Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/ta-elektroakustiks-new-pulsar-s-130-inherits-core-criterion-series-tech

According to T+A, the development of this product was not merely cosmetic; it is part of a larger plan to apply foundational technologies across its new speaker lines. The company says that the Pulsar S 130 shares core design principles with T+A’s more expensive Solitaire and Criterion models. Prominent among these shared technologies is the Symmetric Directivity Design, which T+A claims reduces detrimental reflections and tonal distortions. This approach is said to center on controlling how sound propagates from the drivers, focusing the energy where it matters and minimizing unwanted room interactions. The German Federal Government recognized this design approach in 2024, according to T+A, suggesting that it is of interest in Germany’s technological and engineering landscape.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/wilson-audio-wattpuppy

Ultimately, there’s a parallel here I simply have to declare. It is no secret that Daryl Wilson has taken everything that he learned at the feet of the maestro, his father David A Wilson, and used this knowledge not solely as a legacy but as a foundation for his own innate abilities. Just as every WATT/Puppy improved on its predecessor, so has Daryl moved beyond his father’s achievements to become one of the pre-eminent speaker designers of the 21st century. The evidence? The WATT/Puppy is a masterpiece.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/ps-audio-aspen-fr5

As mentioned earlier, the speaker can be bought with or without stands. I’d certainly recommend considering them even if you already have your own, because they both complete the look and offer useful cable management. Self-assembly involves fitting the base plates (with spike-tipped feet pre-attached) to the main pillar, and mounting the top plate in one of two positions, depending on whether you want the FR5’s cabinet to align with the front or rear of the base. Slim speaker wire can be routed through a hole on the bottom of the base, while a larger opening on the back of the pillar accommodates thicker cables.

Also in the FR5’s packaging are sets of adhesive rubber feet to fit to the bottom of the speaker or the top of the stand, and spade-ended jumper leads. The latter must be attached to the speaker’s twin sets of binding posts unless you are bi-amping, though the resulting run of red and black cabling looks a little out of keeping with the rest of the FR5’s slick appearance. Solid metal links are more commonly employed these days.

It’s straightforward to set up the speakers, and PS Audio’s manual goes into decent detail regards listening distance and toe-in. The suggestion, as with its other Aspens, is for a minimum 1m distance from side walls and at least 50cm from the rear boundary, plus the cabinets angled so that they’re pointing at a space a little beyond your head.

I very much enjoyed having the TAD-CE1TX in my home. It brought back all the good memories of the original CE1 with its concentric driver magic that helps create that especially “alive” sonic picture. Yes, the speakers are voiced to a degree that helps them show off vocals and most midrange-centric instruments just enough. And while the bass response is very good for a stand-mounted speaker like this, it definitely benefits being closer to a wall as I discovered when I tried them out in my smaller home theater space. If anything, I am now intrigued by the idea of checking out the newer matching tower speakers that are now part of the line.

Beyond sounding very good, the CE1TX also looks the part, being a truly handmade artisan product in the finest Japanese tradition. These are gorgeous, beautifully crafted loudspeakers produced by a very small and dedicated team of technicians and craftsmen that are worth keeping and handing down to someone in years to come. These are not your typical off-the-rack, commodity products by any stretch. They both sound and feel special and as such, are priced accordingly.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1254-bowers-wilkins-801-d4-signature-loudspeaker

The Occasion is dense as all get-out, featuring orchestral breaks interspersed with incredibly catchy hooks that swoop in from left field and set themselves real deep. The title track, “The Occasion,” goes every which way, with instruments snapping out from the edges, and the 801s did tricks with them. I heard a huge—huge, I tell you—soundstage, with Harkness’s guitar holding down the center. That snappy, expressive midrange placed trombones both left and right, so far to the sides that they sounded like they were beyond the outer edges of the speakers. Other little aural flourishes—and there were many—flitted between the speakers, showing remarkable variety in depth and position. Again, the term holographic came to mind.

That’s two highly produced studio albums so far. Switching over to jazz, I dug out an old favorite of mine, a reissue of Chet Baker’s Chet (LP, Riverside / Analogue Productions APJ 016), which is the juiciest-sounding album I own. Whenever I play this album, it sounds like I’ve swapped the Hegel H30A solid-state amp for a single-ended 300B tube amplifier. This lovely music is full of harmonic overtones on Baker’s trumpet and Pepper Adams’s baritone sax. There’s no shortage of high frequencies on this album. It sounds to me like the overtones on Baker’s trumpet span the midrange-to-tweeter crossover frequency. Here I could definitely notice some additional energy in this region. Baker’s spitty, breathy trumpet tone came forward a touch—not in space, as it remained in the plane of the speakers, but sounding just a bit higher in level than I’m used to. Despite the additional presence, that trumpet was clear, expressive, and utterly without grain.

The S2’s three-way Elliptical Symmetry Crossover (ESXO) is a topology of rare distinction. The crossover is implemented with an acoustical-target 24dB-slope using a Linkwitz-Riley filter.

Maximum frequency and phase linearity is accomplished, while keeping intermodulation distortion to vanishing levels. The S2 uses a full complement of state-of-the-art components from Mundorf of Germany, including M-Resist Ultra foil resistors, which deliver greater power handling, increased transparency, and more sonic liquidity than previous components. New is the copper foil paper coil, which improves the noise floor by reducing microphonic effects. The result of the S2’s ESXO crossover is superior coherence from the speaker’s four drive units.