German Physiks - Listening Impressions Wanted

I heard one of the German Physiks speakers some years ago, I believe it was the HRS-120, at a dealer. He'd received a used pair as part of a trade deal (they weren't on his usual brand repertoire), and we compared them to a pair of hORNS Mummy's - Polish speakers with a 12" OSWG waveguide (fitted with a 1" exit compression driver) and 12" bass/midrange, all placed in a fiberglass enclosure. I remember this listening session in particular because I've rarely, if ever heard speakers sounding this different compared to one another. My initial and distinct impression was that the German Physiks speakers were... an odd encounter. I then spent some time trying to get my head around their sonic imprinting, but after a while had to give in to the feeling of them simply being a major disappointment - not least considering their high price (some $30,000/pair). The one deficit to come to my mind repeatedly was that they lacked midrange presence and overall immediacy (in effect also: balance and coherency), as if a big suck-out and lack of energy through the entire central mids section marred the presentation here. The bass felt deep and fairly articulated, but seemed to struggle at more elevated levels (hardly over 90dB's), and the upper mids and highs were well-resolved and quite smooth - certainly the best part of their sound. If anything they sounded "sophisticated," and spatial abilities were in some regards noteworthy, but I sorely missed natural presence, coherency, and a more rhythmically astute aspect to their sound. Indeed to my ears they sounded strangely "fluffy" and somewhat diffuse, and I never really got to appreciate the qualities they did have. To each their own, I guess, but this is close to the antithesis of what I'm looking for sound-wise. 

No depth no pinpoint imaging and no great bass other than that there just ok.

The only GP I’ve heard was last November at CAF. The sound was spot on. Very neutral tonal balance and somewhat laid back perhaps but not overtly so. I believe they were using good qualiy (Veritas?) Class D amps (as I do with my OHMs) which surely imparted much of the tonality. Fans of warm sounding tube amps with lush midrange (not me I tend to prefer accuracy) would not be impressed in that regard. Soundstage and imaging indicated the muscians playing in the front part of the room with good soundstage depth. Like good omnis always tend to do. I heard nothing to fault. There was a large crowd listening intently. The sound was not like anything else I heard there. Of course every room sounded different and each will have unique leanings. That’s what makes the world go round. Omni’s cannot be beat for their large sweet spot and ability to image coherently regardless of listening positioning. If a live like presentation even on studio and/or mono recordings and coherent imaging most anywhere in the room does not appeal, probably no good reason to consider omnis.

[...] Omni’s cannot be beat for their large sweet spot and ability to image coherently regardless of listening positioning. If a live like presentation even on studio and/or mono recordings and coherent imaging most anywhere in the room does not appeal, probably no good reason to consider omnis.

A "live like presentation" and "... coherent imaging most anywhere in the room" would definitely appeal to me, but I find fault in equating omnis like the GP into being "live like" in presentation simply from those traits mentioned. They may be aspects of live-like sound, but very little of what I heard from the GP HRS-120 made me think of a sound character in that ballgame. For that to happen there’d have to be a very different magnitude of dynamics, scale and ease (not to mention overall coherency and presence/immediacy, certainly through the central midrange), and to accommodate this I’d wager the GP’s would have benefitted from a smaller size listening room compared to where I heard them, though I’m certain it would only have helped them so much. It’s not that I can’t appreciate an omni-presentation that relies heavily on the contribution of a given room’s acoustics/boundaries as "opposed" to a directivity-laden "through the window" type of sound that involves reflections to a lesser degree from the likes of horns, but if GP is largely representative of omni sound it’s too malnourished a sonic meal to my taste.

(The only GP I’ve heard was last November at CAF. The sound was spot on. Very neutral tonal balance and somewhat laid back perhaps but not overtly so.) I believe they were using good qualiy (Veritas?) Class D amps (as I do with my OHMs) which surely imparted much of the tonality. Fans of warm sounding tube amps with lush midrange (not me I tend to prefer accuracy) would not be impressed in that regard.

I can’t buy into the "[quality] tube amp not equaling neutrality/accuracy" dichotomy; on the contrary, I’d say. The harmonic structure and texture, liquidity, tonality, sheer dynamic explosiveness/uninhibited-ness and natural fullness of good, lower wattage SET’s (preferably through higher efficiency speakers) to my ears takes the price towards a natural (I favor this term over "neutrality"), live-like presentation compared to many if not most solid state offerings with typically less efficient speakers. Good SET’s seem to lower my "reproduction"-guard and more into something that is simply there, with an element of simplicity or wholeness that downplays any dissecting tendencies of what’s heard. To me at least this is very much akin to witnessing an acoustic live event.

@phusis - I don’t dispute that you heard what you heard when you listened to the HRS-120. I would only mention that, I think, GP has made significant revisions to its DDD driver, and I think the HRS-120 included an older version. When I heard the speakers, also in a very large space, both the Limiteds and the Borderlands (both with the current version of the DDD drivers) were very dynamic, engaging and life-like. Of course, there were many other variables, and YMMV. I also think that omnis vary in their sonic character just as much as dynamic or panel speakers do. There are dozens of variables, so I would not judge all omnis by the HRS-120 anymore than I would judge all dynamic speakers from hearing just one of them. There may be general family resemblances, but they can sound quite different from one another.