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go to: Contents | Features | Bookshelf, Stand-Mount and Desktop | Floorstanding | Editors' Choice Awards<br />
create a dauntingly realistic sense of<br />
physical presence on both voice and<br />
instruments. Careful setup is critical<br />
as the modules containing the treble<br />
and midrange must be accurately<br />
placed in relation to the room and<br />
listener. Some listeners may find its<br />
inverted titanium tweeter too brash,<br />
while others may prefer its added<br />
zip to Wilson’s newer and more<br />
sophisticated soft dome tweeter.<br />
Jacob Heilbrunn, 194<br />
mbl 101 E Mk. II<br />
$70,500<br />
mbl-northamerica.com<br />
Always the thrill rides of the highend<br />
audio amusement park, with<br />
sensational dynamic range, superb<br />
transients, high resolution of inner<br />
detail, and the most surround-like<br />
soundstaging this side of a full-bore<br />
home-theater system, the four-way,<br />
omnidirectional mbl 101e’s had<br />
three weaknesses: Their ported bass<br />
was a bit overblown, their upper<br />
midrange could be a bit bright, and<br />
their imaging at centerstage could<br />
be a little vague. The Mk II version<br />
of this unique omni loudspeaker<br />
ameliorates these problems, without<br />
losing the unique Radialstrahler<br />
virtues. The result is a genuine<br />
improvement in a genuine classic.<br />
PB, 218<br />
Talon Audio Phoenix<br />
$75,000 (passive), $95,000<br />
(active)<br />
talonspeakers.com<br />
This unusual and ambitious<br />
loudspeaker features dual 11"<br />
ceramic woofers, a 5" ceramic<br />
midrange, and 1" ceramic tweeter.<br />
The system can be ordered in a<br />
passive version (93dB sensitivity) or<br />
in a powered one with an integral<br />
500W amplifier and a three-band<br />
parametric equalizer to reduce the<br />
effects of room interaction. The<br />
active version brings the sensitivity<br />
to 95dB. Driver integration is<br />
outstanding, producing a nearpoint-source<br />
sound that provides<br />
stable imaging even with the most<br />
demanding passages. The additional<br />
$20,000 for the active version is<br />
well worth the improved bass<br />
performance and dynamics. AHC,<br />
229<br />
TAD Reference One<br />
$78,000<br />
tad-labs.com<br />
This three-way, four-driver Reference<br />
One is vanishingly low in coloration<br />
quick and clean in transient<br />
reproduction, and dynamically<br />
agile. The dual 10" woofers deliver<br />
solid extension to about 27Hz with<br />
no port artifacts, with a midbass<br />
that favors definition over weight.<br />
The 1.25" beryllium-dome tweeter<br />
is mounted concentrically inside<br />
the 6.5" beryllium midrange cone,<br />
allowing perfect time-alignment<br />
between drivers. Perhaps because of<br />
the beryllium, the concentric design,<br />
or both, the Reference One has great<br />
transparency, purity of timbre, spatial<br />
precision, and resolution of detail.<br />
This is not a forgiving loudspeaker.<br />
RH, 218<br />
Venture Audio Grand Ultimate<br />
$89,000<br />
precisionav.com<br />
The Venture Audio Grand Ultimate<br />
is a superb transducer that does<br />
everything extremely well. It manages<br />
to be exceptionally revealing of<br />
sources without undue emphasis in<br />
the treble, making it one of the best<br />
of the best at finding the golden<br />
mean in the upper octaves that<br />
makes music come alive. It is also<br />
superb in the midrange and the bass,<br />
which is very tight, very detailed, and<br />
goes very low. AHC, 213<br />
Verity Audio Lohengrin II<br />
$89,995<br />
verityaudio.com<br />
The Lohengrin has been substantially<br />
reworked, featuring a new crossover<br />
network, ribbon, and drivers. The<br />
result is a fantastically dynamic,<br />
energetic, and precise loudspeaker<br />
whose 95dB sensitivity means that<br />
it can be run with low-powered<br />
amplifiers. Its potent ribbon tweeter<br />
provides an airy and extended treble.<br />
Bass is full and deep, but not the<br />
last word in impact. This refined<br />
loudspeaker loves tubed amplifiers<br />
and is best-suited for classical and<br />
jazz. JH, 205<br />
Focal Stella Utopia EM<br />
$95,000<br />
audioplusservices.com<br />
This next-to-top-of-the-line<br />
loudspeaker from Focal is one<br />
beautifully balanced loudspeaker,<br />
from its deep full bass, through<br />
its open detailed midrange, to<br />
its smooth yet detailed treble.<br />
Employing a 13" electro-magnetically<br />
driven woofer, two 6.5" midrange<br />
drivers, and an inverted beryllium<br />
tweeter, the Stella Utopia is a big<br />
speaker and sounds like it, with an<br />
extended bottom end, tremendous<br />
authority, and seemingly unlimited<br />
dynamics. This is not a speaker that<br />
calls attention to itself with sonic<br />
fireworks. Rather, it makes the music<br />
the star of the show. RH, 219<br />
Rockport Altair<br />
$97,500<br />
rockporttechnologies.com<br />
A tour de force in loudspeaker<br />
design, the Rockport Altair<br />
is staggeringly great in every<br />
performance parameter. Its sidefiring<br />
15" woofer and front-firing 8"<br />
driver combine to deliver a delicious<br />
combination of bass weight, power,<br />
and articulation. In the midrange and<br />
treble, the Altair simply disappears<br />
as a sound source, replaced by a<br />
sense of music-making brought to<br />
life. The design is heroic, from the<br />
massive molded-composite cabinet<br />
to the custom carbon-fiber drivers<br />
(and beryllium tweeter). Next to<br />
the $185,000 Magico Q7, the best<br />
loudspeaker RH has heard in his<br />
room. RH, 214<br />
YG Acoustics Anat III Signature<br />
$104,000<br />
yg-acoustics.com<br />
YG’s flagship boasts a first in<br />
loudspeaker design: diaphragms<br />
machined out of solid aluminum<br />
billet. The three-way modular design<br />
is built around an MTM monitorlike<br />
loudspeaker mounted atop two<br />
separate actively-driven woofers in<br />
separate enclosures. This latter feature<br />
allows you do dial-in the bass level to<br />
your room. The enclosures, made inhouse,<br />
are precision-machined from<br />
aluminum. The Anat III Signature has<br />
tremendous midrange clarity, a “big”<br />
overall presentation, and an uncanny<br />
ability to disappear as a sound source.<br />
The Anat III’s high resolution unravels<br />
each musical line. A reference-grade<br />
speaker. PB, 220<br />
Lansche No.7<br />
$108,000<br />
aaudioimports.com<br />
With its massless corona-plasma<br />
tweeter, the Lansche No.7 brings<br />
something different to the upperend-loudspeaker<br />
arena. This driver<br />
works by modulating a plasma<br />
field surrounding an electrical arc,<br />
producing sound with no moving<br />
parts. Transparency, delicacy,<br />
resolution, and transient fidelity are<br />
stunning. A pair of 4" midranges and<br />
dual 8.7" woofers are optimized to<br />
blend with the massless tweeter—<br />
that is, to sound quick and clean, at<br />
the expense of conveying a sense<br />
of weight, body, and dynamic<br />
impact. It’s a good trade-off; the<br />
No.7 sounds totally coherent from<br />
top to bottom. The overall sound is<br />
breathtakingly beautiful, extremely<br />
engaging musically, and remarkably<br />
free from listening fatigue. RH, 226<br />
Venture Ultimate Reference<br />
$139,000<br />
previsionav.com<br />
This tall, gorgeous-looking threeway<br />
features all custom drivers with<br />
diaphragms made from a Venturedeveloped<br />
material that embeds<br />
graphite particles within a resin. The<br />
Ultimate Reference, the secondfrom-the-top-of-the-line,<br />
features<br />
four 9" woofers, a 7" midrange, and<br />
an unusual 2" cone tweeter, also of<br />
Venture’s design. Crossover slopes<br />
are first-order. Sonically, the Ultimate<br />
Reference is capable of sounding<br />
quite realistic and throwing a large and<br />
well-defined soundstage. The tonal<br />
balance leans toward the lively end of<br />
the spectrum, and the sound can get a<br />
bit hard when the speaker is pushed.<br />
RH, 224<br />
114 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers www.theabsolutesound.com<br />
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