To Doug Schneider,
From your Ottawa address and testing you do there, it appears you are Canadian. Have you in your testing and speaker comparisons ever listened to and compared Hansen Audio products to your current choices for references (Vivid, Magico, etc.)? Also, have you heard at any time at shows any LaHave Audio speakers from the Halifax area? I have attended shows in the past and have been impressed with some products, but being Canadian myself, I would prefer to buy Canadian if I can.
Regards,
Dan Holuk
The SoundStage! Network is Canadian-based and I am Canadian, but most of our writers are in the United States, so we usually refer to ourselves as North American. But the testing of loudspeakers is done at Canada's National Research Council (NRC) in their anechoic chamber.
We contacted Hansen Audio several years ago about a review, but they didn't want to send the speaker to a reviewer's listening room; instead, they wanted us to audition it at their shop in Toronto. Weird. Obviously, we're not about to review a speaker that way, so we haven't followed up with them since, although I have heard them several times at shows and have yet to be impressed.
I've never heard of LaHave Audio, so I can't tell you if they're any good or not. But if you want to buy Canadian, there are plenty of manufacturers to choose from. The ones we know best and can consistently recommend based on our reviewing experience are: Paradigm, PSB, Reference 3A, Verity Audio, and Focus Audio. . . . Doug Schneider
