I have been into this hobby (addiction, vice....) for about 8 years now. The journey over these years have been pleasurable starting off with Nad and Lithos, moving on to Monitor Audio Bronze 2s and Audio Analogue Puccinni, then to Krell Integrated and Dynaudio Audience 82s and then to Caying A88t tube amplifier. About a month back I bought the Amphion Prio 620s but to the dismay and morbid indignation of my wife (somehow wives and audio systems don't mix). So that's been my long and winding but expensive journey to audio nirvana. My current system is therefore, Amphion Prio 620s, Cayin A88T tube amplifier, Rega Planet CDP, NAD turntable and Transparent cables.
Wanted to share my impressions on the speakers with you all.
Brief description of the speakers and its physical attributes:
Amphion is a Finnish company which has been in existence for sometime. Their speakers are based on the 'Wave-guide' tweeter concept which enables the crossover point to be below the sensitive range. Generally, most of the speakers have their crossovers at the 2k-4khz range. Most of the musical instruments are in this frequency range. Having a crossover at this range does tend to negatively influence the sound a bit. Taking it out of the equation results in the mid-range being more pure and clean. That's why electostats sound so transparent and good. Amphion (and some other speaker manufacturers) achieve this through their wave-guide tweeters.
The Prios are a new model (laucned in 2007 I think) desgned by the founder of Gamut, a high-end audio company. The core design concept, including the wave-guide tweeters, however remain the same. The 620s were introduced in 2008.
The speakers are a two-way floorstands with a titanium waveguide tweeter flanked by SEAS made paper cone 6.5' wookers at the top and bottom. They are rear vented with two vents at the bottom. The speakers simply look gorgeous with real-wood birch veneer. Sensitivity is 90 db with a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. I believe the speakers impedance curve is benign with no dips below 4 ohms. This makes a tube-amp friendly speaker (20 W minimum power requirement).
The sound:
In one word, mesmerizing. To be frank, I have not heard too many high-end speakers. This speaker is great in the sense that for the price paid, the incremental benefit I have got has been tremendous. While the more expensive speakers I have heard (including the more expensive Dyn Contours/Confidence, Revels) may be better (the associated equipment I have heard them with were also state-of-the art), they were not that much better for me to be compelled to shell out more money. The only speakers which I think were exceptionally good and bettered the Amphions by a good margin were the Manger floorstanders (Rs.6 lakhs) and the Quad Electrostats. I think, for me, the Amphions were at the sweet spot in terms of price to value.
I think the wave-guide concept works as I feel as a curtain has been lifted (sorry the cliche) of sorts from the sound. I can now hear substantially more from the CD than what I could hear earlier and with the tone and timbre which is stunning. Piano (attack and decay is very realistic), Sax etc sound absolutely stunning. The speakers are extremely detailed both in terms of the high-frequencies and mid-range. On the other hand they are also extremely smooth, mellow and relaxing. This is a sort of a contradiction as there is a perception that highly detailed speakers could also be tiring in the long run. However, there is no listener fatigue out here even at high volumes (unless you play harsh recordings which it does not tame). The mid-range is sweet sounding with voices in particular being nuanced and detailed. Bass is also well defined and goes down probably to around 30-35 hz in my room on tracks which contain this information. However, I do wish that the bass was a wee bit tighther but I think this is my room issue rather than the speakers.
The other aspect I found was that the speakers have great timing and are fast. This is an extremely important of music which makes it come to life specially in jazz. This characteristic imparts great musicality to the speaker. To use the old cliche again, my feet were tapping to the music. I can now here the nuances and interaction between the musicians much more clearly than earlier.
Sounstage was good though not exceptional. I find them better in conveying depth rather than width (probably a placement issue). Probably because of the wave-guide technology, placement was a bit difficult, but once I got it right, everthing just clicked into place. Imaging is good. Once placed correctly, images are solidly implanted between the speakers.
Just to give an example of the soudtrack 'Radha Kaise Na Jale' from Lagaan CD (which most of you will be familiar with), the song starts with the cymbals (what does onecall that Indian instrument in English??) in the right. I could actually here metal hitting metal in a realistic way instead of the slightly thinner jangled nature (more like 'ching ching ching' earlier) of the which I have heard on some systems. The drums, which immediately follow, sounded much more realistic, with nuances (fingers hitting the drums could be clearly heard with the corresponding pressure applied making them appropriately softer and louder if you know what I mean) and with proper pitch definition. The dandiya sticks that follow ( I think) also sound very woody. It sounds like wood hitting wood. Asha's voice sounded much sweeter and I could hear a couple of fading echo's after Undit Narayan's first line very clearly. Sometime in the middle of the track, the chorus singers join in. I always found them a bit compressed and grainy sounding. With these speakers, there was no grain and the chorus voices were placed in a relaxed manner behind and above the speakers.
I also played the old Kishore song, Chalte Chalte and boy his voice gave me goosebumps. What a melodious and yet powerful voice. Even the guitars in the song sounded so good. And this is a 1970's recording. I also played the songs from Sagar on LP. The recording is surprisingly very good. The LP sounds very organic and warm.
In short:
Positives: Fantastic timbre. Extremely detailed but yet relaxed and mellow. Can play loudly without fatigue. Very musical and music is presented in one cohesive fabric. I was worried about the titanium tweeter but they are very smooth.
Negatives: Bass could be tighter (but that could be my amp/room). Some heavy bass tracks in symphonies sound mushy though this is certainly the low powered amp and not the speakers fault. Will not be able to play symphonies at concert volumes (but that again is thanks to my amp). Placement could be tricky.
Wanted to share my impressions on the speakers with you all.
Brief description of the speakers and its physical attributes:
Amphion is a Finnish company which has been in existence for sometime. Their speakers are based on the 'Wave-guide' tweeter concept which enables the crossover point to be below the sensitive range. Generally, most of the speakers have their crossovers at the 2k-4khz range. Most of the musical instruments are in this frequency range. Having a crossover at this range does tend to negatively influence the sound a bit. Taking it out of the equation results in the mid-range being more pure and clean. That's why electostats sound so transparent and good. Amphion (and some other speaker manufacturers) achieve this through their wave-guide tweeters.
The Prios are a new model (laucned in 2007 I think) desgned by the founder of Gamut, a high-end audio company. The core design concept, including the wave-guide tweeters, however remain the same. The 620s were introduced in 2008.
The speakers are a two-way floorstands with a titanium waveguide tweeter flanked by SEAS made paper cone 6.5' wookers at the top and bottom. They are rear vented with two vents at the bottom. The speakers simply look gorgeous with real-wood birch veneer. Sensitivity is 90 db with a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. I believe the speakers impedance curve is benign with no dips below 4 ohms. This makes a tube-amp friendly speaker (20 W minimum power requirement).
The sound:
In one word, mesmerizing. To be frank, I have not heard too many high-end speakers. This speaker is great in the sense that for the price paid, the incremental benefit I have got has been tremendous. While the more expensive speakers I have heard (including the more expensive Dyn Contours/Confidence, Revels) may be better (the associated equipment I have heard them with were also state-of-the art), they were not that much better for me to be compelled to shell out more money. The only speakers which I think were exceptionally good and bettered the Amphions by a good margin were the Manger floorstanders (Rs.6 lakhs) and the Quad Electrostats. I think, for me, the Amphions were at the sweet spot in terms of price to value.
I think the wave-guide concept works as I feel as a curtain has been lifted (sorry the cliche) of sorts from the sound. I can now hear substantially more from the CD than what I could hear earlier and with the tone and timbre which is stunning. Piano (attack and decay is very realistic), Sax etc sound absolutely stunning. The speakers are extremely detailed both in terms of the high-frequencies and mid-range. On the other hand they are also extremely smooth, mellow and relaxing. This is a sort of a contradiction as there is a perception that highly detailed speakers could also be tiring in the long run. However, there is no listener fatigue out here even at high volumes (unless you play harsh recordings which it does not tame). The mid-range is sweet sounding with voices in particular being nuanced and detailed. Bass is also well defined and goes down probably to around 30-35 hz in my room on tracks which contain this information. However, I do wish that the bass was a wee bit tighther but I think this is my room issue rather than the speakers.
The other aspect I found was that the speakers have great timing and are fast. This is an extremely important of music which makes it come to life specially in jazz. This characteristic imparts great musicality to the speaker. To use the old cliche again, my feet were tapping to the music. I can now here the nuances and interaction between the musicians much more clearly than earlier.
Sounstage was good though not exceptional. I find them better in conveying depth rather than width (probably a placement issue). Probably because of the wave-guide technology, placement was a bit difficult, but once I got it right, everthing just clicked into place. Imaging is good. Once placed correctly, images are solidly implanted between the speakers.
Just to give an example of the soudtrack 'Radha Kaise Na Jale' from Lagaan CD (which most of you will be familiar with), the song starts with the cymbals (what does onecall that Indian instrument in English??) in the right. I could actually here metal hitting metal in a realistic way instead of the slightly thinner jangled nature (more like 'ching ching ching' earlier) of the which I have heard on some systems. The drums, which immediately follow, sounded much more realistic, with nuances (fingers hitting the drums could be clearly heard with the corresponding pressure applied making them appropriately softer and louder if you know what I mean) and with proper pitch definition. The dandiya sticks that follow ( I think) also sound very woody. It sounds like wood hitting wood. Asha's voice sounded much sweeter and I could hear a couple of fading echo's after Undit Narayan's first line very clearly. Sometime in the middle of the track, the chorus singers join in. I always found them a bit compressed and grainy sounding. With these speakers, there was no grain and the chorus voices were placed in a relaxed manner behind and above the speakers.
I also played the old Kishore song, Chalte Chalte and boy his voice gave me goosebumps. What a melodious and yet powerful voice. Even the guitars in the song sounded so good. And this is a 1970's recording. I also played the songs from Sagar on LP. The recording is surprisingly very good. The LP sounds very organic and warm.
In short:
Positives: Fantastic timbre. Extremely detailed but yet relaxed and mellow. Can play loudly without fatigue. Very musical and music is presented in one cohesive fabric. I was worried about the titanium tweeter but they are very smooth.
Negatives: Bass could be tighter (but that could be my amp/room). Some heavy bass tracks in symphonies sound mushy though this is certainly the low powered amp and not the speakers fault. Will not be able to play symphonies at concert volumes (but that again is thanks to my amp). Placement could be tricky.
