⭕ Superb Hansen Knight Speakers - Ex-Demo, immaculate condition - Fully Crated - Silver

Fantastic dynamic compact floorstander speaker with 3D soundstage, open sound like horns but with strong bass and pure mids.



In fairly short order, I gathered the Knights commanded total control over the music. This allowed the full effect of the original performance to shine through. Many speakers from all sorts of price points produce lovely sounds, letting through as much of the music as the technology/design allows. Hansens twenty thousand dollar beauties enable the music to flow. One hears the essence of the performance, much as the composer/artist would imagine.

We all love the revelation of hearing great equipment. Sadly, many get the concomitant comparison to the home sound. I say, dont be scared. Go ahead, make your day! Hansen equipment should be heard in a good room, well-setup just to hear what is now available in terms of resolution. And resolution in its best light. No etch, no bright lights in the eyeballs, no sparks, no slashes, nothing overwhelming. Just clear, clear (incredibly well-balanced) sound.

The drivers, all designed and made in house at Hansen, are top quality. And the superb crossover holds a tight rein over the varying octaves it controls. No bleed of the mids to treble or bass humping along while the others run fleet of foot. No, everything in its musical place, swinging, rocking, caressing and generally having a hell of a good time. Listening is fun, sad, demanding, relaxing, what ever you choose it to be. Track six of Swingphonic has Sammy Nestico arranging the love theme from Scheherazade for classical/jazz orchestra. There are some amazing shifts in dynamics and some crescendos that will test your system. The Knights replication was thrilling. No sweat or toil, just what conductor Harry Currie wanted. And he wanted a lot!

The sounds essence? Homogeneous, yes, but not blended. Detailed, yes, but not etched. Tessituras, separated, yes, but equal in value. Once again, the perfect definition of a particular piece of equipment eludes my prosaic prose. But, you get the drift. The Knights were lifelike for hours. No fatigue, no blandness, and the speakers never, ever gave up. The information retrieval was superior. As such, the sound signature is the same as other Hansen products, but with the Prince, Emperor and King, you simply get more of what the Knight gives. A dealer, with knowledge of your specific situation, will be able to direct you the applicable speaker.

Conclusion

Are they worth the price tag? Yes. In a heartbeat. Youll get much of what Lars Hansen has spent years creating in his flagship King. No, the Knights wont go as low and with as much authority, or handle as much power, but then fifty thousand dollars is a very large difference in price.Personally, I think the King (now in V2 iteration) is the worlds finest speaker. If money was no object, the Kings would be in my home till I was old(er) and grey(er)! If money is an object and your room is not too large (welcome to the real world), the Knights will be a superb addition to your system. The centerpiece, in fact. They work with all sorts of good equipment and will pass the WAF. And most importantly, they will give the listener many hours of musical pleasure.

After a while, when the pride of ownership has diminished and the lull in the hobby subsides for a month or two, youll be able to head to the listening room and hear music in its purest form. No glitz or glamour, no mine is bigger than yours, no check this bass out, just the greatest art form in sound that, in the here and now and at the the Knights size, technology and price point, will be difficult to better. Very highly recommended.

[It is with great pleasure that we award The Audiophilia Star Component Award to the Hansen Audio Knight Loudspeaker. Congratulations! - Ed]


Standing just under 100cm tall, and using twin 18.2cm mid/bass drivers and a 25mm woofer, The Knight is part of a range including a standmounter named The Elixir, The Wizard centre-channel and The Dragonslayer subwoofer, and even floorstanding models going right up to the curvaceous The King V2, with a five-driver array.
The Knight speakers are built around custom-made components engineered, designed and manufactured by Ontario-based Hansen: the company makes all its own drive units, cabinets and crossovers.

The tweeter is mounted on a 6mm thick dispersion plate, the woofers use what the company calls an Exotic multi-layer composite sandwich cone, with in-house motor system and chassis, giving sound wave deformation prevention, and the cabinet is of a Composite Matrix design, with an additional Cloaking Device layer within to lower distortion.

Even the simple, first-order crossover - one of the benefits of being able to control driver design as part of the engineering process - is of a proprietary design, featuring V2 Driver Assimilation Technology.

The speakers have 87dB/W/m sensitivity and 6ohm impedance, and have a frequency response of 29Hz-23kHz