Peak Consult Enters the US

Denmark's Peak Consult is well known in the European market as a loudspeaker brand, but the company has received scant notice elsewhere. To remedy its low profile Stateside, Peak Consult reports that it has signed with Stereovox to distribute its products in the US.

PC was originally planning to enter the US market with its former distributor, TMH Audio, but TMH terminated its distribution arrangement with PC in August of 2003. PC shared a display with Stereovox at the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and decided that the two companies would be a good fit. PC's Per Kristoffersen says he choose Stereovox because "they have compassion and respect for the reproduction of music, and most importantly, a compassion and respect for our products."

Stereophile's John Marks wrote about Peak Consult's InCognito in the September 2003 issue, noting that the product is "perhaps the apotheosis of the two-way loudspeaker. At 95 lbs each and $13,000/pair, it is safe to conclude that some outer limits are being tested. A few months of careful listening indicate that among these limits is musical performance for this product class."

Bring up audio reproduction and Kristoffersen says he could "talk day and night regarding making speakers." When asked about his company's design philosophy, he emphasizes that Peak Consult does not set a price point, but starts by developing a speaker to meet sonic expectations, and only when satisfied does the company begin adding up the final cost to produce it.

When creating a product, Kristoffersen explains, "we design our speakers to have a linear impedance as well as electrical phase. That means that you don't have to own a monster amp to drive the speakers. You could achieve the best results using a low wattage tube amp as well as a big solid-state amp."

Kristoffersen describes the crossover as "the heart of every speaker" and emphasizes its importance in PC's products. "Every single little sonic behavior is put through there. We use only the best of components: foil coils, large resistors from Vishay, and Mundorf Supreme capacitors. Our crossover filters weigh between 8 lbs for our monitors up to 20 lbs for our three-way systems. Every crossover is measured and matched to its very own serial number."

The company clearly thinks outside of the box when implementing its crossover designs. As Marks found when examining the InCognito, the crossovers for that model are located in the dedicated and nonremoveable loudspeaker stand "for better mechanical and electrical isolation."

The company says it also uses "pure silver OEM cable" from Stereovox for internal wiring, and builds its cabinets with HDF covered in solid oiled wood. Kristoffersen points out that these are not just veneers, adding, "Every cabinet is signed by a skilled Danish carpenter."

Peak Consult's primary website is at www.peak-consult.com. Stereovox has set up a new website for the company's US customers at www.peak-consult.us.

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