MusikBoxx

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, Laiv Audio Harmony; Active filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Power amplifiers: Kinki Studio EX-B7 monos & Gold Note monos on subwoofer; Headamp: Enleum AMP-23R; Phones: Raal 1995 Immanis; Loudspeakers: Qualio IQ [on loan] Cables: Kinki Studio Earth, Furutech; Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all source components, Vibex One 11R on amps, 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, LessLoss Firewall for loudspeakers, Furutech NCF Signal Boosters; 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 COS Engineering D1; Preamp/filter: Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box 2; Amplifier: Kinki Studio EX-M7; Loudspeakers: MonAcoustic SuperMon Mini + Dynaudio S18 sub; Power delivery: Furutech GTO 2D NCF, Akiko Audio Corelli; Equipment rack: Hifistay Mythology Transform X-Frame [on extended loan]; Sundry accessories: Audioquest Fog Lifters; Furutech NFC Clear Lines; Room: ~3.5 x 8m
2nd headfi system: DAC: Cen.Grand DSDAC 1.0 Deluxe; Headamp: Cen.Grand Silver Fox; Headphones: Raal 1995 Immanis
Desktop system: Source: HP Z230 work station Win10/64; USB bridge: Singxer SU-2; DAC: Sonnet Audio Pasithea; Head amp: Kinki Studio THR-1; Speaker amp: Crayon CFA-1.2; Speakers: Acelec Model One Headphones: Final D-8000, Audio-Technica ATH-A990Z
Upstairs headfi system: FiiO R7; Headphones: Meze 109 Pro, Fiio FT3, Raal 1995 Magna, HifiMan Susvara
2-channel video system: Source: Oppo BDP-105; All-in-One: Gold Note IS-1000 Deluxe; Loudspeakers: Zu Soul VI; Subwoofer: Zu Submission; Power delivery: Furutech eTP-8, Room: ~6x4m
Review component retail: €4'899/pr, add €2'299/pr for passive outboard xover, €899/pr for optional stand

Modal. In German, Mode means fashion. In English, it's that plus a stationary vibratory pattern, a musical interval scheme, a particular form or manifestation, a data value or a probability. Once we add the German Akustik, we've pegged the deleterious room mode; or rather, its plural since every room has multiples. And with his Ripole so super-dipole MusikBass subwoofer of most strategic radiation pattern, Michael Wydra indeed attacked that topic very cleverly. Its story I told in early 2021.

Today is about the next chapter, the MusikBoxx companion monitor. Like the sub, it layers up vertical slices of white or black acrylic with translucent acrylic. Those clamp together into an airtight ribbed cab via long threaded steel shafts from the rear panel. Given his ethos of minimized room interference for better timing so quicker LF stoppage, Michael logically opted for a sealed bass alignment not virtually ubiquitous porting The optional crossover occupies its own box also of a layered albeit now horizontally stacked build.

The word optional wasn't a glaring error. Separate input terminals for the dipole Mundorf AMT and 6.2" Accuton ceramic mid/woofer allow for a client-supplied active xover. Now Michael's passive filter boxes with top Mundorf parts become superfluous. Avoiding playback's most intense pressure trapped within a speaker from drenching exposed microphonic filter parts in high SPL is always the better if costlier option. It also allows those parts to space ideally and not be size limited. They mustn't pack for lowest cubic volume behind a driver. It's what Living Voice do as well for their best OBX models.

The MusikBoxx measures 21.5 x 28 x 22cm WxDxH without open-baffle tweeter, 31.5cm tall with it. Weight is a svelte 7.9kg. Regular readers already recognized Mundorf's pleated air-motion transformer as being what's also in our Qualio IQ reference speakers. Together with a Satori papyrus 6" midrange, there it likewise mounts on a translucent acrylic open baffle. If you asked my tweeter tastes, they'd tell you not to fix what ain't broke. Where Michael's à-la-carte options predictably rouse the peanut galleries is by associating his pair of crossover boxes with a €2.3K sticker. Usually the high cost of premium filter parts hides behind a turn-key price. We never see it broken out. Here it's explicit like raw parts porn. And that could seem shocking. It applies to equivalent Duelund and Jantzen parts as well. As popular Zen would shrug off, it is what it is: a swanky party without mandatory attendance. Grubbier joints hold skuzzier parties. Going Modal is a different manifestation.

As was true already for his compact 2×12" cardioid subwoofer, Michael's aesthetics are thoroughly modern so a far cry from the veneered cube credo. The spindly execution of his stands could arguably divide opinion but they too aren't a must. If you prefer a single fat shot-filled pillar or multiples, you'll know where to go heave-ho. Michael's design goes after low mass and minimal reflective surfaces. Since it's a custom match, the triple-sandwich top plate obviously meets the monitor's footprint to perfection and continues the material and colour scheme. As to swanking our party to 11, the ModalAkustik website makes mention of two stacked MusikBass subs per side topped by the MusikBoxx for a 3-way modular floorstander. Given that these subs are passive, one would still have to add power and filtering to them. That really spanks the swank. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm a diehard believer in Ripole bass. My big rig runs a 2×15" sound|kaos Gravitas sub off two bridged Gold Note PA-10 Evo amps preceded by a Lifesaver Audio Gradient Box II analog active crossover.

The master bolt torques the mid/woofer into the front baffle.

Cardioid dispersion eliminates the sidewalls as reflective contributors and minimizes front-wall gain. Reduced room gain cleans up the time domain because bass notes stop more quickly to not linger and boom/bloom. To nip remaining front-wall gain in the bud, I use two active bass traps from PSI Audio effective up to 150Hz. For maximal Ripole cancellation benefits, my crossover sits at 100Hz/4th-order Linkwitz-Riley to blend out the mains on the mirror-imaged slope. This effectively cancels my 35Hz and 70Hz room modes for lower bass of far superior stoppage and linearity than any passive system could achieve. As such I've already gone all the way. The MusikBoxx could replace my Qualio IQ speakers and behave as though nesting atop Michael's smaller stacked Ripole subs. So I wasn't at all concerned that sealed mode in a compact cab can leave up to an octave's extension untapped versus a ported box of equivalent cubic volume. To test solo reach, my smart crossover has a remote-triggered 'bypass'. That routes the incoming full-range signal uncut to the mains. I can switch between classic stereo and stereo 2.1 mode from the seat. I can do the same thing in my smaller upstairs system where the sub is a classic force-cancelling sealed and active 2×9½" Dynaudio. Voilà, my roadmap for this review. Given my very positive experience with his sub 3½ years ago, I looked forward to hearing what Michael could do for the lion's share of the musical bandwidth above the low bass. His choice of tweeter alone certainly predicted that the MusikBoxx and I would get along just fine.