|
The Short Form
|
| $6,080 (as tested) / LEONSPEAKERS.COM / 888-213-5015 |
|
Snapshot
|
| A custom system that delivers beautifully on your investment, paying rich dividends in sound quality |
|
Plus
|
| • Natural sound from a compact system • Custom finishes and custom sizing on the LCR soundbar • Bulletproof build quality • Full-featured external subwoofer amplifier |
|
Minus
|
| • Surrounds could use a little more kick • Subwoofer’s small size limits performance • A tad pricey |
|
Key Features
|
|
• Horizon Hz414-X-A ($2,495): 1-in Morel tweeter, 4-in Peerless HDS woofer; 47¾ x 6 x 3¼ in, 45 lb • Hz/PR114-S-X-A ($1,395 a pair): 1-in Morel tweeter, 4-in Peerless HDS woofer; 6 x 9½ x 3¼ in, 12 lb • A3-400-IR ($1,195): 8-in woofer; 15 x 12 x 4 in, 35 lb • L3-1K subwoofer amplifier ($995): 1,024 watts into 4 ohms, 512 watts into 8 ohms; 17½ x 4 x 13 in, 35 lb |
Along with the Horizon Hz414-X-A soundbar, the company sent me a pair of Hz/PR114-S-X-A surrounds and an A3-400-IR subwoofer accompanied by an external L3-1K amplifier. As you can see from the family photo, this system isn’t your usual 5.1 deal. One heads-up: Leon uses similar model numbers for several versions of its speakers. Mine had the “X” designation, which means that they’re packed with “premium” drivers, and priced accordingly.
The Hz414-X-A LCR is one long slab with a removable grille cloth. Underneath the grille are soft-dome tweeter/dual-woofer pairs for left and right, and one woofer/tweeter/woofer combo for the center. Four ports are aligned across the front as well. Around back are three sets of binding posts for the speaker cables. The surrounds each have a tweeter/woofer combo (but no port) and binding posts in back. Oddly, the surrounds don’t have grilles.
The A3 subwoofer can be bought in an in-wall configuration, but my sample was designed for in-room use. Various bases are available. (Mine was chrome.) With a 4-inch-thick cabinet and a front-firing driver and port, the sub can also be configured for on-wall use. The only connections to the subwoofer are conventional binding posts.
The sub’s imposing L3-1K amplifier is rated at 1,024 watts into 4 ohms and 512 watts into 8 ohms. (The sub is rated at
6 ohms.) This beast has front-panel controls for variable phase, cutoff frequency (30 to 200 Hz), and gain, as well as a parametric equalizer with controls for frequency, bandwidth, and level. Around back are line-level inputs, a selector for on/auto/12-volt trigger, a trigger input, and a pair of speaker binding posts to connect the sub. Separate rack ears are also provided with the amp.
All of the speakers, and especially the amplifier, exhibit tremendous build quality. One complaint: The trés chic faint-gray lettering on the amp’s front panel was very hard to read.
Installation didn’t pose any problems. It was a simple matter to heft the soundbar under my TV’s screen, set the surrounds on speaker stands, and position the sub in my usual spot along the front wall, halfway between the room’s center line and the side wall. Because the surrounds are intended for wall mounting, I butted them up against my rear wall. I also spent some quality time massaging the sub amp’s controls, especially the equalizer, for optimal bass response in my room. I was pleased to see such a complement of bass controls, and the ability to fine-tune the bass response helped. In particular, I used the equalization to add a narrow boost at around 70 Hz to pack a little more punch.
Given the configuration of a soundbar, small surrounds, and a small subwoofer, I had my doubts as I put in the first CD and started to listen. But those doubts immediately vanished into the ether of the system’s rich sound quality. With any speaker system, good sound ultimately comes down to driver quality, cabinet size and construction, and subwoofer amplifier power. With top-shelf drivers and tons of sub power, this Leon rig performed quite well. I listened to many of my audition favorites, and it passed my tests.
Some music stresses a system because it’s loud and complex. Other music — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s Raising Sand being a good example — poses a challenge because of its purity . (Yes, it’s odd to use the words “Robert Plant” and “purity” in the same sentence.) “Rich Woman” sets the tone for the rest of the album (and redefines the word “cool”) with its spooky bass line, trashy snare, and simmering vocal solos and harmonies. The soundbar’s impressive handling of vocals put the singers right there in front of me. Nuances were clearly audible but not exaggerated, and the mellow reverb around them sounded just right. Also, the subwoofer was sure-footed in its reproduction of both the double bass and the taut thuds and punches of the kick drum and toms.
“Polly Come Home” features slow-motion drum hits and a rock-bottom bass line. Many lesser subs would stumble in this low-end swamp, but the Leon sounded nice and tight on every hit and pluck. The reverberation on the bass, picking up mainly on the upper harmonics, floated confidently in the notoriously problematic nether region between subwoofer and satellites. The whispered grit in Plant’s vocals was clearly enunciated, but I was most impressed by Krauss’s harmonies and the duo’s overall blend. The skeletal accompaniment weaved in and out, sounding as airy as when it was recorded.
Turning to 5.1-channel music, I used a DTS CD of Sting’s Brand New Day to focus my attention on the surrounds. The complex mix for “Desert Rose” has low-frequency synthesizer lines panning through the satellites. With the surround speakers’ drivers matching the ones in the soundbar, the system’s overall tonal balance was spot-on, and there was a good sense of acoustic space around my central seat. While the small surrounds were able to keep up with the soundbar throughout the midrange and treble regions, they didn’t provide enough low end to meet demand on “Desert Rose,” whose mix places some serious bass percussion in the back channels. But the subwoofer helped to make up the difference, and the result was a good percussion sound, though with different spatial placement (not enough impact in the surrounds but more from the sub) than I’m used to hearing on this track.
Switching gears to movies on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, I was listening to hear if the Leon soundbar’s soundstage was wide enough for my screen, if the surrounds could deliver sufficient ambience, and if the sub kicked enough ass. On epics like Batman Begins, the soundstage was appropriately wide — not as wide as with my usual tower speakers, but plenty good enough to reinforce the scope of the images. With Transformers, I would have liked to have heard a little more upper-bass punch in the surrounds, but they still provided more than adequate immersion. (It would be interesting to see Leon experiment with a dipole surround speaker.) Finally, the low-frequency undersea machine noises in U-571, while not room-shaking, were quite convincing. The amp had power to spare, and the little subwoofer performed valiantly. At loud levels, the depth charges (a classic subwoofer torture test) caused some port chuffing, but the explosions had a solid impact.
The Horizon Hz414-X-A soundbar-based Leon system isn’t your usual speaker package, so if you want a traditional 5.1 configuration, look elsewhere. But if you need speakers that provide a stylish, exact match to your screen, with custom finishes and a subwoofer that takes up little room (or none at all, if you opt for in-wall installation), consider Leon. These little heavyweights are the real deal, and they deserve a good listen.