Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

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Diptyque Reference loudspeaker

"Panel speakers that do bass? Sign me up!" That was my reaction when I first heard a pair of Diptyque Reference loudspeakers, at AXPONA 2023. The Reference is a 6'-tall, French planar magnetic speaker whose designers, Gilles Douziech and Eric Poix, make no secret of their love for Magnepan, the Minnesota company famed for its dipole panels. The French duo has improved on Magnepan's pioneering technology by addressing the number-one shortcoming of such designs: a lack of low-frequency extension.

Magico S5 2024 loudspeaker

I have lost track of how many loudspeakers I have measured with DRA Labs' MLSSA system since Stereophile started accompanying its reviews with measurements in the late 1980s, but it must be close to 1000. Most of those speakers have long since faded from my memory, but there are some whose excellent measurements stick in my mind. One such is the Magico S5 Mk.II I reviewed in February 2017.

Amphion Krypton 3X loudspeaker

One of the things I value most in life is clarity. In my work, in my intellectual pursuits, and in my relationships, I try to cut through the noise and find the place where I can clearly see facts, goals, feelings, the big picture. If I can find clarity, it's much easier to form opinions, make plans, and take action. Success becomes more likely.

In audio reproduction, my values are similar. I can't enjoy music if the system is producing a clouded, muddy, overly warm, or otherwise unclear sound. I want the electromechanical representation of music to be richly detailed, sharply focused, and full range in dynamics and frequency. In that kind of all-encompassing and attention-demanding aesthetic, I can truly hear what the music is about. Under those conditions, the nature of the recording—good or bad, craft or crud—is plainly heard.

Stenheim Alumine Two.Five loudspeaker

Stereophile has favorably reviewed three loudspeakers from Swiss manufacturer Stenheim. Art Dudley reviewed the Alumine standmount in April 2012 and the Alumine Five floorstander in March 2018. More recently, Herb Reichert reviewed Stenheim's three-and-a-half-way Alumine Three tower in October 2021. My assignment for this month's issue was to review the company's Alumine Two. Five floorstander, which, at $23,500/pair, fits neatly between the Alumine Two ($13,500/pair) and Three ($36,500/pair).

Canton Reference 5 loudspeaker

Canton Elektronik GmbH is a family-owned manufacturer of loudspeakers based in Weilrod, Germany. Founded in 1972—the name is from Latin and German: "Can" from the Latin "cantare," "to sing"; "Ton" from the German for "sound"—Canton is now well past its 50th anniversary. The largest manufacturer of perfectionist speakers in Germany, Canton is still based in the small township where it began, with manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic.

John Atkinson reviewed the Canton Reference 7K in September 2021, and Ken Micallef followed up. The 7K ended up in Class A, Restricted Extreme LF, of Stereophile's Recommended Components list. Now that Canton has significantly revised its Reference Series, it's time to take another look and listen.

Grimm Audio LS1c active loudspeaker system

It's not unusual for audiophiles to have fond childhood recollections of the old family stereo, but Eelco Grimm's memory of his dad's audio system probably stands alone. It's not just that Piet Grimm, a professional pilot for the Dutch air defense, had a pair of very fine Infinity speakers, a Pioneer receiver, and a Technics turntable. Others surely did, too. It's more that he purchased the system from a military PX shop at a US air force base in Germany, then happily flew the equipment home to the Netherlands on his Northrop F5 supersonic fighter plane. That's not run-of-the-mill cool, that's Top Gun cool.

Years later, Eelco, too, started taking stereo gear to new altitudes, becoming a designer of high-end speakers and electronics. After Grimm Audio, a 15-person enterprise, moved to a building near Eindhoven airport in the southern Netherlands, he realized that it stands in almost the exact spot where his dad used to park his fighter jet.

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