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It
seems as though it was only yesterday that Hafler was known solely as
a manufacturer of power amplifiers—and darn good ones, at that. The
situation changed in 1998, however, when the company introduced its first
studio-reference monitor, the TRM8. The first in a series of active Hafler
monitors, the TRM8 won almost universal industry acclaim.
Hafler has broken ground again with its M5 reference monitors, which are
passive rather than active (that is, they have no built-in amplifiers).
The M5s are also quite small, making one wonder whether they can deliver
true reference-quality sound. Well, there’s no need to wonder—these
babies deliver in spades.
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Hafler’s
M5 passive, close-field monitors deliver excellent imaging, superior
depth, and smooth sound in a compact package
(click for larger view).
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Superlative
Design
The M5s look rather tiny next to Yamaha NS-10Ms, as they measure
only about 7 inches wide, 7 inches deep, and 12 inches high. Weighing
only 10 pounds each, the M5s are excellent for professional monitoring
in tight spaces, and they can also be easily placed on a console bridge
or workstation furniture.
Though the M5s’ relatively low price may suggest that Hafler cut
some corners, that is not the case. The quality of construction is professional
throughout.
The M5 uses a 5 1/4-inch polypropylene woofer and a 1-inch silk-dome tweeter,
with the latter set in an exponential (that is, curved) horn waveguide.
Hafler maintains that the waveguide helps stabilize the close-field “phantom”
center image. Whatever the reason, the M5s exhibit spectacular imaging.
The tweeter’s optical-protection circuit prevents damage by slowly
attenuating the signal level when power exceeds safe levels. In addition,
a front-panel switch lets you reduce the tweeter’s level by 3 dB.
This feature could be helpful in a very live room where the highs are
emphasized too much for your tastes. My control room features a dead front
end (thanks to an Acoustic Sciences Corporation Attack Wall and floor
carpeting), so I left the tweeter switch in the 0 dB (unattenuated) position.
Interestingly, neither setting is indicated on the switch—a minor
nuisance that you can easily remedy with a makeshift label.
Magnetically shielded, the woofer allows you to place the M5 next to computer
monitors and televisions without distorting the image. The woofer also
employs a nitrile rubber surround that prevents sound waves from reflecting
back into the speaker cone and compromising the linearity of the frequency
response. Furthermore, according to the manufacturer, the mineral-loaded
cone’s extra rigidity helps minimize intermodulation distortion (IMD).
Listening for extended periods of time to speakers that produce a lot
of IMD can be fatiguing, and the M5s are some of the least-fatiguing speakers
I’ve ever heard. They were a pleasure to work on in long sessions.
The M5’s internally braced cabinet is sturdily constructed of 5/8-inch-thick
medium-density fiberboard and covered in attractive, textured black vinyl.
The slot-shaped bass port is in the front of the cabinet, where it belongs.
(Some rear-firing designs sound a little mushy to my ears.) From an academic
point of view, I wish that the M5’s cabinet edges were rounded, because
sharp, square edges tend to cause high-frequency diffraction, which scatters
stereo imaging. However, as I noted earlier, the M5s exhibit outstanding
imaging, even though they don’t have rounded cabinet edges.
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Reprinted with
permission from 
Magazine, November, 2000
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved
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