This is the best coverage of the Sibelius. Thanks for explaining the concepts. My closest experience with a single driver is my pair of Zu Dirty Weekends I have owned for 10 years. It's a love/hate relationship. I do have to go back to multi-drivers after a month of listening to them. Then, I miss the glorious mid-range and wide soundstage and bring them back on. They have been weaving in and out for 10 years, and I intend to hold on to them for a long time.
I have been researching these speakers for a year. You discussed everything in 20 minutes that I spent hours to research. I can’t bring myself to buy these without listening to them first. There’s not a place to listen in the United States. Great job on your review.
Thank you Tarun. I would not buy speakers this expensive but really appreciate such reviews to help to understand what is available. Your description of the products you review is top quality.
This is an exceptional review. It is a detailed mixture of advantages and disadvantages of the speaker and a perspicuous rendering of the sonic qualities which make it distinct from many other types of speakers. Given the cost of the speaker, it was refreshing to hear an honest evaluation as to whether or not it represented a good value, and for whom. I think the advice offered to the company, namely, to try to bring down the cost incurred by some of the labor, is worth serious attention by the owners. One difficult fact for a company like this to get around is the cost of living and labor in a developed country such as Belgium. No doubt those standards of living are similar in places like Denmark (with their famous speaker makers, e.g. Dynaudio, Dali), but since they make things at scale (outsourcing, in part, to other countries), they manage costs in a way hard for Pearl to duplicate.
I came along the 4 inch full range Tang Band 4W1879. Placed in open baffle with a Aurum Cantus Ribbon used as supertweeter (6dB/octave @22kHz without resistor), driven by SET tube amp, giving wonderful results.
Good to see a design concept well executed - thank you for your review Tarun, with a concise explanation of the concepts with the pros and cons. As for special products I lived with for some 10 years are the Elipson 1303 in white fibreglass. A similar pair even ended up in the New York Design museum. A 3 way design with a difference. The rear port used the Helmholtz resonator principle. The large enclosure volume for the bass unit was split in 2 chambers of the same volume, separated by the bass driver in a horizontal position. The resulting bass was very fast. Also the tweeter was special as mine had the Foster tweeters. I passed them on to my late father, who used them for another 20 years. The sound was excellent for classical music with a natural timbre and lots of detail. The workmanship was not perfect, as something annoyingly rattled at a resonance frequency. Definitely they were special.
Excellent review! I have been living with a pair of Sibelius CG for 1.5 years and really love them. The stands though pretty good was no match for the Townshend podiums which I already had when I bought the speakers. Transparency, soundstage and bass improved with them. Coincidentally I have just installed the Stack Audio Auva 100 isolators onto the Sibelius original stand 3 days ago and I’m quite surprised at the difference they made especially in the upper octave. Paul Rigby’s (The Audiophile Man) review is spot on. I guess the word that describes the Sibelius best for me would be ‘musical’. Really enjoyed your detailed review.
Excellent review Mr Tarun! Surprised when Harley told me that the painted Baltic birch cabinets would be more expensive. (I wonder if they will do a tardis blue🤔 ) I'm with you on the desirability of solid oak! I hope to get to hear these next time I'm in the UK I have a 1999 set of oak veneered Rega Naos transmission line speakers occasionally use with an el34 tube amp. I t takes a couple of days to appreciate after the step down from maggie LRS with custom oak frames and RELs 😅
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Yes. No bass bump.The bass output is evenly spread.... They just go lower and lower. The 27hz lowest note coincides with one of my room's nodes however. I'm not complaining 😂
I imagine the only 'chuffing' sounds audible with these speakers were coming from Tarun having to carry these out to his back garden! Thanks for an interesting and well composed review - as always, a pleasure to watch.
Great review, was looking forward to it! Didn't know its voigt pipe design, now i am even more intrigued to hear it live:) Built long time ago one cheap DIY voigt pipe speaker, and still remember that coherent, nice and musical sound that i enjoyed very much. Maybe i should build another one again, until budget allows for Sibelius:)
Beautiful speaker and great review. My 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup with almost 300,000 mi has six delco bose 4” full range drivers. Sounds coherent and easy to listen to while not high definition. I’ve always loved it. Don’t laugh. The cd mechanism has to be replaced periodically since that’s really all I listen to. I don’t want to part with this truck.
Having watched very good reviews of these speakers, I must say that I find yours Tarun the most thorough explanation into the technical insights. This is a very useful and instructive video. Thanks!
I have recently built a pair of speakers with Alpair 12p, bigger brother of Sibelius Alpair 10. Sounds exceptional, if you like specific, full range speaker "feel".
I believe Harvey likes to use the Sugden A21 Signature with the Sibelius. I saw that you reviewed that one two years ago. If you are into mid range the combination should be a winner. Watching the two year old review was an interesting experience comparing it to your reviews now.
excellent review Tarun. I was particularly interested in these speakers after hearing them at the recent Bristol Hi Fi show, Harley was on site to discuss the nuances of the speaker and assured me they would match well with my Rega Elicit mark5 and P8, good sales chat LOL. But seriously I was taken aback by the clarity of the sound in the small hotel room and will certainly consider these during my decision making for a compatible speaker. Thanks for posting the vid
I have to say it seems counterintuitive that Baltic Birch and a lick of paint costs a grand more than solid French Oak, but Harley is a very decent chap and wouldn't mess with his customers, so they must cost more to build. I note a few commenters have mentioned Frugelhorns. A Frugel build is definitely on my bucket list.
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been watching and reading about the Sibelius for a couple of years now. My biggest concern is ordering them, not getting on with them and having to sell. I live in Brandon, MB, Canada and I don’t think I could even sell them to someone who lives in my province so there’s some risk involved.
I am lucky to own a pair of Sibelius speakers - this is a very good review of them. I was interested to hear what you felt was the optimum level and would agree that around 85db is a bit of a sweet spot.
Great review, transmission line speakers have something that ported or sealed can never do. I realize that these are not quite transmission lines, and I did not know about Mr. V and reverse the transmission line.
I built a pair of very similar Voight enclosures based on a design by a Dutch DIY heavyweight, Bert Doppenberg. Anyway, I used cheapish Fostex 3 inch full range drivers. They're well out of production by now. To show off the bass extension to a friend I played Filippa Giordano, a song with very deep bass. My friend asked where the sub was. I said there wasn't one. He asked how a tiny driver could produce so much bass. I told him I didn't know and that the design wasn't mine, just the implementation, so clearly the designer knows a thing or two. One day I turned into a turnip and decided to swap out the 3 inch drivers for 4 inch Fostex, thinking I would find even more juicy bass. I was wrong. They just didn't produce the level and depth of bass of the 3 inch drivers, and I still don't know why. As it is then, they're in storage, and I went to DIY flat panel speakers using a large panel of poly something flat sheets 1500x450mm driven by 4 Chinese exiters per panel. They sound pretty good although not the last word in treble, which is definitely rolled off. My wife loves them to bits even though they're large and imposing. Next I recently came across a D'appolito design Aries 5. They were given to me by a nephew who built them from a kit many years ago. I'm currently refurbishing them and changing the colour from matt black to piano white gloss finish. I have high hopes for them even though they must be at least 20 years old. The drivers are from Focal and Accuton, reasonably serious stuff. We'll see how they sound.... So if anyone wants to try DIY Voigt enclosures with a tiny driver, check out BD Designs. You might be glad you did....
As a follow-up on my old Voigts described elsewhere, I've bought a pair of Mark Audio drivers, which hopefully will give me back some of the goodness of the Fostex FE83 that used to sit and sing in the Voigts, until I had a brain freeze and subbed in a larger Fostex hoping to get more bass. I have fit a dummy baffle to cover the larger hole I'd gouged out, but once done I'm hoping for some audio joy...
An interesting speaker which i had, which was my ultimate dream speakers was the Infinity IRS Beta. I had the power, 4 mono blocks, bur room placement was a nightmare and the bass towers was either to little or too much sound. Enjoyed the review 👍
For £6k and if your room is spacious enough you could obtain a refurbished pair of Apogee Duetta Sigs which outperform these in every department;transient speed,colouration,order of magnitude lower harmonic distortion,much higher loundness level and negligable thermal dynamic compression due to the huge surface area of the ribbons compared to a tiny voice coil and lastly bass extention flat down to 30hz.
This is certainly a speaker for a special audience with a deep pocket and as such it is fine. Just as the DeVores`s are fine for example. However considering the actual state of science and tecnology in this field ,this speaker - like many others - oozes a certain boheme decadence that is nowadays widespread in audiophile circles that is basicly backward oriented: tube amplification,full range speakers,manual belt driven turntables.
The astonishing thing about this design is that anyone with even a shop class level of sawing and gluing lumber can make these speakers, the level of quality only determined but how much money you want to spend on a set of full range speakers. As for the finish, it doesn't matter, just do what satisfies your (or your wife's) eye.
spotted you at the nwest show. I was interested on the speakers myself and as you say sounded reasonably good in there room and Harley was very approchable. me I understand that a bespoke product hand made is expensive but the pricing is just too much for me id be interested in you getting intouch with ear yoshino and getting you views on their products. there are very few reviews on their product line.
You show images of a pair Markaudio Alpair 10 drivers, those are 6” / 16cm. The 4” version in gold is either the pluvia-7hd, alpair 7-ms or the chr-70. Anyhow all these Markaudio drivers are not more expensive the something around 60 euro. Combine that with no crossover it are quite expensive cases 😂
everything would be great in terms of speed and sound quality for those single speaker boxes if you dropped the ohms to 1 ohm or 2 ohms instead of running at 5 ohms.
The most interesting products I've come across are the Caintuck audio/Decware open baffle speakers based around various sizes of the "Betsy" baffle (shaped a bit like a toilet seat and cut from hardwood). One can mount just the one full range driver -- 8,10,12 or 15" per appropriately-sized baffle. If one buys them commercially, they can cost quite a bit (e.g. $3500 for the 15" ZF15M), but only seem to be available in the USA. However, one can DIY them for less than half the price. I've heard that the more compact and less expensive ones, with the smaller drivers, sound as good as the ZF15M clones without quite the scale. Whilst I haven't heard the Sibelius, I _can_ say for sure that IMO the ZF15M's sound absolutely glorious -- end-game for me. Once the baffles and supports are Danish-oiled, "toilet seats" can look suprisingly tasteful! No less interesting to me are Tellurium Q speaker cables, especially the Black II's, without which the ZF15M's wouldn't sound as good. IMO even the relatively inexpensive Blue II's (I have both) do a sterling job.
How would Gangnam Style sound on these? The reason I ask is that I saw a Rasta dude on an electric scooter the other day. The scooter was decked out with flashing multi colored LEDs and he had a giant Sony party speaker attached to the back also equipped with flashing LEDs. First time he passed by he had Carolina by Shaggy going which put a big smile on my face, second time he passed by Gangnam Style was playing and by then I was ready to party. No recessed mids, rolled off highs or weak bass here at all. The bike, scooter and year's supply of weed probably cost a fraction of what I paid for my ''audiophile'' kit. This had me wondering...could it be that this guy has it all figured out while we're neurotically upgrading, tweaking, room treating and endlessly anal-yzing our gear?
I'm lucky enough to own a pair of horn based loudspeakers, from Tommy Horning, so I found this review particularly interesting - largely (and a bit embarrassingly) because I had no idea how my speakers worked - so I'm very grateful for you for doing this. The impression you gave is that you had just as much fun doing it as I did watching it - fabulous! Thanks Tarun 👍😁👍
Once again Tarun another stimulative, concise and informative review. I fully understand the Pearl Acoustics, they’re specialised speakers designed purely for certain genres of music. Classic, Jazz, Acoustic, Rhythm and Blues. I’ve watched a few of Harleys videos also, his favourite CD players, how many watts do you need? Etc. At what they’re designed for they’ll be exceptional.
All other speaker manufacturers quote the industry standard measurement figures of 20-20kHz +/- 3dB and not +/- 6dB that Pearl Acoustics quotes. Quoting the spec of the speaker at the -3dB points will show how quickly the bass rolls off with a 4" driver no matter what cabinet design is used. My experience says it will be rolling off around 200Hz, probably nearer to 250Hz with a -3dB point around 100Hz. This is misleading to those who do not understand the technology. OK, if you are listing to classical music like Baroque music where there might not be much bass but the deficiencies will be massively apparent if you play anything with low bass, like a piano, organ or double bass etc in classical music, or rock or modern music. I would also question the high frequency measurement at 25kHz. This also must be at -6dB. I have had some of the very best single driver wide range units over the years and that is what they are, wide range and not full range. The best speakers I have heard have always been high efficiency and have multiple drivers, and if the crossover is done correctly with good quality components then that will give you the best full range results...
About 3 years ago I built (from a kit) a pair of Frugelhorn Lite speakers which used the smaller 2" Mark Audio full range driver, the bass loading was similar to the Sibelius, the main difference was they vent to the rear, the low end and dynamics was unbelievable for such a small driver and cabinet going to under 40hz in room, the only thing which let them down was limited low bass power handling. Midrange, treble and imaging was first rate, the Mark Audio drivers are tremendous imo. A couple of years previously I had a pair of Jordan VTLs, also amazing bass and dynamics from the 4" full range drivers, the Jordans have a bit of a cult following unfortunately I couldn't live with their unfortunate severe FR dip in the upper mid lower treble region, the drivers now are very expensive 😮
Ah, the vagaries of the YT algorithm’s timing of delivery of viewing recommendations- I’m seeing this in mid May ‘24. I happen to be one of the members of the team that originally developed the FH series, and built initial prototypes of FH1 through to XL, using mostly Fostex and MA drivers, as well as many of Scott Lindgren’s Pensil and Megalith and V-bomber series. After almost a decade, I’m still enjoying the 10.3 in the Pensil enclosure, which while bearing a nominal visual similarity to the Sibelius, is quite different internally. It (Pensil) is basically an MLTL, a very simple enclosure to build - the Frugels and most of Scott’s other manifold design, on the other hand take a bit more time. If I was asked to name my favorite Mark Fenlon designed driver, it’d probably be the original MAOP7
Thank you for this fascinating review. I would love to listen to the Sibelius one day, but I doubt that these are the speakers for me. This reminds me that the designs for a transmission line speaker, the "MLTL-6 Mass Loaded Transmission Line Speaker", are for sale. It looks a bit complicated, but if I ever have access to a CNC machine, I would be very tempted.
There is a lot of gray areas when naming a design - and transmission lines *can* be straight - or tapered in either (or both) direction(s). The terminus opening on the Sibelius is certainly smaller than the interior sections of the cabinet, so is effectively tapered down toward the open end. So, suffice it to say that the qualities you mentioned - the extended and controlled and articulate bass and the clear and clean midrange, are qualities that I have found in mass loaded transmission lines. (I have never heard a Voigt Pipe speaker.) The other way to know that the air column behind the driver is being coupled with the cone, and it's mass is being added to the driver *in the bass* - is to look at the driver's Fs and the fundamental frequency of the speaker. In the midrange, because the cabinet is effectively open (very little air spring), you get performance similar to an open baffle (but with a much lower Mms driver than a typical open baffle speaker). And you get progressively more and more air coupled with the driver as the frequency goes down.
I’m trying to imagine the buyer for the speakers and it’s an older gentleman that likes jazz and classical pieces not too loud but well done. Great review.
I tried the Markaudio Alpair 7ms drivers in a Pensil enclosure and agree with the main characteristics you shared in the video. Remarkable, these full ranges. Cost me ca. GBP250 plus my own time to build 'em. They just can't play loud though. Dynamics are clearly limited and I wouldn't want them as the only pair of speakers in my home. My new project is a Joseph Crowe No.1786 (15" + 600Hz Horn), not yet finished...
Thanks for the very thoughtful review. You asked for discoveries we might have made. Mine isn't so much about new gear, but a discovery of sorts about my existing gear. I have a pair of B&W 804 D3s in a smallish space (15'x12') and I use a sub. I've had them for quite some time, and have moved them in various positions to get the best possible sound stage and imaging. I surprised myself by going against the general suggestions (including B&W) and pointed them straight ahead with only maybe a 1/4 inch inward toe. They are in an equilateral triangle of 92" (tweeter to tweeter, tweeter to ears) and tweeters 52" from the front wall. This has created for me the most amazing listening experience. It is like having a new stereo, it's that much better. I guess I am passing this along for those that might be struggling with their sound. It's possible to improve your system to an amazing degree by experimenting and not necessarily following "norms". And the nice thing is, it cost me nothing but time.
Excellent review of the Sibelius CG loudspeakers! You speak of several caveats of the speakers which I appreciate, because being able to play a bit loud was one that is a deal breaker for myself, that and the price. Thank you very much for an eye opening review.
I had my eyes on them since I watched few album recommendation by pearl acoustic, Harley always replies even Any sort of questions.. brilliant review once again
Excellent as always Tarun. A speaker that I haven’t heard but find very interesting and am very curious about is the Linkwitz LXmini kits. They look unlike any other speakers and might be a fun diy project. Thanks!
Have been waiting for your review of sibelius. Your explanation is just remarkable and very musical to listen to and is only getting better after each review.
Dear Tarun, it was a highly informative and honest review explained in a way that even non rocket-scientists could understand the physics behind it. Congratulations! In my opinion this is the secret many reviewers tend to forget about. Since you asked: here on the continent Bladelius amplifiers and Vienna Acoustics speakers are highly regarded. Would be nice to hear your opinion about them. Keep going!
Hello Tarun. Thanks for your review. Very detailed and understandable, which is quite an achievement. Personally I do not like fullrange speaker, because of the limitations to the highs and lows. A set of speakers should cover the full range. Also the price of speakers are sky rocketed. The best you can do these days is built a pair yourself. Best price value you can get. Built me a pair from sounblabs for €300,- per speaker and they sound great. Compared to a set of hifi speakers in the range of €3000,-.! But going into the rabbit hole I will be building speakers from Troel Gravenson, please check the internet for his gear. And I’m sure it will be more then enough to achieve hifi Nirvana for an acceptable price.
For full range, try the frugel horns. Fantastic design, very cheap to make, and they have midrange to die for, and allow you to play with very low power amps. Troel's design are excellent -- pretty sure you'd have to spend 3x more at least to get an equivalent commercial design.
As good a speaker review as I have seen. My own speakers use the paper cone Alpair10P in a different configuration. A Voigt pipe loudspeaker isn’t so hard to manufacture once you arrive at the magic formula. It takes a long time and I think the Pearl’s price reflects this along with the super premium materials. This model took a long time to develop and test. I have listened to single driver speakers for many years and find that in my smallish listening room and considering my musical tastes they fulfill my needs very well. Paul Voigt’s legacy does indeed deserve to be carried on.
And that's all from a 115 eur priced Marc Audio speaker you can buy from Sound import. Ad a subwoofer and tweeter unit with crossover and you get a better speaker for less then 1500 eur for pair.
Enjoy the channel. Just wondering do you Honestly beleive that the price of the Speakers you review are really worth the money they ask? And I find people that buy " ANY " High priced speaker without getting their hearing checked are just wasting their money. What is the point in Buying a speaker that says it is capable of reproducing the frequencies they do, if the person buying them don't even know if they can hear those frequencies??? Or any device that says it is capable of reproducing these frequencies, and the money they ask. Last question the parts used and the Cabinet built/used, are They Truely worth the money they ask. Maybe rip some of them apart and look at the build quality and the parts used, and their cost. Cheers - R.M.
Excellent review as always! I've always been curious about these speakers. I picked up a used Quad S2 today, a tiny bookshelf with ribbon tweeters. Paired it with a Hegel H80 and now I want these tweeters on my ATC SCM19s! I'm surprised how much I liked the Quads, they remind me of a pair of Raidho xt1s I had on loan for a while, without the refinement of the Raidhos of course. The Quads turned out to be a very 'musical' speaker with a hyper detailed top end which is still somehow relaxed and enjoyable. It's only let down by it's rather 'honky' mid range driver. It's almost as if Quad was selling a pair of tweeters, with the mid drivers thrown in for show. I added a very capable sub (Kreisel dxd808) and have been enjoying the setup a lot! I love discovering overlooked speakers for not a lot of money, and having them surprise me. Thanks for all your hard work, never miss your videos.
A very interesting speaker concept. In terms of the high and mid range description, they seem to be similar to Quad ESL 57's... obviously not in the lower frequencies tho. I am intrigued by these speakers but everything considered, they seem rather over-priced to me. Anyway, respect to the designer for their lovely product and another excellent review Tarun
Great review; again. I have fitted a pair of Mark audio CHN110's in my PMC FB1's. They sound amazing. Playing the sound track to the movie Interstellar really shows how this design works with really low bass.
@@jedi-mic Hi, The tweeter is just there to fill the hole. No Xover. They sound better than the original speaker ever did. All the qualities that ABA described. Class A amp.
I've been following Pearl Acoustic's work for a while and really appreciate the effort and knowledge being served around to viewers of that channel. Sibelius is out of my budget 😬 but it sure pulls the curiosity strings in my audiophile journey! Keep up the wonderful work Tarun ✌️
@@user-xg6zz8qs3q I have great speakers. Advance Paris KC800. I think they are even more underrated 😜 But since my room is rather small (16m2) i am on the hunt for B&W Nautilus 805. I just have to sell mine AP first.
Just a way to reduce size of voight pipe.truncated voight pipe. Full pipe needs 15 meters to hit 22 hz in lows.perhaps the easiest to build. So for room they have truncated the pipe but at the cost of not hitting that low ....................
Why even consider a review without playing some music? A review like this usually takes 15 seconds to skip through to see if there are any sound clips in the first place. If none are found I select another video to watch. I find this kind of reviews complete waste of time a meaningless without sound clips to back any statements up.
Firstly great review. However I'm struggling a bit with the price for a single driver speaker. No doubt I'd be blown away if I heard it but for that sort of money, it's surely a hard sell?
Thank you. Understood. The cabinet construction, testing each one to make sure it is tuned right, like an instrument and building in Belgium, all factor into the price 😊
I’ve not considered myself any kind of audiophile, I can’t say I’ve listened to enough speakers, but one of the best setups I had for a while was a NAD preamp with a good processor in it, feeding a QSC stage amplifier at 200watts into 8ohm into a pair of old BNW Matrix 804 floor standers made in England. If you could out one word on this setup it would be “resolving” I think. Thanks for your videos, I’ve learned a lot.
Well, Tarun, I'm going to jump the Shark in that the designer of Pearl Speakers so loved Thomas and Stereo's TS-120 Tube Amp he bought two for his demo room and his personal listening space. So, lol... don't try this at home ..boys and girls. And of course an immensely satisfying review. As always thank you. My only wish would be to have a miniature version of these with virtually the same response as my ears have always had a thing for Voight or Transmission Line Speakers goning as far back as the Kef's of my yesteryears and their Ovaloid Bass Radiator. The same era as the Kef's 104's. 😂 The joys of Nostalgia.
Great review Tarun! I’ve been eyeing these for a couple of years now. I’m hoping to save up enough to make them my next HiFi purchase! My one question would be how do you think they might pair up with McIntosh pre and power amplification? (C39 and MC132 respectively).
My Voigt enclosures are back in service. The large flat panel speakers alluded to in a previous post are no more. I just missed treble so much. So now my wife and I are enjoying these Voigts once again while I continue the D'appolitos for which I've made new enclosures using the original robust front baffle. However, I do love the simplicity of Voigt Full range single driver speakers. The 4 inch Fostex used probably aren't the last word in single driver goodness, but I like 'em. A lot.... I can see why Tarun likes these Sibelius speakers...
Great review Tarun After having various systems over the years I can detest the fact that sound systems (from Source, DAC, Amp and Speakers etc) strengths and weaknesses can be dependent on what type of music you are playing. For example, a system might sound great when listening to acoustic, blues or jazz but fall apart with heavy, complex, busy, high-dynamic music. So, I think it would be a great help if you mentioned what types of music genres you played during your product reviews. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I think that's great that you concentrate on the characteristics of the speaker and as well what amps match well with them. In an ideal world, I would take that knowledge with some of my music collection, which I often listen to, to a dealer that stocks that said product and give it a good workout. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have a network of stockists anywhere close by, and with companies like Sibelius who sell direct and are on the other side of the world, there is no chance. So, being at a geological disadvantage my immediate question that springs to mind after watching your review is would the Sibelius play as well with say heavier progressive rock music from a band like Tool as it would with a string quartet? Also, if you haven't already, I, and I’m sure many of the appreciative subscribers to your channel would be interested in viewing the playlist you use to evaluate the products you review. Thanks again, Turan.
Mr British Audiophile, if only music quality is priority at a (very) cheap price which one would you suggest getting: 1) Swans D1080-iv or 2) Frugel Horn MK3 (with MarkAudio CHR 70) Thank you.
Interesting speaker, I'm surprised at the frequency range of that single driver. As to recent finds on this end I recently moved some things around and needed a new pair of interconnects between my Rogue RP5 preamp and the PS Audio M700 monoblocks. Interconnects are important but I share your jaded view on mega priced interconnects. There has been some talk of the WBC (World's Best Cables) so i looked them up. They were very reasonably priced and seemed to use quality parts so I bought a pair of 10ft RCA interconnects from Amazon for $39 the pair. I'm not sure I could buy the separate parts to build these myself at that price. My source was the PS Audio tranport through the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (mark 1) These use Gotham four conductor (plus a shield) star wire and lower end Neutric Rean RCA's and seemed very well built for the cost. I pressed them into service and was very happy at how good these raw cables sounded, very open, good imaging and full range sound from my slightly modified Elac AF -61's that are paired with a pair of Sumiko S9 subs driven from the M700 output binding posts into the high level inputs of the Sumiko 350w internal amp. I look forward to how these interconnects sound after they have been used for a couple of hundred hours.
Thank you, 🙏 Tarun. That Pearl CG, along with the Larsen 9, The Ohm Walsh 5000, The Audioplan Konzert IV, and Paradigm’s Persona 7f are my dream speakers that I simply ADORE! Their sophisticated engineering mark them as true set, and forget references anyone would be proud to own. My vision, in having my own private concert hall, powered by both ASR, and Luxman will indeed take mega-million$, and at $7700 U.S. so far, I’ve only gotten luke-warm in my Lotto winnings. -wish me continued luck
Well done, Tarun!
Sean!
Your review was also great 😊
Take care of yourself!
Thank you Sean. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
@carlitomelon4610 Thought I might see you here, Carlos. Definitely a Sibelius fan.
I'm glad you guys can agree with one another.
Sean, Tarun and Harley on the same page. Nice!
This is the best coverage of the Sibelius. Thanks for explaining the concepts. My closest experience with a single driver is my pair of Zu Dirty Weekends I have owned for 10 years. It's a love/hate relationship. I do have to go back to multi-drivers after a month of listening to them. Then, I miss the glorious mid-range and wide soundstage and bring them back on. They have been weaving in and out for 10 years, and I intend to hold on to them for a long time.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊👍
I think 🤔 you’re on the right track of exploring the differences different loudspeaker designs bring to one’s ears 👂.
Can multi driver sperakers have the same mid range as single driver spreakers, just use the same woofer in each cabinet.
I have been researching these speakers for a year. You discussed everything in 20 minutes that I spent hours to research. I can’t bring myself to buy these without listening to them first. There’s not a place to listen in the United States. Great job on your review.
Thank you kindly 😊👍
If you have the budget available, I believe they offer the option to try them at home and return them if you don’t like them.
I live near New Orleans you can come here and listen to mine. also have zu and Magnepans all set up and running!
Finally! Totally worth the wait. The review gets an Outstanding! Cheers to Harley too.
Thank you Jeremy 👍
Wow Tarun, I must say, you are just getting better and better at this aren’t you!
Excellent review. Maybe even better than Harley himself! 😉
Thank you kindly. That is very encouraging 😊👍
Thank you Tarun. I would not buy speakers this expensive but really appreciate such reviews to help to understand what is available. Your description of the products you review is top quality.
Thank you David. Much appreciated 😊👍
I'm really starting to enjoy "listening" to you from Canada////You sound like a true two channel sound expert! 😊😊🎧🎧
Thank you my friend 👍
This is an exceptional review. It is a detailed mixture of advantages and disadvantages of the speaker and a perspicuous rendering of the sonic qualities which make it distinct from many other types of speakers.
Given the cost of the speaker, it was refreshing to hear an honest evaluation as to whether or not it represented a good value, and for whom. I think the advice offered to the company, namely, to try to bring down the cost incurred by some of the labor, is worth serious attention by the owners.
One difficult fact for a company like this to get around is the cost of living and labor in a developed country such as Belgium. No doubt those standards of living are similar in places like Denmark (with their famous speaker makers, e.g. Dynaudio, Dali), but since they make things at scale (outsourcing, in part, to other countries), they manage costs in a way hard for Pearl to duplicate.
Thank you. Very good points 😊👍
I came along the 4 inch full range Tang Band 4W1879. Placed in open baffle with a Aurum Cantus Ribbon used as supertweeter (6dB/octave @22kHz without resistor), driven by SET tube amp, giving wonderful results.
That is great 👍
Good to see a design concept well executed - thank you for your review Tarun, with a concise explanation of the concepts with the pros and cons.
As for special products I lived with for some 10 years are the Elipson 1303 in white fibreglass. A similar pair even ended up in the New York Design museum. A 3 way design with a difference. The rear port used the Helmholtz resonator principle. The large enclosure volume for the bass unit was split in 2 chambers of the same volume, separated by the bass driver in a horizontal position. The resulting bass was very fast. Also the tweeter was special as mine had the Foster tweeters. I passed them on to my late father, who used them for another 20 years. The sound was excellent for classical music with a natural timbre and lots of detail. The workmanship was not perfect, as something annoyingly rattled at a resonance frequency. Definitely they were special.
Thank you. I enjoyed reading about your experiences 😊
Excellent review! I have been living with a pair of Sibelius CG for 1.5 years and really love them. The stands though pretty good was no match for the Townshend podiums which I already had when I bought the speakers. Transparency, soundstage and bass improved with them. Coincidentally I have just installed the Stack Audio Auva 100 isolators onto the Sibelius original stand 3 days ago and I’m quite surprised at the difference they made especially in the upper octave. Paul Rigby’s (The Audiophile Man) review is spot on. I guess the word that describes the Sibelius best for me would be ‘musical’. Really enjoyed your detailed review.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊
Great technical explanation. Good job Tarun.
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Excellent review Mr Tarun!
Surprised when Harley told me that the painted Baltic birch cabinets would be more expensive.
(I wonder if they will do a tardis blue🤔 )
I'm with you on the desirability of solid oak!
I hope to get to hear these next time I'm in the UK
I have a 1999 set of oak veneered Rega Naos transmission line speakers occasionally use with an el34 tube amp. I
t takes a couple of days to appreciate after the step down from maggie LRS with custom oak frames and RELs 😅
Thank you. There is something special about the bass in a transmission line speaker 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314
Yes.
No bass bump.The bass output is evenly spread....
They just go lower and lower.
The 27hz lowest note coincides with one of my room's nodes however.
I'm not complaining 😂
I imagine the only 'chuffing' sounds audible with these speakers were coming from Tarun having to carry these
out to his back garden! Thanks for an interesting and well composed review - as always, a pleasure to watch.
Considering I hurt my back two days earlier. There was plenty of chuffing 😂😂😂
Great review, was looking forward to it! Didn't know its voigt pipe design, now i am even more intrigued to hear it live:) Built long time ago one cheap DIY voigt pipe speaker, and still remember that coherent, nice and musical sound that i enjoyed very much. Maybe i should build another one again, until budget allows for Sibelius:)
Thank you Hudo. That would be a fun project 👍
Enjoyed your review very much!
Beautiful speaker and great review. My 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup with almost 300,000 mi has six delco bose 4” full range drivers. Sounds coherent and easy to listen to while not high definition. I’ve always loved it. Don’t laugh. The cd mechanism has to be replaced periodically since that’s really all I listen to. I don’t want to part with this truck.
Thank you Damian 😊
Having watched very good reviews of these speakers, I must say that I find yours Tarun the most thorough explanation into the technical insights. This is a very useful and instructive video. Thanks!
Thank you kindly 😊👍
You never miss 🐐
Thank you kindly 😊👍
Very balanced, informative review. Bravo!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
I have recently built a pair of speakers with Alpair 12p, bigger brother of Sibelius Alpair 10. Sounds exceptional, if you like specific, full range speaker "feel".
Cool 😎 thank you for sharing 😊
I believe Harvey likes to use the Sugden A21 Signature with the Sibelius. I saw that you reviewed that one two years ago. If you are into mid range the combination should be a winner. Watching the two year old review was an interesting experience comparing it to your reviews now.
Thank you. Hopefully, I am improving 😂
excellent review Tarun.
I was particularly interested in these speakers after hearing them at the recent Bristol Hi Fi show, Harley was on site to discuss the nuances of the speaker and assured me they would match well with my Rega Elicit mark5 and P8, good sales chat LOL. But seriously I was taken aback by the clarity of the sound in the small hotel room and will certainly consider these during my decision making for a compatible speaker.
Thanks for posting the vid
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 👍
I have to say it seems counterintuitive that Baltic Birch and a lick of paint costs a grand more than solid French Oak, but Harley is a very decent chap and wouldn't mess with his customers, so they must cost more to build.
I note a few commenters have mentioned Frugelhorns. A Frugel build is definitely on my bucket list.
I can also confirm that they are good guys to deal with Pearl. A Frugelhorn kit build is something I should do too 😊
Very nice review. Appreciate it.
Thank you 👍
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been watching and reading about the Sibelius for a couple of years now. My biggest concern is ordering them, not getting on with them and having to sell. I live in Brandon, MB, Canada and I don’t think I could even sell them to someone who lives in my province so there’s some risk involved.
That is understandable 😊
Well presented and knowledgeable. Thanks
Thank you 👍
Outstanding review Tarun. Can you elaborate on the pros and cons of this speaker compared to the Fyne?
Thank you. Depends on what Fyne speaker you are referring to. The resolution of the Sibelius in the bass and is unrivalled in my experience though 🙂
I am lucky to own a pair of Sibelius speakers - this is a very good review of them. I was interested to hear what you felt was the optimum level and would agree that around 85db is a bit of a sweet spot.
Up to 85dB, yes 😊
Great review, transmission line speakers have something that ported or sealed can never do. I realize that these are not quite transmission lines, and I did not know about Mr. V and reverse the transmission line.
Thank you 👍
I built a pair of very similar Voight enclosures based on a design by a Dutch DIY heavyweight, Bert Doppenberg.
Anyway, I used cheapish Fostex 3 inch full range drivers. They're well out of production by now. To show off the bass extension to a friend I played Filippa Giordano, a song with very deep bass. My friend asked where the sub was. I said there wasn't one. He asked how a tiny driver could produce so much bass.
I told him I didn't know and that the design wasn't mine, just the implementation, so clearly the designer knows a thing or two.
One day I turned into a turnip and decided to swap out the 3 inch drivers for 4 inch Fostex, thinking I would find even more juicy bass.
I was wrong. They just didn't produce the level and depth of bass of the 3 inch drivers, and I still don't know why.
As it is then, they're in storage, and I went to DIY flat panel speakers using a large panel of poly something flat sheets 1500x450mm driven by 4 Chinese exiters per panel. They sound pretty good although not the last word in treble, which is definitely rolled off. My wife loves them to bits even though they're large and imposing.
Next I recently came across a D'appolito design Aries 5. They were given to me by a nephew who built them from a kit many years ago. I'm currently refurbishing them and changing the colour from matt black to piano white gloss finish. I have high hopes for them even though they must be at least 20 years old. The drivers are from Focal and Accuton, reasonably serious stuff.
We'll see how they sound....
So if anyone wants to try DIY Voigt enclosures with a tiny driver, check out BD Designs. You might be glad you did....
Thank you for sharing 😊
As a follow-up on my old Voigts described elsewhere, I've bought a pair of Mark Audio drivers, which hopefully will give me back some of the goodness of the Fostex FE83 that used to sit and sing in the Voigts, until I had a brain freeze and subbed in a larger Fostex hoping to get more bass.
I have fit a dummy baffle to cover the larger hole I'd gouged out, but once done I'm hoping for some audio joy...
An interesting speaker which i had, which was my ultimate dream speakers was the Infinity IRS Beta. I had the power, 4 mono blocks, bur room placement was a nightmare and the bass towers was either to little or too much sound. Enjoyed the review 👍
Thank you 😊
For £6k and if your room is spacious enough you could obtain a refurbished pair of Apogee Duetta Sigs
which outperform these in every department;transient speed,colouration,order of magnitude lower harmonic distortion,much higher loundness level and negligable thermal dynamic compression due to the huge surface area of the ribbons compared to a tiny voice coil and lastly bass extention flat down to 30hz.
This is certainly a speaker for a special audience with a deep pocket and as such it is fine. Just as the DeVores`s are fine for example.
However considering the actual state of science and tecnology in this field ,this speaker - like many others - oozes a certain boheme decadence
that is nowadays widespread in audiophile circles that is basicly backward oriented: tube amplification,full range speakers,manual belt driven
turntables.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Bonsoir. Comme d'habitude, chirurgicale analyse. Merci
Merci 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 i don't know, if you know this Chanel, but, different country but the same passion. youtube.com/@kartesian5737
The astonishing thing about this design is that anyone with even a shop class level of sawing and gluing lumber can make these speakers, the level of quality only determined but how much money you want to spend on a set of full range speakers. As for the finish, it doesn't matter, just do what satisfies your (or your wife's) eye.
As for many other things that look simple DIY, I bet many have tried already, and few have succeeded.
spotted you at the nwest show. I was interested on the speakers myself and as you say sounded reasonably good in there room and Harley was very approchable. me I understand that a bespoke product hand made is expensive but the pricing is just too much for me
id be interested in you getting intouch with ear yoshino and getting you views on their products. there are very few reviews on their product line.
Thank you. I will check it out 😊
You show images of a pair Markaudio Alpair 10 drivers, those are 6” / 16cm. The 4” version in gold is either the pluvia-7hd, alpair 7-ms or the chr-70. Anyhow all these Markaudio drivers are not more expensive the something around 60 euro. Combine that with no crossover it are quite expensive cases 😂
Not heard of transmission line since I was a child and I'm 36 now
It may be time to correct that 😊
How about an appropriate demo so you can show the good reproduction with Bass, mid range and treble clarity?
Via RUclips…?
Those MarkAudio drivers are supurb!
Cool 😎
I always feel the Sibelius are lacking highs. Careful matching of components must be made to these spakers.
Thanks for sharing 😊
Stands extra cost too? Will we be charged for the manual too?
No, that is free 🤣
everything would be great in terms of speed and sound quality for those single speaker boxes if you dropped the ohms to 1 ohm or 2 ohms instead of running at 5 ohms.
The most interesting products I've come across are the Caintuck audio/Decware open baffle speakers based around various sizes of the "Betsy" baffle (shaped a bit like a toilet seat and cut from hardwood). One can mount just the one full range driver -- 8,10,12 or 15" per appropriately-sized baffle. If one buys them commercially, they can cost quite a bit (e.g. $3500 for the 15" ZF15M), but only seem to be available in the USA.
However, one can DIY them for less than half the price. I've heard that the more compact and less expensive ones, with the smaller drivers, sound as good as the ZF15M clones without quite the scale. Whilst I haven't heard the Sibelius, I _can_ say for sure that IMO the ZF15M's sound absolutely glorious -- end-game for me. Once the baffles and supports are Danish-oiled, "toilet seats" can look suprisingly tasteful!
No less interesting to me are Tellurium Q speaker cables, especially the Black II's, without which the ZF15M's wouldn't sound as good. IMO even the relatively inexpensive Blue II's (I have both) do a sterling job.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Was that Carl”the Truth” Williams?
I loved some of his work 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314
Yeah, me too ! Sad that he died so young.
How would Gangnam Style sound on these?
The reason I ask is that I saw a Rasta dude on an electric scooter the other day. The scooter was decked out with flashing multi colored LEDs and he had a giant Sony party speaker attached to the back also equipped with flashing LEDs. First time he passed by he had Carolina by Shaggy going which put a big smile on my face, second time he passed by Gangnam Style was playing and by then I was ready to party. No recessed mids, rolled off highs or weak bass here at all. The bike, scooter and year's supply of weed probably cost a fraction of what I paid for my ''audiophile'' kit. This had me wondering...could it be that this guy has it all figured out while we're neurotically upgrading, tweaking, room treating and endlessly anal-yzing our gear?
Great anecdote 👍
Another fabulous review, if you play classical and jazz at moderate volumes, these are cracking speakers!
Thank you Adrian 😊👍
I'm lucky enough to own a pair of horn based loudspeakers, from Tommy Horning, so I found this review particularly interesting - largely (and a bit embarrassingly) because I had no idea how my speakers worked - so I'm very grateful for you for doing this. The impression you gave is that you had just as much fun doing it as I did watching it - fabulous!
Thanks Tarun 👍😁👍
Thank you. You are right. It was fun listening to them and doing the review 😊👍
Hornings use the Lowther 4”. Great speaker. I’m an Acousta fan myself.
Once again Tarun another stimulative, concise and informative review. I fully understand the Pearl Acoustics, they’re specialised speakers designed purely for certain genres of music. Classic, Jazz, Acoustic, Rhythm and Blues. I’ve watched a few of Harleys videos also, his favourite CD players, how many watts do you need? Etc. At what they’re designed for they’ll be exceptional.
Thank you Richard. Much appreciated 😊👍
If you were in the market for slim floor stand speakers, would these be first on your list? Near the tope?
@@josephfranceski1041 me personally no because my genres of music wouldn’t suit
I have been wondering about these speakers. Thank you for the informative review!
Thank you for watching 😊
A very thorough review Tarun and interesting to boot.
As always, I enjoyed it immensely.
Thank you Shane. Much appreciated 😊👍
Thanks Tarun. Can I be this irresponsible with my money? Heck yes!
@@RichardDurishin cool 😎
All other speaker manufacturers quote the industry standard measurement figures of 20-20kHz +/- 3dB and not +/- 6dB that Pearl Acoustics quotes. Quoting the spec of the speaker at the -3dB points will show how quickly the bass rolls off with a 4" driver no matter what cabinet design is used. My experience says it will be rolling off around 200Hz, probably nearer to 250Hz with a -3dB point around 100Hz. This is misleading to those who do not understand the technology. OK, if you are listing to classical music like Baroque music where there might not be much bass but the deficiencies will be massively apparent if you play anything with low bass, like a piano, organ or double bass etc in classical music, or rock or modern music. I would also question the high frequency measurement at 25kHz. This also must be at -6dB. I have had some of the very best single driver wide range units over the years and that is what they are, wide range and not full range. The best speakers I have heard have always been high efficiency and have multiple drivers, and if the crossover is done correctly with good quality components then that will give you the best full range results...
About 3 years ago I built (from a kit) a pair of Frugelhorn Lite speakers which used the smaller 2" Mark Audio full range driver, the bass loading was similar to the Sibelius, the main difference was they vent to the rear, the low end and dynamics was unbelievable for such a small driver and cabinet going to under 40hz in room, the only thing which let them down was limited low bass power handling. Midrange, treble and imaging was first rate, the Mark Audio drivers are tremendous imo.
A couple of years previously I had a pair of Jordan VTLs, also amazing bass and dynamics from the 4" full range drivers, the Jordans have a bit of a cult following unfortunately I couldn't live with their unfortunate severe FR dip in the upper mid lower treble region, the drivers now are very expensive 😮
I built something similar and they can be very good. Also the La Grande design here on youtube is taking off.
Great to learn about your experiences Steve 😊
Ah, the vagaries of the YT algorithm’s timing of delivery of viewing recommendations- I’m seeing this in mid May ‘24. I happen to be one of the members of the team that originally developed the FH series, and built initial prototypes of FH1 through to XL, using mostly Fostex and MA drivers, as well as many of Scott Lindgren’s Pensil and Megalith and V-bomber series. After almost a decade, I’m still enjoying the 10.3 in the Pensil enclosure, which while bearing a nominal visual similarity to the Sibelius, is quite different internally. It (Pensil) is basically an MLTL, a very simple enclosure to build - the Frugels and most of Scott’s other manifold design, on the other hand take a bit more time.
If I was asked to name my favorite Mark Fenlon designed driver, it’d probably be the original MAOP7
Thank you for this fascinating review. I would love to listen to the Sibelius one day, but I doubt that these are the speakers for me.
This reminds me that the designs for a transmission line speaker, the "MLTL-6 Mass Loaded Transmission Line Speaker", are for sale. It looks a bit complicated, but if I ever have access to a CNC machine, I would be very tempted.
Thank you 👍
There is a lot of gray areas when naming a design - and transmission lines *can* be straight - or tapered in either (or both) direction(s). The terminus opening on the Sibelius is certainly smaller than the interior sections of the cabinet, so is effectively tapered down toward the open end. So, suffice it to say that the qualities you mentioned - the extended and controlled and articulate bass and the clear and clean midrange, are qualities that I have found in mass loaded transmission lines. (I have never heard a Voigt Pipe speaker.) The other way to know that the air column behind the driver is being coupled with the cone, and it's mass is being added to the driver *in the bass* - is to look at the driver's Fs and the fundamental frequency of the speaker.
In the midrange, because the cabinet is effectively open (very little air spring), you get performance similar to an open baffle (but with a much lower Mms driver than a typical open baffle speaker). And you get progressively more and more air coupled with the driver as the frequency goes down.
Thank you for sharing Neil 😊
I’m trying to imagine the buyer for the speakers and it’s an older gentleman that likes jazz and classical pieces not too loud but well done. Great review.
@@CashGravel thank you 😊
I tried the Markaudio Alpair 7ms drivers in a Pensil enclosure and agree with the main characteristics you shared in the video. Remarkable, these full ranges. Cost me ca. GBP250 plus my own time to build 'em.
They just can't play loud though. Dynamics are clearly limited and I wouldn't want them as the only pair of speakers in my home.
My new project is a Joseph Crowe No.1786 (15" + 600Hz Horn), not yet finished...
The Voigt Pipe is also an integral part of how the Sibelius sound. Great to learn about your experiences 👍
I would like to hear what you think about Linn, please!!!
I appreciate the suggestion 😊
Thanks for the very thoughtful review. You asked for discoveries we might have made. Mine isn't so much about new gear, but a discovery of sorts about my existing gear. I have a pair of B&W 804 D3s in a smallish space (15'x12') and I use a sub. I've had them for quite some time, and have moved them in various positions to get the best possible sound stage and imaging. I surprised myself by going against the general suggestions (including B&W) and pointed them straight ahead with only maybe a 1/4 inch inward toe. They are in an equilateral triangle of 92" (tweeter to tweeter, tweeter to ears) and tweeters 52" from the front wall. This has created for me the most amazing listening experience. It is like having a new stereo, it's that much better. I guess I am passing this along for those that might be struggling with their sound. It's possible to improve your system to an amazing degree by experimenting and not necessarily following "norms". And the nice thing is, it cost me nothing but time.
Thank you Bob. Great to learn about your experiences 👍
Excellent review of the Sibelius CG loudspeakers! You speak of several caveats of the speakers which I appreciate, because being able to play a bit loud was one that is a deal breaker for myself, that and the price. Thank you very much for an eye opening review.
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
I had my eyes on them since I watched few album recommendation by pearl acoustic, Harley always replies even Any sort of questions.. brilliant review once again
Thank you my friend. Harley and his team have been very straightforward to deal with from my perspective too 😊👍
Excellent as always Tarun. A speaker that I haven’t heard but find very interesting and am very curious about is the Linkwitz LXmini kits. They look unlike any other speakers and might be a fun diy project. Thanks!
Thank you Bryan 😊
Have been waiting for your review of sibelius. Your explanation is just remarkable and very musical to listen to and is only getting better after each review.
Thank you. That is very kind of you to say 😊👍
Interesting speaker and excellent review of it, as always. It really sounds like this is the right speaker for a very precise set of needs.
Thank you. Very well said. That is exactly what it is 👍
Dear Tarun, it was a highly informative and honest review explained in a way that even non rocket-scientists could understand the physics behind it. Congratulations! In my opinion this is the secret many reviewers tend to forget about. Since you asked: here on the continent Bladelius amplifiers and Vienna Acoustics speakers are highly regarded. Would be nice to hear your opinion about them. Keep going!
Thank you kindly 😊👍
Hello Tarun. Thanks for your review. Very detailed and understandable, which is quite an achievement. Personally I do not like fullrange speaker, because of the limitations to the highs and lows. A set of speakers should cover the full range. Also the price of speakers are sky rocketed. The best you can do these days is built a pair yourself. Best price value you can get. Built me a pair from sounblabs for €300,- per speaker and they sound great. Compared to a set of hifi speakers in the range of €3000,-.! But going into the rabbit hole I will be building speakers from Troel Gravenson, please check the internet for his gear. And I’m sure it will be more then enough to achieve hifi Nirvana for an acceptable price.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊
For full range, try the frugel horns. Fantastic design, very cheap to make, and they have midrange to die for, and allow you to play with very low power amps. Troel's design are excellent -- pretty sure you'd have to spend 3x more at least to get an equivalent commercial design.
As good a speaker review as I have seen. My own speakers use the paper cone Alpair10P in a different configuration. A Voigt pipe loudspeaker isn’t so hard to manufacture once you arrive at the magic formula. It takes a long time and I think the Pearl’s price reflects this along with the super premium materials. This model took a long time to develop and test. I have listened to single driver speakers for many years and find that in my smallish listening room and considering my musical tastes they fulfill my needs very well. Paul Voigt’s legacy does indeed deserve to be carried on.
That is an excellent point. Thank you very much 😊👍
Nice review. You could do a review of the single driver full range OGY speaker (bookshelf) from Closer Acoustics (Poland).
Thank you 😊
Good products should go to solid channels and reviewers - good job tarun!
Thank you 👍
And that's all from a 115 eur priced Marc Audio speaker you can buy from Sound import. Ad a subwoofer and tweeter unit with crossover and you get a better speaker for less then 1500 eur for pair.
Enjoy the channel. Just wondering do you Honestly beleive that the price of the Speakers you review are really worth the money they ask? And I find people that buy " ANY " High priced speaker without getting their hearing checked are just wasting their money. What is the point in Buying a speaker that says it is capable of reproducing the frequencies they do, if the person buying them don't even know if they can hear those frequencies??? Or any device that says it is capable of reproducing these frequencies, and the money they ask. Last question the parts used and the Cabinet built/used, are They Truely worth the money they ask. Maybe rip some of them apart and look at the build quality and the parts used, and their cost. Cheers - R.M.
nice sound . have you make ever a review of Jadis tube amplifier ? some say it's a must have . Would be interesting to test it ?
I appreciate the suggestion 😊
Great review. would love to hear your take on Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2
Thank you 😊
Excellent review as always! I've always been curious about these speakers. I picked up a used Quad S2 today, a tiny bookshelf with ribbon tweeters. Paired it with a Hegel H80 and now I want these tweeters on my ATC SCM19s! I'm surprised how much I liked the Quads, they remind me of a pair of Raidho xt1s I had on loan for a while, without the refinement of the Raidhos of course. The Quads turned out to be a very 'musical' speaker with a hyper detailed top end which is still somehow relaxed and enjoyable. It's only let down by it's rather 'honky' mid range driver. It's almost as if Quad was selling a pair of tweeters, with the mid drivers thrown in for show. I added a very capable sub (Kreisel dxd808) and have been enjoying the setup a lot! I love discovering overlooked speakers for not a lot of money, and having them surprise me.
Thanks for all your hard work, never miss your videos.
Thank you my friend. Enjoy your new speakers 😊👍
A very interesting speaker concept. In terms of the high and mid range description, they seem to be similar to Quad ESL 57's... obviously not in the lower frequencies tho. I am intrigued by these speakers but everything considered, they seem rather over-priced to me. Anyway, respect to the designer for their lovely product and another excellent review Tarun
Thank you. They would be worth auditioning if you get a chance 😊
Great review; again. I have fitted a pair of Mark audio CHN110's in my PMC FB1's. They sound amazing. Playing the sound track to the movie Interstellar really shows how this design works with really low bass.
Sounds good did you keep the tweeter and what did you cross over at?
@@jedi-mic Hi, The tweeter is just there to fill the hole. No Xover. They sound better than the original speaker ever did. All the qualities that ABA described. Class A amp.
Thank you. Cool stuff 😎
I've been following Pearl Acoustic's work for a while and really appreciate the effort and knowledge being served around to viewers of that channel.
Sibelius is out of my budget 😬 but it sure pulls the curiosity strings in my audiophile journey!
Keep up the wonderful work Tarun ✌️
Thank you my friend 👍
If the Sibelius is too costly, then I wholeheartedly recommend the Closer Acoustics OGY (1500€). This is the most criminally underrated speaker.
@@user-xg6zz8qs3q
I have great speakers. Advance Paris KC800. I think they are even more underrated 😜 But since my room is rather small (16m2) i am on the hunt for B&W Nautilus 805. I just have to sell mine AP first.
You can buy mark audio driver unit and diy
They seem rather expensive considering you can pick up a set of atc scm40 for about a thousand pounds less. Great review as always.
They aren’t cheap but still very nice speakers 😊
Just a way to reduce size of voight pipe.truncated voight pipe. Full pipe needs 15 meters to hit 22 hz in lows.perhaps the easiest to build. So for room they have truncated the pipe but at the cost of not hitting that low ....................
I've been curious about these from watching their videos. Thank you much.
Thank you for watching 😊
Why even consider a review without playing some music?
A review like this usually takes 15 seconds to skip through to see if there are any sound clips in the first place.
If none are found I select another video to watch. I find this kind of reviews complete waste of time a meaningless without sound clips to back any statements up.
I'm currently rocking Frugal-horn XL cabs fitted with Mark Audio Alpair 11ms drivers & these too sound very good... 😁👍
Firstly great review. However I'm struggling a bit with the price for a single driver speaker. No doubt I'd be blown away if I heard it but for that sort of money, it's surely a hard sell?
Thank you. Understood. The cabinet construction, testing each one to make sure it is tuned right, like an instrument and building in Belgium, all factor into the price 😊
Heard these found them a bit upfront also probably best suited to easy listening music. Unsure how they would handle rock
They are quite amp dependent. But great with rock at moderate volumes 😊
I’ve not considered myself any kind of audiophile, I can’t say I’ve listened to enough speakers, but one of the best setups I had for a while was a NAD preamp with a good processor in it, feeding a QSC stage amplifier at 200watts into 8ohm into a pair of old BNW Matrix 804 floor standers made in England. If you could out one word on this setup it would be “resolving” I think. Thanks for your videos, I’ve learned a lot.
Thank you for watching and sharing 👍
Folded voight pipe .driver parameters define volume ........
I respect your opinions and approach, thanks for reviewing this pair!
Much appreciated 😊👍
Well, Tarun, I'm going to jump the Shark in that the designer of Pearl Speakers so loved Thomas and Stereo's TS-120 Tube Amp he bought two for his demo room and his personal listening space. So, lol... don't try this at home ..boys and girls. And of course an immensely satisfying review. As always thank you. My only wish would be to have a miniature version of these with virtually the same response as my ears have always had a thing for Voight or Transmission Line Speakers goning as far back as the Kef's of my yesteryears and their Ovaloid Bass Radiator. The same era as the Kef's 104's. 😂 The joys of Nostalgia.
Thank you. They did sound good with the Gallion TS120 at the NW Audio show 😊
Great review Tarun! I’ve been eyeing these for a couple of years now. I’m hoping to save up enough to make them my next HiFi purchase! My one question would be how do you think they might pair up with McIntosh pre and power amplification? (C39 and MC132 respectively).
Thank you. It would be interesting to find out 😊
Not a good idea a boxer in with the Speaker. We call that an Oxymoron
Like Harley, you are a thoughtful and independent thinker. I enjoyed the review, though I doubt I would prefer them to my DeVore Fidelity O/93s.
Thank you kindly. I hope you get to listen to them one day 😊👍
Thoroughly enjoyed this review. Thank you. I would look forward to your review of the new SVS ultra evolution bookshelf speakers.
Thank you 😊
My Voigt enclosures are back in service. The large flat panel speakers alluded to in a previous post are no more. I just missed treble so much.
So now my wife and I are enjoying these Voigts once again while I continue the D'appolitos for which I've made new enclosures using the original robust front baffle.
However, I do love the simplicity of Voigt Full range single driver speakers. The 4 inch Fostex used probably aren't the last word in single driver goodness, but I like 'em. A lot....
I can see why Tarun likes these Sibelius speakers...
Thank you 😊
Great review Tarun
After having various systems over the years I can detest the fact that sound systems (from Source, DAC, Amp and Speakers etc) strengths and weaknesses can be dependent on what type of music you are playing. For example, a system might sound great when listening to acoustic, blues or jazz but fall apart with heavy, complex, busy, high-dynamic music. So, I think it would be a great help if you mentioned what types of music genres you played during your product reviews. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
Thank you. When I am reviewing, I use various tracks across many genres to determine different characteristics of the speakers.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 I think that's great that you concentrate on the characteristics of the speaker and as well what amps match well with them. In an ideal world, I would take that knowledge with some of my music collection, which I often listen to, to a dealer that stocks that said product and give it a good workout. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have a network of stockists anywhere close by, and with companies like Sibelius who sell direct and are on the other side of the world, there is no chance. So, being at a geological disadvantage my immediate question that springs to mind after watching your review is would the Sibelius play as well with say heavier progressive rock music from a band like Tool as it would with a string quartet?
Also, if you haven't already, I, and I’m sure many of the appreciative subscribers to your channel would be interested in viewing the playlist you use to evaluate the products you review.
Thanks again, Turan.
Mr British Audiophile, if only music quality is priority at a (very) cheap price which one would you suggest getting:
1) Swans D1080-iv
or
2) Frugel Horn MK3 (with MarkAudio CHR 70)
Thank you.
Sorry, I haven’t heard them 😊
Interesting speaker, I'm surprised at the frequency range of that single driver.
As to recent finds on this end I recently moved some things around and needed a new pair of interconnects between my Rogue RP5 preamp and the PS Audio M700 monoblocks. Interconnects are important but I share your jaded view on mega priced interconnects. There has been some talk of the WBC (World's Best Cables) so i looked them up. They were very reasonably priced and seemed to use quality parts so I bought a pair of 10ft RCA interconnects from Amazon for $39 the pair. I'm not sure I could buy the separate parts to build these myself at that price. My source was the PS Audio tranport through the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (mark 1)
These use Gotham four conductor (plus a shield) star wire and lower end Neutric Rean RCA's and seemed very well built for the cost. I pressed them into service and was very happy at how good these raw cables sounded, very open, good imaging and full range sound from my slightly modified Elac AF -61's that are paired with a pair of Sumiko S9 subs driven from the M700 output binding posts into the high level inputs of the Sumiko 350w internal amp. I look forward to how these interconnects sound after they have been used for a couple of hundred hours.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Thank you, 🙏
Tarun.
That Pearl CG, along with the Larsen 9, The Ohm Walsh 5000, The Audioplan Konzert IV, and Paradigm’s Persona 7f are my dream speakers that I simply ADORE! Their sophisticated engineering mark them as true set, and forget references anyone would be proud to own. My vision, in having my own private concert hall, powered by both ASR, and Luxman will indeed take mega-million$, and at $7700 U.S. so far, I’ve only gotten luke-warm in my Lotto winnings.
-wish me continued luck
Thank you and good luck 👍
Great review. Would love to hear them next to a pair of Lowther Acoustas. Something lovely about speakers becoming part of the room.
Thank you. Lowther, what a blast from the past 👍