Hyondae Sound Ti-755a Speakers

The original Altec 755a are “the” classic 8 inch full range driver. Dating to the 1940’s, these unlikely little industrial beauties have set the standard for full range driver sound and have been a favorite with hobbyists since their inception. Having finally owned a pair a few years back, I found them to be enjoyable, if somewhat less so than expected based on the hype and more than a decade of anticipation. But they have a very devoted following, with many audiophiles seeing them as an end-game solution.

There are of course some drawbacks; the original drivers are 80 years old now and each one has had a unique experience getting this far. Condition and performance vary widely, so putting together a matched pair can be nearly impossible. And with prices rising, this is an expensive endeavor!

Over the years there have been some modern imitations of the 755a. Line Magnetic made a field coil version which I would love to experience one day. And a few years back, Western Electric began reissuing cones for the 755 series, although there is some debate about how true to the original these new cones are. The earliest Western Electric 755a drivers and the first series of Altec assembled 755a had cones made with some mystery fibers that, combined with 80 years of drying out and stiffening likely make them impossible to duplicate today. After the A series, the 755 had two further versions, the C and E drivers, with production running into the 1960’s. Along with design changes to the frame and magnets, these drivers also had slightly different cones than the A. My guess is that the new Western Electric cones have more in common with the C and E series. However this is just my guess.

More recently a Korean company called Hyondae Sound have used the new Western Electric cones in their homage to the 755a, a cabinet and speaker combination they call the Ti755a. John Park from Hyondae reached out to me to see if I would be interested in trying out their speaker, and of course I jumped at the chance! A few weeks later, tariffs be damned, a factory fresh pair arrived on my doorstep and I was off to the races.

The speakers arrived well packed and were up and playing in just a few minutes. The cabinets are medium sized boxes, solid and well put together, and painted in the classic Altec silver hammer tone. These appear to be scaled down versions of the studio sized 612, but without a front vent; an imitation of a classic Altec design from the 1940’s. Magnetic grills hide the drivers but are easily removable.

I was quite excited to get these speakers going, and firing them up for the first time I was immediately greeted by a pretty familiar sound. Even though I could tell there were many hours of break-in ahead, the initial profile was already very similar to the Altec 755a I owned. For better or for worse. And as time has passed and I now have perhaps two hundred hours on these drivers, the similarities that I remember from the Altec 755a are mostly there with the Hyondae Ti-755a. And if you want the TLDR version of this review Dear Reader, I’ve found the Hyondae drivers to be very satisfying replacements for the expensive and finicky old Altecs.

The Ti-755a are a little more sensitive than the original 755a. In my initial tests, it was apparent that the 6 or so watts from the Alpa 300B monoblocks were more than enough, and in fact although I’ve since run these speakers with everything from 60 watts of 845 to one watt of SE 6V6, I’ve come to the conclusion that unlike the Altecs, the lower powered amps do sound better to me on the Ti-755a drivers. In my small room at least, the Yamamoto 45 was an ideal pairing. I like the McIntosh MC240 and Mr. Liang SE 845 in my larger living room space. But overall the Ti-755a are capable of relaxing and opening up with just a watt or two and don't seem to require a huge power reserve.

These drivers needed some serious break-in, but after many days and nights of playing they started to really improve and stabilize. I ran them in their cabinets for a month or more, but knowing that I preferred the original 755a in open baffles, John from Hyondae Sound generously encouraged me to remove the drivers and try them in any way I wanted. So, into the Telefunkens they went. And what an improvement to my ears that change was! And although I’ve begun using the factory cabinets in my living room rotation, in my smaller more near-field listening space, the Telefunkens are the recipe.

Hyondae Sound’s Ti-755a are quite nice sounding drivers. Once you settle in and relax, they wash over you and you do fall into them. As I mentioned in the Altec review, this is actually a pretty rare thing. Yes, there are other drivers that have more sparkle or deeper bass. But this one does have a naturalness to its tonality that feels very comfortable. Mounted in the right cabinet and with a nicely warmed up SET amp, these do sound golden. The immediacy and clean mid-range are a treat to listen to. They feel energized and “growly” for want of a better term, in much the same way as the original Altec 755a did for me.

These drivers are quite revealing as well, and it’s easy to hear differences in tube choices as well as things like the warm-up transition from the hard sound of a cold tube amp as it fades into bloom and warmth. Unfortunately any tube hum is also quite apparent with the Ti-755a as well. I don’t remember this with the Altec 755 but it could’ve been the case too. At any rate, the Ti-755a bring all of the details out.

Since Hyondae Sound’s Ti-755a is such a close imitation of the Western Electric / Altec, and was obviously made with reverence and respect, I’ll try to speak a little more about the similarities I remember from my original Altec 755a. At the end of the day, what really strikes me about both of these speakers is that I feel like they are essentially superb mid-range drivers. Both are capable of some bass, but it’s strange bass. The upper bass has an interesting weight to it, almost like it is being prioritized, but the low bass on both drivers does drop off a cliff. The Ti-755a are a little better in this respect; they have more bass response overall, even in the open baffle. And in truth, they go high enough for my hearing as well, but coming off of a horn coaxial, I can feel that there is some energy missing in the upper treble.

I’ve also found that both the Ti-755a and the Altec drivers can easily have a somewhat congested feeling. With some program material it just doesn’t flow in a way that my other favorites do. These drivers can feel like more of a brute force solution. In the Altec review I mentioned an observation someone had that if brought to an audio show, 80% or more of those who listened would just not get the Altec 755a’s appeal, and would leave scratching their heads. I think that likely applies to the Ti-755a too. There is a golden feeling to the sound when it’s good. When its bad it presents all of the warts and farts right out in the sunlight. In this way it is very much like the original.

Western Electric first made the 755a driver 80 years ago. The passage of that time has been very different for each of the surviving originals. Some may have spent the decades comfortably on the wall in a back office, away from sunlight and temperature extremes. Others might have sat in a wooden box on a cold and windy train platform. No two are alike. And with price now in the thousands each, matching originals is a fool’s errand. But plenty of us want to hear and experience the legendary sound these drivers offer.

Hyondae Sound have created an alternative to that audiofool crap shoot. The Ti-755a is a clear attempt to reincarnate the classic, and seemingly every detail has been attended to. It is almost worshipful in its imitation. This is what the real thing looked and felt like coming off the Western Electric factory floor. And in my experience, the sound is very close to the original, although nothing can imitate the passage of time and the unpredictable factor that adds to the whole. But if you had a time machine and could buy a 755a new, I think this is what you’d get. The Ti-755a offers predictable, repeatable performance, not a random disappointment. This eliminates a lot of the risk in trying this expensive platform.

I think Hyondae Sound have knocked it out of the park, and I’m really happy to see such a product on the market. Having owned and passed along the originals, I have hesitated to recommend pursuing them. But having spent months now with the Ti-755a, which felt familiar immediately at startup, it’s almost like I’ve got my old drivers back. What more can I say, these feel very authentic to me, and I can only imagine how they will sound after 1000 more hours of play. Having had both, I would buy this in a heartbeat before trying to source and match up an elusive pair of Westerns. Super highly recommended if you are looking for the unique and quirky sound of the legendary 755a.

The Hyondae Sound Ti-755a. Like any full range driver, these take some time to burn in and loosen up, but once broken in, these are very nice sounding. They have much of the flavor of the originals, but with perhaps a little more bass energy and some additional efficiency. Beautiful speakers!

The cabinets are very well constructed.

Hyondae Sound have done a great job recreating the Western Electric / Altec 755a. The grey crinkle paint, the white filler over the bolt holes, the fabric backing; its very realistic and must be so close to what the originals looked like 80 years ago when they were new.

Versus the Goodmans Axiom 80. The Axiom 80 are exceptionally clear and precise sounding drivers that I am still getting used to. Back to back with the Ti-755a, the Axiom project more into the room with a more palpable image. They are a bit thin on my open baffle panels (not an optimum formula for the Goodmans), and the Ti-755a sound nicely thick and meaty in comparison, while still being agile and fast. At the time of writing I don't have enough hours on the Axiom to make a real judgment, but will update later. Its a close call though.

Versus the venerable Isophon PH2132. The Isophon on all counts. They have won my ears and are pretty hard to beat.

Versus 1950’s Seas oval fullrange. This is close. The Seas have a snap-crackle-pop that the Ti-755a can’t match. But the Ti-755a have a little more depth and grounding. For something like Bossa Nova or classical guitar, I like the Seas better actually. For most other material the Ti-755a are a bit more enjoyable.

Eventually I moved the drivers into my big open backed Telefunken cabinets, and I prefer the sound from this configuration more than what I achieved from the factory cabinets. I can see the nostalgia in those old style cabinets, and these seem to be extremely well built miniatures of the classic Altec 612 (minus the front vent), but the free feeling in the sound shines through more from an open baffle. No surprise to me, I much preferred my Altec drivers in the open baffle as well.

Some of the other drivers on hand at the time of the Ti-755a review. Quite a collection of top performers! It's a lot of fun to swap out 3 or 4 of these over an evening’s listening session.

After several months of on and off use in my small room I finally brought the Hyondae Sound speakers upstairs to my larger space. Wow, what a difference. The factory cabinets felt limiting in my smaller room, but given a much larger space around them and positioned slightly out into the room, and powered by the McIntosh MC240, the Hyondae Sound Ti-755a sound magnificent. Pictured behind them are new-to-me ginormous Altec 802d/515b speakers. Surprisingly, the little Ti-755a definitely hold their own against the horns. Of course it’s a different sound with somewhat different qualities, but the silver speakers really do keep up from an enjoyability perspective. I have to admit I was a little taken aback by the difference between the small room and large room performance, and I kind of doubt that these are going back downstairs anytime soon.

This review features something new for the site, a field trip. As many of you reading this know, Walt and Early Bender are names that are deeply woven into the 755a story. Walt’s 1970’s-90’s publication Audiomart was a landmark of the early hifi scene, serving as a worldwide audio marketplace before the internet. We are talking sea container levels of vintage audio imports and exports, folks. Over the years of Audiomart, Walt and Early procured a massive bounty of classic Western Electric and European audio equipment, and hundreds of 755a drivers passed through the doors. Walt Bender died in 2009, but his son Early continues the business through Hifi Town. Its no exaggeration to say that Early Bender has handled more 755a than anyone now living. So when I found out that he is located in Crewe Virginia, only a few hours South from me, I reached out to him and we arranged a meetup.

Driving down to Crewe on a cold December day, I met Early at his warehouse. For me, this is like visiting Santa’s workshop! Perhaps 4000 square feet of densely packed floor to ceiling vintage and classic audio, Early led me through a path in the shelving and into the back where he had set up his father’s “Airwave” cabinets with their pair of Western Electrics. What a treat!

We were both pretty interested to hear the Hyondae Sound Ti-755a in the context of the real deal. I feel that Hyondae Sound have done an exceptional job on recreating the 755a, down to the smallest details, so this was the proof in the pudding moment for them. After hearing the Western Electric drivers on their own for a few minutes, we changed out one of the Airwaves for the Ti-755a. Powered by push pull 2a3 with each channel isolated, we could adjust as needed to hear them alone or together. Both sounded very good. There are some clear similarities between them, and a few differences, but hearing them side by side its easy to say that these are the same family. The Western Electrics have a slightly richer midrange. Both drivers could use a tweeter for full coverage, but sound fine without. Bass is very similar, but hardest to judge in different cabinets. The Ti-755a are clearly more efficient from a pure loudness standpoint. Honestly we were both pretty impressed with the performance of the Hyondae Sound Ti-755a. This only reinforces my view that these drivers can be seen as a safer and more predictable solution for anyone considering the 755a sound.

Early Bender with the Hyondae Sound Ti-755a, a Western Electric 755a, and an Altec C series.

Putting the drivers on a DATS sweep reveal that they have very similar signatures. Also pictured is my pair of Goodmans Axiom 80 that Early measured and repaired for me.