Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Regions of Light and Sound of God (16/44.1 FLAC, ATO Records/Qobuz), by My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, was also exceptionally enjoyable. The soundstage on James's album is expansive, and a lot of the music is bathed in reverb. There may be some phase frippery going on, given how far certain sounds reached into the room. In other words, there's huge depth too.

Next, I played Bob Dylan's "Man in the Long Black Coat" from Oh Mercy (24/96 FLAC, Columbia/Qobuz). The solidity of the first bass note, 15 seconds in, was delightful, as was the sweetness and delicacy of the decay. I could hear it for a full eight seconds as it faded into perfect blackness.

There are albums whose very existence is famous—iconic titles every music fan knows. Emerson, Lake & Palmer's eponymous debut (24/96 FLAC, BMG/Qobuz) is such a disc, and yet it had somehow passed me by. I knew of it, I could've described to you what the cover looks like, but I'd never heard the music (other than "Lucky Man")—an embarrassing admission. When I finally cued it up one evening, the vigor and beauty of the recording hit me full force. I thrilled to Keith Emerson's gothic piano part on "Take a Pebble." And that ride cymbal! Even after decades of listening to music on high-end equipment, I startle at how the best inanimate amplifiers and speakers conjure life. They take something that I know to be a mere reproduction and render it as in-the-moment, you-are-there reality. When science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke wrote that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," he wasn't talking about hi-fi ... or was he?

As for that ELP disc, it's rare for a 1970s rock recording to have been recorded with such care. Maybe the album wasn't a suitable reference recording for me because I don't know how it sounds on a dozen different systems, but I knew that the Piegas were doing nothing to obscure its beauty.

No matter what I threw at them, the 811s were in their comfort zone. Even the massed strings on Bernard Herrmann's "Fahrenheit 451," from The Fantasy Film World of Bernard Herrmann (16/44.1 FLAC, Decca/Tidal), which can sound saw-y, were smooth and pleasant through the 811s.

After that, without rhyme or reason, I pivoted to the yuuuge-sounding mood lift that is "Framed By Funk" by Australian electro explorer Spoonbill, from his album Airborne (16/44.1 FLAC, Omelette Records/Qobuz). Even around 85dB at the listening position (loudish but nowhere near deafening), the music's force was considerable. My ears and chest registered the pressure in the room. Most speakers don't slam this hard until you crank them way up.

There's no music the 811s can't handle with control and sang-froid, or none that I found, but they excelled at the creative electronica and chill techno I love—artists like Yello, Spoonbill, CharlestheFirst, and Infected Mushroom.

At times, the 811s seemed a little bassy around the 40Hz region, but that almost entirely disappeared when I applied ARC Genesis room correction via my Anthem STR amplifier. This put the blame on my listening space, not the speakers.

Track 11 of Berlin Recital (24/44.1 FLAC, BIS/Qobuz) by bass trombonist Stefan Schulz and pianist Tomoko Sawano is a 59-second ovation from the crowd in the smaller of the Berlin Philharmonic's two concert halls. I've been using it to help me judge resolution. On a budget system, or one that lacks synergy, the sound of the audience easily gets smeary and homogenized, resembling heavy rain. On the Piegas, the fleshiness of the clapping came through. You could hear 1000 microevents reaching your ears all at once rather than one amorphous rolling wave of sound.

But don't cue up Berlin Recital just for the applause. With compositions spanning a century, from Johannes Brahms's "Vier ernste Gesänge" to Daniel Schnyder's "subZERO," it's a terrific recording for its soul-stirring performances and its sonics. Roon says I've played it almost 50 times since I added it to my library last year, and I believe it.

Some speakers are more relaxed while others are more forceful and intense. As I listened, a picture sometimes came to mind of a hand squeezing into a fist. That's the character of the 811s: punchy, forceful, taut. Depending on the recording, sound burst forth from these speakers as if it was being expelled. Speed plus energy equals excitement. Or think of water being pushed through a pipe. Narrow the pipe, and the pressure intensifies. I've stood under king-sized rainfall showerheads (enveloping and luxurious), and high-pressure heads (brisk and invigorating). The Piegas are more the latter, but they never crossed the line into overly tight.

Purifying the mains
Any tendency toward tightness was mitigated by the Puritan PSM156 mains purifier ($2400), a six-outlet unit into which I'd plugged all my electronics except the Krell. I also used two Puron plug-in AC line conditioners ($295 each), cylindrical devices about the size of a KT88 tube. Inserting the Purons into the wall receptacle and/or the first outlet of a power conditioner will reduce system noise, the manufacturer claims. The Puritan, meanwhile, is said to battle both common-mode and differential-mode interference, remove DC offset, and scrub the earth-ground line of sonic impurities. It also offers 9000A of surge protection.

Adding first the Puritan and then the Purons made the air in classical recordings seem a bit more expansive, and music went up a step in effortlessness. The Puritan and Purons also subtly increased my system's resolution. When, during this review, I spent a few days auditioning a 30-year-old Aragon 4004 MKII power amplifier—I was trying to decide whether I should keep it—the Puritan ably suppressed some low-level transformer hum. The three Ps—Piegas, Puritan, and Purons—played well together, but even without help from power-massaging devices, the Swiss speakers impressed with imperturbable precision and the ability to express fine detail.

The bottom line
The Piega Coax Gen2 811 loudspeakers are a solid deal, even at 30 big ones. A (let's say) Focal Maestro–level presentation costs more than twice what these speakers do, and you'd achieve maybe a 10% improvement, if such things are even quantifiable.

The 811s are easy to drive, visually attractive, neutral yet sonically arresting, musical to a T, and built, simultaneously, like a fine watch and a brick outhouse. I felt happy, even spoiled, every day that they were in my system. They coddled my ears and ticked my boxes, and I'm pleased to roar my approval.