A look back at the Bookshelf Marathon – Summary

Yung

If there is anything that has stuck with me from this mega-multitest, it is that there is a relationship between the country of origin and the speaker. In this price category, brands can make choices of technology, materials and components that say something about the signature, the look.

Scandinavia

Scandinavian brands (Amphion, Buchardt, Dynaudio) are neutral and sleek. The U.S.-origin Revel, Golden Ear and JBL are generous and big (even the British Neat Petite sounds big). And JBL deserves credit for employing a horn driver. A tribute to JBL’s past and, judging by the reactions of my colleagues, a rightful choice. Sonus Faber is beautifully Italian finished with leather on the top. Typical Italian design.

Germany

Then the Germans Elac and Audio Physic. These are perhaps the most atypically associated with a country because Elac actually tries to be a bit out of the ordinary in design and technology and does an excellent job of it. The brand new Audio Physic Step 35 impressed with a great degree of control, balance and understanding of musical information.

Great Britain

The British quartet of Neat, KEF, Monitor Audio and ATC is typical British in two ways. KEF and Monitor Audio have a distinct sound signature that makes most recordings sound nice. They are lightly tuned and that will be for good reason because listeners will like this. ATC clearly shows where the brand comes from, namely the control room of the studio. Not a speaker that immediately stands out but one you can listen to for hours and the refined midrange reproduction is downright addictive. Neat totally captivates the listener. And that in an unprecedented compact size. Very impressive.

China

Finally, the only Asian brand, Aurum Cantus from China. In this price range, it cannot really keep up with the competition yet. But we see that a lot goes well too, for example the reproduction of the piano. As with (electric) cars, China is rising to the European surface with its own brands for audio. With a headphone brand like Hifiman, China is already competing at the top of the market; we look forward to seeing what else is to come.

Finally, the match with the amplifier. If there is an overall winner it is Hypex’s Nilai. What an all-rounder that is! This unassuming little black box drives speakers like we have rarely heard. The Benchmark AHB2 comes closest here. The paradoxical advice when choosing a speaker is: choose your amplifier first.