Audio Physic Step 35
Contents
If we’re being completely honest, Audio Physic has been a little lackluster for a while. Yes: the speakers looked and played fine, but really competing…. not really…Â Fortunately, they have been working very hard and the new line should perform at the very top again.
The Germans’ new Step 35 is the first of this new series that we have in our own listening room. It is a two-way bass reflex monitor speaker that has been kept quite compact. The tweeter is new and the woofer is also new. They have canceled out resonances by using two materials for the frame of the units. Clever.
On paper, this speaker is going to have a hard time because it doesn’t go really deep in the lower regions…. but we know better by now: specs don’t really say a lot. Especially so with speakers.
The sound
In Beethoven, the sound of the double basses and celli is not very present, the double basses dropping out a bit. There is a lot of ambience from the hall, the placement in the soundstage is very nice. Dynamics in the piece are good. The violins sound a bit sharper than with the Sonus Faber.
Mammal Hands on the Pass Labs is reproduced with great authority, the control is tremendous. The saxophone is foregrounded. You can hear the direction in which the hands hit the tabla, the understanding of the music and the transparency is impressive. There is a nice separation between the high notes and the mid notes of the piano in the solo. The high notes take on a beautiful glow and continue to resonate, bringing out the counter-melody in the mids. The playback on the Nilai remains beautiful, the Audio Physic speakers showing the difference in character and quality between the two amplifiers.
Sohn gains urgency, telling the story to you. Again that glow on the piano sounds. Even the guitar sounds are full-bodied, sounding like electric guitar among the electronics. So much control and balance, the Audio Physic speakers show why their price tag is so high.
Conclusion: Audio Physic lives up to the name. How do you get such a big sound so controlled from such small speakers. But that’s not all. There is more structure to the sound than with the other speakers, so the music gets to you more.
Audio Physic Step 35 measurements
In terms of measurements, Audio Physic does a fine job. The response is pretty straight, except for a bump around 15 kHz. Where exactly that comes from is a mystery. Moving the mic doesn’t make a difference. Now the bump is fairly far into the spectrum, so the question is how much we’re going to be bothered by it.
Distortion is low. Everything is well below 0.3% with even the midrange below 0.1%. Very neat. Now it is the most expensive speaker, so we expect good values as well. Fortunately, the Germans show these as well.
Impedance is very friendly. We don’t see dips below 5 Ohms. Also the peak in the high only goes up to 20 Ohm, which is not very troublesome. In theory, this can be driven with a tube amplifier. Take the sensitivity of 87 dB in mind, though.
Specifications Audio Physic Step 35
| Type | 2-way, bass reflex |
| Units | HHCT III tweeter – HHCM III mid-woofer |
| Range | 53 – 40000 Hz |
| Power handling | 20 – 120 watts |
| Sensitivity | 87 dB |
| Impedance | 8 Ohm |
| Crossover | ? Hz |
| Dimensions / Weight | 17 x 32 x 25cm (W_H_D), 6.5 Kg |
| Price | 3000 per pair exc stand |
