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Matching €9.000 Ncore monos or €26.000/pr D-Premiers to a €4.400 speaker of course seemed of dubious appeal. Next to bullish transistor amplifiers, there was the league of hot-running vacuum-state amps with their output transformers smoothing out back-EMF spikes. In our arsenal the Audio Note Meishu is a member of the directly-heated zero NFB SET guild to represents a large variety of good to very good tube amps. Once connected, the Japanese leader had enough control over the Rhapsody to keep its dual paper-cone drivers in check.
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Once the requirements of bass control, low-impedance speaker cables and positioning as far from room boundaries as possible had been met, serious listening could commence. The usual selection of highly dynamic flamenco and Jazz Manouche acoustic music found its way to the system over its various incarnations. Jazz rock and ambient figured too as did both transistor or tube amps. Remarkable was that we spent most our time playing classical music and more specifically larger works with all members of a symphony orchestra unleashed. That genre of music pleased us most whilst hosting the Rhapsody 130
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The reason was that with classical music, the very obvious personality of this 2-way speaker was less intrusive. After successfully combating its deliberately underdamped bass loading, the Rhapsody kept true to its voicing or designed-in character. That's far from neutral. Gediminas Gaidelis imprinted his loudspeaker with a definite sound. This particular sound we can describe best as American or more specifically 1960’s JBL. It's a big sound and as such not directly expected from and associated with a reasonably sized cabinet with smallish drivers. The sound with all our amplifiers was consistent in being sensuous, luscious and sumptuous. Think velvet drapes, thick carpets and deep reds. Think full-bodied wines from Italy’s Piedmont region like Barolo, Amarone or Brunello di Montalcino. Now combine that warmth of the nether regions with the clarity and sparkle which the very well-mannered tweeter adds and you get a speaker that can transport you into a classic venue like the Fenice in Venice, the San Carlo in Naples or the Palais Garnier in Paris.
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Proof of a well thought-out consistent design was the fact that playing music at whisper levels did not lack any bass foundation. The same character perceived at normal and even high SPLs persisted at settings only a few dB above mute. Though the speaker’s distinctive character proved too rich for our personal liking as we’re more the tauter leaner Champagne sorts, those who like ‘a little bit more’ at a more than fair price should definitely put the Rhapsody 130 on their shortlist. |
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Condition of component received: Relative to in-transit conditions, good.
Reusability of packing: Not really. Packaging has been improved according to manufacturer.
Website comments: Includes basic information.
Completeness of delivery: Only the washers for the plinth bolts were missing.
Pricing: Fair. One gets a lot of speaker and tone for the asking price.
Competition: PMC fact.8 at 150% of the price.
Human interactions: Prompt and to the point.
Remark: A full-bodied sound from a modestly sized European-made loudspeaker. The matching amplifier(s) should be capable of taming the otherwise unruly bass. Finished in sparkling Santos Palisander or Zebrano would enhance the appearance over the Smoked Oak supplied.
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