SSI 2010

Cabasse La Sphère

Art Dudley  |  Mar 26, 2010

Of one room I can honestly say: The sound pulled me in. A succession of convincingly deep, tactile drumbeats caught my ear, and I followed the thwacks to Cabasse, where the Sphère ($150,000/pair, more or less, and reviewed by Michael Fremer a year or so back) held court, driven by Cabasse's own Bel Canto-sourced amps; the Cabasse outboard digital crossover; and McIntosh's C2300 preamp and MCD500 SACD/CD player. No less impressive was Christophe Cabasse himself (left), who patiently led me through the Sphère's impressive technical background—in English, I'm thankful to say. Monsieur Cabasse also reminded me that his company celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, having been founded by Georges Cabasse (père) all the way back in 1960.

COMMENTS
Not Impressed's picture
Submitted by Not Impressed (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 7:20am

$150,000 for an UGLY speaker that looks like it came from a Doctor Who convention? No thanks

François Caron's picture
Submitted by François Caron (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 7:43am

What's missing in the image is someone standing next to it to give it some scale. Those things are huge!

Nick's picture
Submitted by Nick (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 8:01am

'TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER'

John Atkinson's picture
Submitted by John Atkinson (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 9:23am

I substituted a different photo, François.

Ray's picture
Submitted by Ray (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 9:37am

Beep....Kill the humansss

Buddy's Buddy's picture
Submitted by Buddy's Buddy (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 10:55am

OK, they're not right for everyone, and you may laugh, but if once you hear them, you will be stunned. These are the finest speakers I've ever heard, and Cabasse doesn't make you listen only to THEIR demo material. People are encouraged to bring in their own stuff. I've heard Korean temple bells, Frank Sinatra, and Led Zep on these babies. There are really no words to describe how good they sound.

Nick's picture
Submitted by Nick (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 11:15am

I might have joked with my previous post but I do intend to listen to them right after work. If Buddy's Buddy is correct - and I assume he is - then they will probably knock me off my feet. The more I stare at them the more they actually look like Christophe Cabasse. :-D

Maiolica's picture
Submitted by Maiolica (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 11:59am

Don't you mean 50th anniversary?

François Caron's picture
Submitted by François Caron (not verified) on March 26, 2010 - 2:18pm

Thanks for the switch John! I'm hoping to get a decent recording of the set-up without too much chatter in the room. And for anyone who's wondering, yes they do sound very, very good.

Nick's picture
Submitted by Nick (not verified) on March 27, 2010 - 10:12pm

Okay, so I heard, them yes they are fantastic and no they are not worth the 150k. They were playing loud but the imaging was really good. If my name was captain Nemo maybe they might fit in my surroundings, in any event can't afford em and a pair of Sonus Fabers or Verity Audio would suffice.

Billy's picture
Submitted by Billy (not verified) on March 28, 2010 - 11:03am

I assume for that price they'd let you take them home for a week or so and check them out. I have a 60 watt Panasomic Home theater receiver so I will need 5 of them.

Stephen Scharf's picture
Submitted by Stephen Scharf (not verified) on March 28, 2010 - 11:52am

Christ, those are ugly. They look like something out a cheap sci-fi flick from the 50's.

Brian's picture
Submitted by Brian (not verified) on March 29, 2010 - 8:11am

By far the best sound at the show that I heard.

suits_me's picture
Submitted by suits_me (not verified) on March 29, 2010 - 7:36pm

They'd have to sound utterly transporting to justify looks like that. And didn't they measure in a bit of a funky manner in the earlier review?

Johnny's picture
Submitted by Johnny (not verified) on April 4, 2010 - 3:37am

I´ve heard these speakers in 2008 at Munich High End in Germany. Amazing speakers - they sound stunning! Sounded better than the big MBL system and many of the other big names.And I actually like the look - very very cool....and I might add that they also come in a kinda slate grey - maybe a better choice if you´re a bit more "grounded" ;-)Still 150 k is a lot of money and I´m not sure if a pair of the big Soundlab´s + 2 JL Audio subwoofers would do the job for me. But they are very good!ps. I have no business with Cabasse - I just like these big babies :-)Johnny

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