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That's the PPW-principle: move the woofer away from the mid/woofer closer to the floor, tilt the front baffle and dovetail the sound of the mid/woofer with that of the woofer. Regarding the filter between the 15 cm Revelator paper-cone mid/woofer and Revelator R29 tweeter, Esa does not believe that a 1st-order crossover is ideal, rather the contrary. According to them it is more rewarding to find an ideal position for the tweeter relative to the mid/woofer and then use a steeper filter. The tweeter of Credo 4 sits in its own baffle which is angled differently than the main front baffle.

Sound quality
Critical listening took place mostly in a room whose well-treated acoustics are as familiar to me as my own room and where I've conducted dozens and dozens of speaker reviews over the years. The reason for this arrangement was that I wanted an appropriate reference and the similarly priced splendid Dunlavy Athena 3-way provided that. Both speakers were set over a meter from the front wall and a meter from the side walls. The distance to the listening position was about 3 meters.


For the amplifier Credo 4 poses no great hurdle. Its nominal impedance is 4 ohms and that value never drops below 3.5 ohms. The claimed voltage sensitivity is 92dB (1m/1W) and based on certain tests I carried out, I believe it to be accurate. The manufacturer seems convinced that the Credo 4 isn't overly scrupulous about the quality of amplification and after having tried half a dozen of solid-state amps from a small French Lavardin to a Swedish Bladelius power plant, from a cool Danish Densen to a hot Italian Goldenote and the mighty Accuphase of course, I do understand their point. The Credo 4's performance does not collapse during amp swaps yet there are certain sonic qualities that would make it questionable not to invest in a quality amplifier.

At the risk of not seeing the forest for the trees, I'll split the assessment into two parts- that which concerns the loudspeaker's top section (tweeter and mid/woofer), and that which is output by the paralleled woofers. As to the former, the sound is simply very competent and deserves high praise. From the bass upwards the sound is clean, airy, accurate, transparent and sophisticated. Cymbals, violins and acoustic guitars are all reproduced in colors that appear natural and genuine. Above all, the sound has good realism. The treble is neither bright nor shy. Low-level sounds such as the echoes off a violin body or acoustic guitar are clear and not merely as extra detail but one with meaning. The same is true for the micro-level dynamics. All these properties contribute to the speaker's high-level musicality.

The cooperation and coherence between tweeter and mid/woofer was generally smooth. Some music examples did reveal that somewhere in the upper midrange, if necessary, lives an energy that can erupt for example in the sound of a violin as a mild forwardness. When those particular frequencies (not fatal in the first place) are avoided, the Credo 4 is exemplary open (in a good fashion) dry, fresh and pure as the best dry white wines.


On bass performance in general I have to say that if bass notes are meddling with the lower midrange, it is plain wrong and spoils the music. If the bass is kept separate to avoid confusion, the quantity of the bass -- not completely but still -- is more a matter of taste since some music subjectively simply requires more bass than other types. The Credo 4 is a strong bass player but as a quality loudspeaker, the keeps its nails mostly away from the midrange. This is an excellent achievement particularly when taking into account that at ca. 350Hz, the woofer crosses higher than on average and that the filter is a 1st order, meaning the response is down only 6dB at 700Hz. It's also an achievement in that for keeping soundstage and imaging pristine and intelligible, the woofers placed well below the mid/woofer ought not to assume too much of a role in providing recorded spatial information. Esa has done a good job in this regard and the soundstage constructed on the mid/woofer-tweeter axis makes for wonderful imaging.

As regards matters of taste, I confess to moments where I would have wished for somewhat more modest bass levels. The fact that the bass extends to a claimed 25Hz @ -3dB and does so with power grants musical authority and fleshiness on big piano music and help the speaker breathe with complex fare. The Credo 4 easily has the necessary balls for both rock and opera. Still, I would have preferred the bass a tad or two more conservative - less and drier still even though it wasn't incorrect per so or boomy. And I do understand that it takes courage to build a full-range loudspeaker whose bass in prudent and cautious even if correct. Well-defined bass reproduction has however the advantage that in listening to a wide range of music, the listener can breathe a sigh of relief when the bass does not impose itself in any way and the music is presented as a transparent analyzable object (Dunlavy's Athena is particularly good in this respect). Then the listener gets a stronger experience of the music itself.


€5,000 for a speaker is a lot of money, so much so that the buyer probably already has to be some sort of audio enthusiast. If the Credo 4 cost 5000 euros, I would still regard it a true bargain for offering so much sound -- a forteriori music -- for the money. I hardly recall a €5,000 speaker that gives more. Unfortunately the Credo 4 costs almost 10,000 euros. At that price it is still worth considering but the competition is far fiercer. The Credo 4 is no Avalon, Sonus Faber, Usher or JMlab. But I have no issue with putting the Credo 4 next to those as a genuine alternative. All of these speakers have their own sonic signature without any of them being more right or wrong than the next. There simply are very many to choose from.


If I had a more spacious listening room and wanted a full-range three-way floorstanding speaker, it could very well be the Credo 4. The only reservation I had was its -- to my taste -- slightly buxom bass but that was all. Otherwise it proved a technically solid and wonderful sounding speaker. How it sounds versus how it looks don't quite match: it deserves to look more modern. The Maple, black Cherry and Walnut finishes create a slightly outdated impression. A single bright or very dark wood surface might be better. Fortunately those are options.
Quality of packing: Massive wooden crates.
Reusability of packing: Good.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Requires two to unpack.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Excellent.
Website: Basic, could be improved.
Human interactions: All requests directed at the importer or manufacturer were soon taken into consideration.
Final comments & suggestions: The Credo 4 is an authoritative yet fine-sounding must-audition speaker best suited to medium or large rooms.
Esa website