When towards the end of the first movement there's plenty of fanfare by way of kettle/bass drums and trumpets—actually, everything—the Manger didn't cave in. Instead it convinced with fortitude which surprised given the elegant appearance. I never had the impression of getting into any trouble. And yes, an active Kii Three BXT reference certainly dispatches more energy into the room and behaves still more dynamic and authoritative. For normal situations meanwhile, the P2's macrodynamic chops should be more than sufficient. There's also the necessary speed on tab to effortlessly parlay fine dynamic gradations and subtle musical nuance. This was important during the interludes in which the strings are just barely audible.

While for me dynamically everything was in balance if inconspicuously so, I still dubbed the Manger anti horn since treble presented as rather reserved and softly silky. But even if it felt energetically more genteel than a Kii Three BXT or one of my active Elac or Adam Audio monitors with their AMT tweeters, the Manger's ability to differentiate wasn't in the least bit compromised. All was clear and selective, just with a gentler spectrum of upper harmonics. This is exactly what predestined extended listening sessions. Then along came Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" where there's lot going on in the presence zone. The P2 performed the song quite open-throated without getting annoying, scratchy or uncouth. In short, the treble of the Manger P2 was informative and well resolved but mellower than 100% textbook.

The midband was simply neutral without warming up its lower reach though I heard no deficiencies in the chestiness of vocal readings, just neutrality. I remember Elac's €5'180/pr Vela FS 408 has having been more sonorous and saturated. And while on "Don't Lose Yourself" by Iggy Pop (Album: Free) the Isophon Vertigo betrayed slight accents, the P2 remained natural and homogeneous because of its higher resolution. The P2 also managed the trick of giving Iggy Pop's well-hung voice an authentic timbre so that I felt he was standing right in front of me.

Piano attacks on Bremer/McCoy grew more corporeal, finely defined and pleasantly floating yet never explicit or harsh. In fact it was this very renunciation of any exposition of the attacks which led to a particularly cohesive natural musical flow. The fact that music over the Manger P2 reaches our ears in very agile direct fashion is certainly also due to its successful integration of the bass range. As mentioned earlier, the woofer which plays well into the lower midband was apparently groomed for exemplary homogeneity and coherence. Of course on "Coax" from Raime's Tooth, the Kii Three BXT showed off unmistakably where exactly the bass fun with the Manger ends but even if the P2 didn't plumb the lowest depths with the same vehemence, pressure and opulence, it conveyed sufficient extension and substance. Dedicated bass heads probably won't agree but there are other listening modes and tastes. In any case, the Manger was no child of poverty as could be heard with the drum whacks of Shostakovich's Eighth. In short, the P2 was more trim athlete than sumo wrestler.

Was it too honest? Was there something the P2 couldn't do well? In fact, yes there was: bad or compressed recordings didn't shine. Garbage in, garbage out was the motto without any embellishing. So don't expect even a little makeup. The Manger P2 is an honest type. I thought that more virtue than demerit. In summary, it should appeal particularly to fans of realistic soundstaging who'll be very pleased by its expanse, scale, image specificity and depth of field. There are no sound effects and the overall personality is somewhat reserved but elegant – or put another way, authentic, natural and suitable for the long term. We can certainly identify alternatives in this price range which offer more loaded macrodynamics or more offence in bass or treble. But if we place greater value on concert-type imaging and natural timbres of instruments and voices, this new Manger definitely deserves an audition.