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This review first appeared in the = August 2008=20 issue of fairaudio.de and can be read in its = original German=20 version Reviewer: J=F6rg = Dames Source:=20 Audiomeca Obsession II, Fonel Simplicit=E9 Amplification:=20 pre/power - Bel Canto PRe3/M300, Funk LAP-2.V2, Myryad=20 MXP2000/MXA2150 - integrated - Accuphase E212, Lua=20 4040C Loudspeaker: Thiel CS 2.4, Volent Paragon, Elac FS = 247,=20 Quadral Rondo, Spendor S 3/5 Cables: low-level - = Straight=20 Wire Virtuoso; high-level - HMS Fortissimo, Reson = LSC 350,=20 Ortofon SPK 500 Review component retail: =80=20 5.000/pr |
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"Retreat of the Chinese warrior." That's how the = daily Die=20 Welt paper put it in a recent economic editorial. That the = warrior,=20 during an earlier review, managed to only garner one out of five = stars was=20 certainly no happy prelude. Despite the Chinese maker's ambitions = of=20 conquering our domestic automobile market, the testers belabored=20 all-around cheapness. And unless my road scans missed something, = the=20 Brilliance BS6 -- that's how the warrior on wheels was christened = -- isn't=20 exactly crowding our streets. Be that as it may, the = Chinese=20 have come quite a way in matters hifi both in sales figures and = cutting a=20 good profile with Hifi mags and not the General German Automobile = Club.=20 Here and there one has said good-bye to el cheapo tactics, = abolished copy=20 'n' paste R&D and transcended questionable material excesses. = Which=20 gets us to today's tester. Neither on price nor cosmetics does it = cut any=20 corners. Now add a properly established German importer and a = solid=20 reputation for proprietary, internally developed drive units (the=20 international Aurum Cantus name, for legal reasons, had to be = changed to=20 AuCantus for Germany by the way). A firmly developed = manpower=20 doesn't hurt either. According to the company which was founded in = 1994,=20 they currently employ six design engineers and a total of 108 = workers who=20 handle manufacture and export into 26 countries for a deep range = of=20 speaker models with a goodly number of reviews in English-speaking = publications. Externally ... ... the V8F = flagship for=20 the German market exudes a certain noblesse which suggests the = kind of=20 club frequented by cigar-puffing gents who discuss the latest = business=20 deals rather than my more modestly attired listening space. At = least=20 that's true for the loaner's Rosewood trim with gold spikes. But = the V8F=20 also proves its upscale ambitions in matters of fit 'n' finish. Be = it gap=20 tightness, lacquer quality, the curvaceous rear-slimming form = factor, the=20 details in edges and transitions, the bolted-down bass reflex port = or the=20 massive, easily accessed biwire terminals - it's all high class if = you=20 will. Put differently -- and I'm not saying this lightly -- this = is a=20 rather impressive affair. |
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Factoids G1 ribbon = tweeter Conceptionally,=20 the ribbon tweeter might be the first ingredient to catch the eye = (ribbons=20 have the diaphragm double as quasi voice coils). For its 15cm long = aluminum strip, AuCantus promises all the customary advantages = we've heard=20 before: low distortion, high resolution, superior speed and = impulse=20 response. Suggesting a particular affinity or even obsession, this = Chinese=20 speaker house works with fifteen different ribbon drivers = in its=20 portfolio. The version employed by the V8F goes by G1, runs an = 8-ohm=20 impedance, weighs in at 3.8kg, is claimed to make 40kHz and, says=20 AuCantus, benefits from artisanal fabrication by=20 hand. Midrange Below 2.100Hz, a 16.5cm = driver=20 with the catchy name AC165AVM/50SC takes over. It sports a = low-mass,=20 flat-wound voice coil, ferrite magnet and carbon fiber diaphragm = for high=20 output and minimal distortion. The third drive unit is the = AC200AVM/75C2C=20 woofer. Its makeup is similar to the midrange but is 20cm in = diameter and=20 active below 150Hz, thus kicking in =93rather = late=94. |
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With its non-critical 6.4-ohm minimum, the AuCantus = V8F hovers=20 squarely in the permissible window for true 8-ohm boxes. The = 88dB/1W/1m=20 sensitivity sets no records but should pose few challenges to = averagely=20 endowed amplifiers. My only issues arose during the customary A/B=20 exchanges =96 110cm tall and 53kg worth in mass demanded a certain = elbow=20 grease when moving about. Listening ... To = reveal my=20 heart: I've never fully fallen for any ribbon-tweeter'd speaker = yet. Too=20 often such designs, even if noticeable only occasionally and = slightly,=20 give away the tweeter as though it were not fully meshing with the = other=20 drivers. That's regardless of what the test bench freaks may = proclaim.=20 Particularly in this regard, the AuCantus V8F pricked up my ears. = Rather=20 than highlighting the treble with vitality, glow, resolution or = some other=20 aspect, this one seemed expertly voiced, integrated and properly = fleshy=20 from the get. I can even image how true diehard ribbon fanatics = might wish=20 for more energy and articulation in the upper end. Moi? = I like=20 it as is. Quite well in fact. To avoid misapprehensions, AuCantus' = V8F in=20 typical ribbon fashion is fully convincing in matters of = resolution. There=20 simply is no seam against the midrange nor does anything drift = into being=20 overly analytical. The V8F thus pulls a very neat trick. Its sense = of=20 detail doesn't stem from vivisectionist presentations displayed in = bits=20 and pieces on the silver platter but from textures (sonic finger = prints)=20 whereby instruments and voices are rendered very finely. My Thiel = CS 2.4s=20 recreate cymbals and hi-hats more acute but also more compacted - = less=20 layered. The AuCantus meanwhile nails the subtleties of such = sounds in=20 such a realistic manner as I've rarely heard it before. Truly = powerful=20 stuff. This quality of the V8F is ably aided and = abetted by a=20 midrange which conveys very realistic auras so that aspect isn't = peculiar=20 to the treble. This I noticed fully only one evening while = hunkering down=20 with my girlfriend in the listening room sipping a glass of red = wine.=20 Mostly for background fill, I cued up Ola Gieilos' album Stone=20 Rose, rather non-spectacular but very emotional piano fare = accompanied=20 by violin or cello, a hot tip. Though I wasn't fixated on = listening at=20 all, the music absorbed me more and more. The piano's colors were = rendered=20 so embodied that our listening space was soon filled by bar = atmosphere.=20 Yes, 'live' piano music and red wine do go together fabulously = (and not=20 necessarily just in this sequence). Though it should be = apparent from what's been said already, another key virtue of this = speaker=20 is vocal intelligibility. Be it male voices accompanied by violin = on Sol=20 Invictus' Trees in Winter; or Dolores Marguerite C.'s vocal = stylings on Praxis (by In the Nursery) surrounded by = synths, they=20 always sounded smooth and full. Even often critical sibilants = never ran=20 afoul of artifice or hissiness. |
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True, the AuCantus V8F is no forward operator. This = includes=20 the bass which, considering the size of the enclosure, is = otherwise deeply=20 enough extended. Overall, the V8F convinces more with cultivated = and=20 elegant finesse, not happy-go-lucky impact and dynamics. Once you = enter=20 more energetic fare (though 'energetic' barely hints at the = violent sonic=20 experiments which New York formation Services has bestowed on my = ultimate=20 sound check Your Desire is My Business), certain listeners = might=20 fancy an altogether grippier approach. Nailing dirty = e-guitars=20 or abruptly appearing and disappearing sequencer beats to the = cross with=20 due grittiness isn't the core virtue of these speakers. They'll = further=20 benefit from more fulsome -- and particularly in the bass -- more=20 voluptuous amplifiers. Hence I favored my Accuphase E-212 which = isn't=20 famous for pressurized antics but certainly for bass fullness over = the=20 wirier while also more resolved and neutral Myryad MXA-2150 power=20 amplifier. Even in matters of soundstaging, the = AuCantus is=20 more integrated than, say, extrovert. Admittedly a bench mark in = this=20 regard, my Thiel CS 2.4 downloads the electronically dominated = sounds of=20 David Gilmour Girls' Vultures into the room with greater = image=20 localization, greater attack and plasticity. The V8F meanwhile = focuses=20 more on coherence and a certain limpidness. This = unperturbed,=20 relaxed character of the V8F is further underlined by its very = clean=20 playing. Our Chinese friends here back up their low-distortion = claim=20 fully. You'd do well concentrating on just how clear and free of=20 nervousness the AuCantus V8F goes about its = business. |
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Conclusion No, the AuCantus V8F is no heavy = rocker,=20 no massive turn-you-oner on the dance floor of floorstanding = speakers.=20 Rather than going after top figures in dynamics and displacement, = this=20 immaculately finished piece of furniture celebrates finesse, = long-term=20 listening pleasure and an exceptionally organic approach. In these = latter=20 aspects, this Chinese entry of the 5.000 euro class most surely = sets real=20 standards. Optimal partners would be transistors over tubes =96 = and with=20 optimally endowed foundation power and an energetic character. A = listener=20 distance of at least 3 meters and a room size of at least 25qm are = also=20 called for. The AuCantus V8F are characterized=20 by:
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redaktion @ fairaudio.de |
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