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High-End '99
Loudspeakers are one of my favorite audio subjects. They provide large differences in performance, but also cater to many different tastes. Over in the Some to Remember section I mentioned how impressed I was by the Verity Parsifal Encore speakers, and they certainly were one of the high points of show as far as sound was concerned. I can't help but give you another peek at this fine transducer.
A good many other speakers did not fail to leave a fine impression on me, and here are some of them. Duevel
This interesting piece of furniture is the Duevel Jupiter. It not only looks good, but should be of special interest to single-ended-triode fans or others of a similar persuasion. It is a two-way system of high efficiency, marrying horn and bass-reflex technology with an ingenious twist. By using the reflectors/horns as seen in the picture, the speaker's maker, CD Koncert Möbel, avoids the narrow dispersion characteristics of the rather large bass driver, which is used into the midrange. The bass unit points upwards, is reflex loaded, and has the midrange covered by the unit above and dispersed via the cone mounted over the driver. This cone forms an integral part of the horn and is used with the compression driver mounted above. All in all, this is a very clever design that gives a much larger than normal sweet spot (you would be tempted to say none) than most other speakers and especially the high-efficiency ones. They are not only beautiful, but they produced excellent sound together with Klimo valve amps. Avantgarde
Speaking of horns, I can't for the life of me understand why my wife does not get weak in the knees at the sight of a brace of these beauties. I really do think the Avantgarde horns are beautifully made, as the following picture also shows.
The room was pretty poor, but I am convinced that the new subwoofers were a decided improvement over the earlier model. Here the Avantgarde Trios were played with Tron valve amps. Goooood stuff! Acapella
In all fairness it must be said that before the whole current craze with horns, and especially with tratrix horns, Acapella from Duisburg, Germany started using these drivers. I remember first hearing about them around 1980, and Acapella has stayed true to them ever since. As a very special feature, I will point your attention to the small golden tratrix tweeter horn seen between the midrange and mid-bass horns. This is driven by what I think is the only currently produced ion or plasma driver in the world. Driven by its own dedicated class-A amplifier, the speaker produces a sense of lightness and immediacy rivaled by few systems in the world -- if any. I hope you are not tired of horns because I have a few more goodies in store for you. Start below with one massive pair of... Audiopur
These speakers built by Audiopur (meaning "pure audio") are gigantic. They use a digital crossover and have phenomenal dynamics. At over $100,000 USD, they ought to be something special, but I am afraid that they did not integrate very well, even in the quite large room used for the show. It is possible they just needed even more space, but I wouldn't have the space -- or the money. Almost 26 years ago I was into building horn speakers and had at the time a set of standard Acoustas. If you are not a Lowther fan, this might mean very little to you, but for many who are fond of Lowther speakers it is a reasonable-sized horn. And here is one that's better. Carfrae
Well, calling it one better is probably the understatement of the decade. These horns are BIG. No, not as big as the ones above, and since they can be tucked nicely into a corner of your room, they might end up not using much more effective space than a lot of other speakers that require placement at some distance to the walls. But big and expensive they are, and you can see where your money goes. They are beautifully made by a furniture manufacturer, and in spite of my ambiguous relationship with the Lowther drivers, I would definitely not mind spending some time with these speakers. I think I have never heard Lowther drivers play more evenly and still retain the famous Lowther dynamics and immediacy. They also offer something more like REAL bass than most Lowther-based systems can offer, and they certainly leave any poor Acousta in the dust. Now I wonder whether Carfrae would set me up with a pair for a while, and if they would, if my wife would let them into the living room. Zingali
Before we get onto other types of speakers (just in case you got the idea that I am a bleeding horn freak), I just had to show you the big Zingali speaker. This one was outside in the corridor, but inside the smaller ones where playing nicely together with a Nottingham Analog turntable and Tim de Paravicini's valve amps, as seen below. Besides the very obvious midrange and treble horn, I can't tell you too much about the bass loading, but when I see the box it reminds me of the Onken enclosures, which still command respect among European valve fans.
But they are Italian, gorgeously made and believe me, they can (even the small ones in this picture) rock the house. In case you can't read the LP cover, it's AC/DC playing on the turntable, and I for one did not miss anything here. Vaic
While not being a horn, this is still a speaker designed to be used with valve amplifiers. It comes from the hands of none other that Alessi Vaic, the young engineer who a few years ago became so well known for his production of updated versions of classic valves. This is still taking place, but Vaic has branched out, not just to building amps but also these fine speakers. Aluminum-coned drivers, a ribbon tweeter and, if I'm not wrong, the doping of the speaker with special C37 lacquer are some of the ingredients that make up these very interesting speakers. I heard some superb music, with female voice well delivered. Manger
A speaker (or perhaps I should say speaker unit) that has fascinated me for years is the unusual bending-wave converter designed and built first by Josef Manger and now by his daughter Daniella. The company not only offers the units alone, which are considered unique by many enthusiasts, but also offers a number of speakers pairing their broadband unit (170Hz to over 30kHz) with bass units from Vifa and Scan-Speak. Here we see the smallest Manger speaker and the new flagship, a powered speaker with built-in facilities for (some) room correction. Certainly few speakers provide such homogenous sound (in the most positive sense) as this one. It is quite impressive, sporting three of the Manger units as well as three 10" bass units. A maximum loudness of 126dB is claimed, so even though Manger is more about quality than quantity, I don't think very many people will find it lacking in either.
Let me just ease in a picture that won't mean a lot to most people. These two fellows are leaning on one of their new Kammerton loudspeakers, and when looking at their faces, I wouldn't have known whom I was speaking to. Fortunately the chap in front was wearing a badge that read Axel Ridthaler, which did mean something to me after a second. I knew him as a very knowledgeable designer with quite some experience with the Manger drivers, among others. And where did I know him from? The Internet, of course. Axel had for quite a time been very active in the DIY loudspeaker list, and we had quite a time discussing many things in person for the first time. The wonders of the 'Net! Oh yes, I am really looking forward to hearing his new speakers. Dynaudio
Even though it was a ticket-only presentation, I did manage to get in on the Dynaudio demo of the mighty Evidence speakers. They are both tall (dwarfing me) and really very elegant. Being $85,000 USD, they are also very expensive, but as they say, there's "no cost spared." Much work has gone into an extremely controlled radiation pattern, which should make them perform better in real rooms than some of the speakers that are only ideal in an anechoic chamber. I was not bowled over by the sound I heard, however, but that could just be caused by a less-than-ideal listening position as there were about 30 or 40 of us listening at one time. The Evidence is a refined and well-controlled speaker, but I would have to listen under better conditions to give you any further impressions. Backes & Müller
I don't know what you think of its looks (they were to my wife's liking), but this is a quite unique loudspeaker. I am sure most of you have heard of motional feedback being used for bass drivers. Well Backes & Müller goes one better and have employed this for almost as long as they have been in business. All the drivers are part of a feedback loop, including the midrange drivers and tweeters. This is done via a capacitive loopback, and it works well. Except when it doesn't work, which seems to have been a bit of a problem over the years. I listened for all of two minutes before one of the speakers, which are fully active, died. Well, better luck next time. Precide
Another very special speaker that I might have mentioned before and which was in fact commented upon in connection with one of the Canadian shows is the Kithara, or Oscar as I believe it is marketed in America, in honor of Oscar Heil. After having broken off the relationship with ESS, Oscar Heil worked together with Martin Dürrenmatt of Switzerland, and Martin's company, Precide, is producing and refining the Heil AMTs nowadays. The Kithara is the biggest model, although in absolute terms it is not intrusive at all. It's more reminiscent of a fine piece of furniture. It is really a remarkable speaker with a fine reproduction and the ability to virtually disappear. This is in no small part due to the upward-radiating woofer and the large Heil driver sitting on top. I have been discussing a review on and off for a couple of years, and hopefully we will get a round to it soon. I will report much more thoroughly then. Arcitec
You could be excused for thinking these speakers were from B&O. Well, they are not, although they do come from Struer, a small Danish town whose major (some might say only) claim to fame is that Bang & Olufsen's factory is there. Leaning toward the lifestyle end of the spectrum, the speakers nonetheless play real music. This might still be important for some. On the other hand, they are positively gorgeous and superbly executed and cannot help but make your mouth water if you are the least sensitive to their kind of "designer" looks. Besides a wall-mounted version, the company also showed a very clever new subwoofer with a very long reflex port routed into the very thick base. Very clever indeed. Thiel & Partner
I must confess to a high admiration for the ceramic drivers that Bernd Thiel has developed over the last half-dozen years. He has had a hard time, but now it looks like the company is becoming stable. The speakers and the unique drivers are sold under the Thiel name in Europe, but should, of course, not be confused with the speakers from the US company of the Thiel name. In the US and Canada, the units are sold under the Accuton brand. For the first time, Thiel & Partner are now presenting complete speakers, and I really liked what I heard -- a clarity that is amazing without accompanying sharpness. Oh yes, these are definitely candidates for closer inspection. ALR-Jordan
I must also show you these ALR-Jordan speakers, not just because I respect Karl-Heinz Fink, their designer, but I do feel somewhat connected to the speakers. The Jordan part of the name comes from the close association the German company ALR has build up with Ted Jordan, who to this day remains one of the true pioneers of metal cones. My connection is that I built a pair of speakers using the original Jordan-Watts modules way back in 1972, and I still remember the unadulterated pleasure I got from them -- and some years later again when I built another pair. Aluminum cones have come quite a way since then, and all the ALR-Jordan speakers I have heard have all been excellent values for the money. They are definitely worth a listen. I suppose I have to stop, but there is one more speaker I must show you. I have a great weakness for ribbons, and the sound of these babes was a real delight.
They are Italian and built by a company called Relco. They have a bigger sister that I did not get to hear, but oh did they hit my soft spot -- well-integrated hybrids with that undeniable ribbon sound. I hope to see (and hear) them again. |
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Copyright © 1999 |
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