Intro
Contents
On Sunday, March 19, we did part two of the mega test of monitor speakers. We again listened to five speakers live for you to give you an idea of their sound characteristics. This time it’s the Sonus Faber Sonetto I, Audio Physic Step 35, GoldenEar BRX, JBL HDI 1600 and the Neat Petite Classic.
It’s already time for part two of the megatest of bookshelf speakers.(Check out part 1 of this mega test here) Who would have thought that we would be testing not five, not ten, but fifteen speakers in this monster test of bookshelf speakers!? It gives an unprecedented insight into what’s out there. By the way, realize that we still haven’t had all possible models in our listening room. Some models were not available, others may not have wanted to participate in such a large multitest. Who knows for next time.
Test set-up
We used the exact same set-up, of course:
- Pass Labs XP-12 and X150.8
- Hypex Nilai DIY class D amp
- Sonnet Pasithea
- Alpha Audio PC with Jcat USB and ethernet card
- Pura Audio Dodo power supply (5V) for the Jcat cards
- Mutec MC3+ reclocker with AAI pucks
- Grimm TPM cabling
- Driade Flow cabling (speaker / interlinks)
- Isotek filters(Titan / Aquarius)
- YETI Power cables
- Flow Reference 808
As you can see, we are working with two power amplifiers. This to see how the speaker(s) cope with a class A amplifier with less damping and a focus on resolution, smoothness and scale and an amplifier with a lot of control and a slightly drier character. Both amplifiers are pretty neutral, know that. It’s purely the way of energy delivery and control that differs.
Music in the test
- Beethoven, Symphony no.7, part 2: Adagietto. The Royal Flemish Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.
- Mammal Hands – Three Good Things from the “Shadow Work” album
- Sohn – M.I.A. from the album “Trust”
The candidates
- Sonus Faber Sonetto I
- Audio Physic Step 35
- GoldenEar BRX
- JBL HDI 1600
- Neat Petite Classic
Let’s go!