Audiophilepure

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“Aron pointed out that the Atrias painted more sharply defined soundstage images and that, with certain tracks, the inherent warmth of their sound appealed to him more than did the sound of the Persona 7Fs. On the other hand, by reproducing the sound of drums with greater “dynamic drive and depth” while still sounding “light on their feet,” the Paradigms took the lead. Furthermore, when he turned up the volume, “things changed.” For instance, with recordings of acoustic piano, the Persona 7Fs were able to play “louder while maintaining their ease, neutrality, and realism,” while the Atrias “sounded sharper and more aggressive.” And bass-wise, it was no contest: “The Atrias simply couldn’t compete here. The Persona 7F’s robust twin 8.5” woofers and bigger cabinet volume let it dig considerably deeper in the bass and with greater control than the Atria’s single 9” woofer.”

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“The Rockport Lyra pushes forward the state of the art in loudspeaker design in its elaborate and innovative construction as well as in sound quality. The Lyra delivers a horn-like visceral immediacy with its absolutely stunning dynamic performance. The musical effect cannot be overstated; the Lyra sounds “alive” in a way that other speakers do not. Yet for all its verve and panache, this is a speaker of great delicacy, capable of conveying the subtlest nuance of texture and shading. It’s also the most beautiful in timbre that I’ve heard, combining high resolution with lush textural liquidity. The icing on the cake is the Lyra’s small size—for a world-class reference, which it certainly is—that allows it to fit in many more rooms than other speakers of this price.”

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“The twenty5.26 is a subtle and revealing loudspeaker; every tweak you make to the system is audible and this means that all the fine details of recordings can be enjoyed. With Javier Perianes’ piano playing [Manuel Blasco de Nebra Piano Sonatas 1-6 Op.1, Harmonia Mundi], the sense of deliberation in his timing is palpable and the precision of decay and micro dynamics totally absorbing. It’s almost like the quieter the notes the more you are drawn into them. Yet, more energetic material is equally enthralling; in fact when I dropped the needle on ‘16 Shells from a Thirty-ought-six’ [Tom Waits, Swordfishtrombones, Island] it was all but impossible to sit still, so compelling was the lop-sided rhythm. If Waits isn’t a Captain Beefheart fan, I’ll eat my hat. ”

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“I have a pair of KEF LS50 speakers on hand for direct comparison and not surprisingly, the two speakers sound similar, but the R300 is weightier, fuller and delivers more low-end power. Dynamics pack a bigger punch with Led Zeppelin’s “Presence” album; returning to the LS50 I miss the R300s’ oomph.”

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“The manufacturing process used to create the Special Forty’s veneer is more elaborate than we might expect: 1.5mm-thick wood slices are cut from birch wood in Finland. Each slice is coloured red or grey without paint (lest it obscure the wood grain) before many hundreds of slices are glued and pressed together to form a solid block. This block is then cross-cut again to create thin slices of veneer, this time though at ninety degrees to the original layers and so creating a pseudo wood/pin-stripe effect.”

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“It’s a truism but I will say it anyway, that Avatars speakers sound differently than all others. It should be obvious, even if you have never seen them before nor listen to them nor read any reviews – just read the introduction above. That does not mean, however, that they sound weird. They offer very capable performance with some typical high-end qualities, but with its elements composed in a way that initially seems very different from anything one has heard before.”