Thanks very much for watching the video - here is he link to the video where I explain in more detail how the Speaker Configurator tool works so you can customise your own Audio Solutions Figaro speakers th-cam.com/video/GjFdyNno1S4/w-d-xo.html
How close is the SVS Titans overall? Because either of those would require a Lot of saving and very much be a once off purchase. The SVS Titans cost $9,299 AUD and the above Audio Solutions Figaro M2 costs $11,900 AUD. I would be using them for music and probably more streamed tv series & movies but for me, the major focus in those are the soundtrack and the clarity of speech. Also I love a wide range of music, everything from RnB, Pop to Classical, especially vocals, violin, cello and piano, mostly classical and I particularly love acapella. EDIT the S model costs $11,900, the Medium model which you have is $16,000 AUD and thats just too much even for super stretching my budget.
Thats where its at, the Titan's are a good speaker if you like a bassier heavy speaker as I do, the AS has a better balance across all frequencies and bring out the vocals better than the Titan but cost a lot more and they can scale up much better with a better hifi system over time. I can see someone upgrading the Titans again at some point down the line where as they are less likely to with the Figaro - but you can never say never. Here in the UK its twice the money for the Figaro over the Titan so its a big purchase but that would be a custom finished speaker, not plain black or white
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Cheers Terry.., I love your approach, and interest in/ appreciation of the gear.. and your gratitude of getting to trial it all… great guy.. mate🙏🙏 from 🇳🇿🥝
Man this what seems to have been a very long anticipated review for a speaker. Now I understand why the wait. Absolutely fantastic review! You knocked it out of the park and I just knew when you announced a review that these AS would be "End Game" type speakers. Sorry you didn't get the larger series as you had wished for. But man Terry you did a great job. Thanks for sharing and a shout out to the good people at Audio Solutions for allowing this opportunity!👍👍🇺🇲
Nice review again. I like black speakers because i dont like speakers that visually get in the way of my listening. So no shiny and fancy colours for me. What i do like is sensitive speakers that are easy to drive and listen to. The AS m2 has the same height as my AudioPhysics. I suspect the AS M2 sounds better due to experience over the years. Price is high but these days rather fair, that's what i like about east-Europe manufacturers. A second hand Magico A3 costs the same. Magico prices are exorbitant but i didn't hear anything better up till now.
From what you’ve told us about these speakers, Terry, they would be right up my street and I would love to have them…..if I had the space and money to buy them 😬 Great vid as always 👏🏼👍🏼
Thanks Terry! I could say your review seems to be matching my impressions of the original version of Figaro M which I have had for 3 years now, driven by a much loved Accuphase e-650. Of course there will be a few differences with the recent MKII series soundwise, but still they are a great value sonically speaking. Thanks again!
Good on you for highlighting something other than the usual suspects, as you have pointed put, this price bracket is where many people can really begin to experience higher end hifi speakers without taking out a second mortgage, in the same price range I’m thoroughly enjoying my Elysian 4’s
"Great" review! So the worst thing for these would be the wooden feet and the fact that the grille leaves some small marks on the speaker, that you have to wipe clean every time. Good insight! And the best thing is I can paint them in purple....indeed speaker of the year material! But...I'll wait for the next review, for sure that will also be an end-game speaker you've never heard before. Maybe that one will have antistatic paint that will keep away dust...innovation!
Yes despite these negative facts the speakers were hanging with 35k speakers I had here this year for 1/3 the price. So yeah that is why. Don’t be plank if you look at the work I have done you can see what and why. I work with many high end products all the time. This is a growing upcoming company you will have a chance to hear them a lot soon with a tiny bit of effort the same as all brands. They are at a show this weekend Edinburgh if you live in that part of the world. This exact pair. When you do and got hear everything I said. Remember you heard it here first
Wow, that's a bubbly review Terry , even by your champagne standards, your enthusiasm for them is definitely infectious. Concerning re the case work , esp when the top end speakers put massive focus , and cost, into this area ( slate , aluminium , Wilson in house, etc) , but I guess the proof of the pudding is always going to be the sound. I really look forward to getting a chance to hear these in action, I have zero doubt they sound as good as you say. Great review, great shirt, thanks.
Terry maybe for the best speaker for the year 2025 you can try to look at the German made Fischer & Fischer which are all slate and use a true mid bass speaker.
Hi Terry, since you have concluded that these are the speakers of the year, I am just curious to know whether you have listened to the Borresen X2/X3 speakers and if you have, how would these compare with the Figaro M MK2?
I haven’t no, just to clarify these are my speakers of the year from the speakers I have reviewed. I didn’t mention that in the intro by mistake. I assumed people would auto assume that my bad sorry
I would be fascinated to hear your review/take on the Martin Logan Motion Floorstanding speakers (like the F20’s or the XT F100’s) as my tastes taste like your tastes, which is to your tastes. Do you have access to these little morsels?
This is one of my top 5 fav Hifi review channels on TH-cam...but I think you just review boxed speakers and never show us alternative speaker designs ?
That is a very fair criticism and great point. I have an interest in all hifi and actually more so for the stuff I have very little experience with such as open baffle speakers, high efficiency speakers etc. Sometimes its not about what I want to cover, I have to balance what I think the majority want to know about / what manufacturers speak to me. I take your comment on board and you are 100% right.
Sorry no plans to review the Arendal, the 333 had to go back but I am going to see if I can get one here for next year but its actually the hardest product to use as a reviewer as its so heavy, I cant lift it as a one man show I am. The Mrs has to help me every time I need to move it. I am going to ask Gryphon and see what they say but no promises they have a lot of people asking them and I am just little old me
Do you think these can fill the void caused by the existential dread that I've been feeling since I turned 45? Or should I look into a boat or vintage synths?
Interestingly some people's mid life crisis is a sports car, maybe a boat or something else. The only thing with going that route is the car sits outside and unless you have somewhere to go in it, its just sitting there getting poo'd on by birds. At least with a hifi you can enjoy it all the time your at home. Maybe its a little encouraging of anti social behaviour but if your an audiophile your unlikely to have any friends anyway :)
I am still happy with my Paradigm Reference Studio/100! but would like to upgrade in the next 5 years! these speakers you picked could fit the bill for me... but since my speakers are front ported i can place them with 6-10 inches from the wall, so with that said why don't more speaker manufactures (not just Focal and Revel) use from ports for the bass? i could move them out further from the wall but then i feel like i am too close to the speakers, and thing it looks silly having front speakers 2 feet+ sticking out from the wall... i don't do home theater for my TV usage, i have been fine with a nice 2 channel system for the last 34 years...
It says on the website these can be placed closer to a wall, however I didn’t test them like that so it would be best to ask the manufacturer or your countries distributor directly for more specifics on it, best to get the info the horses mouth so to speak
Don't worry with ports on the backside. They don't have an affect on the bass. There are analysis made by the German company Visaton - less than 5 cm (2 inches) affects the bass.
The edges are not that soft, just softer compared to a speaker that’s all about carving out the sound really finely. Put a big amp on these and the dynamics are great in the mids and bass. Treble can be too but you need grant get that out of them as they are generally a little more play it safe there. Silk domes are often like that from my experience but these are more lively than some other silk domes and smoother too
IMHO, true hifi speakers need to be 75% about sound quality in 25% about looks. The speakers may sound fine but following the coffin box look just doesn’t cut it long-term. Same with food it is important that the food taste good but it’s gotta look like something too.
They approached me months ago I said no, because they give out speakers to every one and have a direct affiliate system so its in the reviewers interest to promote them as great, that doesn't sit well with me as there will always be a cloud over what I say.
Would love to see in-room measurements to actually undertand what you are actually listening to at the MLP. That would give more context to the overall review.
You think that but I have measured over 100 systems in different rooms, it gives you a small insight into what you hear because the acoustical situation is far more complex. And there is a massive misunderstanding with measurements as often what’s shown has so much smoothing applied it shows you nothing useful either.
@PursuitPerfectSystem smoothing isnt bad at all, thats what we humans perceive it as. The 1/24 smoothing can lead to misunderstandings as they are way more jagged than what our humans ears can hear. 1/24 is only used for eqing or when you want to zoom in on a possible problem. Please provide in room measurements for the people that know what they are looking at, they are of great help. Thank you Terry.
For me smoothing is a problem, as it’s normally one point measured then smoothed. I spent years looking at that data only to learn it tells you nothing. To get a proper understanding of how something is behaving in the room you need to measure multiple points and then have an average of that like how Dirac does it, but even then you can look at 10 similar graphs they all sound different due to the complexity of the overall room acoustical situation.
@@PursuitPerfectSystem If smoothing is a problem, then minimize smoothing. People that often use REW can roughly understand what the response will sound like in a single graph. Now lets say a speaker has an uprising off axis response and a flat anechoic on axis response, a single measurement at the MLP would show differences between an untreated room vs a 1st reflection point treated room, wont it?
Sorry I don’t believe you can look at a single rew graph and know how something is going to sound, not even a little bit. Because you can make rew graphs look good and the system sounds like shit. I have done these tests. I used to always show plots in my reviews but I realised they could be misleading. Sometimes speakers have a big rising treble and sound bright sometimes they don’t sound bright even though the treble is off the charts. So it depends I think looking at a single graph makes you prejudge and have a prejudiced view towards a product for either good or bad and that is then misleading. I know when I look at graphs they mislead me too as I know how I want them to look for the sound I like however that is not what I hear when I listen.
Maybe maybe not, it’s impossible to say without a side by side so speculation. Maybe I didn’t explain things clearly. This is my speaker if the year from all the speakers I have reviewed this year. Which is a lot and wide ranging from couple grand to 35 grand
To be fair I didn’t review them in 2024 so they don’t count and I have not even heard of them. I am still waiting for an electrostatic speaker to give me the sound I like but my experience with them is quite limited
Can't understand why you say these speakers are heavy. Mine weigh 172 Kgs each. Whenever I move mine I have to sit down and have a cup of tea. I always enjoy watching your videos and this one was no exception. Please keep up the good work.
Sorry I didn't introduce this video explaining this, my bad. My speaker of the year has to be one I have reviewed this year of course, not every single speaker in the world as there are too many. Sorry sometimes you assume people will auto get things like this but I realise its not always obvious.
@2:50 I honestly thought the winner of the competition would have been more interesting. Those look average with anthracite and brass. Such a let down.
Yeah I was like too at first, that is the British audiophile community for you. I would have preferred some colour for sure but this was the most popular finish from over 1400 entries
@ Agreed Terry, for such a big speaker they need more colour, nothing totally out there but something to compliment their stature. But hey kudos to winner.
Not sure what you mean, yes some things are very expensive but if you own them for 20 years then its probably longer than most things you will buy and own
Yeah I tried that for years buts it’s too hard to do well and you’re never really listening to them so I stopped and put my time into doing more detailed testing and comparison to make the reviews better. If you want to hear them visits a dealer or a show
All you guys talks a lot. Very few of you actually play some music on the speakers so we can have an idea of what, to you, is a good sounding speaker. This appears to be a trend around here on TH-cam where audio aficionados or audiophiles talk a lot about speakers and sound systems. But they do not let the audience have an idea of what they are talking about by simply doing a small presentation of what the speaker or audio gear is capable of. To me, that makes me lose interest on the channel. Sorry about that. I am not being an a..hole. I am just being honest. Thank you for the presentation anyway.
I have made hundreds of sound demo videos the truth is it’s never the same as the real thing and think how good the recording quality needs to be to capture about £50k worth of hifi. People use £100 mics going into a phone think about how bad that is. I used to use about £5k worth of recording equipment it was still never the same as the real thing not even close. If you want to hear the speaker you have to go and listen to it. There is no other way
If you think a youtube video gives you the sound of a speaker, or indeed any component, then there's no help for you. People are not able to play and record these in a manner where you will hear what they offer, which is why no one of any substance does this. If you want to hear high end hi fi, then the only way you can is to hear them live, preferably in your own listening environment. Anything else is absolutely pointless. You can say sorry, but you are being exactly what you say you are not...
@PursuitPerfectSystem of course it will never be the same. But it is enough with a good pair of headphones and dac on this side to have an idea what I am listening to. Listening to someone's subjective opinion does not give me any idea what the speakers or sound system sounds like. I designed speakers all my life and I do not need much to understand what they will sound like in person if I listen to a bit on TH-cam even if you are not using precision mics and expensive gear to capture the sound. Someone talking for half an hour does not give me any idea at all. For example. Many people like the Kef concentric loudspeaker system but I strongly dislike it as it has too much sibilance and the voices sound wrong and it is something that is very noticeable straight away. Does the speaker sound warm. Does the speaker have detail. Does the speaker have too much mid range, etc. those are things you can straight away understand. Someone talking about it does not tell me anything about the speaker.
Except in a youtube video recording your never listening to just the speaker, your listening the whole hifi, + the speaker + the room, and how bad the acoustics are + the mic and recording equipment and then any post processing after that. There are no microphones designed for recording speakers, none. Most microphones overload with bass and cannot accurately record bass. I bought some of the best mics you can get to do this, totally neutral. amazing off axis response high spl and they still overloaded with any real world amount of bass. Makes sense its a 1inch diaphragm trying to record metres of bass waves. Then som epople close mic for their recordings, which is lie as that is not how you listen as you listen to the speaker and room. Its never the real thing and its never what people think it is. I tried for years to do it
@PursuitPerfectSystem You get enough. I designed speakers all my life and just listening to a recording on TH-cam (and some of them can be really good. Better than you expect) to me is enough with my headphones dac and dedicated amplification to have a fair idea of what I am listening to. Look up a video where they are comparing several speakers from different brands such as Dynaudio, Focal etc and I assure you you can easily differentiate the pros and cons just by listening to the video presentation.
Thanks very much for watching the video - here is he link to the video where I explain in more detail how the Speaker Configurator tool works so you can customise your own Audio Solutions Figaro speakers th-cam.com/video/GjFdyNno1S4/w-d-xo.html
How close is the SVS Titans overall? Because either of those would require a Lot of saving and very much be a once off purchase. The SVS Titans cost $9,299 AUD and the above Audio Solutions Figaro M2 costs $11,900 AUD. I would be using them for music and probably more streamed tv series & movies but for me, the major focus in those are the soundtrack and the clarity of speech. Also I love a wide range of music, everything from RnB, Pop to Classical, especially vocals, violin, cello and piano, mostly classical and I particularly love acapella. EDIT the S model costs $11,900, the Medium model which you have is $16,000 AUD and thats just too much even for super stretching my budget.
Thats where its at, the Titan's are a good speaker if you like a bassier heavy speaker as I do, the AS has a better balance across all frequencies and bring out the vocals better than the Titan but cost a lot more and they can scale up much better with a better hifi system over time. I can see someone upgrading the Titans again at some point down the line where as they are less likely to with the Figaro - but you can never say never. Here in the UK its twice the money for the Figaro over the Titan so its a big purchase but that would be a custom finished speaker, not plain black or white
@@PursuitPerfectSystem
Cheers Terry.., I love your approach, and interest in/ appreciation of the gear.. and your gratitude of getting to trial it all… great guy.. mate🙏🙏 from 🇳🇿🥝
@@PursuitPerfectSystem
lol .. I’m so Jealous of your demo of the Griffin 333 amp…, I can only imagine the emotions it brings out👍🙏
Man this what seems to have been a very long anticipated review for a speaker. Now I understand why the wait. Absolutely fantastic review! You knocked it out of the park and I just knew when you announced a review that these AS would be "End Game" type speakers. Sorry you didn't get the larger series as you had wished for. But man Terry you did a great job. Thanks for sharing and a shout out to the good people at Audio Solutions for allowing this opportunity!👍👍🇺🇲
Thanks very much, yes I had to wait for the competition to run its course and then fit in the review into a very busy end of the year :)
Well produced video!
Thank you
Nice review again.
I like black speakers because i dont like speakers that visually get in the way of my listening. So no shiny and fancy colours for me.
What i do like is sensitive speakers that are easy to drive and listen to.
The AS m2 has the same height as my AudioPhysics. I suspect the AS M2 sounds better due to experience over the years. Price is high but these days rather fair, that's what i like about east-Europe manufacturers.
A second hand Magico A3 costs the same. Magico prices are exorbitant but i didn't hear anything better up till now.
I love the way these speakers look. Gorgeous
Thanks, Terry - really intrigued and excited by these since you first covered them a while back. Love the ability to customise them too.
And an award for your elegant sporty shirt !
Hahaha great banter
From what you’ve told us about these speakers, Terry, they would be right up my street and I would love to have them…..if I had the space and money to buy them 😬
Great vid as always 👏🏼👍🏼
Thanks Terry! I could say your review seems to be matching my impressions of the original version of Figaro M which I have had for 3 years now, driven by a much loved Accuphase e-650. Of course there will be a few differences with the recent MKII series soundwise, but still they are a great value sonically speaking.
Thanks again!
Good on you for highlighting something other than the usual suspects,
as you have pointed put, this price bracket is where many people can really begin to experience higher end hifi speakers without taking out a second mortgage, in the same price range I’m thoroughly enjoying my Elysian 4’s
Loving my Elysian's too - though mine are the 3's :)
"Great" review! So the worst thing for these would be the wooden feet and the fact that the grille leaves some small marks on the speaker, that you have to wipe clean every time. Good insight! And the best thing is I can paint them in purple....indeed speaker of the year material! But...I'll wait for the next review, for sure that will also be an end-game speaker you've never heard before. Maybe that one will have antistatic paint that will keep away dust...innovation!
Yes despite these negative facts the speakers were hanging with 35k speakers I had here this year for 1/3 the price. So yeah that is why. Don’t be plank if you look at the work I have done you can see what and why. I work with many high end products all the time.
This is a growing upcoming company you will have a chance to hear them a lot soon with a tiny bit of effort the same as all brands. They are at a show this weekend Edinburgh if you live in that part of the world. This exact pair. When you do and got hear everything I said. Remember you heard it here first
I’ve always thought ten grand would be my most expensive for me dream speaker purchase I would ever make. Nice speakers
Many thanks for your fabulous test. We are prood to demonstrade them in our showroom.
🤗😎GREAT THAT YOU REALLY APPRECIATE THEM 🤗 TERRY AND GLAD 😌 YOU ARE ENJOYING THEM…ALL WORK AND NO PLAY 😢 WOULD BE VERY 😞💚💚💚
Nice review again, thanks for giving the dimensions in both centimeters and inches.
Grtz Phil
Great review, cheers
Was waiting for this!!
Great review 👏
Thank you very much
Audio Solutions makes great speakers. But all of Audio Solutions speakers have "factory sound". For me they sound amazing, and very, very analog.
Wow, that's a bubbly review Terry , even by your champagne standards, your enthusiasm for them is definitely infectious.
Concerning re the case work , esp when the top end speakers put massive focus , and cost, into this area ( slate , aluminium , Wilson in house, etc) , but I guess the proof of the pudding is always going to be the sound. I really look forward to getting a chance to hear these in action, I have zero doubt they sound as good as you say.
Great review, great shirt, thanks.
Terry maybe for the best speaker for the year 2025 you can try to look at the German made Fischer & Fischer which are all slate and use a true mid bass speaker.
Yeah I have briefly listened to some smaller Fischer speakers earlier this year. They sounded pretty good and they are certainly different
Hi Terry, since you have concluded that these are the speakers of the year, I am just curious to know whether you have listened to the Borresen X2/X3 speakers and if you have, how would these compare with the Figaro M MK2?
I haven’t no, just to clarify these are my speakers of the year from the speakers I have reviewed. I didn’t mention that in the intro by mistake. I assumed people would auto assume that my bad sorry
@@PursuitPerfectSystem of course, you would be kind of a super-hero if you had reviewed all speakers available on the market 😀
Great review as usual Terry! Thank you for featuring me ;-)
I would be fascinated to hear your review/take on the Martin Logan Motion Floorstanding speakers (like the F20’s or the XT F100’s) as my tastes taste like your tastes, which is to your tastes. Do you have access to these little morsels?
Sorry at the moment I don’t they have never reached out to me
This is one of my top 5 fav Hifi review channels on TH-cam...but I think you just review boxed speakers and never show us alternative speaker designs ?
That is a very fair criticism and great point. I have an interest in all hifi and actually more so for the stuff I have very little experience with such as open baffle speakers, high efficiency speakers etc. Sometimes its not about what I want to cover, I have to balance what I think the majority want to know about / what manufacturers speak to me. I take your comment on board and you are 100% right.
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Thank you for your brilliant hifi channel....
EPOS do vocals beautifully.
I havent reviewed any EPOS so I couldn't say on that one
I spot a Galion TS34 amp in the background, for review soon?
It needs some hours putting on it still but yes its in the works for a time in the future.
Will you review Arendal Sound1528 next year with the 333 amp?
Sorry no plans to review the Arendal, the 333 had to go back but I am going to see if I can get one here for next year but its actually the hardest product to use as a reviewer as its so heavy, I cant lift it as a one man show I am. The Mrs has to help me every time I need to move it. I am going to ask Gryphon and see what they say but no promises they have a lot of people asking them and I am just little old me
Do you think these can fill the void caused by the existential dread that I've been feeling since I turned 45? Or should I look into a boat or vintage synths?
Interestingly some people's mid life crisis is a sports car, maybe a boat or something else. The only thing with going that route is the car sits outside and unless you have somewhere to go in it, its just sitting there getting poo'd on by birds. At least with a hifi you can enjoy it all the time your at home. Maybe its a little encouraging of anti social behaviour but if your an audiophile your unlikely to have any friends anyway :)
Racking up on a dancers hind quarter perhaps? 🤔
I am still happy with my Paradigm Reference Studio/100! but would like to upgrade in the next 5 years! these speakers you picked could fit the bill for me... but since my speakers are front ported i can place them with 6-10 inches from the wall, so with that said why don't more speaker manufactures (not just Focal and Revel) use from ports for the bass? i could move them out further from the wall but then i feel like i am too close to the speakers, and thing it looks silly having front speakers 2 feet+ sticking out from the wall... i don't do home theater for my TV usage, i have been fine with a nice 2 channel system for the last 34 years...
It says on the website these can be placed closer to a wall, however I didn’t test them like that so it would be best to ask the manufacturer or your countries distributor directly for more specifics on it, best to get the info the horses mouth so to speak
Don't worry with ports on the backside. They don't have an affect on the bass. There are analysis made by the German company Visaton - less than 5 cm (2 inches) affects the bass.
You should still check how it will affect the bass response. You will get a lot more with a speaker that close to the wall
Does the softer edges of the transients make the sound more coherent and enjoyable? And does that softer edge come at a cost of dynamics?
The edges are not that soft, just softer compared to a speaker that’s all about carving out the sound really finely. Put a big amp on these and the dynamics are great in the mids and bass. Treble can be too but you need grant get that out of them as they are generally a little more play it safe there. Silk domes are often like that from my experience but these are more lively than some other silk domes and smoother too
@PursuitPerfectSystem thanks for the info! Have some silk domes myself so very understandable! ♥️
1:22 oohh what amplifier just blew up? ;-)
My videos are Smoking these days
IMHO, true hifi speakers need to be 75% about sound quality in 25% about looks. The speakers may sound fine but following the coffin box look just doesn’t cut it long-term. Same with food it is important that the food taste good but it’s gotta look like something too.
The year isn’t over yet.
Yes but I know what other products I will be reviewing this year ;)
You are jumping the gun maybe, try the new Arendal 1528 series....
They approached me months ago I said no, because they give out speakers to every one and have a direct affiliate system so its in the reviewers interest to promote them as great, that doesn't sit well with me as there will always be a cloud over what I say.
Would love to see in-room measurements to actually undertand what you are actually listening to at the MLP. That would give more context to the overall review.
You think that but I have measured over 100 systems in different rooms, it gives you a small insight into what you hear because the acoustical situation is far more complex. And there is a massive misunderstanding with measurements as often what’s shown has so much smoothing applied it shows you nothing useful either.
@PursuitPerfectSystem smoothing isnt bad at all, thats what we humans perceive it as. The 1/24 smoothing can lead to misunderstandings as they are way more jagged than what our humans ears can hear. 1/24 is only used for eqing or when you want to zoom in on a possible problem. Please provide in room measurements for the people that know what they are looking at, they are of great help. Thank you Terry.
For me smoothing is a problem, as it’s normally one point measured then smoothed. I spent years looking at that data only to learn it tells you nothing. To get a proper understanding of how something is behaving in the room you need to measure multiple points and then have an average of that like how Dirac does it, but even then you can look at 10 similar graphs they all sound different due to the complexity of the overall room acoustical situation.
@@PursuitPerfectSystem If smoothing is a problem, then minimize smoothing. People that often use REW can roughly understand what the response will sound like in a single graph. Now lets say a speaker has an uprising off axis response and a flat anechoic on axis response, a single measurement at the MLP would show differences between an untreated room vs a 1st reflection point treated room, wont it?
Sorry I don’t believe you can look at a single rew graph and know how something is going to sound, not even a little bit. Because you can make rew graphs look good and the system sounds like shit. I have done these tests. I used to always show plots in my reviews but I realised they could be misleading. Sometimes speakers have a big rising treble and sound bright sometimes they don’t sound bright even though the treble is off the charts. So it depends I think looking at a single graph makes you prejudge and have a prejudiced view towards a product for either good or bad and that is then misleading. I know when I look at graphs they mislead me too as I know how I want them to look for the sound I like however that is not what I hear when I listen.
What happened to the dovedale review?
There was some talk of a Dovedale review, I have a Super Linton here to do now, maybe early next year I can do it
I still have the speaker of 1990 the Wilson Audio Watt Puppy and I bet that the speakers today are not better 😂😂😂🎉
Bot comment of the day
Maybe maybe not, it’s impossible to say without a side by side so speculation. Maybe I didn’t explain things clearly. This is my speaker if the year from all the speakers I have reviewed this year. Which is a lot and wide ranging from couple grand to 35 grand
No frecuency response chart??
What would that tell you?
🙏🙏🙏
Those are great speakers but the very best I've heard are the new Popori Acoustics Loudspeakers. Maybe the Holy Grail of Speakers on the Planet !
To be fair I didn’t review them in 2024 so they don’t count and I have not even heard of them. I am still waiting for an electrostatic speaker to give me the sound I like but my experience with them is quite limited
Can't understand why you say these speakers are heavy. Mine weigh 172 Kgs each. Whenever I move mine I have to sit down and have a cup of tea. I always enjoy watching your videos and this one was no exception. Please keep up the good work.
"Mine are heavier than yours..." Idiot.
Heavy is subjective
What about borresen X2 or X3 speaker!?!
Sorry I didn't introduce this video explaining this, my bad. My speaker of the year has to be one I have reviewed this year of course, not every single speaker in the world as there are too many. Sorry sometimes you assume people will auto get things like this but I realise its not always obvious.
Price?
11k for these ones, starting at 9k
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I wish every reviewer would put the price at the beginning of the review.
It's 19mm "I know that's huge for some men" What??? LOL
I always love it when someone gets the banter :)
@2:50 I honestly thought the winner of the competition would have been more interesting. Those look average with anthracite and brass. Such a let down.
Yeah I was like too at first, that is the British audiophile community for you. I would have preferred some colour for sure but this was the most popular finish from over 1400 entries
@ Agreed Terry, for such a big speaker they need more colour, nothing totally out there but something to compliment their stature. But hey kudos to winner.
I couldn't agree more mate - they are dull as dishwater in that combo. They should have picked my design! :)
Do you believe that the meaning of HIFI is HIGH PAY?
Not sure what you mean, yes some things are very expensive but if you own them for 20 years then its probably longer than most things you will buy and own
Do bad you can't hear them
Yeah I tried that for years buts it’s too hard to do well and you’re never really listening to them so I stopped and put my time into doing more detailed testing and comparison to make the reviews better. If you want to hear them visits a dealer or a show
Isn’t 4 ohms too low
Not these days a lot of newer speakers are 4 ohms
All you guys talks a lot. Very few of you actually play some music on the speakers so we can have an idea of what, to you, is a good sounding speaker. This appears to be a trend around here on TH-cam where audio aficionados or audiophiles talk a lot about speakers and sound systems. But they do not let the audience have an idea of what they are talking about by simply doing a small presentation of what the speaker or audio gear is capable of. To me, that makes me lose interest on the channel. Sorry about that. I am not being an a..hole. I am just being honest.
Thank you for the presentation anyway.
I have made hundreds of sound demo videos the truth is it’s never the same as the real thing and think how good the recording quality needs to be to capture about £50k worth of hifi. People use £100 mics going into a phone think about how bad that is. I used to use about £5k worth of recording equipment it was still never the same as the real thing not even close. If you want to hear the speaker you have to go and listen to it. There is no other way
If you think a youtube video gives you the sound of a speaker, or indeed any component, then there's no help for you. People are not able to play and record these in a manner where you will hear what they offer, which is why no one of any substance does this. If you want to hear high end hi fi, then the only way you can is to hear them live, preferably in your own listening environment. Anything else is absolutely pointless. You can say sorry, but you are being exactly what you say you are not...
@PursuitPerfectSystem of course it will never be the same. But it is enough with a good pair of headphones and dac on this side to have an idea what I am listening to. Listening to someone's subjective opinion does not give me any idea what the speakers or sound system sounds like.
I designed speakers all my life and I do not need much to understand what they will sound like in person if I listen to a bit on TH-cam even if you are not using precision mics and expensive gear to capture the sound.
Someone talking for half an hour does not give me any idea at all.
For example. Many people like the Kef concentric loudspeaker system but I strongly dislike it as it has too much sibilance and the voices sound wrong and it is something that is very noticeable straight away. Does the speaker sound warm. Does the speaker have detail. Does the speaker have too much mid range, etc. those are things you can straight away understand. Someone talking about it does not tell me anything about the speaker.
Except in a youtube video recording your never listening to just the speaker, your listening the whole hifi, + the speaker + the room, and how bad the acoustics are + the mic and recording equipment and then any post processing after that. There are no microphones designed for recording speakers, none. Most microphones overload with bass and cannot accurately record bass. I bought some of the best mics you can get to do this, totally neutral. amazing off axis response high spl and they still overloaded with any real world amount of bass. Makes sense its a 1inch diaphragm trying to record metres of bass waves. Then som epople close mic for their recordings, which is lie as that is not how you listen as you listen to the speaker and room. Its never the real thing and its never what people think it is. I tried for years to do it
@PursuitPerfectSystem You get enough.
I designed speakers all my life and just listening to a recording on TH-cam (and some of them can be really good. Better than you expect) to me is enough with my headphones dac and dedicated amplification to have a fair idea of what I am listening to.
Look up a video where they are comparing several speakers from different brands such as Dynaudio, Focal etc and I assure you you can easily differentiate the pros and cons just by listening to the video presentation.
Excellent detailed review 😊
Thank you very much