Audiophilepure

Again, the GoldenEar BRXs sounded quite different in that room. With the subwoofers, the BRXs really let go of the music. They sounded big, powerful and decidedly full-range. Compared with the Triton References, the BRXs sound a bit more laid back, not nearly as forward, and dang it, I preferred them to the big $11K/pair towers.

So what were the lessons learned while listening to the GoldenEar BRX monitors with several different systems over long periods of time? This opens up a Pandora’s Box for high-end audio reviewers, because my findings suggest that you’ll never quite know the true nature of an audio component unless you listen to it with everything under the sun. That’s it, time to pack it up and go home. We reviewers sit on a throne of lies.

It’s funny, because we just received a comment from a reader who dismissed one of our amplifier reviews because any sonic differences are due to the loudspeakers used, or something like that.  Both Grover Neville and I responded with nearly the identical opinion that we can always hear what the amplifier is doing–through the speakers, not because of them. In my days as an exhibitor, we used to call that “hearing through.”

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/divine-acoustics-bellatrix/

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/system-one/1671-blown-away-by-monitor-audio-bronze-100-loudspeakers

In the book, Callait described how, at about the 2:40 mark of “Go Your Own Way,” he pushed Lindsey Buckingham’s searing guitar louder and louder as they mixed it. Even before I’d read this book, I’d noticed how prominent the guitar was getting at this point and how exciting it made the end of the song sound. I would also notice how this passage challenged some speakers at high volume levels because of the amount of energy that high-level guitar sound puts into the upper midrange—so much so it can cause speakers to distort. But the 100s weren’t troubled by it, even when I pushed the volume up as loud as I could stand—they reproduced Buckingham’s guitar sound as cleanly as speakers priced many times higher.

Caillat’s book also turned me on to John McVie’s bass-guitar segment in “The Chain” (from about 3:05 to 3:20) that acts as a bridge between the first and final parts of the song. It’s a necessary ingredient, because the part of the song that follows McVie’s 15 seconds was apparently recorded long before what precedes the bridge, so they needed what he created to tie it all together. McVie’s bass guitar isn’t particularly deep in this part—I’m guessing most of the energy is in the 60–100Hz range—but I was seriously impressed by the definition of the sounds that were coming from the 100s. That big woofer on the 100 doesn’t just pump out big, floppy bass—it always sounded well-controlled on this and other songs.

JBL HDI-3800

I also played a lot of vinyl through these speakers and that always worked well, Lou Donaldson on Blue Note was full of energy and groove, the JBLs revealing the character of the recording as well as the brilliance of the performance with ease. The Enleum AMP-23R amplifier that I enjoyed so much last year happened to be in the system at the same time and while it doesn’t have enough power to deliver the full bass potential of the JBLs it did deliver some inspiring tunes. The emphasis on the musical message came through as well as it did on smaller speakers and voices sounded superb, the combo proving very good for exploring new music by bringing out the best in a wide variety of material. Even dub sounded good with this amp, the emphasis on tunefulness over power making even the heaviest mixes easy to enjoy at sensible levels.

I am left truly speechless when I think of how to describe the Soul VI to friends and audiophile colleagues. I want to tell people it is the perfect speaker; I also want to be transparent and say that I have not heard every speaker in the world so my ability to say it’s the “best” or “perfect” is nonexistent. However, they are easily the best speakers I have ever heard in my home, and they give me the same warm and fuzzies when I listen to them as I get when I listen to speakers like the Wilson Audio Sasha and the B&W 800 Diamonds in an acoustically treated dealer listening room. I did not have either of these speakers in my house so I can’t provide a direct comparison, but the fact that I get the same feeling, the same level of satisfaction, when literally nothing has done that before tells me how good these speakers sound.

The Soul VI has my highest recommendation. If you have a formal living room that you want to add a high end two channel system to, the Soul VI should be on your list. If you have a listening room that is on the smaller side, and you want a set of speakers that will show you everything and still be fun, the Soul VI should be on your list. If you want excellent sound, at a comparatively affordable price, that will scale with your stereo system into the $60k – $80k range then the Soul VI should be on be on your list. Thank you Sean, Phil, and the Zu Audio team. I liked the Soul VI so much that I bought it. I can’t provide a better recommendation than that.