Beyond that though, it’s as if they have an almost bottomless lung capacity at their disposal. They can be pushed to really absurd levels and remain eerily clean-sounding and totally composed, almost daring you to push them further. And for such big speakers, they are incredibly light on their feet with an almost instant attack to the music throughout its entire operating band. It especially drives a stake in the heart of that long-in-the-tooth old chestnut “big driver equals slow bass” nonsense.

At almost $40K per pair, there are plenty of passive speakers that try to compete with these active ATCs. Some will legitimately get you close.

But for me, the ATC SCM100ASLT, don’t just look and sound exceptional, and have the studio pedigree, but they have a personality and character that makes them utterly unique and adds to the whole pride of ownership. They are special, and well worth auditioning if you have the opportunity. Oh, and when you do don’t forget to bring some Van Halen along to the demo and politely ask the dealer to turn it up.

Overall, the Focal Theva No 3’s sounded very good and are an excellent value for the dollar. They tend to have a punchy bass and bright highs. That is their sonic signature. When I see photos on Facebook of audiophiles’ setups, and an equalizer is in the photo, the sliders are adjusted to boost the bass and treble. The Focal Theva N^o 3’s already do that. The bass was a bit too intense for me, so I stuck a rolled up sock in the port. That reduced the bass a few dB, and it was perfect. I will show you the difference in frequency response and impedance curve in the bench test section. If you want to do this, with any speaker for that matter, obtain a foam insert. You can Google foam speaker port plugs (also called bungs) to find choices.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/mofi-sourcepoint-8-loudspeaker

There’s no criticising the speaker’s ability to communicate rhythm and pacing either – important for every genre, but arguably more so when diving into the boundaries between jazz and what Westerners glibly call ‘World Music’. There’s a lot of those crossover subgenres explored on Jazz Is Dead 001 [JID001; 44.1kHz/16-bit], the first disc of a series from Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad putting modern jazz compositions in the limelight, and the SourcePoint 8 articulated the off-beat drumming on ‘Distant Mode’ and the counterpoint alto saxophone of Gary Bartz without sounding muddy or just plain wrong. Holding things together and presenting challenging compositions lucidly is what the speaker does well – it certainly kept the funky jazz rhythms on ‘Conexão’ flowing and got my foot tapping.

That the SourcePoint 8 doesn’t swell the soundstage to an epic scale, but keeps it focused, works to its advantage with most albums. Playing music a tad more ‘up front’ and immediate – but never forced or brash – these MoFi cabinets typically kept me engaged, as if I was up close to the stage. Which is exactly where the fun is to be had.

If you haven’t gathered by this point what a staggeringly good loudspeaker the Børresen X3 is, let me put aside any further subtleties. This speaker not only offers excellent performance, soaring well above its loss-leader asking price, but it also offers exceptional value! If AGD had placed a twenty-two, or even a twenty-five-thousand-dollar MSRP on the Børresen X3 loudspeakers, I wouldn’t bat an eye at those asking prices. This speaker is THAT good.

It may be the last speaker most burgeoning music lover/audiophiles will ever need. On the other hand, if you’re anywhere near as fanatical as me, they just may be your gateway to a further journey into the hyper-audio realm. Bravo, AGD. I wonder if my wife would be upset if I got a pair for our living room?

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/monitor-audio-bronze-500

Monitor Audio is a speaker maker with one of the more recognisable house sounds and, as I hinted at earlier, while possessing many sterling audiophile qualities, it’s a style of presentation that makes no apologies for playing to the crowd. So it is here. Those big main drivers aren’t just there for show. Bass is on the agenda and plenty of it, but there’s nothing gratuitous or overblown about its delivery as it seems entirely in proportion to the huge soundstage the Bronze 500 is capable of generating and, in character, demonstrates surprising drive, pitch precision and speed.

Placed no further than a metre from the rear and side walls in my larger listening room and toed-in a tad, its ability to fill the space with music big-boy style requiring only a modest tweak of volume from a Cambridge CXA61 integrated amp (HFC 459) is very impressive. That 90dB claimed sensitivity seems no exaggeration. When parties with loud music are permitted again, the Bronze 500 and Deep Purple will be ready and willing.

Raw tech just for tech’s sake isn’t worth diddly if it doesn’t work. The YG speakers succeed on every level and are one of the easiest to set up and integrate into a wide range of cables and components I’ve yet experienced. That’s worth a lot, especially to those entering the realm of high-end audio, as their capability for some of the fussiness that seasoned audiophiles take for granted hasn’t developed yet.

The YG Cairns offer an exceptional amount of performance for the most demanding music enthusiast, and so we are more than happy to award them an Exceptional Value Award for 2023. These speakers are the most thought-out product I’ve had the chance of using, ever.

https://www.hifinews.com/content/epos-es14n-loudspeaker

Where many marketing-driven nostalgia projects underwhelm sonically, the reasonably priced ES14Ns are exceptional speakers, designed with experience and care. The design might suggest ‘vintage’, but the second coming of this classic performs on a level many ‘modern’ loudspeakers don’t reach. If you prefer your music delivered without embellishment but with real engagement, you’ll love owning a pair of these.