S903

This review first appeared in April 2020 on fairaudio.de. By request of the manufacturer and permission of the author, it is hereby translated and syndicated to reach a broader audience. All images contained in this piece are the property of fairaudio or Sehring- Ed.

Reviewer: Jörg Dames
Digital sources: Norma HS-DA1 PRE, Keces S3, SOtM sMS-200 ultra & SOtM sPS-500, Auralic Aries, laptop w. JRiver MC
Integrated amplifier:  Abacus Ampino
Preamps: Funk MTX Monitor V3b-4.3.1, Funk MTX Monitor V3b-4.2.1 (upgraded V3b), Funk LAP-2.V3 (upgraded Lap-2.V2)
Power amp: Bryston 7B³
Loudspeakers: Sehring 913, Spendor D9
Cabling: HMS Armonia, WSS Platin Line LS4, Real Cable BW OFC 400, HMS Fortissimo, Straight Wire Virtuoso, AudioQuest Carbon, Boaacoustic Silver Digital Xeno, B.M.C. Pure USB1, Furutech FP-S022N, Tellurium Q Black, Quantum-Powerchords, Swisscables Reference
Equipment rack: Lovan Classic II
Power delivery: HMS Energia MkII
Sundry accessories: Ydol Relax 60 & fastaudio Absorber, Acoustic System resonators, The Gryphon De-Magnetizer
Room: 29m², 3.3m ceiling
Review component retail: from €9'350/pr [€10650/pr as reviewed with optional plinths, outriggers and Mundorf binding posts]

30 years but still a bit pianissimo? Fact: Sehring Audio Systeme have built loudspeakers and almost naught else for going on three decades already. Yet on global recognition they still are more of a quietspeaker house. Even their new website, presumably aimed to sync up with the launch of their new 9 range, was five years in the making. It's effective though. Play around with the configurator and you'll probably agree. It's quite snazzy. It's also signature Stefan Sehring style to prioritize technique and tone over marketing and business plans.

Configurator? His portfolio is 14 models or possibilities deep. Due to modularity, each can be grown into the next bigger one even years later. Canvassing the 'wanted' ads to sell at a loss then invest in something new becomes obsolete if one keeps the faith with our Berliners. Optional features like plinths, metal outriggers or fancier terminals also can be kitted out right off or tweaked as one goes along. Jump into the deep end or slowly wade in. You set the pace.

On review today is a pair of S903. Fourth from the top down, my former S703 was a classic. For a sonically mature floorstander, the current S903 is more stumper than statement: less than one meter tall (I did raise it a bit with twinned plinths) and a quarter meter wide by deep. It's rather attractive at that. I enjoy the confident proportions particularly reduced depth, the cabinet gaps and associated color combos. Even among very varied visitors to my digs, thumbs up were routine. Stumpy was a very special hit in fact with the ladies. Hello Knorkator, Germany's "mostest band of the world"?

To Stefan Sehring, sound is even more important than sex appeal. The third advantage of his modular concept is thus "effective avoidance of interference between resonance-optimized building blocks" despite moderate sub 2cm panel thickness. Build in Sehring's own cabinet shop, these boxes are some of the most complex I know. Sehring himself proudly calls them "multi-chamber system". Needless to say, even the point-to-point crossover gets its own chamber behind the midrange/tweeter unit. It's old news that enclosure quality has a significant impact on sound quality. Just so, particular solutions championed by different designers couldn't be more opposed than if we juxtaposed Sehring's rather dead boxes to my deliberately resonant non-damped Spendor D9. Many roads lead to Rome. As we'll see, they can be equally relevant.