Today I had a chance to hear the Audiovector Si3s courtesy of the very nice people at PJ Hifi in Guildford.
Audiovector have a strong reputation, although they’re still a fairly small outfit and don’t have much of a presence in the UK. They produce a well populated range of speakers: two standmount models and four floorstanders, not including the (presumably unaffordable) flagship R11s. Towards the upper end of the range, each model comes in a number of specifications. The Si3 model is the next but one floorstander to the R11: it’s a slim, elegant 3-way design, with two small rear ports near the top and a bass port in its plinth. I was listening to the Si3 Avantgarde Arreté, the top spec of the Si3 model, which, to be frank, comes with a certain amount of ‘foo’, e.g. cryogenically treated electronics. Oh well …
I took my Devialet along, and the dealer provided an appropriate source, plus a bucket-sized coffee from the shop across the road. So the system was:
Linn Akurate DS (via SPDIF) > Devialet 170 > Audiovector Si3 Avantgarde Arreté
My initial impression was of a very clean speaker with super dynamics and retrieval of detail. That initial impression stayed with me throughout the long demo. Nothing about the speaker blotted its copybook, and the positives multiplied the longer I listened. This is a very serious and well designed speaker.
One thing to bear in mind is that I’ve got used to listening to smallish standmounts. Hearing a pair of very fine full-range floorstanders is something of a shock to the system, in a good way. Although at only 190mm wide they’re elegant to look at, the Si3s sound very big. The bass is lovely: rich, fast and tuneful. In orchestral pieces the musical tone of timpani came across with real precision. The words that came to mind were: controlled musical thunder.
The Si3s also do scale and atmosphere. With well recorded classical music, whether an opera or a string quartet, the recording space was clearly audible. Listening to the same tracks on my Cremonas, I feel like I’m in my sitting room, which is jolly nice. With the Audiovectors, the space was clearly a concert hall. Obviously this means you lose a touch of intimacy, but the gain is a big one.
The retrieval of musical detail was excellent, but it was set in the context of a very harmonious presentation. With piano there were no gaps or discontinuities. I listened hard, but nowhere could I find any stress or harshness, nothing overcooked or brittle at the top end.
And the detail all made good musical sense, which was especially notable during complex passages of percussion. I think the marriage with the Devialet was a happy one. The speakers were well controlled; they responded beautifully to the lightning speed of the Devialet, its ability to dig out detail and then return to complete silence in an instant. In some complex modern piano stuff (Ligeti’s Musica Ricercata played by P.-L. Aimard, in case you’re interested) the handling of sustain and damping was lovely. Imagine that perfect ‘plink’ when a high note is struck firmly.
Lots of other positives to report, but I don’t want to tax your patience: good placement of voices and instruments in a high and wide soundstage, nice upper mids with plenty of air and space, exciting dynamics (no doubt aided by the 91.5dB sensitivity).
You’ll have gathered that I’m really impressed by these speakers. They knock the likes of B&W, PMC etc into a cocked hat. But the big question: how will they fare in a shoot-out with the similarly priced Sonus faber Olympica IIs? My feeling is that the Audiovector sound is fresher and more open than SF, and by the same token not as warm or sweet. My Cremonas certainly sound more sparkly at the top end; the Audiovectors were definitely cooler. Traditionally SF haven’t aimed for accuracy, though they compensate by creating magic. The Audiovectors do aim for accuracy, and on this evidence they achieve it without sounding at all forced or harsh. This is going to be interesting.
8)
Matt
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram