The R80 shares the Auditorium’s two-way, D’Appolito topology, and multi-model options: the standard finishes with internal crossovers are priced at £33,000 with the lacquer finish and external crossovers weighing in at £45,000. The speaker itself uses a pair of Scan-Speak 8” paper-cone drivers, combined with a soft-dome tweeter from the same source, all drivers employing Scans’ new elliptical motor assemblies – denoted by the oval dome on the tweeter and oval dust caps on the bass-mid units. Sensitivity is claimed to be in the region of 96dB with a benign load characteristic, meaning that this is very much the Auditorium’s big brother. The larger cabinet dispenses with the raised plinth of the Auditorium line and replaces it with a low, bevelled foot that helps visually plant what is otherwise a very large box.
Driving system will feature the usual suspects. A Kuzma XL Air will be paired with the Safir arm, CAR-60 cartridge and a Consolidated Audio copper wound SUT. As well as the internal modifications and upgrades, the Grand Prix Monaco v3.0 will sport the revised controller and battery power supply, likely teamed with a Kuzma 4Point14, CAR-50 and silver wound Consolidated Audio SUT. The under-rated (and under-priced?) SJS Electronics will be responsible for the amplification, with a Model 3 phono-stage, Model 7 line-stage and Model 5, single-ended 300B power amp delivering a mighty 8.5 Watts/Ch – all at various levels of ‘Silver’ upgrade. As usual, I anticipate great sound but also really interesting musical selections chez LV…
Peak Consult – Atrium 3.1 – C114
For me, one of the more interesting brands in Munich last year was the revitalised Peak Consult. Under the guidance of Wilfried Ehrenholz, co-founder of and the man largely responsible for the success of Dynaudio, the largely moribund brand has sprung back to life. Last year they showed refined and upgraded versions of three compact floorstanders, which looked and sounded like a significant improvement on previous efforts. This year the big news will be a slimmer, more easily accommodated and (hopefully) more affordable version of their flagship speaker, the massive Dragon Legend.
Now namerd the Dragon Legacy, the new ‘Baby Dragon’ speaker follows the three-way D’Appolito design of the Dragon Legend, with two bass/mid cabinets flanking a central tweeter. It looks like it could be a new contender in the crowded but popular c.€150K market sector, lining up against the likes of the Alexx V and Stenheim U2. It will be shown with Audionet electronics and this system should be well worth a visit.
Clarysis Audio – Atrium 4.1 E107
Clarysis Audio have been making waves online since their post-Apogee ‘ribbons’ first appeared. Based in Switzerland, engineered in Singapore and manufactured in Viet Nam, the speakers offer an updated appearance, improved driver technology (including neodymium magnets and ‘”double sided” bass drivers – although whether that is push-pull or dual voice coil remains unclear, at least to me) and far more substantial construction involving a lot of milled, billet aluminium. Having experienced what the aluminium frame did for the Martin Logan CLX, when compared to the MDF versions, that alone makes the Clarysis an interesting prospect. But add to that the fact that the claimed efficiency and impedance characteristics are much more amp-friendly than the Apogees of old and you can see why they’ve been attracting so much attention. Popular with the Goldmund global sales network, they still like plenty of solid-state power, but at least other options now exist. In Munich the middle of the line Auditorium model will be appearing in the Soulution room, so the amps definitely tick all the boxes. As an ex-Apogee owner, I’m looking forward to finding out if the speakers do too…
Diptyque/B.Audio Hall 2, F08
Further evidence of renewed interest in panels comes in the shape of the enthusiastic response to last year’s launch of the impressive (and impressively affordable) Diptyque Reference loudspeaker, a sophisticated, push-pull planar-magnetic which delivers serious dynamics to go with its natural tonality and capacious soundstage. But although affordable by flagship speaker standards, the Reference isn’t exactly beer budget. Which makes a visit to Diptyque this year potentially even more interesting.
