High End 2019 - Munich, Germany

High End 2019: Speakers, Part 2

Big, impressive speakers are always a highlight at High End, and the 2019 event was certainly no exception. Speakers I saw came in lots of configurations, sizes, and at every price point imaginable. Multi-way dynamic speakers seemed more common than any other type, though an array of horn-type models were also plentiful. Let’s start with the former . . .

The new Marten Mingus Orchestra (largest speaker in photo) is a four-way tower speaker with four front-firing 8" woofers, one 7" ceramic midrange, one 2" diamond-cone upper-midrange/lower-treble driver, and one 0.75" diamond-diaphragm tweeter. The rear panel contains four 10" passive radiators. This Mingus Orchestra uses first-order crossovers throughout for what is said to be excellent timing behavior. The price is €185,000 per pair.

Focal is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019, and it introduced a number of new products to mark the occasion. The Spectral 40th might look like an older model from the French company, and this is by design. Focal set out to create a model that harks back to ’90s-era Focal speakers such as the Spectral 913.1 and Futura Antea . . .

. . . as evidenced by the yellow color of the drivers, including the aramid-fiber tweeter. Although the tech looks old, we were assured the technological advances of today are incorporated into the Spectral 40th speaker. This three-way tower retails for €10,000 per pair.

Switzerland’s Piega debuted the Master Line Source 3 (€32,000 per pair). This model features four of the company’s 111 line-source drivers per cabinet along with a pair of 7" bass drivers. Two 7" passive radiators round out the driver complement. The Master Line Source 3, which is rated from 28Hz to 50kHz, is said to be 92dB-efficient and claimed to be able to handle 500W of power. Doug Schneider thought that . . .

. . . the back of the Master Line Source 3 “looked really cool.” I agree.

The Vimberg Amea is the smallest speaker in the line and the only stand-mounted model in the brand’s growing stable of speakers. The Amea is a two-way design that features a 1.18" Accuton ceramic tweeter and a 6.8" Accuton ceramic midrange-woofer. Around back is an 8.7" Accuton passive radiator. Mogami internal wiring, Argento binding posts, and Mundorf and Duelund crossover components round out the list of premium components in the Amea. The speaker is priced at €11,000 per pair.

The Gobel Divin Noblesse is a three-way speaker with a rated sensitivity of 95dB, the latter in part due to . . .

. . . the AMT tweeter being mounted into a massive waveguide, which increases its efficiency. A pair of 8" midrange drivers sandwich the tweeter, while there is a 12" woofer placed at the top and another at the bottom of the cabinet. The Divin Noblesse is said to play from 21Hz to 24,000Hz. The price of this 572-pound speaker is €164,000 per pair.

Jeff Fritz
Editor-in-Chief, SoundStage!

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