Introducing the new breed of speaker that stands in a different class, StarkeSound Halo Series 3.
I was introduced to this thrilling product by a good friend of mine (Spring Qin from Yosemine) who distribute home theater products across the globe. I was searching for decent priced home cinema speakers for my own home but couldn't decide on any of those I am carrying not because they aren't good enough BUT because I wanted something different. Something I can hide behind the screen and that is THX capable with LCR setup. I audited many home cinema products such as MK150Mk2, Klipsch KL650, most floor stand speakers and studio design speakers but can't get one to my liking. Most decent priced European speakers are too gentle for movie and klipsch although loud but sounded a tad too thin while the new MK sounded a bit on the gentle side and too studio liked when I audited in the Hong Kong and shanghai AV show. For LCR that cost below RM20k, I opted for Starke Sound Halo Series 3.
Finally, decided to give it a try and made a call to my friend who managed to hook me up and exclusively give me a set of starke sound IC-halo series 3(with enclosure). I had to run through countless hours of testing (getting close mic frequency response vs listening frequency response; while making lots of comparing against other speakers I have) when I got starke halo 3. I feed in both movies with high SPL and concert and music that produce emotional feelings. Tried many positioning and really pounded on the H3 with my Denon AVP/POA setup.
Testing different tastes of movies from dialogue, animation, action with lots of guns and explosions and not missing out music concerts too.
Initially I am not really used to LCR because of past experience with floor stand and horizontally laid center speaker. Its hard to position the LCR without blocking the screen but luckily in my showroom, my screen is positioned high enough since it's a showroom.
I spent countless hours auditing this new product alone and had to playback a lot of demo clips and bd collections I have previously been watching so I know what difference the Starke Sound Halo Series 3 has to offer.
For the first week, I didn't really like the sound maybe the LCR hasn't been run in yet. But things change when I've used it for almost 2 weeks later. When fully ran in, it changes!
Continued with manual EQ to blend in IC-H3 into my environment is quite simple with the audio calibration gears I have. PLUS the dynamic of Starke Sound IC-H3, it is easy to EQ the Frequency response to my liking without having worry to damage the speakers because all IC-H3 and in fact from realible sources, all Starke Sound speakers have gone through high standard factory tested prior to shipping.
With such a flat FR, it will be easy for tuner to calibrate according to one's liking. Blending in my dual sub setup utilizing Rythmik Fv15Hp (front) and E15Hp(rear), I managed to get these babies to reveal the best of sound from action to musical concerts. Not only giving us a cinematic experience when watching movies, few of us (including my customers) are impressed with how mellow these H3 beast can sound.
