Audiophilepure

https://www.stereophile.com/content/psb-synchrony-t600-loudspeaker

This work by Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds features a solo cello and an off-stage viola. The cello represents the composer’s late grandmother, to whom the work is dedicated, and the viola her soul. The choir is presented as a halo around the cello and notes the dedicatee’s passing by singing “In Paradisum” from the Catholic Requiem Mass. Producer Erik Lichte and I had worked hard at the sessions and in mixing to achieve the appropriate ethereal texture in the sound of the singers. The choir did indeed sound ethereal with the PSBs, with good weight to the basses. Memory is a fickle witness, of course, but the viola didn’t sound as distant as it had been when I played this track on Jason Victor Serinus’s Wilson Alexia 2s or when I reviewed the Magico M2s I was using when I mastered the 24/96 files for the CD release. To put this comment into perspective, those speakers are much more expensive than the Synchrony T600: The Wilson costs $57,900/pair, the Magico $63,600/pair. (Returns may be diminishing, but that doesn’t mean they are not real.) Also, there was a little more soundstage depth with the USB/JitterBug-connected Ayre QB-9 Twenty than there had been with the network-connected MBL N31.

https://www.audiophilia.com/reviews/2021/10/18/nxcnsx8u0t6lc929c817vjasyy5g0c

Right away I knew I had a problem, the voluminous bass was overwhelming my modest listening room. It was troubleshooting time. So began a week of experimentation, first moving the speakers out significantly from the wall inch by inch (in the end I settled on 25 inches) and experimenting with various degrees of toe-in. I also experimented with the provided port plugs. Fully inserting the plugs seemed to make the speakers too anemic, inserting them about halfway was a much better compromise and will likely be the recommended route for anyone with a room smaller than mine, but I still favored the sound sans plugs, and changes in positioning helped balance things out. Image was the widest with no toe-in, but toeing the speakers in just a tad did help make the midrange more present. With the tricky positioning of this unique speaker mostly sorted, I sat down and did my best to analyze how these speakers portrayed music.

The PureAudioProject Duet 15 Prelude Loudspeakers

Toward the end of my audition time, I spent a spellbound evening glued to my seat listening to the Yes compilation, The Steven Wilson Remixes. Streaming beautifully from Qobuz via Roon Labs, every song had effortless dynamic impact and glorious 3D staging. The opus “Close to the Edge: The Solid Time of Change/Total Mass Retain/I Get Up I Get Down/Seasons of Man” was 18 minutes and 47 seconds of Prog Rock Heaven.

Yeah. Very good!

OB Wrap

Although Ze’ev Schlik says the Duet 15 Prelude could be a stepping stone, its performance in the Tune Saloon clearly demonstrated the Voxativ equipped Duet is anything but entry-level. It could certainly be an end-game for many. I’ll say this without hesitation: The Duet 15 Prelude is a first-rate loudspeaker that tickled every single personal sonic-fancy. I cannot imagine anyone with suitable equipment, and a properly sized listening space not enjoying it. As for me, I could live with this speaker, and be very happy.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/estelon-forza-loudspeaker

The 8″ aluminum sandwich midwoofer (also from Accuton’s “CELL” line) employs neodymium magnets, as does the 7″ CELL ceramic-membrane midrange driver. The tweeter is Accuton’s 1″, chemical-vapor–deposited inverted-diamond membrane tweeter. These three drivers are placed in a tight, vertical array with the lowest frequency driver near the baffle top and the tweeter in the lowest position, at ear height. The three upper drivers are positioned on the slightly concave baffle surface to produce distances from the listening position that are nearly identical. (One characteristic of the CELL series of drivers is that they all have the same acoustical center.)

Audiophiles critical of companies that don’t manufacture their own drivers might as well disparage automobile companies that don’t produce their own tires, which is all of them. It’s a silly distinction. You can argue for or against a company producing its own drivers or having a specialist like Accuton (parent company: Thiel & Partner) or Scan-Speak, for instance, manufacture them to its specifications, but overall, I think it’s a fatuous distinction (footnote 3).

Estelon does not provide the four-way design’s crossover frequencies, nor does it divulge the components used; what they do say is that the woofer networks are third-order while second-order networks are used for the midwoofer, midrange, and tweeter.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/mbl-radialstrahler-120-loudspeaker

The MBL 120s sound big and full—voluptuous at times, especially when you turn up the volume, which I did often, though not to excess. Because the Radialstrahler drivers radiate sound in all directions, they avoid the hazards of beamy tweeters and shout-at-you midrange drivers. I love how the sound seems to float in the air rather than be fired at you. Many instruments and voices sound natural. The 120s elevate musical material—they maximize but don’t exaggerate what’s there, like dressing to highlight your best features.

Unlike some speakers, the MBL 120s don’t favor one genre of music over another—which is essential for my eclectic tastes. Wallflowers they ain’t: Immersive and involving, these speakers are built for fun. Their sound, though always substantial, tends to stay detailed without getting thick or muddy.

The MBL 120s can be addictive. I’m not here to be a bad influence, but if you’re not careful, you might need to call your nearest dealer

https://www.hifinews.com/content/made-maidstone

Working initially with a modest amplifier and no special system alignment, first impressions were a little disconcerting. The Maidstone sounded rather low-key and distant, noticeably rich in tonal balance. I persevered and experimented with equipment combinations and placements, ultimately finding that I couldn’t short-change this speaker and get away with it. Thus a Krell FPB650/Conrad-Johnson ART/Krell KPS25s lineup predominated – some £60,000+ worth of drive electronics! Meanwhile, a Linn LP12 Lingo/Naim Aro/Koetsu Rosewood Signature II deck provided analogue material via XTC and Conrad-Johnson Premier 15 phono equalisers.