Hulgich Duke Review

[Cookies]

My wife had previously given me a rule that I can only spend no more than $300 at a time on audio gear, but she didn't stipulate how often. Eventually, she was getting sick of me spending money on audio here and there, and the house wasn't getting paid off. So she gave me an ultimatum - I must not spend 1 cent more on audio and concentrate my efforts on paying off the house. If I do this, then when the house is paid off (projected later this year) she will allow me to purchase a pair of high-end floorstanders that will last me until retirement. The additional budget she approved is $20K and I can sell whatever I have currently to increase what I have to work with. I've already sold a large part of my setup and my plan was a pair of speakers inc amplification up to around $35K, although less is better since I can use the monies on other non-essentials - centre speaker, ceiling treatment which I'm lacking, lifetime Roon, perhaps a new DAC but I haven't found anything suitable yet, and new power amps without the embarrassment of haggling. 

 

Since my wife gave me this ultimatum last year, I have been spending a lot of my free time and weekends having fun auditioning, and then barely surviving during the week. I've read all the $15K, $20K speaker threads on SNA and followed up on all the suggestions in those threads. I've travelled all over Australia listening to speakers, mainly Australian ones, as I want this purchase to benefit and support local manufacturers. I've also listened to a bunch of speakers in the past at shows, in various countries so I know what some of the world's "best" sounds like. And I must say our local products are pretty darn close and much more sanely priced.

 

Being a Melbournian, I had some great choices, and I actually started off intending to buy from a local Melbourne brand (i.e. SGR, Osborn, Legend - sadly I didn't audition Legend speakers as I decided I didn't want to go down their DEQX route). Thing is, too many times I read a review where a guy who only compared an Aussie brand against one or two foreign brands and then raved about how great the Aussie brand was, no offence to those guys but I wanted to make a more informed choice. I wanted to "hear" all the choices available to me, so I can say "I listened to everything there is and I chose X". And oh boy I'm glad I did because the Hulgich Duke in Adelaide was the speaker I chose. 

 

Those familiar with the Astor speakers, which are already superb, I recall @Marc saying it sounds like $25K speakers. But get this, according to Nick (Hulgich) they rank like so: Astor < Maestro < Ella MK2 < Duke. I've never listened to the Astor, but the Duke is a pretty significant jump from the Ella MK2. I'd say usually the improvement per dollar is logarithmic, but not in the case from the Ella to the Duke.

 

Usually, when I review, I despise talking about song impressions. I equally dislike reading people's impressions of how a particular song sounds. Such things to me, are hard to put into context. What I like to do instead is deconstruct the qualities of the gear I'm reviewing and let the reader's imagination put it all together. Like a de-constructed burger.

 

Before I talk about my sound impressions, let me talk about my preferences. The music I listen to is mostly rock, jazz, acoustic - in that order. I do have a bit of EDM and pop, and I'm sick of classical. I was raised on classical, I was forced to attend classical concerts regularly when I was a child, all my folks ever listen to is classical and I was trained in classical music growing up (voice and piano). My prefered tonality is natural and realistic, and I know what it sounds like from an audience perspective and also from the perspective of the performer. I sometimes have music jam weekends where my violinist and/or guitarist friends come over and we play a few songs together with me on piano. My piano is a $60K Petrof (the family model, not the mass-produced state-owned crap) which I also selected after a long time auditioning, I care about music enough to make sure I make no mistakes picking the absolute best of what is allowed.

 

If I could describe the Dukes in one word, it would be natural, it is the epitome of neutrality, it is a clean clear sound that tonally is completely like the real thing. There's no part of the frequency response that is slightly uneven. If it was any other speaker I'd be picking out and praising the treble, or the midrange or the bass. But not the Dukes, it is hard to talk about any particular part of the frequency range, all the parts of the frequency are done equally well and the transition is seamless from top to bottom, it is the complete package. It is halfway between smooth and fast. It renders timbre accurately. For example violin timbres - the timbre isn't dry, as some prefer, it has both the resolution, smoothness and thickness of the real instrument. In terms of energy, it has the drive and excitement, but it is not fatiguing and neither is it laid back. I think it is spot on.

 

I must admit the Dukes didn't grab my attention immediately because it was too perfect. My mind always tries to pick out the flaws in things before listening to it as a whole. Same way when I start learning a new piece of music, I automatically seek out sections of the piece I haven't perfected. Although one thing immediately stood out against all competition and it was the soundstage. The soundstage is deep, and the most accurate I've heard as of late. We're all used to descriptives like "floating notes" or "multi-layered", the Duke is neither of these and it shouldn't be. Real music is integrated, you should be able to pick out the exact positioning of an instrument, instead of parts of an instrument in different layers of the soundstage, (I'm not talking about poorly mastered recordings where the bass and treble notes sound like they're coming from two different pianos, properly mastered tracks should not have floating notes). This is exactly how the Duke portrays it, where each instrument is perfectly integrated, separated and focused. 

 

It also satisfies my wife's requirements, which were:

1. No loss of sound quality at her preferred 50-60dB listening volume.
2. Believable tonality when watching movies (we tested movies too - i.e. gunshots, traffic, speech). Gunshots, in particular, were realistic and dynamic, and the speakers didn't give in to rapid fire either.
3. Looks good and a wide sweet spot that doesn't collapse when you move around the room. Though she said from the start she would overlook WAF since it's really my reward for paying off the house.

 

Co-incidentally, Nick is also going full Audio-GD - DAC, Pre, Power. Which is the direction I've been planning towards and I think I influenced his decision, and influenced Kingwa (owner of Audio-GD) in purchasing a pair of his Dukes too. I've already got an Audio-GD HE9 pre-amp and my plan is to get a pair of Master 2H monoblocks and run ACSS (their proprietary balanced connection) between pre and power. I will be running about 12m of cable and unlike XLR, one advantage of ACSS is it keeps signal integrity intact instead of gradually rolling off the high frequencies over that distance. Audio-GD is also extremely good value (like Nick's speakers) and hard to beat at any price point (like Nick's speakers). Where I brought along my pre-amp for auditions, it beat out the on-hand pre-amp every time, and some of these pre's were $30K and it wasn't my opinion. 

 

Here's how I'm going to place everything:

 

 

Speaking to Nick, his new Duke speakers, completed earlier this year, has a better crossover design than the rushed version at last year's show (which still managed to win Highly Commended). The finished speakers have better clarity and evener tonal balance. I didn't make it to last year's show, was in another country for work at the time. Besides, show conditions are never optimal which is why I make appointments.

 

I listen to music (on my speakers) on average 10 hours per week. And each time I auditioned something new, I've always listened again to my own setup ASAP. It's ranged from no disappointment to moderate disappointment. But after listening to the Dukes, I've since barely touched my own speakers. Which made my decision to place a deposit on them. Be quick, for the current RRP on them are introductory. 

 

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my review. It's the most enjoyable speaker I've heard in all my auditioning, and ticks all my wife's boxes without compromising on my own preferences. I give the Dukes my 2019 product of the lifetime award!

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Standards

[frednork]

Great review, thanks for sharing your thinking and approach. I am a fan of the hulgichs too!

[gillmaverick]

Great Review  Mate ,

Loved reading every bit...I demoed Hulgich Speakers at 2017 Hifi show and they sounded amazing. Congratulations on your purchase.

Cheers

Edited April 4, 2019 by gillmaverick

[vinilink]

Excellent review, yet to audition any of Hulgich speakers for myself. 

Re. Violin timbre. This is best way to test any speakers for their strength in tonality as I found many speakers do struggle to reproduce the timbre faithfully. 

Glad to hear you have been rewarded handsomely. Lucky you! 

[Mpr_65]

Great choice. Can’t go wrong with Hulgich speakers. I have the Ella II’s and love them. Plus Nick Hulgich is such a great guy to deal with. Wondering what amp you’ll use to drive them?

[anandpkumar]

Great review, quite elaborate with your description! Hope to hear Hulgich speakers sometime

 

Cheers

[Cookies]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I've had a lot of practice since I've been writing short reviews on almost everything I've been auditioning, which helps me capture my experience at the time. It's a matter of giving it a bit more after-thought and also putting in my personal touch

 

Glad to see a lot of Hulgich fans here, and those who haven't heard it, I believe they might be available for audition in Melbourne soon.

 

11 hours ago, Mpr_65 said:

Great choice. Can’t go wrong with Hulgich speakers. I have the Ella II’s and love them. Plus Nick Hulgich is such a great guy to deal with. Wondering what amp you’ll use to drive them?

Congrats on your Ella's!

 

I'll be driving them with Audio-GD Master 2H monoblocks per my review.

[evil c]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I've had a lot of practice since I've been writing short reviews on almost everything I've been auditioning, which helps me capture my experience at the time. It's a matter of giving it a bit more after-thought and also putting in my personal touch [emoji4]

 

Glad to see a lot of Hulgich fans here, and those who haven't heard it, I believe they might be available for audition in Melbourne soon.

 

Congrats on your Ella's!

 

I'll be driving them with Audio-GD Master 2H monoblocks per my review.

very infectious enthusiasm for  a hobby/ obsession close to all our hearts, as an Hulgich owner I can relate to some of your observations!

 

I and [mention=258749]Mike13[/mention] own the Astor speakers, which are in fact the prototype for the Duke's you've put a deposit on, let me say they are nowhere near revealing their limitations without providing them the absolute best in terms of amplification and source.

Plus you need to factor in they present a challenging load to many amps, with impedance dropping to below 4 Ohm, if I'm not mistaken -  [mention=155941]HA_Nick[/mention] wil be able to confirm.

Plenty of power ain't a bad thing with the Dukes!

 

Unfortunately in this game, there are certain rules with diminishing returns the higher up you go - and to achieve those few % of incremental improvements you need to match carefully with complimentary or compatible components, including cables etc.

But it's fair to say the limitations are more to do with what you expect or are content to live with, rather than what you can achieve with high performance audio!

 

I suggest before committing to any specific brand/ model you read a few threads relating exactly to what you're currently experiencing, in terms of creating a system that will properly maximise a return for your expenditure, and highly recommend demoing in your home environment before splashing the cash!

Welcome to the club !

 

edit: looking at the Audio- GD mono''s they seem to meet many of the criteria desired, however I''d still not buy until heard in my home with the Hulgich's.

[/url]  

 

Edited April 5, 2019 by evil c

[Cookies]

40 minutes ago, evil c said:

very infectious enthusiasm for  a hobby/ obsession close to all our hearts, as an Hulgich owner I can relate to some of your observations!

 

I and @Mike13 own the Astor speakers, which are in fact the prototype for the Duke's you've put a deposit on, let me say they are nowhere near revealing their limitations without providing them the absolute best in terms of amplification and source.

Plus you need to factor in they present a challenging load to many amps, with impedance dropping to below 4 Ohm, if I'm not mistaken -  @HA_Nick wil be able to confirm.

Plenty of power ain't a bad thing with the Dukes!

 

Unfortunately in this game, their are certain rules with diminishing returns the higher up you go - and to achieve those few % of incremental improvements you need to match carefully with complimentary or compatible components, including cables etc.

But it's fair to say the limitations are more to do with what you expect or are content to live with, rather than what you can achieve with high performance audio!

 

I suggest before committing to any specific brand/ model you read a few threads relating exactly to what you're currently experiencing, in terms of creating a system that will properly maximise a return for your expenditure, and highly recommend demoing in your home environment before splashing the cash!

Welcome to the club !

 

11

11

Thanks for the tip, your links will make for good reading material I'm sure. Btw for the Dukes it's 2.6 ohms at 85 Hz.

 

I've actually done a lot of research on the amp I require. The Audio-GD monoblocks can sustain 1kWh 2 ohms, and it's class A (well technically class A gain and AB output, but with a special output circuit that measures as class A). And I mentioned in my review the technical reasons why I prefer not to run XLR or RCA to my power amp. I'm 90% settled on the Master 2H monoblocks, and this choice will likely be confirmed when Nick burns in the same monoblocks in a few weeks' time

 

As for speaker cables, I have a pair of Supra Ply 3.4s which I plan to use with the Dukes. Coincidentally, Goran apparently loves Supra and used them with all of Nick's speakers. The FTM cables Nick uses are probably still better being the same cable used in the entire circuitry.

 

Cheers.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Standards

[Bunno77]

Very impressive especially considering the comparison equipment.

 

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/audio-gd-part1/

[Mike13]

Congrats on your speakers! Great to hear a review on the Dukes. 

 

On 04/04/2019 at 5:13 PM, Standards said:

But get this, according to Nick (Hulgich) they rank like so: Astor < Maestro < Ella MK2 < Duke. I've never listened to

You can come and listen to mine if you like  Maybe Nick can comment, but my understanding is that the Astor’s were not a prototype for the Dukes. Commercially, the Astors are too big for a lots of spaces where WAF is a factor. I know, because I just put the new feet on mine and they look fairly imposing for a normal lounge room.

 

The Dukes have smaller woofers and a lower profile, so while their size is better, I found the Astor’s to have a bigger sound. I could live with either.

 

Since you’ve put such a huge effort into auditioning speakers, would it be worth spending a bit of time auditioning amps in your room once you get them? I wish I had. I know @evil c can rest content in the fact that he tried so many.

 

I got the Elektras and while they sound pretty good, I can’t compare them to anything except the Consonance and Nords amps I had (which were no where near as good).

 

I like the idea of Audio GD. Good quality components for less than other brands. I was considering them myself. Other brands may be better though and I think I’d have to try before I buy.

 

Importantly, what colour are you getting? Pics?

[evil c]

Thanks for the tip, your links will make for good reading material I'm sure. Btw for the Dukes it's 2.6 ohms at 85 Hz.
 
I've actually done a lot of research on the amp I require. The Audio-GD monoblocks can sustain 1kWh 2 ohms, and it's class A (well technically class A gain and AB output, but with a special output circuit that measures as class A). And I mentioned in my review the technical reasons why I prefer not to run XLR or RCA to my power amp. I'm 90% settled on the Master 2H monoblocks, and this choice will likely be confirmed when Nick burns in the same monoblocks in a few weeks' time [emoji4]
 
As for speaker cables, I have a pair of Supra Ply 3.4s which I plan to use with the Dukes. Coincidentally, Goran apparently loves Supra and used them with all of Nick's speakers. The FTM cables Nick uses are probably still better being the same cable used in the entire circuitry.
 
Cheers.

That's my whole point, I am well aquainted with the Hulgichs specs - and like you I did the hard yards research wise.

However you still have to get the speakers, and research plus recommendations will only get you so far.
Good luck with the outcome anyway.

[barn door]

Thanks so much for sharing your experience during the search for, and finding the Duke’s. Really enjoyed the read.

I’ll keep my eye out for when these might become available in Melbourne for a serious audition.

[Cookies]

10 hours ago, Mike13 said:

Congrats on your speakers! Great to hear a review on the Dukes. 

 

You can come and listen to mine if you like  Maybe Nick can comment, but my understanding is that the Astor’s were not a prototype for the Dukes. Commercially, the Astors are too big for a lots of spaces where WAF is a factor. I know, because I just put the new feet on mine and they look fairly imposing for a normal lounge room.

 

The Dukes have smaller woofers and a lower profile, so while their size is better, I found the Astor’s to have a bigger sound. I could live with either.

 

Since you’ve put such a huge effort into auditioning speakers, would it be worth spending a bit of time auditioning amps in your room once you get them? I wish I had. I know @evil c can rest content in the fact that he tried so many.

 

I got the Elektras and while they sound pretty good, I can’t compare them to anything except the Consonance and Nords amps I had (which were no where near as good).

 

I like the idea of Audio GD. Good quality components for less than other brands. I was considering them myself. Other brands may be better though and I think I’d have to try before I buy.

 

Importantly, what colour are you getting? Pics?

Thanks Mike.

 

Although I'd like to audition amps, the biggest challenge I face is finding vendors / people who are willing to bring their stuff over - and my wife doesn't like strangers visiting, although with your forum reputation you're probably fine, same goes for @evil c even with his crooked teeth. I've listened to plenty of amps, like your Elektra pre/power, but I also think there's not much point listening to an amp with a different speaker, a different room, a different DAC/pre/source. And to audition an Audio-GD I pretty much have to buy it and then decide whether it works well or not.

 

But I can make certain assumptions about Audio-GD that I can't with other amps - gear from the same company usually work best together and my AGD pre-amp isn't going anywhere, I have compared it to many well-reputed pre-amps post-purchase and I love it to bits. They are the most transparent and true-to-source at the budget that I'm limited to. ACSS will work better than any conventional I/O. And I trust @HA_Nick, we seem to have a similar opinion of how speakers should be designed and sound like.

 

The colour I chose are the white fronts with american oak surrounds. No pictures unfortunately, the one that I took for my personal reference turned out blurry. I'll update this post with pictures when I get them, likely late in the year after the house is paid off.

 

Cheers

 

[Darren69]

The Hulgich I heard at the 2017 hi fi show were gorgeous, good choice. The thing I take from this thread is that I need to start getting serious about paying off my house

[Cookies]

The Hulgich Dukes are here  - got here mid-week actually.

 

 

There were some miscommunication that caused some delays, but @HA_Nick worked very hard - sleeping 4 hours a day! - to get these done before Christmas!

 

It took a long time to put these into position, I was completed drenched at the end got managed to get their distance to the walls to +/- 1mm and toed in at 5.6 degrees:

 

I still need to sort out all my cables, but one thing at a time...

 

More pictures:

 

 

These sound wonderful in my room, I was initially worried these would produce too much bass in my small-ish room, but it's just right actually. There have been a few upgrades to them since I last heard them, including an adjustment to the bass cabinet padding, improving bass integration. Upgraded capacitors, back plate and speaker terminals. I have no doubt the next Duke will be even better than mine. Have been burning in the past few days and still ways to go.

 

If I could describe how the Hulgich Duke sound, is they have no sound at all! They don't add the slightest colour to the original recording. They are the very definition of high fidelity, losing nothing to colouration. 

 

It takes some time to get used to the sound, especially coming from my old smooth PMC's, and possibly every other speaker in existence. They remind me of my acoustic impression of the MBL 101E mk2's, but with a better integrated bass, I could be very well be wrong though as my impression is very dated.

[jt301]

Congratulations! Enjoy!

[Whites]

@Standards they look great, definitely worth the wait.

 

As a fellow Hulgich speaker owner (Ella mk2) I know you will enjoy them.

 

 

[genkifd]

Wow - awesome

[AudioGeek]

So jealous. Congrats!

[cb72]

Congrats on your purchase. As a fellow Dukes owner, i am continually impressed at the level of reproduction, clarity, effortlessness of the Dukes capability. I have also paired with the Audio GD Master2H and Master 1 preamp and found the compatibility seamless. Nick Hulgich was fantastic in his service and support, and helped transport my Dukes to my home an set them up.

 

Enjoy getting lost in the Dukes, i always find time passing by...

 

Chris

[frednork]

thanks for the writeup, have enjoyed all of the Hulgichs I have heard. I am a fan as well.

[genkifd]

great meeting you today and wow your system sound very nice indeed. the Dukes are larger than i recalled but more beautiful in person than i recalled especially in white.

 

thanks again.