Customer Reviews
Have been buying parts from Crites for 15+ years to maintain my collection of vintage horn speakers. I’ve always been quite happy with quality of items and quality of service, as well as invaluable help over the phone when needed!
These Style B’s are simply incredible paired with my 3 watt 2A3 SET amp!
I’ve been listening mainly through EV Sentry IVB’s for the past 20 years, and didn’t think any speaker could beat them (in my system, my room, to my ears, etc.).
The added sonic information from the Style B’s around 30 - 50 kHz is significant - I’d been missing a lot of music I didn’t realize was there.
Additionally, to my ears there is also a positive audible difference and additional audio information regarding the Style B mid horn with the 2” inch driver throat vs. the 1” driver throat of the EV’s.
In terms of sensitivity, the Style B’s seem to be very close to, if not more sensitive than the approx 101 db at 1 W/ 1 m sensitivity of the Sentry IVB’s. I say seem to because this is based only on my ears’ informal conclusion. The basis for this is that with my amp turned to the same level I usually listen at (9 o’clock on the volume knob) I seemed to receive a similar if not the same volume, but with additional information from 30 kHz to 50 kHz, as well as additional mid range information. So, the Style B’s work very well with my 3 watt amps!
I stream Hi-Res music via Tidal (MAX resolution setting), through an iFi Zen streamer, to an iFi signature v2 DAC, to a Musica Bella Segue v2 preamp, to a highly modified ASL Orchid 2a3 amp. The streamer is powered by a linear power source, all interconnects and cables are Morrow Audio. This system is very revealing. The Crites Style B speakers excel in this system and far exceed my expectations. They have displaced my much loved for decades Sentry IVB’s in my main system.
Great job and thank you, Michael!!!
Last year my wife encouraged me to buy my dream speakers before retirement. Now I know there are some 7 figure speakers out there, but they were not in my realm of speaker considerations. I honestly thought I was going to finally buy the Klipsch Cornerhorns. So I set out to do my heavy research, as is my style.
For the past 12 years my ears had been feasting on my self build 300B SET amps. These produce 8.5 watts each, but are very high end. So I already knew I needed horns to get the efficiency they needed. At the same time I built them I had traded for a pair of Klipsch 5.5s with a blown woofer. I did my research on them and found Crites to be a source for a pair of custom crossovers. I ordered the woofer and then called Crites for the Crossovers. The owner talked me into a pair of new titanium domes for the horns he had designed and built promising me they were a worthy replacement for the Mylar domes Klipsch used. Indeed he was correct.
The first time I listened to the upgraded 5.5s was when I hooked up my self built tube amps. At first listen I was disappointed. That tube amp warmth everyone talks about wasn't there. It took my about 5 seconds to remember that the warmth alluded to was simply a pinching o the high end frequency caused by the poor quality control of resistors a hundred years ago. What I was hearing was the sure sound uncolored by amplifiers. Now beginning in the 90s I was designing and installing complex sound systems in my car. I was also competing pro in Sound Quality in car audio competitions and getting invites tot the finals of two different organizations. And I knew the goal was to have a transparent system. To only hear what the sound engineer had laid down on the tracks. An this is exactly what I was getting.
So during my research I also knew Klipsch speakers had lots of coloring. I knew they wouldn't RTA well, but people tended to enjoy them anyway. ANd that's not something I REALLY wanted. So wanting to find out what Crites could do with Khorns and other Klipsch speakers I was looking at I went to their site to learn what I could. They had already impressed me greatly in the past.
I found that Bob had passed the reigns on to his son Mike. I also found they were now selling their own speakers. Well now, this shines a different light. I had pretty good confidence in their name already so I dug into their various speakers and found everything written about them that I could. The CS Style B speakers were said to be similar to the better parts of a couple of different Klipsch speakers. I eventually called Mike a couple of times and finally placed my order. I suspect if these were made by a larger company with more overhead they might cost 2 to 3 times as much. As it is, these are hand built by Mike and instead of using Medium Density Fiberboard as most speakers are, these are made with actual Birch. They are very heavy and very solid. They arrived yesterday afternoon and I wasted no time picking them up and hooking them up in my living room.
My listening began with some various stuff on Bluetooth thru my Integra receiver on both Pandora and Apple Music. I ranged from Early Chicago thru Rage Against The Machine and Charlie Daniels. Nothing disappointed.
In the later evening I decided to throw some vinyl on the platter and see how they performed. I began with Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's "Live Bullet". This is a scorching 2 record set that is always magic to my ears. At 85% volume I had no trouble puling my wife out of the back room of the house to tell me she couldn't hear her TV. And this on just 17 watts total system power. The guitars were spot on. The sax was delightful with no harshness. The bass was solid and articulate. The only thing I was wishing for was that my wife was gone from the house for a while so I could really blast these beasts.
Next up, and the last album for the night was Pink Floy and Wish You Were Here. It has a long intro and I was expecting to hear it be somewhat thin an usual. Nope! Very rich and full. I was very surprised at the fullness. Nothing thin about these. And the imaging was so much more pronounced. David Gilmor's guitar was so well placed on my sound stage. And notes were so clear and haunting as he's known for. Pure magic with these speakers. I probably have a couple hundred vinyl records already, but now I just need to pick up some more essential vinyl albums then set my retirement date.