Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/opinion/2025-recommended-reference-component-arendal-sound-1528-monitor-8-loudspeaker

The ability of the Monitor 8s to reveal details was illustrated by several recordings that Philip auditioned during the review period. For instance, with The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco, Philip describes how he “could hear everything through the Arendals” and that the pair “sounded as clean as any speakers” he’s ever reviewed. “Adderley’s band was spread wide across the front of my room, and the position of each musician was a cinch to visualize.”

Listening to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ Moanin’, Philip writes how “the wide stage conveyed by the Arendals was bookended by the rich tones of the trumpet on the left and the tenor saxophone on the right. The drum kit emerged with commendable clarity almost directly behind the right speaker, which seemed to disappear entirely.” He sums up his listening impressions of this song by explaining that the speakers “called little attention to themselves and simply communicated what was in the grooves of the vinyl.”

Philip compared the 1528 Monitor 8s with his reference speakers: a pair of Monitor Audio Gold 300 5Gs. The Gold 300 5G is a three-way design that is now discontinued. It sold for US$9500 per pair when Philip made his purchase. Like the Monitor 8, the Gold has two 8″ woofers, but it has a 2.5″ midrange and a 1″ AMT-type driver for high frequencies, and it’s a floorstander. Philip describes an extensive back and forth that demonstrated to him that both pairs of speakers have “a fair amount in common,” but in the end, he leaned more to the 1528 Monitor 8s, declaring: “At higher volumes, the Arendals were more effortless, betraying no sense of exertion whatsoever. That being said, the 300s could also play louder than I’m able to tolerate, but the Arendals were just more at ease doing so. . . . For this reason, I found they encouraged higher playback. If you have a large room and/or listen at high volumes, you’ll almost certainly favor the Arendals.”

https://www.dagogo.com/dealership-audition-magnepan-2-7i-three-way-quasi-ribbon-panel-speakers/

The MG2.7i is a three-way speaker consisting of a foil bass and mid and a 40” True Ribbon Tweeter column.  The 2.7i can be thought of as an MG1.7i with a True Ribbon Tweeter.  In both performance and price, it nestles perfectly between the $2,995 MG1.7i and the $9,495 MG3.7i.  Besides the $2,495 Mini Maggie system which is intended for desktop use, the MG2.7i is Magnepan’s smallest model with a True Ribbon Tweeter.  It is designed for smaller spaces than the larger Magnepans.  The Magnepan’s operation is very different from that of dynamic speakers, which has its pluses and minuses, as will be discussed below.

There is no questioning that the DALI Epikore 11 are a superb-sounding pair of loudspeakers. Transparent, revealing, along with being almost insanely musical, and relentlessly appealing to listen to. They have just enough of a sonic personality to them to draw you in, yet not become tiresome or boring. You need to have the right room for them, though, because perceived bass output almost borders on the absurd (not that I minded at all). Much of the driver, crossover, and design behind the Epikore 11 are directly taken or adapted from DALI’s flagship Kore speakers, so the purely Danish R&D and craftsmanship involved here are tried, true, and essentially peerless. But beyond sounding wonderful, they also looked outrageously beautiful in the high gloss walnut finish that I experienced. For me, they legitimately crossed that realm into being an object of desire. It’s as if a Dane and an Italian got together and had an extremely pretty yet surprisingly sensible baby with a beautiful singing voice.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/devialet-phantom-ultimate-streaming-loudspeaker

On first listen, the bass output here will grab your attention. There’s no doubting the LFE reach as Devialet’s SAM technology works in the background to coordinate those two 200mm drivers in a fashion that would be impossible with a conventional passive solution. While this remarkable extension is combined with detail and fluency there are clearly practical limits to its bass amplitude [see PM’s Lab Report]. So there was a slight softening to the deepest, loudest bass notes in Paul van Dyk’s ‘Artefact’ [Vandit Records; 44.1kHz/24-bit], which is where a ‘bass-head’ might yearn for a dedicated sub, but this is a trifling niggle considering the all-round sonic appeal of these speakers.

As said, I used the ‘Monitoring’ mode for most of my listening. The app’s EQ tools are useful for adjusting the Phantom Ultimate’s sound to personal taste but remember to pay attention to Devialet’s presets. ‘Music’ mode invokes a ‘Loudness’ DSP by default, while the brand’s Active Volume Levelling is automatically switched on in ‘Movie’ mode. Also seen on Devialet’s Dione soundbar, this works to normalise dynamics – preventing, for instance, movie explosions from drowning out accompanying dialogue

https://www.hifinews.com/content/elac-concentro-20-m-807-loudspeaker

Notwithstanding the distraction of fiddling with those dispersion controls, and the need for a solid floor for the reflex port to achieve full potential, these big, complex speakers are a captivating listen. The sound integrates superbly, bass is as massive and powerful as anyone could want, and they’re as impressive with big, dense mixes as they are with super-clean, simple recordings. Notch one up for over-engineering, then

The unique trick used by Final Audio is that the roll-off frequencies for each driver section are determined by the relationship between the width of conductive coating between the driver sections and the assembly’s natural capacitance. Is that clever or what?!

The result is a multi-band speaker with separate sections for low bass, mid bass, midrange/treble, and uppermost treble. The added benefit is that the midrange- and treble sections can be made very narrow, resulting in a wide dispersion to cover a large listening area while providing excellent focus, independent of the precise listening position.

This also allows the creation of very narrow tweeter sections for improved high-frequency dispersion—traditionally a weakness of electrostatic speakers. The various printed sections also have different widths to help distribute and reduce resonances.