Unity Audio Inner Soul Thread
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BTW, these lovely little speakers are sitting in my listening room right now. They are beautifully made, though I haven't had a chance to give them a good listen yet.
Next thing, you'll be getting a single ended amp..... 
TubeHiFiNut;n29412 said:Next thing, you'll be getting a single ended amp.....
Ummmmm.....
I hada chance to listen briefly to these little guys in two systems, with three different amps yesterday. They are pretty far removed from what I'm used to listening to, but they really sound quite lovely. They offer a window right into the heart and soul of the music. About the best compliment I could offer to a pair of speakers.
Come on over to the Dark Side of the Audio Force, my friend. 
It won't hurt a bit.
It won't hurt a bit.
Erik dropped the Unity Audio Inner Souls at my place a few weeks ago and I figured it was about time I gave them a write up. First of all I do have to say that I have had a couple of pairs of full range bookshelf speakers in my place before and have never been completely sold on the concept. Neither pair was up to the calibre of these beauties but just wanted to give an idea where I am coming from. Also a second caveat is that I have pretty much decided in general that the optimum drivers for me at this time and in this room are 8 inch drivers. Smaller speakers do certain things very well, but I do like the dynamics of a larger driver and cabinet. So getting a set of full range bookshelf speakers with four inch drivers does not exactly fall into my current sweet spot. But when the chance to hear them appeared I was eager to give them a try. And it was a very pleasant surprise
First of all, the finish on these speakers is excellent. No confusing these with home brew/DIY. They are beautifully made and will look great on a pair of stands or on a bookshelf. Cosmetics are important to me, more so than for most people and these are beautiful speakers.
As for the sound, they were excellent, doing the very best of what I remember from my other full range experience, but doing it better. I had two amps to try these with, a 15 watt Flea Watt TPA 3316 based chip amp and a Naim Nait 5i2. My other set of speakers was my Snell Type JII's. With the Flea Watt amplifier, the two sets of speakers provided much different listening experiences. The Unity Audio's were quicker and imaged much better but gave up a bit in terms of scale. I could see why someone could prefer either one to the other. While the Snells are supposed to be very efficient, I think that the Unity Audios actually worked a bit better over all with the Flea Watt and handled the low power with a bit more grace.
With the added power of the Nait 5I2, I actually preferred the sound of my Snells. Just a bit more dynamic and full sounding. Not that the Unity Audio's sounded bad in any way but just that the power of the Nait allowed the larger speaker to do their thing in my room.
So I would not hesitate at all to recommend the Unity Audio Inner Soul to anyone looking to try full range bookshelf speakers. If I was not using the Nait 5I2 as my main amplifier, it would be very tempting to pick up a pair of these from Omer. And for anyone who is looking for something to run with low powered amplification, these certainly seem like a great place to start.
Thanks for the opportunity to hear these in my system Omer.
First of all, the finish on these speakers is excellent. No confusing these with home brew/DIY. They are beautifully made and will look great on a pair of stands or on a bookshelf. Cosmetics are important to me, more so than for most people and these are beautiful speakers.
As for the sound, they were excellent, doing the very best of what I remember from my other full range experience, but doing it better. I had two amps to try these with, a 15 watt Flea Watt TPA 3316 based chip amp and a Naim Nait 5i2. My other set of speakers was my Snell Type JII's. With the Flea Watt amplifier, the two sets of speakers provided much different listening experiences. The Unity Audio's were quicker and imaged much better but gave up a bit in terms of scale. I could see why someone could prefer either one to the other. While the Snells are supposed to be very efficient, I think that the Unity Audios actually worked a bit better over all with the Flea Watt and handled the low power with a bit more grace.
With the added power of the Nait 5I2, I actually preferred the sound of my Snells. Just a bit more dynamic and full sounding. Not that the Unity Audio's sounded bad in any way but just that the power of the Nait allowed the larger speaker to do their thing in my room.
So I would not hesitate at all to recommend the Unity Audio Inner Soul to anyone looking to try full range bookshelf speakers. If I was not using the Nait 5I2 as my main amplifier, it would be very tempting to pick up a pair of these from Omer. And for anyone who is looking for something to run with low powered amplification, these certainly seem like a great place to start.
Thanks for the opportunity to hear these in my system Omer.
I have had the unity speakers at home for more than a week now. I have struggled to find the time to do some critical listening so far but Monday should be the day. I will post my impressions as soon as I can. So far I am very impressed with them. They seem to be an excellent match to my 20 watts tube setup for part of my music collection. Thank you Omer for the opportunity.
I have had the pleasure of living with the Unity Inner Soul speakers for a couple of weeks now.
They are a pair of beautiful little speakers. The craftsmanship is top notch, the finish is beautiful, everything about them oozes quality.
They are quite a bit bigger then I thought they would be and the only place I could fit them in my small house was I top of my current Tannoy Saturn s6 speakers. Not the greatest place, but it worked. I am not actually sure of the sonic consequences of having them on top of another cabinet...
I did have a little play with placement and I found them a bit more finicky then the Tannoys. I guess the back ported design vs the front ported Tannoys and the size of the driver might have something to do with that. The sweet spot with the Unity speakers seems quite small but when you get it right, the soundstage and imaging is really amazing. They completely blow the Tannoys out of the water.
I was expecting the Unity speakers to provide amazing detail and a very fast presentation and they definitely delivered. Good recordings sound extremely detailed, with an excellent instrument separation, bad recordings sound terrible, quite fatiguing. The Tannoys are much more forgiving that way.
I drove the speakers with a 20 watts push pull tube amp and pre with a tube phonostage from ideal innovations. The 91 dB efficiency is on par with the 90db tannoys and I was pretty impressed by the powerful sound I could get out of them. The bass is very impressive for the size of the driver, tighter than the Tannoys, but not as powerful or punchy. I had to play with the loudness pot of the preamp to get enough slam as I like in some recordings, but sometimes the treble would become too fatiguing. More on this later... The mids are really where the Unity speakers shine, of course, and having a full range single driver speaker to listen to was really a treat.
I tend to listen to the following types of music: folk, acoustic, world music, classic rock and jam bands.
Folk music suited the Unity speakers perfectly. One of my favourite albums from my world music collection, 3ma from Rajery sounded amazing too. Madar from Jan Garbareck was like listening to the album for the first time again and I have never heard Nina Simone's voice so real. Bob Dylan was a lot of fun to listen to on the Unitys too, you can really hear every word with a clarity I have never experienced before.
Most of my listening sessions are done at pretty high volume and I like listening to a good Grateful Dead show. I enjoy being able to move around sometimes and not be stuck to my seat for all listening situations. The Unity speakers, although providing a good listening experience with these recordings if you are sitting at the right spot and at medium volume, do not like jam bands at higher volume too much... They cannot fill the room like the much less refined Tannoys do. To be able to get enough slam in the lower department, the high becomes fatiguing and the mids seem to fade in the background. Lowering the volume gets the bass line lost and the music loses its integrity. The same pattern happened when listening to Matthew E White's outstanding Big Inner album. I couldn't get the speakers to reproduce all frequencies as I wanted in higher volume levels. I guess a full range single driver monitor is not meant for that.
So, if you listen to mostly jazz, classical, acoustic, folk and vocals, the Unity Inner Soul speakers are absolutely outstanding and I highly recommend them for that. Omer talked about how good they can do heavy metal. I didn't try, but I trust they must be amazing. For my listening habits, I realize I need a full size speaker with a larger driver.
Thank you Omer for the opportunity to listen to your beautiful work. I was really a treat.
They are a pair of beautiful little speakers. The craftsmanship is top notch, the finish is beautiful, everything about them oozes quality.
They are quite a bit bigger then I thought they would be and the only place I could fit them in my small house was I top of my current Tannoy Saturn s6 speakers. Not the greatest place, but it worked. I am not actually sure of the sonic consequences of having them on top of another cabinet...
I did have a little play with placement and I found them a bit more finicky then the Tannoys. I guess the back ported design vs the front ported Tannoys and the size of the driver might have something to do with that. The sweet spot with the Unity speakers seems quite small but when you get it right, the soundstage and imaging is really amazing. They completely blow the Tannoys out of the water.
I was expecting the Unity speakers to provide amazing detail and a very fast presentation and they definitely delivered. Good recordings sound extremely detailed, with an excellent instrument separation, bad recordings sound terrible, quite fatiguing. The Tannoys are much more forgiving that way.
I drove the speakers with a 20 watts push pull tube amp and pre with a tube phonostage from ideal innovations. The 91 dB efficiency is on par with the 90db tannoys and I was pretty impressed by the powerful sound I could get out of them. The bass is very impressive for the size of the driver, tighter than the Tannoys, but not as powerful or punchy. I had to play with the loudness pot of the preamp to get enough slam as I like in some recordings, but sometimes the treble would become too fatiguing. More on this later... The mids are really where the Unity speakers shine, of course, and having a full range single driver speaker to listen to was really a treat.
I tend to listen to the following types of music: folk, acoustic, world music, classic rock and jam bands.
Folk music suited the Unity speakers perfectly. One of my favourite albums from my world music collection, 3ma from Rajery sounded amazing too. Madar from Jan Garbareck was like listening to the album for the first time again and I have never heard Nina Simone's voice so real. Bob Dylan was a lot of fun to listen to on the Unitys too, you can really hear every word with a clarity I have never experienced before.
Most of my listening sessions are done at pretty high volume and I like listening to a good Grateful Dead show. I enjoy being able to move around sometimes and not be stuck to my seat for all listening situations. The Unity speakers, although providing a good listening experience with these recordings if you are sitting at the right spot and at medium volume, do not like jam bands at higher volume too much... They cannot fill the room like the much less refined Tannoys do. To be able to get enough slam in the lower department, the high becomes fatiguing and the mids seem to fade in the background. Lowering the volume gets the bass line lost and the music loses its integrity. The same pattern happened when listening to Matthew E White's outstanding Big Inner album. I couldn't get the speakers to reproduce all frequencies as I wanted in higher volume levels. I guess a full range single driver monitor is not meant for that.
So, if you listen to mostly jazz, classical, acoustic, folk and vocals, the Unity Inner Soul speakers are absolutely outstanding and I highly recommend them for that. Omer talked about how good they can do heavy metal. I didn't try, but I trust they must be amazing. For my listening habits, I realize I need a full size speaker with a larger driver.
Thank you Omer for the opportunity to listen to your beautiful work. I was really a treat.
cableguy
Junior Member
Thanks for the great write ups MikeO and Marco ! Indeed, these are not designed to be played loudly. The target market is small spaces and low to moderate listening volumes.
Heavy metal? Yes, they do quite well, as long as the recording is good. And, as you have seen compared to a multi driver speaker with a crossover, the single driver with no crossover is very fast, and unforgiving if the recording has limitations. I very much appreciate your impressions gents.
Heavy metal? Yes, they do quite well, as long as the recording is good. And, as you have seen compared to a multi driver speaker with a crossover, the single driver with no crossover is very fast, and unforgiving if the recording has limitations. I very much appreciate your impressions gents.
GreatDane;n35087 said:
Very nice review!
TubeHiFiNut;n35871 said:Very nice review!
Indeed!
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