[CES 07] Giant Soundstage from Surprise Manufacturer, LSA
January 10th, 2007 — By Chris MartensLSA Group LSA1 Monitor and LSA2 Tower-type speakers
  No trip to CES would feel complete without discovering a product (or group of products) that offer surprising and unexpectedly compelling sonic performance, and this year one of my favorite discoveries involves the remarkable LSA1 monitor speakers and LSA2 tower speakers from LSA Group.Â
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The $1000/pair LSA1s are attractive 2-way stand-mount monitors that feature curved-wall cabinets, 1-inch silk dome tweeters, and approximately 6-inch “treated paperâ€? mid-bass drivers. Though the speakers are plainly well made, their appearance seems thoroughly conventional so that their looks in no way prepare the listener what happens once the music starts. But it takes hearing only a few bars of a good recording to realize there is nothing ordinary about the LSA1’s sound. These speakers produced absolutely gigantic, three-dimensional soundstages while serving up an open and richly detailed sound that reminded me more than a little of the box-less presentation of great dipole speakers.Â
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But moving up to the $2500/pair LSA2 towers, which offer three forward-firing drivers (a tweeter, plus two mid-bass drivers) plus a rear-firing, variable-output ambience driver, took things even further. All the virtues of the LSA1s remained intact, but with the larger speaker offering deeper bass extension and somewhat higher levels of detail and resolution overall. As with the LSA1s, the most compelling aspect of the LSA2 design was the way it couched sonic transparency in the broader context of spooky-good imaging and soundstaging.Â
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I found the LSA group speakers enchanting, an impression reinforced when, during a listening session, an awestruck voice from the back of the room asked, “Do you guys have any idea how big that soundstage seems from back here?� As a matter of fact, I do.
