbly layered and cut. Especially in the mids and highs, the Hailey 2.2s were absolutely excellent, fantastically transparent and limited in practice only by the pre-chain. It has to be said that with a sound this precise, clear and exceptionally natural, you only want high-end electronics because anything, literally anything, can be heard here.

The presentation of space is excellent, something like a sweet spot or the need to sit still is practically non-existent here - "Dream about you" ("STS Test Demo CD Vol. 1" | 2014 | STS Digital | STS-6111134) already had the attributes of holography, with the instruments clearly set into the scene not only along the left and right axis, but also vertically, with the vocal clearly coming from above the guitar. Moreover, you have a feeling of beautiful plasticity that is so natural that you don't even think that it should be different, it's already so good that you don't look for anything in it and the sound "works". The localization is excellent, but so are the proportions of the instruments, everything is so precise and so cleanly rendered that it feels almost civil and "normal".

When Janis Ian's "Breaking Silence" ("Breaking Silence" | 1993 | Columbia | 519 614-4) began to play on various electronic sets, it was the system that manifested itself, the speakers as if they just weren't there. Subjectively, they don't add, shape, or accentuate it. They are only witnesses to what passes through them. It is a sign of excellent precision and purity. You can hear the limits of the recording, the not completely natural bass or a certain layer covering the vocal, but it's not technically uncompromising, nor is it "nicely" groomed. Hailey 2.2 just "just" play.

American YG Acoustics is one of the world's top loudspeaker manufacturers and they seem to know what they want to achieve. At the cost of really extreme solutions they have brought their concept to a very interesting reality - they can compare with adequate models from W ilson Audio, Vivid Audio, Estelon or Rockport Technologies and yet they remain quite distinctive both in visual concept and especially in sound concept, which leaves perhaps the smallest footprint of all the above mentioned. But at the same time, loudspeakers are very sensitive to connected electronics and need the support of an extremely honestly sized amplifier, they need a top-notch signal source, and they need, simply put, a flawless top-of-the-range chain, because you just hear it with everything. The Hailey 2.2 was a pleasant surprise and although it played slightly below its capabilities in the bass part of the spectrum thanks to the acoustics, the combination with the Pilium electronics suited it perfectly and it was an (almost) "soundless" sound - full-range, undistorted, brilliantly resolving, with no real dynamic limit and yet so terribly unobtrusive and calm that you have to get used to its naturalness. Anyway, if such "no-nonsense" tuning is the way to go for you, try to experience the Hailey 2.2, it is certainly the top of the range among the available loudspeakers.

MEASUREMENT

The frequency response measurements were taken from a distance of 1 m in the axis between the tweeter and the midrange transducer in a listening room with a floor area of about 20 m 2 with one wall opening into another room of about the same size. Although the speakers were tucked into a relative corner of the room, the modes of the room detracted bass below 200 Hz. The only blackout was the curtains, the large carpet and the large area of the sofa. Surprisingly, however, the room felt seamless except for a certain "bass lightness".

The measurements can be considered 100% reliable in the 200 Hz band and above, in the 10 - 200 Hz band the influence of room acoustics is visible. Measurements were made using Clio Pocket software and a calibrated microphone, the loudspeakers were placed in the listening position seen in the accompanying photographs.

The software doesn't measure the anechoic response, but the frequency response, taking into account the residual energy over time - so it's not a measured theoretical ideal of what the loudspeakers can do, but how the loudspeakers behaved in specific acoustic conditions.

Frequency response - on-axis (red) and 30° (black)

The frequency response shows a commitment to maximizing the linearity of the frequency response, and if it weren't for room acoustics, the Hailey 2.2 would be one of the most balanced loudspeakers we've ever measured. That the influence of the room is clear is confirmed by the difference in the energy of frequencies below about 500 Hz, where there should be no difference at an angle, since sound propagates omnidirectionally at these frequencies and is not affected by a slight deviation from the axis. Here, however, we see a general trend of slightly accentuated upper bass and lower mids, on the other hand, an extremely nicely linear 1 - 10 kHz band where the ear is very sensitive, and finally a slight elevation of treble. Apart from the general energy decay, the curves in the straight axis and at an angle are very similar, indicating minimal directionality. The first energy of the Hailey 2.2 is offered at 30 Hz, so in practice they are full-range. Ignoring room acoustics artifacts, the Hailey 2.2 will operate from 30 Hz to 20,000 Hz within the normal tolerance of +/- 3 dB. It is generally seen that they are tuned very carefully.

Frekvenční odezva na poslechovém místě - levý kanál (červená) a pravý kanál (černá)

Waterfall

Impedance (red) and electrical phase (black)

The course of the impedance curve is very unusual and it is also quite obvious that the manufacturer does not address the possible very low load for amplifiers - after all, in this category you can expect high-end electronics that can handle it. It lacks the typical peak that would indicate the tuning frequency of the soundboard, the bass section is obviously significantly compensated. There are traces of resonance around 40 Hz. The impedance drops in quite a large part of the frequency spectrum to a value of 3 ohm, but has no abrupt changes or excessively loaded fluctuations. The electrical phase doesn't really break out of the optimal boundaries, nor does it offer any overly burdensome surprises. Overall, the Hailey 2.2s are quite tidy, although the amplifier must be able to deliver up to 3 ohms without any problems.

SUITABLE ROOM

SMALL[<-- 20m2] [ × ] | CENTRE[--> 20m2 / <-- 40m2] [ +/- ] | BIG [--> 40m2] [ ✓]

Kč 1 590 000,-

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PROS

• absolute transparency
• excellent resolution
• superior workmanship
• first league homogeneity and spatiality
• can let the music (on the right string) flow freely
• full-range and yet "foldable" into common spaces

RESPONSIBILITIES

• you probably have to get used to the general inefficiency and quietness
• they're not just playing with something

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SOLD BY: Dream Audio | www.dreamaudio.eucore/

for e-magazine Hi-Fi Voice / www.hifi-voice.com / by Daniel Březina