Loudspeakers

Alan Sircom has posted a review of the Spendor A9 loudspeaker (£3995/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: Sometimes as a reviewer, you happen across a product that ticks all the boxes and yet you have no qualms about giving it back at the end of the review period. The Spendor A9 is not that kind...
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Martin Colloms has posted a review of the Wilson Audio Sophia loudspeakers ($13,900/pair) at Hi-Fi Critic. His conclusions: Sophia 3’s sound quality is very like the 2, yet subtly and beneficially enhanced in almost every respect. Nevertheless, it’s perhaps debatable whether an existing Sophia 2 owner should go through the costly upgrade process. For...
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Dick Olsher has posted a review of the Martin Logan Summit X loudspeaker ($13,995) at The Absolute Sound. His conclusions: The traditional electrostatic virtues of transient speed and detail resolution were very much in evidence. The mechanics of music-making are about starting and stopping, attack and decay, and this the Summit reproduced with excellent...
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Srajan Ebaen has posted a review of the Kiso Acoustics HB-1 loudspeaker ($16,000/pair) at 6mmons. His conclusions: Though it will, none of that ought to distract from the very real accomplishment at hand here. For sounds to blossom with the type of flourish they exhibit out of, with or through these very small but...
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Ray Seda has posted a review of the PMC OB1i loudspeakers ($4849/pair) at Dagogo. His conclusions: Playing LP’s from the laundry list of artists that use PMC speakers for their mastering process proved to be a real blast. The OB1i’s deliver dynamics and decibels that my full range electrostatics can only dream of delivering....
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Don Shaulis has posted a review of the Acoustic Technologies Classic Series loudspeakers ($2650/pair) at Stereo Times. His conclusions: For most music, bass from the Classics was satisfying both in quantity and quality. Most important, it was balanced, surprisingly solid, and appropriate. Many speakers, in an attempt to increase bass, throw it out of...
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Harry Pearson has posted a review of the Nola Micro Grand Reference loudspeaker ($14,000/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: I can’t say that I can yet describe the speaker in a descriptive language. I am still working to get there. And this troubles me—I don’t like saying you have to hear it to believe it....
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the German Physiks HRS 120 Carbon loudspeaker (€23,500) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: Those are not typical loudspeakers, what we can see at first glance. They cost very much, and this is the reason, they need to fulfill some goals set for loudspeakers from the start. The...
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Marek Dyba has posted a review of the Avantgarde Acoustic Duo Omega loudspeakers (€20,000) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: I couldn't find any flaws I could use against Duo Omega though but so many advantages that I might say I found what my own private heaven. Listening to Avantgarde Acoustic speakers for some time...
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the Franco Serblin Ktêma loudspeaker (€24,750) at High Fidelity. His conclusions: I mentioned couple of times in this text that some elements of the sound are presented better by some other speakers at similar 25 000 EUR price level. I believe that Esotar tweeter used in Electa...
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Jeff Fritz has posted a review of the B&W 803 Diamond loudspeakers ($10,000/pair) at Soundstage! Hi-Fi. His conclusions: Bowers & Wilkins has crafted a fine loudspeaker in the 803 Diamond. It leans slightly toward the warm side of the audioband — it never approached cool or lean — a characteristic that will make it...
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Robrt E. Greene has posted a review of the King’s Audio Prince II electrostatic speakers ($6500/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: So there you have it. Impressive dynamic capacity for a relative small electrostatic, though still a bit restrictive for extreme material; impressive if not subterranean bass extension as well; the ability to take your...
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Uday Reddy has posted a review of the YG Acoustics Carmel loudspeakers ($18,000/pair) at Ultra Audio. His conclusions: I really enjoyed hearing in my room the YG Acoustics Carmel — a loudspeaker that is, in my mind, a state-of-the-art design. Yes, it’s limited in the lowest octave, but this is a tradeoff that many...
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Doug Schneider has posted a review of the Vivid Audio B1 loudspeakers ($15,000/pair) at Soundstage! Hi-Fi. Measurements from the Canadian Nation Research Council are also included. His conclusions: Vivid Audio’s B1 is an extraordinarily good loudspeaker that has midrange and high-frequency neutrality, transparency, and refinement that are second to none. In resolution and detail...
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Keith Howard, Ken Kessler, John Bamford and Paul Miller published a joint review of The Sonus Faber loudspeaker ($186,000) (formerly know as the Fenice) in Hi-Fi News and Record Review containing listening impressions as well as laboratory measurements. You can download the review here.
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Kirk Midtskog has posted a review of the B&W 805 Diamond loudspeaker ($5000/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: As you can tell, I loved the 805 Diamond. Its overall level of performance went well beyond its $5000 asking price. The fine level of resolution it brings to bear is almost planar-like, and it packs respectable...
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Dave Thomas has posted a review of the Dynaudio Sapphire loudspeaker ($16,500/pair) at Stereo Times. His conclusions: I’ve mentioned in previous reviews about the experience of being in what Clement Perry calls “Audio Hell,” where you become emotionally attached to a component that you can’t possibly afford to own. That’s exactly what has happened...
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Chris Thomas has posted a review of the Focal Electra 1008 Be Loudspeakers ($4995/pair) at The Audio Beat. His conclusions: he 1008 Be had more low-frequency extension than I was expecting; that inert cabinet gives it plenty of stop-start coherence, even if it tends to sacrifice a little bass definition in favor of power...
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Constantine Soo has posted a review of the Lumenwhite Artisan loudspeaker system ($35,000/pair) at Dagogo. His conclusions: We may regard those who insist on using speakers with haunting dimensionality and imaging capabilities as radicals and nonsensical, and most of the time I would enjoy conducting my review projects with speakers excelling at drivers integration...
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Jonathan Valin has posted a review of the Morel Fat Lady loudspeaker ($32,000/pair) at AV Guide. His conclusions: Whether they were completely right or mostly right and a little wrong in creating their high-tech undamped carbon-fiber enclosure, Morel and Mr. Kauffman have undoubtedly created a truly outstanding loudspeaker in The Fat Ladies—one that several...
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Neil Gader has posted a review of the Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.5 loudspeaker ($5995/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusion: A couple of carps and cavils. On a cut like “The Finer Things” from Steve Winwood’s 12” single or Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou” , there’s a short rise in the upper harmonic region of the...
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Peter Breuninger has posted a review of the Coincident Pure Reference Extreme loudspeakers ($26,000/pair) at AV Guide. His conclusions: I enjoy both high-power and low-power systems and I’m keenly aware of the differences between the two. I have to have two systems to fully exploit my wide range of musical interest. Simplifying it: It’s...
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Wojciech Pacuła has posted a review of the Isophon Berlina RC7 loudspeaker (€24,000/pair) at 6moons. His conclusions: These are not everyman speakers suitable for all rooms and electronics. They have quite characteristic attributes which require that you listen to them carefully in your home. A session at the distributor will only convey a faint...
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Wayne Garcia has posted a review of the Electrocompaniet PSB-1 bookshelf loudspeaker ($1450/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: Perhaps the most pleasant surprise came with PSB 1’s dynamic scaling. Although one would expect a small monitor-type speaker to do well with the microdynamic shading of a solo violin, cello, or the acoustic pop mentioned above,...
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Alan Sircom, Editor of Hi-Fi+, has posted a review of the Tannoy Definition DC10T loudspeakers($/pair) at AVGuide. His conclusions: A lot of this comes down to the DC10T’s effortless dynamic range. Unless you are pushing things (volume level, room loading, ears) to the limit, the sense of dynamic scale to music is deeply impressive....
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