Review: Amphion Prio 620 Floorstanding Speakers - Embrace the Cold North

This time I'm going to introduce a pair domestic (Finnish) greatness, the Amphion Prio 620 floorstanding speakers which I've had the privilege of owning for several months now. Amphion as a brand has been around for ages and is indeed one of the oldest and largest Finnish speaker manufacturers. Together with Genelec they probably are the well known Finnish brands internationally.

The family. Picture Amphion.fi

Standing at 108,5 cm tall they are impressive in size. This particular pair of sleek columns which houses two 6,5" mid-bass drivers and 1" titanium dome behind metal grills is finished in superb birch wood giving them extremely Scandinavian feel. Mating them with Artek's furniture with similar finish really sells you the idea of minimalism and functionalism in Finnish design and brings nature closer to your listening room. These have been replaced by newer models by now but when new their listing price was only a little below 4000 € here in Finland. At this price range some might say that we are reaching the borders of High-End.



The pair I have under review are the unofficial Mk II versions (I hope I'm not giving misinformation here) with weight of 34 kg each. They are standing on their black plinths but they can also be further raised on spikes, which for the sake of my rented apartment's floor I will not do. The listening space is a bit weird one - back wall is almost 2 m away. Speakers are positioned 1,7 m from each other and 2 m from the sweet spot. The distance between wall behind and the sweet spot is 1,5 m. What I'm trying to say is that there should be little to no bass extension in the listening spot due to closeness of walls.

Tweeter & grill. Picture Amphion.fi

The Prio 620 houses all kinds of innovative features such as proriatory innovative driver configuration TAPS and U/D/D (Uniformly Directive Diffusion) technology. But I'm not so easily bought with marketing terms alone. The titanium dome rests in a crater between mid-basses of this D'Appolito configuration. The crater-like design supposedly has much to do with crossover point and making the tweeter align the sounds towards the listener rather than all over the room. This also makes positioning the speakers very important as sound stage changes greatly when speakers are positioned differently. This also gives one the possibility to have a small and focused sweet spot with pinpoint-like sharpness by facing the speakers towards listener or to widen the sound stage by facing the speakers straight without toe in. It's possible that the desired outcome is somewhere between these two extremes. I have mine only slightly toed in as I enjoy the wider presentation.

At 91 dB sensitivity and easy-ish to drive ohm ratings I paired them with my faithful Dayens Ampino Monoblock amplifiers. Preamplifier has been varying from Abrahamsen V3.0, Khozmo Acoustics passive attenuator to Burson Conductor Virtuoso (PCM1793). The Amphions are revealing enough to make it possibly to tell the differences between preamps, and between other components as well mind you. I tried them with Analysis Plus Oval 12 cables but eventually switched back the amazing all-rounders Talk Electronics Talk 3 cables. The Oval 12's gave more bassy and darker sound but for my little surprise these Amphions are not overly bright as I feared them to be, prior to my experiences with older Amphions. The Talk Cable 3's gave more snappy and brighter presentation which gave more synergy with the rest of the system that has the Burson working as DAC/Preamp.

On Amphion's web page they describe the Prio 620s being "clear and pure as the Finnish lake". I can totally see where they are going with this. Let me put it this way: these are just about as neutral as Åland, as transparent as those late autumn creeks in Lapland and as fast as Finnish Formula 1 drivers. With this setup the Amphions are not too in your face, music plays rather neatly just slightly in front of the speakers. No singe frequency pops out, nothing irritates. They simply deliver sound signals at studio-like accuracy. They can play any music genre with ease from Techno, Hip Hop, Classical, Jazz, Metal to Pop as long as the recording is well made, for they will not smoothe the faults.

My 50 watt monoblocks left no desire for more power or more bass, these speakers dig deep and can be driven to loud volumes - in fact they seem to like it, just be sure to have a large listening room. Being such majestic and capable speakers, the Prio 620's deserve to have equally capable amplifier and source for it will be a long way before they become the bottleneck in one's system.

And now it goes down to preferences.

To me the Prio 620's are so transparent and clear that they don't seem to have any personality of their own. They are somewhat perfect. But being perfect makes them feel distant, cold, lifeless. Having imperfections and personality are humane traits that makes us attach to other persons or even things. The Amphions are very inhumane, and as such I find very hard to fall in love with them no matter how good they sound. They seem to lack passion. Sure they do get my feet tapping and give me wow-feelings from time to time - but they seem to lack a soul, as if they are aware that they exist for one job only: to make perfect sounds, rather than to play music - maybe this is your cup of tea? The Amphions are not the only ones to blame as I have to admit I have a small allergy for all studio grade speakers - to me they are tools for professionals. They are too perfect, like machines. Then again, if you are not looking for highly involving musical adventures from your system then maybe the Amphion Prio 620s are a suitable choice, for as I said, in a way they are, or at least very close to being, perfect.

With right equipment, perhaps with the glow of tubes, the Amphions might turn out to be completely different beasts. Unfortunately I did not have any at hand. But playing some LP records from my Michell Tecnodec made the Prio 620s really sing - maybe thanks to the analog recordings or maybe because the Tecnodec + Tecnoarm combination is simply a better source than my DAC. Could it be that Prio 620s are capable of revealing the difference between digitally produced and analog music? Listening genuine instruments like piano or older music from time before computers gives a pleasurable warmth that the speakers transduce really well. The sounds transform into music and the overall feeling is lifelike.

The wilderness of Lapland is vast and harsh and for the most part of the year very unforgiving for the poorly prepared. So prepare well and embrace the nature - then maybe there is some warmth and soul to be found in the midst of cold windy fells.

Review: Duevel Planets Floorstanding Speakers - Omni-directional Funland

This time I found myself listening to a pair of Duevel's entry level omni-directional speakers - the Planets. These are definitely not your average looking speakers with drivers facing straight up, facing two... metallic planets, reflecting the sound in every direction. Duevel Planets, although fairly inefficient at 85dB and 4 ohms nominal impedance, were driven rather well by a Sac Thailand Minuet EL-34 tube amplifier 'running in Triode mode in pure Class-A with cathode Feedback' - whatever that means - and rated only at mere 6 watts per channel.

The Duevel Planets require some effort to be optimally placed but even at less than optimal, close to wall, the sound does not suffer dramatically. Indeed, thanks to the speakers unorthodox design I can easily imagine them to live in living rooms where style and design come before things like optimal sound quality and big and bulky electronics.

Red is the new Black

The room in which this particular pair of speakers sat was above average in size, close to 40 sq. meters and ceiling well above 3 meters. Using Anticables speaker cables and Pro-Ject RPM 1.3 Genie turntable equipped with entry level Grado MM-cartridge, the sound coming from the system was surprisingly easy to listen and lively with tuneful and surprisingly believable bass. Indeed the big sound seemed to come from "somewhere" without any effort. Somewhat close to a planar-like sound, the omni-directonal speakers seem to have a certain signature or rather characteristics of their own.

Shiny Planets

With only minimalistic effort in acoustic treatments, the Planets filled the room just as hoped - evenly and fully. There really was no sweet spot, not in a sense you are used to with a usual pair of hifi speakers. The Planets proved to be excellent for background music and TV/movies - the Planets really gave Transformers Age of Extinction's effects a run for their money. Now don't get me wrong, these are just at home with critical listening and yes one can sit in the sweet spot to enjoy musical presentation. Just keep in mind that these are not anything like stand-mount / monitor speakers.

In the end of the day the Duevel Planets might be your ticket to the world of omni-directional speakers and further into Duevel's products. I would describe them as fast, tuneful, even balanced and actually quite fun! Most music genres are fine apart from heaviest rock/metal. Just push play and let the music fill the room - and I'll let you know that apparently the Planets can fill quite a lot of space without showing any signs of tiring - I'm still not sure how the 6W tube amp did this with 85db speakers but I'm glad it did. Unfortunately I did not have access to a solid state amplifier to see the effects of more power. And then there there are the looks - they can turn off some, but I wouldn't be all too surprised to see a pair of Duevel Planets in a home decoration magazine. If you have the chance, I recommend to check them out!

Review: Neat Motive 2 Floorstanding Speakers - It's All About That Bass

I've had the pleasure of owning a pair of lovely Neat Motive 2 floorstanders for a year now, and I do think they deserve a review of their own - even though I know there are plenty of opinions about them around the web. This review is not going to be one of them biblical in-depth ones, rather I will give you a general feeling of Motive 2s.

At height less than 80 cm these speakers are in my opinion what you could call as compact floorstanders. They sit on top of spikes mounted in the black base "plinth". The spikes elevates the speaker giving its downfiring reflex port room to breath. The bottom reflex port also makes the Motive 2s somewhat suitable for near-wall placement and their small size might give a room for finding the best spot for them. The things is that Neat's Motive 1 and 2 speakers are tilted a bit backwards giving them a look very unorthodox. I suppose this helps to deliver the sound closer to ear vertically. In my opinion this makes the Motive 2s interesting, modern and very charming in general.

Neat Motive 2

My Motive 2s have the Black Ash finish and they look really nice. The "grills" are attached with magnets so there is not even leftover holes when the grills are off. Naturally I do recommend taking the grills off as I believe they are not there to improve the sound.

The first thing I noticed when I first plugged the Motive 2s to my system, consisting of KECES DA-131mk2 DAC, Abrahamsen V3.0 preamplifier and Dayens Ampino Monoblocks driving them at 50W (8 Ohms), was the impressive and sophisticated and fast bass that goes surprisingly deep - it was evident that the Motive 2s are all about PRaT and making you tap your feet and that sweet bass is the main driving force. They make you forget about things that keep you from enjoying music - yes they are musical and and not a bit clinical or boring in any sense. That said, for me coming from a pair of KEF LS50s, the treble can sound a tad bright at first but my ears got used to it in a week. Even with the nice bass and slightly bright but involving treble the mid-range is not forgotten - it follows along just fine giving credible and punchy body to the details and music. I have a feeling that these speakers appreciate an amplifier capable of delivering current rather than tons of watts.

Neat Motive 2

The Motive 2s can and will dig up and present with ease any dynamics, spatial room-filling information and nuances that the recording may have, especially with movies and games. That said they sound quite decent even with some poorer recordings. Any genre is a good genre for the little Neats as they shine happily on anything I throw at them be it solo piano, electronic house music, aggressive rock or full scale orchestra. Somehow the warm sound of LP-records sound especially enjoyable but not a bit boring or stuffy.

There are newer version of Neat's Motive line out there such as the SE and the SX. I have not heard neither of these but if they have managed to improve the sound even further I recommend you to have a serious listen. The Motive 2 is an energetic and elegant compact floorstander suitable for all kinds of music. Even the other (and more beautiful) resident of the household likes them and not only for the looks. Very, very good. Seriously!

Review: Philips Fidelio X2 - Fun, Dynamic and Here to Stay

I have been meaning to do this review for ages and finally I think I found a decent time slot for it.
Fidelio X2 is a new-ish headphone from a long time consumer electronics brand Philips. In my mind Philips has not been a big HiFi player for a very long time but I managed to get a listen at their Fidelio L1 some time ago. That made me wonder - is there a new serious player in the market?

I made leap of faith in to the unknown and bought the Fidelio X2 based on positive reaction the X1 and L2 received earlier. And boy I am glad I did.

The X2 is a large open headphone that at the time of writing resides at the very competitive 300€ class. The velvet pads are indeed comfortable but the clamping force is a bit on the strong side for my big head - although nothing a bit of stretching can not fix I'm sure. The fabric headband is self adjusting AKG-style and nicely soft. In overall the physical being of X2 leaves an excellent and stylish impression and with it's 35 Ohm impedance it should be easy to drive as well.

X2 is plugged to my PC using Foobar2000's WASAPI output, followed by a Belkin's Signature Series USB-cable to my DAC-HP-amplifier, the Burson HA-160D. The Burson might sound like an overkill for such an easy to drive pair of headphones - but I leave nothing to chance. I've had the X2 now for several months and I am pretty convinced that they've had enough listening time to be "broken in".

Listening

Hitting play button on Diana Krall's Stepping Out album ripped in FLAC format gives an instant impression - this is good. The initial impression is the warmth of the playback - the bass is outstanding, and we are talking about an open headphone here. At the same time the piano and drums are as clear and snappy as they need to be - I notice that my foot is tapping. Damn these 'phones are fun! Diana's voice does not pop out too much in-our-face style - "must be because of the recording" I convince myself. The X2 & Burson combination creates very jazz club like atmosphere for this album. A bit smoky and warm - I might need to bring the cubans and malts next time with me.

Moving on to KOOP's Koop Island Blues gives the same impression. This time the vocals come out more as I'm sure they are intended. The bass still stands strong in both quality and quantity. Instrument separation is top notch and there is nicely air in the playback - not maybe AKG 700-series style air but still nicely. Neither the vocals nor drums sound too harsh, overall impression is very balanced but with some juicy extra quality bass. The dynamics both macro and micro really bring the music alive and keeps the foot tapping on Queens Propeth's Song. Here the bass somewhat overwhelms Freddy's voice but the song keeps happily marching forward like a parade.

The X2 feels like opposite of Grado's phones which I've owned several during the years. They are all great and snappy as most of you know. But while being snappy and bright they lack the ultimate bass reproduction which the X2 delivers - making music fun and easy to listen.

Lastly I choose Shpongle's album Nothing Lasts...But Nothing Is Lost. This quality piece of music through the X2 really leaves nothing to desire. The dynamics, absolute resolution and overall balance really fits and tingles senses in a good way.

Philips Fidelio X2 & Burson HA-160D

Conclusion

I've listened the X2 for a while now with every music genre out there and they shine of every one of them be it pop, trance, metal, classical, acoustics, jazz or African folk music. They are easily driven from a modern smartphone but in my opinion the Burson takes them to another level - but I imagine that even cheaper DAC+amp product will be enough. Matters of taste and commitment. For reference I've owned Grado RS1 and use AKG 712 as office 'phones - the X2 tops both of them in the fun factor and in my opinion does not fall behind overall. Matters of taste once more as these three headphones are very different from each other. The X2 is most of all fun and dynamic and I'm sure it offers enough resolution and overall sound quality to impress people both new and old to the world of HiFi sound. I have no intention to part with these any time soon.