My ears don't find the Boxx lean at all even driven DAC-direct and by DC-coupled amps of very high bandwidth. At the same time it feels – uh, clearly more unvarnished than paper cones. Should that mean lean to other ears, I'd understand even though I'd flip the script to call their cellulose drivers more coloured and less informative. Given my other descriptions, this detour into tone was rather self-explanatory and predictive. Transparency, lucidity and other aspects of high resolution live on a different page than warmth and thickness. Warmth or thickness aren't something I heard. But I did hear that certain gentleness which was the antithesis of fuzzy. It mirrored a parallel review of Nagra's Streamer. Operating purely in the digital domain, you'd not expect big differences from what essentially is a reclocking signal router, certainly nothing in the amplitude domain. Yet Nagra's FPGA-controlled Andreas Koch-style custom clocking which omits USB has an effect. The sonic gestalt gets more laid-back! I haven't the faintest on 'how' or 'why'. It's simply demonstrable and apparently a time-domain function. The MusikBoxx has it, too. My terminology calls it elegance. It's the difference between how a ballet dancer and bouncer walk when neither performs their job. The dancer doesn't dance, the bouncer doesn't brawl. They just walk. Just so, there's a tangible difference in their build, how they move and carry themselves. One is lithe and loose, the other thick and tight. The MusikBoxx motion through time, what I think of as gait, reflects a dancer's elegance.
Diamond in the gloss. There's nothing rough about the MusikBoxx or left undone. It's simply not a universal speaker but special-ops warrior. For bigger rooms, its limited LF reach becomes a worrier whilst price makes buyer sophistication a virtual prerequisite where being critical of short bass is a near foregone conclusion. In stereo 2.1 mode meanwhile, it's the perfect weapon. Visual compactness on minimalist stands caters to the opinion that with a subwoofer, nothing bigger is desired or required. Elite outboard crossovers, vertical sliver-stack construction of asymmetrical cross section for resonance control, acrylic build to prevent eddy currents, premium drivers, time alignment… the Boxx is an exercise of complete optimization and radical sense of purpose. Given that Michael Wydra's first product is a dual 12-inch Ripol subwoofer, the matching monitor's project brief is crystal in hindsight. It had to tick off the same virtues of excellent damping for a clean time domain with the associated subjective sense of speed leading to unusual intelligibility. That registers as though our tunes' enunciation had taken classes with a dialogue coach. It rid them of a lazy tongue and dialect colourations. Following on from the cardioid subwoofer, the monitor also had to look the part to embrace identical construction.
In its special-ops persona, what to generalists could seem a high price for a small monitor becomes a rather fair price given the costly ingredients and obsessive execution. Now the Boxx looks at audiophile extremists who recognize and applaud the whole concept as being tailor-made for no-compromise 2.1 or 2.2 setups. Where Raidho's TD1.2 wanted well more than twice 2 years ago though I wasn't particularly fond of its stands, the ModalAkustik MusikBoxx rekindled my Danish fire. I can't speak to concrete sonic differences after all that time, only to even more personal enthusiasm and lust to possess now. What I am certain of sonically even without a physical A/B is that as implemented here, Mundorf's small dipole AMT is my favourite HF transducer ever. Hard stop!
The tasty wrap. Given that in 2022, Raidho's top monitor demanded €23'000/pr but still garnered an award as my then favourite top-end standmount speaker, finding a 2024 alternative that comes in at below €10K for six pieces by going extra on deluxe filter boxes makes today's award pretty much inescapable. I loved the sound. I loved the looks. I loved the build. If I could afford to, I'd buy a white-hot pair for my upstairs system today. And who knows, I still might in the new year should the cash deities feel merciful. Rather more relevant than silly selfies of course is who else the Boxx looks at. By now that should be obvious: mature mélomanes with enough mileage under their silver manes to recognize and demand extreme quality; and who already—or are about to—live the hard-earned conclusion that active adjustable bass with one or two dedicated music subwoofers is the best possible foundation for their playback. The Boxx twins on their long skinny legs are the ideal companions for such +1 affairs. That the cosmetically matching MusikBass beckons from the same catalogue could be the final dealmaker for those who presently transition from classic stereo to 2.1 or 2.2? Diamonds in the gloss indeed. We might also say that the MusikBoxx didn't fall far from the tree. It's rare that lightning strikes twice. In this case, two Michael Wydra models netted awards. Whilst his brand still seems to fly below most radars, I hope that this review pings a few more. Have a listen. I think you'll be surprised. Even if your sonic leanings fall elsewhere, at the very least you'll hear a premium example of a modern high-resolution sound that's delivered with real elegance. You could be a chocolate guy or pistachio gal but tasting premium artisanal Bourbon vanilla remains a benchmark worth knowing about…
ModalAkustik reply: "Hello Srajan, thank you very much! You really understood what I wanted to achieve with the product especially but not only regarding its sound signature; and unlike me can put it into words so people can understand my intentions. I believe the review will help me a lot. Also thanks for giving small brands/manufacturers like me a chance to get attention. The only thing I'm missing are the setup options including the SPL crossover and activation possibility via DSP. I just would like to know if you don't think that interesting or just wanted to report on the version you had for review and not elaborate on options you didn't have a chance to review?" Michael Wydra
"Correct, I could comment only on what I had. The other usage scenarios you detail on your website so there was no need for me to rehash them other than a brief mention in the intro; and this review was getting long as is." Srajan
