This is not a small difference.
That it is the result of changes that are limited entirely to the crossover is merely proof of the old adage that the “crossover is the root of all evil in any loudspeaker”. It is a musical (and sonic) transformation that is hard to credit, until you start to look at how the performance has changed and what lies behind it. The explosive opening in the Shostakovich makes the point, but what really rams it home is the fluid grace, articulation and vastly improved phrasing in the solo part. Batiashvili’s bowing becomes an almost visual presence, such is the intensity of the energy and focus she channels into her instrument – an instrument whose range sits squarely across the crossover frequency! This newfound clarity, linearity, continuity and dynamic discrimination reflects changes in the crossover points, an improved phase response and adjustments to the slopes, especially out-of-band artefacts. Every component has been changed, with a mix of proprietary Living Voice and ‘Mil-spec’ paper in oil shunt capacitors. This isn’t a tweak to the RW3 crossover – it’s a complete redesign. The focus on improving phase response and eliminating out-of-band energy isn’t unique to Living Voice. Brands such as Focal and Stenheim have trodden a similar path and reaped similar gains in clarity and musical coherence – the ability to let the music (and the musicians) breathe.
Nor are the benefits limited to classical or acoustic recordings. Voices becomes much more natural, identifiable and believable: Lyrics carry more weight, coloratura gymnastics and technique become more precise and impressive. Dance beats become more insistent and propulsive. We can obsess over the sonic distinctions but the difference here is far more easily understood – and far more significant – in musical terms.
For any RW3 owner, it is also a no-brainer.
So, whether you are upgrading an RW3 or taking the plunge on an RW4, what should you expect, how do you get the best out of it and how far can you take it? In order to test the waters, I assembled a system built around the CH D1.5 CD/SACD player, L1 line-stage and the Neodio HQA amplifier, all wired with Crystal Cable Future Dream. At a little over €4,000 the amp might seem out of place in the context of the other components, but there’s method in this madness. Firstly, the little Neodio punches way, way above its weight/price. Feed it a decent signal and it responds not just with musical gusto but surprising subtlety, organisation and coherence. It also allowed me to take a step by step upgrade path for both the speakers and the driving system, through bi-wiring to bi-amping, to better amps and more boxes at the front-end, a plan to reveal not only how the speakers respond to changes in their own driving arrangements, but also how readily they reflect improvements further up the chain.
After listening to a whole raft of different material on the base system, I chose to use Patti Smith’s beautiful and affecting cover of ‘After The Goldrush’ (Banga, Columbia 88697 222171). With its combination of that distinctive voice and sparse piano and guitar arrangement, the song is arguably even more poignant today than when it was written, a fact underlined by the voices of the children singing the final refrains. With voice and piano as well as a deeply emotional performance, it offers everything you need to clearly hear whether a system has the natural continuity, temporal and spatial coherence and expressive range to do the job. After all, if it can’t do it here, it’s got no hope on bigger and more complex pieces that, nevertheless, rest on exactly the same musical foundations.
Step 1 – the switch from single to bi-wiring…
This was done using a second set of identical Future Dream and the same spade to 4mm adapters at the amplifier end. This keeps everything consistent between the single and bi-wired cable connections. The stacking order of the spades at the amp end was also carefully monitored to maintain consistency, the midrange connections placed closest to the amp’s back plate, the treble cable stacked on top.
