And what bass and space from a three-way. 

Keep my name in the har for a test of Audio Machina’s swell two-box $20k loudspeaker called the Pure System. The bottom box, called the Symphony, contains a powered subwoofer with an integral 1000W ICEPower amp that is said to work from below 20Hz to 100Hz; the top box, which fits almost seamlessly atop it, houses a Fostex banana-pulp midrange that is run crossover-less from 100Hz to 5kHz and a Fostex horn-loaded ring-radiator tweeter, which works from 5kHz up. Both boxes are dual-hull aluminum enclosures of exquisite manufacture and shockingly demure size (the whole speaker is considerably smaller than a Kharma CRM3.2). The speakers were driven by Audio Aero electronics - a brand I’ve always admired.

Now claiming 20Hz extension from a box about a third the volume of a WATT/Puppy is, uh, ambitious. But I have to admit that the Pure System simply sailed through the torture-test of the Copland Third, producing phenomenal bass for a three-way. Indeed, producing the best bass I’ve ever heard from a three-way. But this thing didn’t just do bass; it did space. Though instruments were a little miniaturized, the soundfield was anything but - huge, highly dimensional, and as free of box coloration as a MAGICO Mini!

It will take further listening to determine if the Pure System is as good as it showed - whether it compresses dynamics to achieve its remarkable bass extension. Still, this is one very promising contender in a field that was, this year, crowded with contenders. 

Return to CES 2007 report