Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1259-borresen-x6-loudspeaker

The crossover between the midranges and that sexy ribbon tweeter was nearly invisible (inaudible?), rivaling the clarity of the Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 Signature. “Red” from King Crimson’s Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984 (16/44.1 FLAC, Discipline Global Mobile / Tidal) just bombarded me with upper-midrange and treble information—two angry guitarists fighting with a furious electronic drum kit. The X6s kept the instruments discrete, with the well-behaved interplay between the drivers rendering the performance front and center without me having to think about how it was all working.

For a large portion of my time with the Børresen X6s, I was conscious of the speakers themselves as large, ominous, monolithic presences in my room. I mean this in only the best way possible, as their physical appearance spoke to me in a deeply appealing manner. They were science-fiction-solidified, large wedges of carbon fiber that looked like they were approaching warp speed while standing still.

Initially, the contrast between the X6s’ dramatic appearance and their aural disappearing act imposed a disconnect on my reaction to the speakers. As time went by, though, it got to the point where I could focus my attention on those huge, alien cabinets ready to destroy my world, or throw a switch in my brain and have them disappear completely, leaving only free-floating, disembodied music.

Create audiophile-grade wireless earbuds and speakers. But it all has to be simple to use. Youth likes easy to blend in with what they are doing at the time.Earbuds are simple to power with small batteries, but speakers are a different thing altogether. They need to have a decent amount of watts available. Batteries won’t work, and putting a Class A/B power amplifier on the back of a speaker will produce a hefty speaker, the rear panel of which would get hot.Enter Class D amplification. They can be small and don’t get hot, just modestly warm at worst.Triangle’s new Capella stand-mount speakers (OK on a bookshelf too since the port is on the bottom) fit the bill, and I got a pair in their Astral Blue wood-grained finish

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1930-psb-imagine-t65-loudspeaker

I continued with Mule Variations and listened to “Take it With Me.” Again, I was impressed by the wonderful, sharply depicted center fill the PSBs created and the broad soundstage they cast. After a short piano introduction, Waits’s gravelly voice enters, and my ears perked up hearing it so profoundly deep. Like on the Sexton track, I was picking up on something I’m not accustomed to hearing with my own speakers. “Take it with me when I go,” he rasps, with a voice chesty and full. I loved how he sounded. This, I knew, is the track I’d play to show off what these speakers can do. When I switched over to the Monitor Audios, I found Waits’s voice to still have a striking presence, but I didn’t hear that extra bit of emphasis in the lowest region of his coarse baritone.

As good as the PSB T65s sounded, they couldn’t match the performance of the Monitor Audio Gold 300s. The Monitor Audios just gave me more of what I wanted to hear. Still, listening to the PSBs was a treat, and as I swapped the cables back and forth between the two sets of towers, it became obvious to me that the T65s came much closer to approaching the Gold 300s’ sound than one might expect from their disparate prices.

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1259-borresen-x6-loudspeaker

For a large portion of my time with the Børresen X6s, I was conscious of the speakers themselves as large, ominous, monolithic presences in my room. I mean this in only the best way possible, as their physical appearance spoke to me in a deeply appealing manner. They were science-fiction-solidified, large wedges of carbon fiber that looked like they were approaching warp speed while standing still.

Initially, the contrast between the X6s’ dramatic appearance and their aural disappearing act imposed a disconnect on my reaction to the speakers. As time went by, though, it got to the point where I could focus my attention on those huge, alien cabinets ready to destroy my world, or throw a switch in my brain and have them disappear completely, leaving only free-floating, disembodied music.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/vivid-audio-kaya-s12-standmount-speaker

Finally, at the end of long listening sessions, I found myself winding down with Brad Mehldau’s recent Après Fauré album [Nonesuch Records; 96kHz/24-bit download], featuring arrangements of works by the French composer. Here, the jazz pianist gives delicate, detailed readings that the Vivid Audio speakers translated into one of those ‘piano in the room’ experiences so, er, vivid was their sound. This wonderful, dreamy music proved these unusual and remarkable speakers can do everything from the massive to the minute with equal excellence.

https://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0125/PureAudioProject_Duet_15_Loudspeaker_Review.htm

For designers who have a developed musical point of view, the choice among speaker categories is thoughtful and intentional. That makes reviewing their products particularly enjoyable and educational for me. For it is their musical point of view as well as the extent to which they can realize their vision that drives them and interests me. Every familiar speaker type has desirable characteristics – from a particular musical point of view – as well as those that present challenges to realizing their vision in practice. Unsurprisingly a conventional ‘wisdom’ appears to have developed regarding both the virtues and vices associated with each speaker type.

For example, conventional wisdom has it that because planars, electrostatics, and open baffle designs lack enclosures they cannot fully pressurize the drivers and thus lack ultimate dynamics and are limited in their capacity to play at significant volumes that some music calls for. On the other hand, horns and enclosed boxes are commonly criticized for their ‘honking’ and box colorations, respectively.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/canton-reference-9-standmount

Playing the Modern String Quartet’s imaginative, jazz-leaning arrangements of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition [Solo Musica SM468], the Reference 9’s combination of control, weight and resolution was very much to the fore. This balanced performance made the most of the interplay of the four musicians and the instrumental timbres, while at the same time placing the performers between and beyond the speakers in a noticeably three-dimensional manner. All this gave the album’s twists on familiar music – and a nod to ELP’s version of the work – plenty of space to breathe. Therefore, while Canton’s smallest References might not be an immediate choice for those seeking a standmount design, it would a mistake to overlook them – these have much to offer.

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

Though very good, the FR5s can’t perform miracles. Like the 6.5″ midwoofers in the B&W 705s, those in the FR5s, even aided by those passive radiators, could not compete in bass extension with larger speakers. Moreover, when driven at high levels with low-frequency content, their output is affected—somewhat coarsened—well up into the midrange. It’s just physics.

The solution—my solution anyway—is to add a subwoofer or two. Adding a pair of KEF KC92s and an 80Hz crossover produced an Aha! experience. On the Berio and Vollenweider recordings, low notes that were only hinted at previously were now felt. I was also pleased to note that at high listening levels, no matter the source, there was an added clarity, subtle but greatly appreciated, throughout the midrange, probably because the FR5 midwoofers were no longer also responsible for producing the lowest bass.

The Jazzon V2 reveals the music in full disclosure, with a sense of effortless fineness. It uncovers layer after layer of musical complexity without imposing its character or signature. Cube Audio’s smallest floor standers reveal the music for what it is, with a higher-than-usual level of engagement, achieving a harmonious balance between sound, space, and emotional bonding with the presented music material.

Any loudspeaker, or high-end audio product, is subject to voicing, to deliver proper equilibrium and sonic balance. A touch of character can be meaningful, but it should not overwhelm the music. Cube Audio expertly balances tonal accuracy and dynamic expression without breaking the elusive quality of sound.