Esoteric MG-20 LOUDSPEAKER

Technology in the Service of Music

The MG-20 is a three-driver, two-way design. Those of you familiar with loudspeaker design will readily identify the vertical layout (woofer, tweeter, woofer) as a D’Appolito configuration. Its advantages are a uniform vertical radiation pattern and an enhanced listening-seat sweet spot. Bass loading is the ubiquitous bass reflex with a front-firing vent. I would estimate the box tuning frequency at around 35Hz. (A low tuning frequency is beneficial in controlling driver excursions in the deep bass.) The crossover frequency is pushed down to 1.9kHz with a second-order (12dB/ octave) low-pass network for the woofer. The tweeter is protected with a third-order (18dB/octave) high-pass network, which I think is a wise choice. All crossover components are said to be high-precision, low-loss types. The network is hard-wired and glued to the backside of the terminal cup—there are no printed circuit boards. The terminals are bi-wireable and feature an “earth” or grounding point for the driver chassis, which is said to minimize RF interference. Internal wiring is van den Hul silver-coated copper. The speaker’s nominal impedance is rated honestly at 6 ohms. The minimum impedance is about 4 ohms, which together with a decent sensitivity rating, makes this an easy amplifier load.

In the British hi-fi tradition, Esoteric recommends a classic setup with the speakers toed in toward the listening seat. It is suggested that the driver axes for the left and right channels intersect about two to three feet in front of the listening seat. There is no question that this is an excellent recipe for obtaining as wide a soundstage as possible, while enlarging the sweet spot, but I discovered that tonal balance also plays a role in dialing in the optimum toe-in angle. My in-room on-axis measurements showed that the lower treble, the range from 8–12kHz, is rolled off gently relative to the midrange and then flattens out to beyond 20kHz. Listening off-axis further decreases output at 8kHz, slightly reducing treble air and immediacy. On the other hand, aiming the speakers directly at the listening seat gave the treble a hint of assertiveness. The best overall compromise, in my listening room, between soundstage width and treble immediacy turned out to be a toe-in angle that did intersect the tweeter axes in front of the listening seat. Of course, you should experiment in this regard to obtain the sort of balance that agrees with your personal preferences. Optional aluminum isolation bases are available. They’re rather expensive at $1080/pair, but are probably a very good idea when positioning the speakers on a carpeted floor. Samples were not yet available for evaluation at the time of this review. A final world of caution: A lengthy (200-hour) break-in is required to fully smooth out this speaker. It’s pretty good right out of the box, but keeps improving for the first few weeks.

The MG-20’s most compelling attributes were instantly obvious: clarity and transparency to die for! It felt as if layers of veiling were lifted from the soundstage, making for a stronger connection to the original performance. It was a sensation similar to the experience of listening to a live microphone feed versus a mastertape. The microdynamic intensity, kinetic energy, and rhythmic drive of the music were that much more believable. Good grief, how can anyone return to the world of plastic and paper cones, after having sampled the “forbidden fruit”? As if a giant searchlight illuminated the soundstage, it was possible to make out its inner recesses. Now, that’s transparency taken to the max! Reverberant information, decaying gossamer-like into the recording’s noise floor, was faithfully reproduced—and to a degree even fine electrostatics would have difficulty duplicating. The MG-20’s controlled midrange dispersion pattern relative to that of a dipole radiator gives it the edge in low-level resolution, as there is less reflected energy to interfere with the direct sound.

And just as important, there was absolutely no metallic sizzle in evidence. Sibilants were negotiated without exaggeration. Violin overtones, a severe test for any dome tweeter, especially a metal one, were reproduced with convincing sheen and luster. Vinyl surface-noise was not prominent, and in fact sounded a bit subdued—an added benefit of the way the upper octaves were equalized by the design team. This is not a bright-sounding speaker. Its detail resolution is earned the old-fashioned way through superior transduction of the input signal, rather than distortion of the tonal balance in favor of the presence or lower-treble regions. Sadly, too many audiophile speakers fall into the latter category. I’ve seen it with my own eyes: These are the speakers that receive the “oohs” and “aahs” at shows. They represent the antithesis of the concert hall experience, but bright speakers do turn heads.