The Art of Listening

Each of these three new speaker systems is a masterwork of acoustic reproduction, but with a signature approach to high-fidelity sound.

Highlights of the first post-pandemic audio exhibition, recently hosted by T.H.E. Show in Long Beach, Calif., included an impressive trio of loudspeakers. Each example renders an immersive auditory reality with pinpoint precision while proving that there’s more than one way to paint a lush sonic landscape.

master tapes and Voss Audio electronics, we found them capable of reproducing every nuance on the recording with distinctly refined and realistic sound. Plus, unlike most standard British speakers, these pack a wallop in the bottom end, with sound-pressure levels that the original design could never touch.

HEAVY METAL

Switzerland’s Stenheim Reference Ultime Two is a 509-pound, five-foot aluminum monolith that occupies the middle of Stenheim’s Reference lineup. The speakers emit a sound that’s stunningly lifelike, with an emphasis on “stunning.” Piano solos at concert-hall quality are reproduced with a level of body, scale and substance that seems to replace the components (priced at $150,000 for two) with an actual Steinway. All the traditional attributes of Swiss accuracy are evident, and a predictable comparison of the speakers’ finish to the casework and craftsmanship of Geneva’s finest timepieces is not unfounded.

PERFECT 10

The best-sounding speakers at the show, MC Audiotech’s Forty-10 are unique, using a curved array of 10 proprietary bendingwave transducers in the top section to create an expansive yet detailed soundstage. The configuration combines the best attributes of planar, ribbon and electrostatic designs, placing voices and instruments with a level of precision typical of the best point-source monitors. Each surreal-looking array is mounted atop an open-baffle, folded-cube enclosure with two 18-inch subwoofers, which handle frequencies below 100 hz using an adjustable external crossover. Efficient enough to be powered by two low-wattage amps, these speakers seemingly have it all: the transparency of electrostatics, the immediacy of horns and the iron-fist grip of the best cones. Listening to the landmark jazz album Africa/Brass through the Forty10 system is like having Reggie Workman’s stand-up bass and Coltrane’s tenor sax in the room with you. Of course, that many superlatives don’t come cheap. The price of admission starts at $45,000 per pair.

JEWELS IN THE CROWN The Graham Audio LS5/8 was developed by the BBC in the 1970s to be the ultimate monitor for studio recording and mixing. Graham Audio has since revised the initial concept with new transducer materials in conventional cabinetry that’s indistinguishable from the sizably stout originals. The latest package rings in at $14,000 per pair and, testing the handcrafted jewel boxes using 1/4-inch †

R.R. Dream Machines Magnetic Personality Ever wonder how a speaker actually works? The component’s driver, called a transducer, converts the electrical energy from an audio amplifier into mechanical energy; in other words, sound is created by using motion to compress air. In typical speakers, electric current is sent through a coil of wire, making a magnetic field that moves a cone back and forth, changing air pressure to create sound waves—the faster the air pressure changes, the higher the frequency. The MC Audiotech Forty10, however, is no typical speaker. In planar-magnetic designs, a flat diaphragm moves back and forth to accomplish the same result as a cone, while electrostatic versions apply voltage to fixed perforated plates, between which vibrates a thin conductive membrane. But the 10 transducers used in the MC Audiotech loudspeaker make up a one-of-a-kind system that employs cylindrical diaphragms of flexible plastic driven by a magnetic field. The plastic membranes radiate sound that approaches a theoretical ideal in frequency response, tonal accuracy, dispersion and realistic sound-pressure level. The speaker’s wild, billowed-sail aesthetic lets you know immediately that this is a sound you won’t find anywhere else.