This speaker I’m descri# is Voxativ’s new Hagen2 Monitor. To say it is a “Herb speaker” is to distinguish it from a John, Jason, or Kal speaker, or even a Ken or Alex speaker. If you want to know what kind of sound an audio reviewer values, notice which speakers they embrace, how well they understand them, and how long they stick with them.
The Voxativ Hagen2 Monitor
In my small, speaker-friendly room, the new Hagen2 Monitors, which were released last fall, look piano-lacquer black, gold-logo glamorous, and level-5 German serious.
Replacing my conventional Brit boxes with these alpha-looking full-rangers was a memorable smiling moment. As I set the Hagens on the same stands in the same location as my Falcon Gold Badges, I wondered if they would sound as different from the Falcons as they looked.
The Hagen2’s 8" × 14" × 10" dimensions fit my 24” Sound Anchor Reference stands perfectly. Fitted with Voxativ’s AF-1.9 drivers, their $6900/pair price feels too modest for how luxurious they seem.
Fitted with Voxativ’s upgraded AF-2B drivers, the Hagen2 costs $8900. The Hagen2 is also available in a 38lb cabinet made of 0.5"-thick aluminum plate. This welded-metal version costs $8900 with the AF-1.9 driver or $10,900 with the AF-2B driver.
For true believers—and $29,900—Voxativ offers a fully realized “Hagen2 system,” which places metal-cabinet Hagen2 monitors with AF-2B drivers atop the aluminum-case Alberich2 bass modules. According to Voxativ’s founder and chief of everything Inès Adler, “both housings are completely made from aluminum plates that are properly welded together. There’s no wood anywhere, and it weighs 182lb per side.”
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Philharmonic Audio BMR Monitor
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The Voxativ Hagen2 Monitor loudspeaker
I think I just found the perfect Herb speaker. It uses a hand-crafted 5\" wide-range driver with a cone made from Japanese calligraphy paper. It rolls off around 50Hz at the bottom and 30kHz at the top. It has no crossover. Its cabinet is made of MDF that responds loudly when I tap it with my fingernails. Inside is what its designer calls a “short horn,” which appears to harmlessly disperse back-cone energy while adding energy below the driver’s cutoff frequency. Mainly, though, it’s a perfect Herb speaker because it is naturally phase coherent. And sparkplug fast. And completely unmuffled.
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