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"Why do our speakers tilt back? To line up the drivers so their acoustical centers align and there's no time delay. Some manufacturers use stepped baffles which creates more problems than it solves because of early reflections, phase irregularities and response issues. To lower early reflections, we disperse sound by covering the front baffle with leatherette. Its surface isn't perfectly uniform to do a good job of breaking up sound waves in all directions. Others manufacturers use foam or felt. We use faux leather because we find it superior. For xovers we avoid high-inductance ferrite-core coils. All of ours are Jantzen air coils wound with at least 1mm wire. They are costly parts but this is another aspect of our philosophy. We don't try to save money on cheap bipolar caps or ferrite coils which would mean instant sonic death. Why use good drivers, elaborate cabinetry and quality damping materials only to create a bottleneck from poor-quality crossovers?


"Personally I think of a crossover as the speaker’s soul. You can have good drivers with huge potential but bad crossover components won't give you any decent results. A driver is like clay. No matter how good, it won't do anything outstanding with bad tools or lack of know-how. So a good crossover is a must for good sound. Today we have the capacity to manufacture 15 pairs of Rhapsody series speakers per month. We aren't a big company. Due to our lower output we can build speakers of the highest quality and be sure they're the best we know how to produce. We plan to move to a bigger space where production volume will increase to ~30 pairs a month. We do not necessarily aim for the highest turnover quantity but our objective is to maintain the highest quality.


"Having a degree in electronic engineering, I design all our filter networks myself. My philosophy is to use the least number of parts but no fewer than necessary. The Rhapsody 130 crossovers are 3rd-order with a custom Q neither exactly Butterworth nor Linkwitz. On the other hand in your 60 model we use a 1st-order really simple filter. Many designers are reluctant to use 3rd-order crossovers because their phase shift is highest. However their power response is the best of most popular designs. On-axis response has the lowest ripple and phase shift right before and after the crossover point is actually lowest. That’s why I don't much care if they sum to 270°. It sounds live and natural which is my goal. Furthermore vertical acoustic polar response only shifts down 15° from horizontal. The speaker leans back 7° so there's merely an 8° axial shift. Taking into account the many strengths of a 3rd-order filter, I can live with that. Many people promote 24dB/octave Linkwitz filters because their on-axis response sums to flat. But of what use is flat on-axis response when the room influences the power response?

"Everything needs to be factored into the calculations, not just on-axis measurements. Here the Linkwitz filter exposes its weaknesses of poor power response, high group delay and high phase shift above and below the filter frequency. From my perspective a 4th-order Linkwitz filter is good for DIY beginners and how I started 9 years ago. My Rhapsody speakers sound best paired with tube or high-power class A solid-state amps like Pass Labs. Rhapsody speakers need good amplifier control to avoid bass resonance. We manufacture everything in house and only the CNC machining of the front baffles is carried out by an outside company because those panels need to be made with extremely tight tolerances. Crossover parts and drivers are ordered from the specialists Jantzen Audio, SB Acoustics and Seas. The tweeter in the Rhapsody 60 is the same as in all others – a top Seas silk dome with low Fs. The bass driver is from SB Acoustics like in the top Rhapsody 200. Those are very well built drivers which perform much like the Scan-Speak Revelator. They have reduced mechanical damping (higher Qms) to perform more natural and 'live' but need an amp with high damping to show off all their beauty. Their definite advantages are very good response, low inductance and soft suspension. They only need a simple crossover yet the sound is warmer and more natural which as I mentioned before is our goal."

Sound – a selection of recordings used during auditions: Jesteś Bogiem, soundtrack, Magic Records, 3719533, CD (2012); Blue Mitchell Sextet, Blue Soul, Riverside/JVC, VICJ-41559, 20bit K2, CD (1959/2006); Bob Dylan, The Freewheelin', Columbia/Mobile Fidelity, UDSACD 2081, Special Limited Edition No. 3085, SACD/CD (1963/2012); Charlie Haden & John Taylor, Nightfall, The Naim Label, naimcd077, CD (2004); Dead Can Dance, Anastasis, [PIAS] Entertainment Group, PIASR311CDX, Special Edition Hardbound Box Set, CD+USB drive 24/44,1 WAV (2012); Diary of Dreams, The Anatomy of Silence, Accession Records, A 132, CD (2012); Elgar & Delius, Cello Concertos, Jacqueline Du Pré, EMI Classic, 9559052, 2 x SACD/CD (1965/2012); Lisa Gerrard, The Silver Tree, Sonic Records, SON212, CD (2006); Manuel Göttsching, E2-E4. 30th Anniversary, MG ART, 404, CD (1981/2011); Radiohead, Kid A, EMI, 27753 2, CD (2000); This Mortal Coil, HD-CD Box SET: It’ll End In Tears, Filigree & Shadow, Blood, Dust & Guitars, 4AD [Japan], TMCBOX1, 4 x HDCD, (2011).