"What a refreshingly honest blog about listening to music through hi-fi. So happy to see views based upon the enjoyment of music rather than so-called sound 'quality'." - Peter Comeau, Director of Acoustic Design at Mission / Wharfedale

Monday, 17 July 2017

CRANAGE HALL NORTH WEST AUDIO SHOW 2017 - HIGHLY COMMENDED - PEARL ACOUSTICS

BEDROOM 8
Planalogue TT, Isol8 power conditioner, Audio Analogue Puccini Anniversary, YBA CDP, Pearl Acoustics Sibelius speakers


I have to declare a bias heavily against single (dynamic) driver speakers.  They have never sounded good to me - boxed, open baffle, mounted in massive cabinets with intricate and extensive folded horns - they all have underwhelmed.  Lacking in the frequency extremes (no real surprise there), but, more importantly, completely falling apart when the music gets complex.
But here's the first exception to that experience, the beautifully crafted solid oak Sibelius from Pearl Acoustics.  They use a unique Mark Audio provided driver and cost around £5k.  These are stunningly good.  No, they don't go very deep, but they go deep for such a small driver and the go plenty high enough to feel like there's nothing significant missing from the experience.  Musical, tuneful, dynamic, smooth and they don't fall apart when you throw something as complex as Malia & Boris Blank, despite the amount of bass the tracks contain.  Excellent.


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