FINLANDS WIDE-BANDERS
When Marko Reinikainen and his business partner Juho Ritala brought almost whole line of their speakers at Igor Kante's Vklop-Ubiq demo rooms www.vklop-ubiq.com for presentation we also had pleasure of listening to Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers. Marko left Euphorics for prolonged time and I agreed to write a review and give them more attention.
INITAL IMPRESION
Here are my initial impression from our event:
Euphoric showed qualities that defy its size and principle. It just shows how much time Marko put into the tuning of the enclosure to make it "alive". He spend crazy amount of time experimenting with different filings for each speaker. Combined with the well thought out enclosure and mentioned know how all the mystery of emotions that Existence Loudspeakers can provide made its stand out debut.
It was pleasure to meet both of the Existence Speakers team. I always said that the product reflects the mind and vision of its creators. Existence Speakers as company is no different. Everything at this night was about emotions. I dare to say that we're very quickly on the same frequency regarding music and sound. Everything was open to discussion and elaboration backed with actual listening. I'll bring more of this events starting with 2013 being more then happy with Existence Loudspeakers opening up the season with rememberable and affected presentation and nontheless association.
Pure music, pure emotions and when set correctly these speakers might won your hearth over. Be on guard... Instantly!"
DESIGN
Euphoric carry and instant and recognisable aura of northern European design. It's both minimalistic and wooden driven. With any given choice of veneer you can choose your personal favourite finish, yet demo model already showed all wooden empowered aesthetics benefits. Marko told me that some German customers preferred this look. He continued how people are already bored with overused themes that many manufacturers use and copy from each other.
Like Danish, Swedish and Finish design Existence Loudspeakers stand out on their own with clear lines and wooden aura. They look different and essentially carry what Marko and Juhu feels about design and looks.
They found their recognised outlook and in this age of overused and overflowed ideas this seems more then right.
MUSIC
Tracy Chapman self-titled album holds so many emotions, that it's hard to stay untouched even by casual listening. Lyrics and music, that cuts life to a raw and emotional collage come as soulful and poignant. With the right system Tracy lyrical impact is so strong that you actually feel her music rather then listen. It's hard to stay untouched and unmoved with such large package of life's truth performed so pure and honest.
Euphoric holds nothing back and gave the unrestrained presentation across the genres. Let it be Pat Metheny classical ECM albums, John Lee Hooker, Police, Led Zeppelin etc.
Even with classical material Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers did't bow down. The feeling of the space and right energy was there. You cannot expect full timpani sound pressures with this size of driver, but there is enough delicacy to portrait the crescendos and movement of energy.
Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers are soulfully tuned to work on emotionally side of the music. They offer a unique insights into any given performance, but I would say they bring acoustical music to life with a full advent. Same goes for vocal and string based music.
We all know that there is something special in full range driver deliverance of music. There are no frequency bumps, no crossover to deal with and almost ideal straight-wire principle. As such, they do need refined amplification to excel in what they do. Euphoric speakers respond to both solid state and tube amplifier well, but might be easier to find a system balance with good tube amplifier.
PERFORMANCE
One thing I didn't expect was the musical impact of Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers. They belong into monitor speakers judging by their respected size, yet when music starts to play through them, they actually acted more like floor-standers. There was no lacking of natural bass and they filled the room with confidence and without any additional artefacts.
I would actually say that Euphoric's were on the speedy side. Not an attribute one would mandatory connect with this kind of drivers and speakers. Tang Band did it's homework and so did Marko.
From the first listening notes and to the last written notes in my notebook there was no doubt how good these speakers are. Timbre, natural voicing and dynamics without restrains. When vocal music or guitar hits your way it not easy to stay still.
I heard groundbreaking Devialet Premier amplifier in many systems. Results were of mixed nature and to be honest I expected much more. When we connected Devialet to Euphorics things went in totally unexpected way. For the first time I heard Devialet actually sing! Something brought such synergy and performance and music coming from this combination was captivating and spot on in all regards.
Devialet amplifier is hard pressed with bigger demanding speakers. With Euphoric full-range driver combination worked really refined and controlled. It surely reminded me on good tube amp. While this combination was not on the level of Mactone MH-300b performance it was one I could live happily with. Devialet brings one box solution in most elegant chassis that take away all the cabling cluster and it's great I can finally recommend a speaker that perform with full potential of Devialet.
DIY VS MANUFACTURING
I asked Marko if he worry, that some people might go and copy his speaker. You, know just order Tang-Bang full range driver and simply copy the whole concept. Marko just calmly smiled. He told me that tuning of the speaker enclosure took so much time and efforts during listening connected to trial and errors, that is highly unlikely to be expected somebody could copy this by observation.
CONCLUSION
Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers left an lasting impression on me. They proved, that full range drivers hosted in a well thought chassis can compete and even transcend classical two or more ways speakers when done right.
During my twenty some years of active participation in high-end audio world I stumbled on many full range designs. From Fostex's, Lowthers etc. I even created some of them myself. The main principle is simple. You just get good enough or great drivers and built enclosure around them. Well it surely look that simple. In reality when it comes to tuning of the speakers and performance of all bands in synergy things start being more complicated.
Existence Loudspeakers Euphoric loudspeakers managed to bring something that full range monitor loudspeakers fail to do. The coherency, controlled bass and musicality without second guessing. Euphorics present music on grand scale and beyond their given size. Do not overlook these speakers by any means when in the quest for audiophile grade high-end monitor that not only evoke emotions, but actually conveys them.
Matej Isak. Mono and Stereo ultra high end audio magazine. All rights reserved. 2006-2013. www.monoandstereo.com. ..:: None of the original text, pictures, that were taken by me, links or my original files can be re-printed or used in any way without prior permission! ::..