LOUDSPEAKERS

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go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards SNEAK PREVIEWS An Advance Look at Loudspeakers Under Review Nola Contender ($3500) The Nola Contender is the floorstander follow-up to the Boxer compact, a recent TAS Product of the Year recipient. Since it is a true three-way system, I instantly noted the increased midrange clarity and dynamic energy, although it also maintained the coherency of a good two-way. Bass response has been extended as well— 35Hz is no problem and there’s usable response to 25Hz. Like the Boxer it’s midrange personality is an outgoing one—even livelier and more visceral I’d say. Bass lines are tight and articulate and kickdrum rhythms are distinct. The presence range is more neutral and charismatic than that of the slightly more reserved Boxer. No question the Contender is impressing with a lot of the right moves. —Neil Gader Bud Fried Tower Loudspeaker ($2995) The late Irving “Bud” Fried was well known for his transmission-line speaker designs. The Fried/IMF brand-names are now licensed exclusively to Salk Sound. The first speaker in the new line is essentially a SongTower on steroids, using 7” Peerless woofers and a series crossover network. The Bud Fried Tower undoubtedly does justice to Fried’s legacy and does so at an affordable price point that should attract music lovers and audiophiles alike. The Bud Fried Tower earns my thumbs-up recommendation at its price point; he finds it to be competitive with any box speaker he has evaluated under $6k. —Dick Olsher 10 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers previous page
go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards SNEAK PREVIEWS YG Acoustics Kipod II Signature ($38,800) YG’s new passive version of its well-known, partially-active Kipod II Signature replaces the bass driver’s 400W amplifier with a passive crossover. By foregoing the adjustable bass amp, the Passive yields slightly better transparency and immediacy than the partially-active version. On its own terms, the Passive is a neutral, tremendously revealing, and eminently musical speaker. It has remarkably deep-reaching, taut bass and robust dynamic presence for its size. A fairly stout amplifier is required to tap its considerable strengths. Properly powered and set up, the Kipod II Signature Passive makes stunning, full-range performance possible in small to medium rooms. —Kirk Midtskog Raidho C 4.1 ($140,000) Michael Børresen, chief engineer of Denmark’s Raidho Acoustics, takes an unusually civilized approach to designing loudspeakers. A world-class mechanical engineer of astonishing versatility (among many other things, he has developed running shoes for Olympic contenders and bicycles for competitors in the Tour de France), Børresen considers the human factor first. Thus Raidho’s speakers are not just about acoustics; they are equally about psychoacoustics—about the way human beings actually hear and think about what they hear when they listen to music. The results are transducers capable of sounding uncannily like the real thing without sounding in the least bit “hi-fi.” Raidho’s flagship loudspeaker—the tall, spectacularly graceful $140k C 4.1—is the epitome of Børresen’s aesthetic. Like Raidho’s widely acclaimed two-way standmount C 1.1 it is capable of sounding both ravishingly beautiful and uncannily lifelike at once, but with seven (Raidho-engineered-and-made) ceramic and ribbon drivers in a D’Appolito array housed in a much larger enclosure than the C 1.1, it has substantially deeper and more powerful bass and considerably wider dynamic range than the somewhat bandwidth-limited mini. Essentially a giant nearfield monitor, the C 4.1 will appeal to music lovers, accuracy fans, and absolute sound listeners in near-equal measure, making it a state-of-the-art contender for those shopping in the topmost reaches of the high end. —Jonathan Valin 11 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers www.theabsolutesound.com previous page NEXT page
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LOUDSPEAKERS

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