Audiophilepure

And, most delightfully, the 4349’s woofers don’t lose pitch definition or speed despite their size and weight. But as good as the bass is, it is NOT their best feature – that would be the midrange and treble! JBL’s horns put out a dynamic, clear, open, and extended midrange and treble. Again, I was highly skeptical about the 38mm horn driver – surely it couldn’t have the high-end sparkle and extension of a smaller driver of lighter mass? But from the first listen, the squinched-up-looking horn and its driver just astounded me. Not only did it disappear as being a discreet sound source, but the dispersion provided a holographic-sounding image with more clarity than I’d heard in my room before.

I’ll admit to having some preconceived ideas about how smallish bookshelf speakers were going to sound. Just because of their size, I assumed they wouldn’t have deep bass heft, and they probably wouldn’t have the tightest sense of rhythm and dynamics. However, the Luminas proved me very, very wrong. No, they aren’t going to give you heart palpitations with their sub-bass rumbles. (Again, physics is a thing.) But the Luminas certainly changed my mind about how small bookshelf speakers are supposed to sound—or can sound. As far as I’m concerned, these are the new sub-$1k bookshelf speakers to beat. Just keep in mind those power amp requirements. Highly recommended to anyone looking for fantastic sound and beautiful style in a surprisingly compact package. 

The crux of loudspeaker design is the art of making choices and striking the right balance. The BRX chose transparency, finesse, and nuance to communicate the experience of real musicians performing in acoustic space. Yes, there are compact speakers in this class that have a more direct sound and ring out with a bit more extension and seat-of-the-pants slam—more Reznor than Rossini, if you will. But the GoldenEar BRX is a black-tie classicist of a very high order. You won’t need a golden ear to enjoy its class-leading blend of musicality and refinement.

Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grand Reference loudspeakers

They let the music step away from the speakers and into the room. They bring the performance to you and you to the performance. They have always been few and far between and invariably somewhere the wrong side of expensive – until now. All of a sudden, a few genuinely exceptional speakers have hit the market, shattering the glass ceiling that’s restricted affordable speaker performance. Vienna Acoustics’ Baby Grand is the tip of that wedge, setting the pace and setting the standard. This is one speaker where you need to trust your ears. Hear them doing their thing, and like me, you really won’t believe your eyes – whether you are looking at that slim cabinet or the price ticket hanging from it. Prepare to be surprised – and impressed: very impressed indeed!

The Acora Acoustics SRB

Acora claims a sensitivity of 86.5db/1w/1meter, but being a two-way design, they are easy to drive. Auditioning a number of amplifiers from Boulder, McIntosh, Nagra, Octave, and Pass, you can rest assured that a pair of SRBs will work well with whatever you are using, but they will reveal whatever is lacking in your upstream components. Their natural tonal balance and slightly forward tonal position allows you the option to fine tune your system elsewhere. Should you be a fan of a bit warmer overall sound, it will be easy to mate them with a warmer sounding amplification chain that will reflect this. And vice versa. There was nothing in our current collection of amplifiers, from 30wpc to over 400wpc that didn’t play well with the SRBs.

After a few more head-to-head comparisons in a follow up session with B&W’s N805 and the Reference 3a MM De Capo i, the AN-K/SPe continued to win my heart and mind. The N805’s treble sounded grainy on Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” as well as with oboes and flutes with various Vivaldi pieces that I was so enamoured with at the time. The K/SPe reminded me of a single-driver speaker but with bass and treble. The De Capo i lost ground with vocal reproductions as occasionally they seemed pushed too far back in the mix and I had trouble making out lyrics clearly — the speaker made me work harder. Meanwhile, the AN-K/SPe kept everything balanced and straightforward and honest. If the album had a singer more upfront, I heard the singer more upfront. If a singer was further back, I heard him further back.