Z1. The cab is a composite of hardwood particles suspended in glue so HDF or high-density fiberboard. Its typical density is 900kg/m³ so higher than ubiquitous MDF. The inside walls of the slot port are lined with foam. The ribbon foil is 5μm PEN or polyethylene naphthalate with 6μm bonded aluminium traces. Its surface area of 2'250mm² is 4 x larger than a ubiquitous 1-inch dome tweeter.

The 13cm mid/woofer applies carbon-fiber skins to either side of a 4mm Nomex core. Its 8mm Ø copper-clad aluminium voice coil wraps around a vented titanium former with 12mm long magnetic gap. A copper ring focuses the magnetic field at the edge of the gap to improve control over large excursions. Despite its iron pole piece, this motor's induction is a very low 0.06mH so just marginally higher than the B-01's. The now parallel not series 2nd-order filter includes Ansuz active dither tech which again injects random residuals of square waves to counter EM signal interference. Its micro processor is powered by the music signal to require no separate power supply.

The stand footers can take optional Ansuz Darkz roller-ball decouplers. The speaker brace sports dimples for four steel spheres plus security bolts whose tightness the client determines. The choice of HDF stand with roller-ball interfaces plays deliberate counterpoint to the industry's common strategy of high-mass rigid stands which Michael Børresen feels "weigh down" the sound.

This mirrors my own observations with our sound|kaos Vox 3awf. Its stand is available either with a thicker wooden or far skimpier metal upright. Having compared either, the low-mass version lets go quicker to sound more open so is what I ordered. That stand then sits on Hifistay's dual-stage roller-ball isolators. It's the opposite notion of the generic spike which Magico and Wilson have abandoned as well to now favor their own isolation footers with viscoelastic components.

The Z1 embodies the same approach with its company's own solutions. Those offer a good/better/best upgrade path with ever harder surfaces for their ball-bearing interfaces. That heightened hardness is pursued in the magnetron sputtering unit of Aarhus University which bombards the Ansuz aluminium or titanium parts at 200'000V during a high-power 62-hour session in an argon atmosphere to grow micro skins which include scandium and diamond. Greater hardness equals faster energy transfer. So avoidance of energy storage is a leitmotif of Børresen's global design credo. It applies to their low-mass drivers, their low-induction motors, their airflow management inside the cabinets and ports, their stands and floor interfaces.

Though being positioned as the firm's 2021 entry-level model, the Z1 clearly is a Børresen from A to… well, Z.

To complete its picture and make it fully to the alphabet's last letter, I did ask for a set of entry-level Darkz footers. Those combine three hard-anodized aluminium discs with six titanium ball bearings, three per layer. Whilst there are still three isolator models above the C2t, those get dearer in a real hurry. That quickly exceeds what I think a paying customer would do in lieu of simply upgrading to a Z2. I'll report only on what the simplest Darkz add to the Z1 recipe.

Another part is 86dB sensitivity with an impedance curve that doesn't drop below 6Ω. Sufficient voltage gain will be more important than low-impedance current. Now we can finally sum up Z1/B-01 differences: far simpler cabinet geometry; paint not veneer finishes; similar but not identical drivers; parallel not series crossover. How much of a change does their sum total make? That's for someone to report who heard both B-01 and Z1 side by side on the exact same electronics in the same room; not this review.