TESTED: Loiminchay Chagall Loudspeaker

An Act of Passion

The Chagalls also perform well at the frequency extremes. The upper treble extends smoothly to the point where you can just detect a presence without really hearing a tone and does so without any evident peaks in reproducing both music and high-frequency test tones. The deep bass is very good for a speaker this size, and fortunately you can forget the advertising. The bass it is not “Stygian,” but very realistic within the limits imposed by the driver and cabinet size.

The Chagalls can’t defy the laws of physics. The woofer is a moderately sized driver in a moderately sized enclosure. At the same time, I was more than a little surprised when I tried out three bass spectaculars. I have always regarded the “big drum” track (Track 2) from the Kodo drum CD [Sheffield] as a good test of both percussion energy and detail. As music, it comes close to sounding like a Spike Jones attempt at revenge for Pearl Harbor. As a test, it is extremely demanding, particularly if you push peak listening levels above 100dB. The Chagalls were outstanding not only in handling truly loud bass peaks, but also in preserving midrange percussion detail and transient information.

The Chagalls could not provide ultimate deep bass performance with the extremely deep bass on the “SoMA” track (Track 8) of the TAS recording of Hearts of Space [Hearts of Space], but they came close and, again, did well at peak levels above 100dB. This kind of bass, again, has more aesthetic value as test material than anything most audiophiles would want to listen to as music.

 What was really striking from a musical viewpoint, was how well the Chagalls could cope with the “Catacombae,” “Baba Yaga,” and “Great Gate at Kiev” tracks on the Jean Gillou organ transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition [Dorian]. This is as good a test of deep bass performance in real music and of overall musical dynamics as you’ll find. Detail and transients were excellent, and with peak average levels well above 100dB. And yes, the same was true in reproducing bass guitar, power rock like Pink Floyd, and deep organ mixed with full-blown symphonic music like Saint-Saëns’ Third Symphony.

The imaging and soundstage are very good, but these are not speakers that will exaggerate soundstage width. You also need to be careful about listening distances and toe-in, and this requires experimentation. A dealer can help, but, like virtually every speaker, the Chagalls only produce the best soundstage if you really work at fine-tuning them to suit your listening room. If you want plug-and-play, get an iPod.

I would strongly recommend that you read the speaker set-up instructions that come with the Chagalls and try room placement based on the rule of thirds rather than the rule of fifths. Both setups worked well, as did my usual setup along the long wall, but the timbre and soundstage locked in best using the rule of thirds.

With good recordings and proper setup, you get a very realistic soundstage with depth matching width and a lot of natural detail (if the miking permits). This shows up even on relatively ordinary recordings. I was struck by this when listening to older LPs like the Juilliard Quartet version of the Haydn String Quartets [Columbia]. The same was true of some older Smithsonian classical recordings of Beethoven’s string quartets (now sadly discontinued), although these were CDs dating back to 1988.

 As for system set-up issues, I did not find power problems with either a Pass XA160.5 or a pair of PrimaLuna 70-watt tubed amps. The Chagalls do, however, provide better bass with an amp with a lot of current and a high damping factor. I’d also use the 4-ohm tap on a vacuum tube amplifier, rather than the 8-ohm tap that might seem to be indicated. You will get better control and damping. The Chagalls are not particularly cable-sensitive, although they clearly revealed the differences between the Audioquest and Kimber interconnects and the various speaker cables I use as references.

In summary, the Loiminchay Chagalls are very serious, high-quality speakers—priced at the premium end of the scale.  What counts from a reviewing viewpoint, is that is the kind of speaker that can ignite the personal passion that makes an audiophile pay such prices. It does offer a unique mix of sonic choices and trade-offs that makes recorded music sound realistic and give lasting pleasure.