The Peak Consult Sinfonia Loudspeaker
By Roy Gregory
Given the generational change in audio (both in terms of manufacturers and customers) an old name but a new company is not an unusual scenario: Established names are being snapped up by incoming money or upwardly mobile industry members, hoping to leverage the reputation (and any residual parts or technology) from the previous owners/founders. The plan is always to reinvigorate the acquisition, but continuity is a tricky path to follow and all too often the result is either a slowly fading echo of past glories or a complete volte face that takes the company in an entirely new direction. You need only look at what has happened to most of the old and storied brands in the UK industry (and what is currently happening in the US) to understand that financially viable or not, when it comes to names like Quad, Audiolab, Leak or KEF, things are definitely not the same…
But occasionally – just occasionally – things come good and the revitalised enterprise climbs to new heights of performance and market presence, recognisably the same beast, just better: possibly, much better.
In the beginning…
Peak Consult was another of the slew of Danish loudspeaker companies that hit the market in the ‘90s. Founded by Per Kristoffersen in 1996, I remember the brand’s arrival in the UK, mainly in the shape of the El Diablo, cited at the time as a competitor to Wilson’s Watt/Puppy. Similar in size and driver line-up, somewhat similar in shape, that speaker (like so many before it, in the UK) failed to challenge that firmly established model, or make much of a market impact – although the brand achieved considerably more sales and greater recognition in the USA.
The speakers I remember were stolid and somewhat understated or ‘traditional’ in appearance (if you are being kind – ‘old-fashioned’ if you are not). With their leather wrapped baffle, Audio Technology drivers and solid wood cladding there was more than a hint of Sonus Faber about them – albeit without the exaggerated curves that seem somehow, quintessentially Italian – while the flat sides and kinked, sloping baffle supplied their own Wilson-esque impression. Caught between two-stools? Quite possibly. Either way, those original Peak speakers lacked the gorgeously rich tonality of the better Sonus models, the dynamic slam of the Wilsons that worked. They certainly had their own attributes, but those tended to be eclipsed by the familiar characteristics of the then dominant brands. The Danish invaders duly retreated from British shores and settled elsewhere. Which might be all she wrote – except that the company changed hands in 2021 and Peak Consult experienced a significant rejuvenation, culminating in their appearance with three, floorstanding models at the first post-Covid Munich show.
The second coming…
The identity (and roles) of the new owners is a big part of Peak Consult’s resurrection. Lennart Asbjørn has assumed responsibility for production and logistics, while design and development has passed into the hands of Wilfried Ehrenholz, the one-time owner and co-founder of that Danish audio engineering success story, Dynaudio. That’s a lot of audio specific experience and business horsepower to bring to the table – which helps explain how the company was able to show three new/revised floorstanders in 2022 and an ambitious new flagship in 2023. Outwardly recognisable as Peak Consult products, with essential characteristics and even names that related to earlier models, looking a little closer quickly established just how comprehensive a redesign they’d undergone.
The devil is in the details…
Back in the day, Peak’s (none too) original pitch was the combination of high-quality drivers with high-mass, low resonance cabinets, built entirely in-house. The well-respected Audio Technology drivers were certainly a visible sign of serious intent, while word from the scales supported the high-mass claims, perhaps explained by the thick, laminated HDF carcass and the additional stiffening and dissipation of the solid hardwood outer layer. Those features remain in essence, but significantly refined in execution. Three-layer laminated panels are still used, but these days three different HDF/MDF materials are layered using soft-setting glue to create a heavily damped substrate 36mm thick. Over that is added a hard-wood layer, pared back to a ‘mere’ 14mm thick, for a total wall thickness of 50mm or 2”, with acrylic inserts breaking up the side panels. At first, you might think these changes are a money-saving or retrograde step, but as well as helping to save the planet, it’s evidence of an evolving understanding of the cabinet’s mechanical behaviour.
