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Very. Allowing the defense a quite lengthy opportunity to present their case (three pages in this instance) always has cynics suspicious. Spin over substance. And let's face it, the Ion+ story is a very good one. It's got plenty of seemingly incontrovertible evidence to support it. Now cynics squirm. It all seems too good to be true. Yet the prosecution—that would be me trying to expose Amphion's story as a cover-up for something (we're hard-nosed cynics, remember?)—really couldn't find fault. This isn't a $20.000 monitor whose lack of a solid 30Hz conflicts with moral principles, never mind acoustic ones. This is a €999 mini monitor with more linear snappy bass than ought to be legal. No port bulge in sight. Bass extension, wiriness and power are truly sufficient in the desktop's nearfield. Solo. Obviously there's appreciation for subwoofer assist in a big-space install.


But that's still hifi court 101. What makes the Ion+ special—and here a reviewer set up with our preceding pages squirms to seem like a parrot—is the zoom-like expansion of insight into the midband. It really did translate into hearing more even from non-radical gear like an iPod | Cambridge iD100 | Wyred4Sound mINT chain. Insight also meant greater depth of field. That's a particular boon for desktops where screens erect real and psychological barriers. But I can't overstress that this virtue of insight as literal seeing into wasn't at all of the spectacular sort. No razzle dazzle of Richard Gere in Chicago mode. This was a very factual thing. Think better lens. A pro won't go on about ogling a new lens. He'll look through the thing to make better photos. Tool and purpose.


Ditto the Ion+. The recognition that your music-watching lens has improved comes quick. Because it deals in basics rather than extremes—it's not about sparklier treble or harder-hitting infrasonics to have you pull out your fave pan flute or Dub-Reggae cuts—it doesn't cause loud wowie reactions. This must be understood. It's very much like getting your car back after an expensive expert tune-up. Your wheels are more responsive, idle is barely audible, brake actuation requires no lead foot, acceleration is quicker... but within minutes the former state is forgotten. The new behavior is fait accompli. Back to business. Driving. Perhaps that's sportier now. Less restraint on takeover risks. But the former state is no more. The present has devoured the past. Reviewers of course can travel back in time and compare what they had before. Enter Amphion's Helium 410 and 510.

Helium 410
At €900/pr when I reviewed it 30 months ago, the 510's got a 5.25" midwoofer in a larger cab. Right off the bat that implies better hung. The smaller Helium 410 really is the Ion+'s proper equivalent. Which I also had on hand. Time to mix it up without getting mixed up. Since none of these should be considered serious soloists—that wants a sub like Amphion's terrific Impact 400—I conducted these musical chairs on the above desk.

410 : Ion+. You'd have to be an overpaid expert witness—the white-coated shrink who earnestly 'proves' temporary insanity—not to spot instant sibling resemblance. But there are differences. All to the newcomer's credit. With the 410 that fabulous focus clicks back a notch. The striated very taut wiriness of the midbass mellows to take a small hit on punch. The liveliness slash transparency of the presence band encounters a solitary cloud in the sky. By themselves these are quite minor matters. They are small items of evidence which fail to explain the combined effect. Arguably they aren't all there is to it. A listener will simply cue in to an overall reduction of verve and informativeness, a leaner transition from lower midrange to upper bass and less color distinction in the midrange.

 

With the Ion the virile guitars of Cañizares on Punto de Encuentro or Josemi Carmona on "Mi Gorda" from Las Pequeñas Cosas also exhibited more snarl and swagger for more pronounced string action. On the latter track Carles Benavent's bass had more vigor and snazz. The reasons were the same but transposed an octave lower. On Kiran Ahluwalia's eponymous album the haunting "Rabh Da Roop" had her voice richer, the fine brush work on the cymbals more shimmery and lit up. The evidence itself again was small. It was the combined effect—feeling closer to the action and hearing more—that was greater. Someone not having read the previous pages would simply call it the more advanced speaker. That person would guess at more accumulated design experience, perhaps superior drivers.

Having not only read but written those prior pages, I think it goes further than that. It's ultimately about integration; how wave guide and crossover and drivers and cabinet mesh to practically disappear. That throws open the window more. The most incontrovertible proof for that comes from buy-in volume. To fully buy into this sound takes lower levels. The satisfaction threshold where 'one hears everything' has come down. That's the strongest evidence for higher resolution I know. Time to change horses in midstream.
Helium 510, Ion+ midwoofer on screen
510 : Ion+. There are endless arguments. What's ideal midrange diameter? For many the Ion+'s is max. A three-way even has liberty to argue for a 3-incher. The Helium 510 eyes bigger spaces and larger distances. It gets more pragmatic. It's the fuller heavier warmer operator. But it must be admitted. That pursuit of greater mass, fleshiness and bass gives up spunk, effervescence and acuteness of transparency. The pixel count is lower. The Ion+ has the smaller monitor screen but a retina display. It sings with a more opened throat. In a nutshell that's really it.
With Oppo and Peachtree Audio Grand Integrated

In the context of a small video system and overdrawn for effect it's the difference between watching Dr. House—scaled to hospital rooms—or Jean-Jacques Annaud's epic Black Gold, the possibly greatest Arabian desert spectacle since David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. For Dr. Gregory House the Ion+ is perfectly sufficient. For clashing armies, thundering horses and explosions you'd want at least the Helium 510. A subwoofer really would be better. But then the Ion+ wins again. By not trying to be more, it's the better speaker. In the nearfield it's all you need. More to the point, there it's phenomenal - true show-me-the-money high-end. There's no fattened up response, just perfect integration and surprisingly articulate firm punchy upper bass.


But that's still not it. The moment we talk attributes it's about qualifiables. More this, less that. The Ion wears its '+' for a different reason. It's about greater transparency and more intimacy with the tunes. Does that seem like just another qualifiable attribute? Then ask how. With power amps we'd suspect lower distortion, higher S/N ratio, greater slew rate, a simpler circuit, better matched output devices (or less of 'em), class A bias, the lot. Compared to its stable mates the Ion+ behaved like lower distortion, greater speed, higher S/N ratio. We needn't ask how. For €999/pr the Ion+ has it. Naturally that includes stuff not mentioned—soundstaging up the Yangtse, truth of timbre, transient fidelity—because all that's secondary. It's a result. I focused on cause. Once accounted for everything else falls into place. Hyvonen talked honesty. Linearity. True enough. But audiophile weirdness does an instant U-turn into boredom and flatness when faced by such language. Hence I called the same phenomenon greater transparency as a means to achieving closer musical intimacy. It's the result we'll notice and why we'd be attracted to Amphion's Ion+ in the first place.

This Finnish player with legs—they've been around—clearly has learned a thing or two since my last encounter. As the story goes, recording studio feedback was the secret ingredient. But it was still up to designer Corrado Faccioni to figure out the how. That part is just a bit mysterious. Save for the obviously - um, cut corners, there's outwardly very little to distinguish Ion+ from Helium 410. Yet it's a more refined advanced speaker. And a real looker. That adds up to winning. Mini monitors simply aren't my beat to feel hip to current competitors and status quo. Hence no award today. I can only say that amongst the small speakers I have hosted in my own four walls, the Ion+ factors at the very top. And for the desktop nearfield it strikes me as the absolutely perfect combination of size, performance and price. I've been ionized!
Amphion website