All this talk about tangible acoustic space, depth and a natural sense of separation within the soundstage brings us to the question of the Auditoriums’ low-frequency qualities and character. As the spatial reproduction so emphatically underlines, there’s no problem here with bass extension, while the bottom-end weight is beautifully balanced, also aiding the dimensionality and body of instrumental images: not too fat, not too heavy, neither earthbound nor lazy, when it comes to underpinning that expressive, engaging mid-band, this is voiced just right. The lower-mid bass hump that afflicted Apogees in general is entirely absent and the lower registers here are more linear, quicker and far more agile – qualities that you hear directly in the transparency and the lucid musical articulation of the speaker, whether at high, mid or low frequencies.
The Polski Radio recording of the Górecki Third Symphony, conducted by the composer himself (Polski Radio PR SACD-2) encapsulates the Auditoriums’ low-frequency performance perfectly, from the way that you hear the mics come up revealing the recorded acoustic, to the opening applause that wraps around you, from the incidental audience noises placed perfectly within the auditorium, to the clarity of the texture, pitch and slowly rising level with which the long, bowed double bass opening is reproduced. The perspective offers a natural view of the instrumental sections and the soaring height of the cathedral acoustic. The music builds with a measured but inexorable power, developing in intensity and layers to create the emotive, immersive wash of sound that makes this piece so compelling. The Clarisys speakers match the music’s demands as it rises in power and intensity, but the inevitability comes from their ability to preserve the beautifully even pace and unforced, easy breathing character of the playing. Lean too heavily on the leading edges and the bottom-end tightens up and starts to march rather than flow. It’s a tendency that, when present, destroys the ethereal beauty of the performance – one that’s entirely absent from the Auditorium’s presentation.
Play the Kertesz New World (Vienna P.O. Decca SXL2289) and the Clarisys speakers deliver the expected breadth and depth of soundstage, the space and building tension that make this my favourite performance. The explosive timpani rolls that punctuate the opening crescendos are reproduced with the strike, the skin and the body of the instruments, clearly located in the left rear orchestral quadrant, their detonations rolling across the rear wall of the hall. Despite the hot dynamics of the early pressing and the recording in general, there’s no tendency for the drums to step forward and even with the orchestra at full chat their contribution is distinct, both in terms of timing and shape. Likewise, the deep bottom-end underpinnings, separate layers of pulsing and pounding bass that anchor the Gravity OST (Silver Screen Records SILCD 1441) are delivered with room-filling scale and power.
A sound footing…
What the Auditoriums get absolutely right about bass is the placement, the impetus or pace of the notes, their pitch and relative weight. Electronica, with its densely overlaid synthetic beats never gets bogged down or anchored in the room. Moby is suitably motive, Felix Laband’s eclectic mix of vocals, jazz and acoustic incidentals are never swamped or enveloped by the deeply planted synth lines. “Everything in its place and moving in the right direction” might be the phrase to sum up the natural sense of order that emanates from these speakers. What doesn’t emanate is that leading-edge slap so beloved of big boxes and hi-fi demos. The cascading drums that sound so impressive on Elvis Costello’s ‘Little Triggers’ (This Year’s Model, Radar Records RAD3) still tumble into the room with weight, purpose and musical intent – but they don’t have the smack you in the face suddenness of a speaker like the Wilson Alexx. Is that almost physical impact real or a hi-fi artefact? The question is actually irrelevant. Do you want that sound or not? Only you can decide. But for me, listening to predominantly acoustic recordings, I’ll take the Auditorium’s ability to float bass notes with their natural placement, acoustic integration, bloom and shape every time. It’s a function of the speakers’ ability to fasten and locate the centre of an instrument’s energy, within that instrument’s volume. You don’t hear a pin-point source the way you do on some high-end systems, but the location of the source is never in doubt. I just listen to Jame’s Leary’s sure-footed, perfectly pitched and spaced bass notes on ‘Way Out Basie’ (The Count Basie Big Band, Farmers Market Barbecue, Analogue Productions CAPJ 023), the way they maintain their intelligibility and sense of forward motion, even under the most excitable brass sections and I‘m sold. The relaxed groove of ‘St. Louis Blues’ is just the icing on the cake…
