First some Kroma basics. With upscale speakers from Wilson and Magico, an immediate point of departure is ported or sealed loading. Another are mineral-loaded resin, aluminium or carbon-fibre enclosures. Then come cellulose-based, metal or composite drivers. What goes on with filter specifics tends to shroud in secrecy but naming names of parts suppliers is fair promo game. Here Duelund, Jantzen and Mundorf are some of the usual suspects. On these counts Kroma speakers were always ported and from the very start championed Krion and Panzerholz. Like DuPont's Corian or LX Hausys' Himacs, Krion from Spain's Porcelanosa Group is artificial stone popular in designer kitchens. It can be thermoformed which Julieta showed off with her curvy stand.

During the first few years, Javier embraced classic Danish soft-dome tweeters and cellulose-based mid/woofers from Hyquphon, ScanSpeak & Co. During the Covid/Brexit years, supply-chain issues strained the sourcing of his familiar parts so Javier explored alternatives. They led him to Mundorf's air-motion transformers for main and ambient tweeters; plus mid/woofers and woofers from Purifi's various ranges. He had a brief tryst with a four-driver open-baffle design but Violeta never saw production. Hence today's range really embodies a very cohesive design ethos of classic ported box speakers executed with top-quality parts and inert enclosures of increasingly thick thus heavy synthetic and chemically bonded stone panels.

Being surrounded by world-class luthiers in the Alhambra city of Granada where Flamenco guitar might as well be the national instrument, Javier also treasures the sonic qualities of classic tone woods to use them for his turned port tubes. Whilst the current drivers may not let on, during a post-change Zoom chat Javier stressed that his aural compass hasn't drifted. He still pursues the very same more classic/organic sonics that birthed Julieta. It's in fact being able to continue his signature sound unbroken which arrived him at his current drivers. It's how intention, skill and clear goals bend tech to their will which trumps predictions based on identifying specific parts. Here Purifi's new Danish-made 10" woofer appears as a quad in a set of Irya to demand €740 each whilst the Maribel version packs four 15-inchers of a different make.

It's how raw ingredients can add up quickly well before any labour puts them all together.

Guillaume: "I did hear from the good folks at Kroma who filled me in on your discussions. I also enjoyed reading your Julieta review from many moons ago, one of the few available of Kroma at the time. Very happy to talk about you reviewing the Mac Beth which would be a great choice indeed. Just two issues. 1/ they're currently with a dealer who has an arranged demo for mid next month and I already told him he could keep them until then. 2/ VAT between the UK and Ireland these days." A temporary importation carnet was one answer, waiting in line like a restrained jaywalker the other. Onto specs. Mac Beth is Kroma's top monitor. Unlike Mimí's and Julieta's 6½" cellulose mid/woofer or Leonore's 6½" aluminium equivalent, it uses Purifi's 8" black-anodized metal cone. That bigger driver is in keeping with the webpage description of an operatic character who "embodies themes of ambition, betrayal and the corrupting influence of unchecked power". Here 35Hz-30kHz is the ambition, 91dB/4Ω the impact on amplifier power to recommend 30-300 watts. The face-on profile is 27.5 x 54.5cm WxH, depth 32cm, weight 25kg each. The tweeter is one of Mundorf's AMT in a shallow waveguide. A single pair of Mundorf Evo terminals adorns the rear. Then I knew better than ask Javier about his filter secrets but an open secret is that Mundorf supply him not just with their tweeters and binding posts. And that's as deep as we go on dry tech other than reiterate that the same resin of the faux stone which suspends its hard particles in the cured state also bonds the panels together in a process called chemical welding. It makes for a very strong box. Being a Krion core colour so baked-in pigment, the standard white finish isn't a paint skin but solid.

Here we see team Mundorf visiting with Javier [far right] at a previous Hifi Deluxe show…

… followed by team Purifi doing the same. I believe that their 10-inch woofer is a direct outcome of this association.

… to be continued…