The El Diablo’s ability to bring things together isn’t unique: it’s something it shares with the other Peak speakers! But this latest model, perhaps drawing on the lessons hard learnt not just with the others in the range, but through decades of loudspeaker development, establishes a whole new price/performance high for the brand. Wilfried Ehrenholz and Karl-Heinz Fink (who has designed literally hundreds of loudspeakers for multiple clients) are nothing if not experienced. Both have tended to work under tight budgetry constraint in highly competitive market sectors. It’s a hard apprenticeship, but freed from the constraints of strict price bands, with engineering and execution tied directly to performance demands and priced accordingly, the results quite literally speak for themselves. Immediacy is a familiar term in audio reviews. Having already said that there are other speakers that are more obviously ‘immediate’ than the El Diablo, maybe this is a speaker that offers a different kind of immediacy, delivering it musical message with unusual clarity and power simply because of its completeness.
The Dragon Legacy remains an astonishingly listenable and capable speaker. It offers even greater bandwidth and dynamic impact than the El Diablo. But the smaller speaker matches the flagship’s easy expressive range and attractive, natural tonal qualities and separation. It’s easier to accommodate and easier to set up. It establishes an impressive musical benchmark alongside its more practical attributes. It brings that engaging, almost addictively musical quality to a system: exactly the quality that we are (or should be) looking for – but that’s so hard to find. It really is the baby Dragon. When the El Diablo speaks, it’s easy to listen – and hard not to.
Price and availability
Peak Consult El Diablo – €65,000
Finishes – Walnut, Wenge hardwood, Black or White solid acrylic
(coloured acrylic or carbon contrast panels to special order)
Manufacturer:
Peak Consult,
Langelandsvej 12,
DK-5500 Middelfart,
Denmark
t. + 45 70 70 70 65
e. sales@peakloudspeaker.com
