Jaap and Geoffrey
Contents
Geoffrey attended the second stream himself. For your authors, this was the round with the most striking models. Among other things, the incredibly good combination of the JBL HDI-1600 with the Hypex Nilai as well as the delightful Neat Petite and Audio Physic Step.
Geoffrey indicates in his notitites: “Some speakers react heavily on the amp-combinations and present completely differently when we switch them.”
That’s right. There are models that do not match well at all with the Pass Labs and there are models that really start to sing on this amp: think of the Audio Physic Step 35. What a wonderfully rhythmic and correct speaker that is. Great.
Bad models? No…
There were speakers we didn’t like as much. But that’s largely taste. We didn’t hear any bad speakers. That is not really surprising, considering the price range: around 2500 euros for a pair of speakers without stands is not cheap: you should expect real quality.
But be careful when combining amplifiers. We have found that you are pretty safe with a Hypex Nilai in this class. This amplifier matches almost all speakers. So if you are looking for an affordable and good power amplifier, this is definitely worth considering.
Culture in sound signature
Like Martijn and Yung, your author and colleague Geoffrey also hear the culture in the speakers. Surely a British speaker has a signature. And a Danish one as well … as does an American or German manufacturer. This is not surprising, since these brands have often been manufacturing speakers for more than 50 years and 50 years back a certain direction was taken.
British models show the “BBC dip” in many cases. To a greater or lesser extent. The German models are mostly neutrally tuned. The Danish ones ditto, but still tend more and more towards the “Bowers Bump”. Although they are still mostly neutrally tuned. We are seeing the Bowers Bump more and more; it is becoming a trend, especially in the more affordable sectors. American speakers sound a bit richer and grander after all.
Thank you for doing this incredible test. I really enjoyed watching it using some good neutral headphones.
Hello Reiner. I’ve tried to e-mail you back two times, but I get the mail returned after a week from T-Online. Please, contact us with a different e-mail if you can. Thanks.
In addition to the agreement regarding the excellence of the Hypex Nilai500DIY poweramp, I note that the new KEF R3 Meta is NOT mentioned in the final list -> I remember my great disappointment during the test
ATC SCM 11 we could not assess them correctly when sounding in mono but I also contemplate them. With Hypex Nilai and closer to the walls (the usual in European rooms).
My winners:
Audio Physic Step 35 (expensive) + Hypex Nilai + subwoofer?
Neat Petite Classic + Pass Labs
-> Money leans towards the Neat Petite Classic with Brittish amplifier sound. Or hybrid like my new (December 2022) Magnat MA 900 in my cheap second audio system (with modded KEF Q100, bass-front bass reflex closed…).
Neither is the Sonos Faber mentioned and we are quite taken with it. I’d like to quote the last sentences, since I somehow suspect they will fail to get noticed:
“So are the speakers not mentioned not great? Or decent? They certainly are good, but in weighing the notes we took and listening back in the livestream, these are the speakers that offer the most on these criteria.”
The shortlists are not the list of winners. I’d like to make that clear. Emphasise it even.