Fruity!

Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Main system: Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (i5, 256GB SSD, 40GB RAM, Sonoma 14), 4TB external SSD with Thunderbolt 3, Audirvana Studio, Qobuz Sublime, Singxer SU-6 USB bridge, LHY Audio SW-8 & SW-6 switch, Sonnet Pasithea, LAiV Audio Harmony; Active filter: spl Audio Crossover MkII; Power amplifiers: Vinshine/Kinki Dazzle & mono Ncore 500 Nord Acoustic amps on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Exact Express Flame, Furutech; Power delivery: 2 x Kinki/Vinshine Tai Hang on amps and source stack, Furutech DPS-4.1 between wall and conditioners; Equipment rack: Artesanía Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Exoteryc amp stands; Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, AudioQuest FogLifters; Room: 6 x 8m with open door behind listening seat; Room treatment: 2 x PSI Audio AVAA C214 active bass traps
2nd system: Source: FiiO R7 into Soundaware D300Ref SD transport to Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos; Loudspeakers: ModalAkustik MusikBoxx; Subwoofer: Zu Method; Cable loom: Exact Express Earth; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra, Akiko Audio Corelli Corundum & Castello Solo; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Furutech cable lifts, Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe with POW; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
Desktop system: Source: HP Z2 workstation Win11/64; USB bridge: LHY UIP; Ethernet bridge: LHY EFI; Ethernet reclocker: Stack SmoothLAN; DACs: Audalytic DR701 & Gustard R26II; Headphone/preamp: FangSound Dionysus; Speaker amps: Topping B200 monos; Loudspeakers: Virtual Hifi Viper; Headphones: Final D-8000, aune SR7000, FiiO FT7
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3
2nd upstairs speaker system: Source: FiiO R7; DAC/pre: COS D1; Amplifier: Kinki EX-M7; Loudspeakers: sound|kaos Vox3 with Dynaudio S18 subwoofer
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Mission; Subwoofer: Zu Mission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m

A paean to pain? An ode to odd? A nod to not? A play on a word, from a recent CNN article on African street food, was to factor in my next assignment. I just couldn't figure out the segue. So it appears here with no finesse: Rolex isn't merely a famous Swiss watch brand. Millions of people in the Sudan and beyond refer to rolled eggs as Rolex. Think omelette rolled up inside a chapati. As the article explains, many variations on this easy meal exist. All of them are called Rolex; an Afro burrito if you will. From something posh to wear to something no-frills to eat, possibly at the same time—easy; once you know. But from there to hifi? My self-assigned task had me stumped even though the word 'fruity' was the feature. It triggered by the latest upstairs reshuffle. That swapped out the above Virtual Hifi Cobra for the below sound|kaos Vox3. Though the latter have less bandwidth hence augment by a 2×9½" Dynaudio sub, they injected into the sound a peculiar fruitiness which the denser fatter Cobra lacked. That had me flash on Voxativ's Hagen² and Cube's Monet I reviewed not that long ago. They too wore that 'fruity' sticker on their virtual sleeves. Even though my desktop Viper runs its main driver as a widebander, ditto the Qualio IQ in the adjacent system, they differ. I still get continuousness from lack of a presence-region filter as one widebander hallmark. Yet that particular tonal frisson isn't there. Meanwhile the MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini with their isobarically twinned Markaudio Alpair widebanders have it again. By basic logic I conclude that using 'standard' drivers across widebander bandwidth alone doesn't fully duplicate what a Cube/Voxativ-type classic widebander sounds like. That's not about any idealized perfection. Like all other breeds, classic widebanders have limitations and peccadillos. It just seems to me that if you're triggered by fruitiness, investigating this outlier breed would be sensible.

What then does fruity sound like as I hear and mean it? If we compare unripe to properly sun-ripened fruit picked at the right time, already their hand feel and give differ. Once we bite into it, there's an intense multi-layered flavour profile. Unless the fruit has gone overripe so to seed, we'll encounter sweet and tangy notes alike, sugars and acids complementing each other in the release of heady moisture tickling and tingling our tastebuds. It's this enzymatic action of tacit lifeforce, of zingy vitamins blitzing in our mouth that links back to mature classic widebander flavour. It's not a thermionic THD thing when in my encounters, zero tubes were involved. It's not about textural wetness from more extended decays as another quality tubes can invoke. It's inside the tones, not around their edges nor in their interactions with other sounds where this quality lives. It's very specific and seemingly a special transducer not electronics function. Hence it's not simply down to the avoidance of a central crossover which the carbon-fibre long-throw drivers in my Viper and Cobra samples manage as well. To me then it appears that the very basic ingredients of Sudan's un-trademarked Rolex—water, wheat flour, salt and eggs—have an echo in the cellulose skins of classic bi-cone widebanders. Whilst nano-sanctified composite drivers from Børresen to Monitor own the hi-tech bragging rights as a foodie equivalent of fine dining, thin paper diaphragms allied to powerful motors seem outdated; the cheap foodie equivalent of student street food one stops to eat once one makes money. Yet hear a classic widebander by way of an Enviée in a sound|kaos or in a Cube or Voxativ speaker exploiting in-house drivers. There is something very special about their tonal expression. At least it struck me as special enough to prompt today's little editorial.

More pointers in this fruity direction might be the EL34 twang of a Blues guitar; or the simultaneity of warm brassiness and bite in a Latin trumpet. Some fullness is always sweet. Some sweetness can be slightly dull and opaque. The fruitiness I'm talking about can be sweet and tart at once, even move through shades of bitter and pungent. The play of the more subtle upper harmonics goes deeper and doesn't just scratch the surface. That's not necessarily what it is, just an educated guess based on the papery widebander effect. But it's certainly of note where tone modulations and timbre variety are trigger points as they are for me. Now that's enough for today… at least until it's time for the sound|kaos Vox5 which appears to be my next scheduled date with this breed unless an interim interloper throws me a curveball.