Warsaw Audio Show 2024

Hailing from Lithuania, which lies right across the Northeast border of Poland, one-year-old audacious speaker company Silent Pound made its second consecutive appearance at the Warsaw Show. The company returned to the same large, irregularly shaped room that allowed them to place four listening chairs, one behind the other, in a straight line, midway between the standmount speakers on active display.

Silent Pound speakers are designed to control all lateral reflections. "Silent Pound wants to maximize direct signal and minimize reflections," said Chris Dahl of amplifier company Perreaux (see below). "Their goal is consistent directivity, top to bottom."

To quote from the company's extremely attractive brochure, "by achieving constant directivity—focusing sound energy forward with less lateral and rear radiation—the system ensures balanced sound both on-axis and off-axis... Our design minimizes room interference even in untreated spaces.... [We have a] built-in gradient low frequency (LF) module which reduces the amount of acoustic energy radiated into the room by 3x (directional index ~4.7 d) compared to standard speakers... Silent pound's unique midrange enclosure optimizes the balance between mid- and low-frequency output."

Engineered by Audrius Balciunas (shown in the photo), CTO of Silent Pounds, the speakers are the product of three years of computer modeling. Drivers are from the U.S. and Italy. Distribution, as of fall 2024, was in 12 markets: Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore.

"Pressure is virtually equalized inside and outside the speaker," Dahl and Bakianas explained. "The back and front waves are in phase from approximately 300Hz to approximately 2kHz. There is less diffraction because the back wave sums with the front wave. We also address beaming to keep frequencies constant."

There are two models. I heard the Bloom three-way compact standmount monitor with 6" midrange, 1.4" compression driver, and dual 1-" woofers in dipole configuration. Sensitivity is 86dB, impedance 4 ohms, and frequency range 33Hz-18kHz. On the side was the three-way floorstanding flagship Challenger II compact horn, dual 6" midrange drivers, and dual 12" woofers in dipole configuration. Sensitivity is 88dB, impedance 4 ohms, and frequency response 30Hz-18kHz (+/-2.5dB).

Paired with a New Zealand-made Perreaux 300ix fully integrated solid-state amplifier with DAC and MM/MC phonostage ($10,000) that outputs 300Wpc into 8 ohms, the system impressed with its musicality. That may sound like damning with faint praise, but it's rare that I encounter systems at audio shows that sing as clearly as these did. As much as I enjoyed listening to a recording from the Oscar Peterson Trio, I must admit that Dave Brubeck's Take 5, whether as performed in a live 2007 concert in Japan or on the original recording, is starting to sound more than a bit tedious. It's time to make room for some of the many thousands of great jazz recordings that have come in its wake.