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Piano in particular benefited from the crossover-less reproduction, showing the Dynaudios a clean pair of heels when I cued up Sergei Rachmaninoff in Concert II [Klavier KCD-11027] with a now far more realistic reproduction of the maestro at work. The difference wasn't jaw-dropping but definitely eye-brow raising. The ability to give a more convincing portrayal of instruments is the primary strength of the Curvi aided by an excellent reproduction of the leading edge of notes. Trumpet freaks and sax maniacs will love this speaker. Aficionados of heavy rock meanwhile will look elsewhere if they want to crank their systems to ear-bleeding levels. And which self-respecting Rock dude doesn't? Returning to those spoil-sport laws of physics, there's only so much air the 92mm Controflex metal foil cone driver can displace despite that 2.4 meter line but don't leave the building just yet.


At the kind of volumes that will still have your neighbours fret, the Curvi remains a quite entertaining listening down to 35Hz, this by way of the transmission line. Those gnarly Stratocasters will sound more like they actually did in the recording studio. To compensate for lack of abyssmally deep bass, mid-bass was excellent. An appropriate amp will reproduce the efforts of even the most heavy-handed percussionist. Playing the superb Sheffield Labs Drum Demo, the thwacks of wood on skin were an uncannily realistic experience. No, the neighbour wasn't attacking me with the broom handle but 'bass lite' wasn't exactly the first thought which sprang to mind at quite serious volumes. Bigger drivers in bigger cabinets would go louder and the bottom line is that the Curvis obviously wasn't designed with Rock in mind. Yet it's quite capable of punching above its weight. If you have a varied collection, your Rock titles won't be consigned to pasture.


Returning to Oliver Twist's plead for 'more', the E.A.Rs weren't the most refined amps despite having punch, dynamics and musicality in spades. Surely it was possible to gain extra resolution considering their nearly 20 year-old caps?

Having previously reviewed the AMR AM-77 amplifier elsewhere before and after it was upgraded, I managed to secure a loaner from AMR's Vincent Luke and this proved a revelation. Configured as stereo amp so the Music First TVC could be kept in the circuit, now there was increased resolution, refinement, punch and an across-the-board improvement. The sound now was more reminiscent of the smooth, fatigue-free musicality you attribute to class A and SETs while the 180wpc output of the AM-77 was actually neither. Certainly this was exactly the kind of amp which allowed a low-efficiency speaker like the 83dB Curvi to boogie while highlighting the qualities of the single-driver approach. Now I had even better tonality, more defined and layered bass with excellent transients married to well extended decays.


This wasn't a major surprise after spending so much previous time with the AMR. But there was to be more. In my cabinet drawer for the last few months had sat a small insubstantial device called an acoustic resonator along with even more insubstantial cubes of Indian Rosewood which were sent to me by designer Franck Tchang. Due to work commitments and scepticism that such small devices could significantly effect the sound of the room as advertised, I'd never gotten around to treating the room with them even though the instructions seemed quite straightforward. Fortunately Darren Censullo of Avatar Acoustics has more qualifications in acoustics. Along with being the kindly delivery guy of the AM-77 which he distributes in the US, he just so happened to be trained and very experienced when it came to setting up the resonator systems. He was very happy to treat my residence. With two extensive prior reviews of these devices in these pages here and here, I'll skip the details and get to the point. They work. Big time.



Bass became more defined, there was more air and the stereo image became more enveloping with increased height and spatiality. The negative influence of the room was lessened considerably. I hesitate to say it was totally eradicated as it's possible to add many more resonators while the room will always retain some influence. Still, the improvement I heard was far beyond anything I reasonably expected and thus quite shocking. Placing orthodox bass traps in the corners of the listening room and absorbent foam on the walls at a speaker's early reflection points is easy to recommend as the explanations of what they do make perfect sense. They're also physically substantial enough to make a difference in most people’s eyes whereas one resonator and numerous sugar cubes would fit inside a single cigarette packet.


Despite a sound scientific basis for the effectiveness of the Franck Tchang devices, I'm still left scratching my head. But they work and that's good enough for me. To summarize my opinion of the Curvi, they have strengths and weaknesses like any other speaker and really do need to be auditioned with a selection of your own music to judge what their most important traits are - the strengths or the weaknesses. If single-driver designs held all the aces, there'd be no speakers with multiple drivers, no crossovers anywhere. The Curvis don't have the same extension at either extreme as multi-ways nor do they go as loud. It's understandable if these are deal breakers. All I can say is that the lack of that last bit of treble shimmer and seismic bass neither was an issue nor missed especially at my typical SPLs which tend to be quite high.

The strengths of the Jordan driver are the cohesiveness of the sound which is a combination of a single point source and excellent tonality of instruments. Over the three weeks I had the speakers set up, I listened to all manner of music from the snarl of Led Zeppelin and Porcupine Tree to the delicate seductive chants of Cara Dillon and Alison Krauss. All was thoroughly enjoyable and the major strengths of the Curvi allowed its minor deficiencies to be forgotten.


At a cost of £3,999/pr, the Curvi is placed at a very crowded price point where it will have to compete with two-ways, three-ways, electrostats and other designs all with their own respective strengths and weaknesses that make this hobby of ours so interesting and our systems so diverse.


For anyone interested in what a single driver can bring to the table, one might consider that nobody perhaps has a better pedigree than Ted Jordan when it comes to such designs and that his latest and presumably greatest driver is the JX92S. To achieve the widest bandwidth and hence most rewarding performance from the JX92S, one must utilize the transmission-line approach which the Curvi Model 1 version 2 does in about as elegant and room-friendly a manner as a TDL cabinet can get. If you're unhappy with more conventional speakers and are prepared for something a little different, the Curvi is definitely something to consider.

Reusability of packing: Very good, and extremely quick and simple.  Just need fresh tape to seal the outer box.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Quality of owner's manual: Four pages explain everything you need to know.
Completeness of delivery: Personal collection.
Website comments: Informative.
Human interactions: Professional and friendly.
Warranty: Yet to be finalized though Chris Liauw suggests 5 years are probable.
Pricing: The Curvis sits in a densely populated segment but is certainly competitive.
Final comments & suggestions: The usual caveats of taking care to system match and to position the speakers for optimum performance are even more relevant with the Curvis.

Curvi Hifi website