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Coming from the peak of streaming audio as XXHighEnd implements it back down to earth and CD replay becomes quite a rude shock. Admittedly simply popping a CD into the tray and hitting play is far easier than the time-consuming tweaking and tuning required to get optimal sound from XXHighEnd’s steep pile of interrelated parameters but that’s part of the deal and our hobby. Where we used to drool over the musical qualities of our advanced CD replay rig, now we are somewhat embarrassed by it. We've learnt how much more there is up for grabs—involving the correct tools, player software etc—beneath the shining surface of a compact disc. Legacy spinning playback really lacks a lot. There’s a sort of slowness to its sound where starts and stops aren't sufficiently taut and instant.
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True, all the usual musical clues are present, dynamics are present, tonality is present ... but it's all scaled down and shrunk. It takes time to again get used to this type of presentation. Regardless, the Belgian speakers simply did what was asked of them without objections or hiccups. The only objection came from the room. Playing CDs—-the very same ones ripped to the streaming PC’s hard disk with EAC—now had the room interact. We noticed a low-frequency peak here and there to indicate that something was sub optimal.
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Leaving CD playback behind for what it is we moved the Vaessen speakers to our analog system where they replaced our usual Arcadian Audio Pnoe single-driver horns. Following the Feickert/Zu turntable was an all Trafomatic combo of phono, pre and power amps. Going through the various paces of streaming, CD spinning and finally vinyl in quick succession had to admit that streaming with XXHighEnd has far more in common with vinyl than CD even when the latter exploits a memory-based transport. The traits we so enjoy with this streaming source like speed and scale are far more present with vinyl than polycarbonate. The Galaxy Ultimate once again proved to be a reliable and fearless musical companion. Their even character and effortlessly instantaneous reactions to fluctuating signal plus their uncanny ability to aurally vanish made this loudspeaker one of the best we know - and it isn't even a horn.
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| We couldn't escape concluding that the Galaxy Ultimate is one of the few dynamic speakers which can match a good hornspeaker with the type of speed and resolution which make horns unique. For most rooms its 50 x 50cm footprint remains acceptable. Due to its curvy droplet shape and wide baffle, placement near the front wall presents no issue to not invoke typical decorator scorn. That same wide baffle makes imaging another true forté. The Galaxy Ultimate doesn't have many competitors. One that comes to mind is the Aries Cerat Gladius with which it shares some overlap. The use of a Raal 140-15D tweeter is most obvious but in fact mounting that ribbon on a broad-shouldered (coat hanger or egg-shaped) wide baffle is the real trick. |
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Where additional drivers, sealed alignment and deflection-resistant enclosures are concerned, we see in these two models similar concepts and costly ways of implementing them. Like stacked Ply construction, molding a fiberglass droplet and getting it finished to super-smooth perfection is clearly time consuming and costly.
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At the end of our review period we had to admit that the Galaxy Ultimate proved to be one of the very few loudspeakers which will sonically stand up to our current crop of hornspeakers on both speed and imaging. An added plus was the extended low bass where our hornspeakers either leave off or must rely on powered woofers. The passive Vaessen does it all. Such excellence and extravagant build come at a price of course and here the Vaessen is no exception. But for the sticker it commands you do get a stellar performer of truly stunning looks. Matching it to perfection with the remainder of your system ... now that will be the real challenge to have these hi-tech eggs crack open their true potential!
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Condition of component received: Excellent.
Reusability of packing: The crates the speakers were shipped in are custom made for touring with them.
Website comments: Content is outdated and needs to get up to par with the products.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Pricing: A lot of money but worth every euro.
Competition: Aries Cerat Gladius or a large horn system.
Human interactions: Outstanding.
Remark: A well-made attractive and fabulous sounding piece of audio art that deserves the very best of electronics.
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