By now you may have a good sense for what the goal for these speakers was, namely a highly musical immersive life-like experience. That's not about the best bass, the most tangible midrange or breathtaking treble. It's about musical performance as a whole presented accurately yet naturally, relaxed but highly energetic, resolved but incredibly liquid, fast but smooth, detailed but coherent. The very essence of Pirol is the enjoyment and satisfaction from musical playback. At least that was my feeling from the time I spent no matter the amplifiers, sources or musical genres. If you want the short version, that was it. The end.
About two weeks after my Berlin visit, Michael and Mr. Jacek came to Warsaw with my pair of 100kg/ea. loaners. They brought a self-climbing stair devil cart so didn't really sweat it while bringing the speakers up to my 3rd floor flat. The initial setup didn't take long after which we spent a few hours listening. The very first thing I noticed even on the relatively inexpensive Struss Audio DM-250 integrated was an improved sense of space. That had been my only reservation in Berlin. I'd missed some soundstage depth, some image specificity. Not everyone cares for these aspects but I do and said so. Hence I noticed this change almost immediately. Afterwards Michael confirmed that he had heard me in Berlin and tuned the speakers accordingly, mostly in DSP. That's what I call high-quality service. Ask and ye shall receive. [We assume this applies also to buying customers – Ed.]
With active DSP bass, the manufacturer if not necessarily user can adjust to room and/or taste. That's one advantage of this type design. But I'm no bass junky. Whilst I can appreciate high-quality bass, it's not what I look for primarily in an audio component. It seems that Michael agrees. Despite Pirol's almost unlimited capabilities on this score, he made sure that its bass would never dominate. It's powerful, taut and fast but remains the foundation for the midrange and treble. Still, how much bass you get is adjustable so those who like more can get more.
Using two large woofers per side driven by powerful custom amplifiers is a proven recipe for greatness as long as the designer is sufficiently skilled to make this section work properly with the passive mid/treble band. Michael confirmed this as having been one of the biggest challenges designing Aidoni and Pirol. One common complaint with active bass—I've heard my share—is that it lags. Human ears are highly sensitive to timing. Even small inaccuracies are easily noted and criticized. It simply wasn't the case in Berlin or my room. The bass was always as fast, punchy and punctual as it had to be for a particular recording. If ever it slowed down or focused less sharply, it was due to a recording. Not all are perfect. But even on the majority of those, Pirol was highly satisfying. During our hours together, Micheal tweaked toe-in several times but ultimately seemed quite happy even with the affordable Struss amp. So was I.
