Deep space. No matter what else, visitors to mbl show demoes invariably comment in awe about their gigantic panoramic vista and sound-all-over freedom. Rather than tones squeezing from cabs like dried toothpaste, they rain fully liquid from the ceiling. Whilst it would be hyperbole to suggest that the Avanti will duplicate that omni thing regardless of seated position... with an ultra-quiet wiring loom like the LessLoss; properly wide setup with breathing room from the front wall; and suitably resolved electronics that can mine the minuscule recorded venue data; the Avanti on the Imax meter can stand in as a poor man's mbl for the sweet spot. Like the classic the-goose-is-out Zen koan, the sound is truly and utterly out of the boxes. It's a common misconception that all speakers do that. Conjuring up sounds between the speakers is very basic by comparison. Getting them to transcend all remnants of boxiness becomes identifiable only by contrast. It's only the superior example—an open baffle perhaps; or a zero baffle like Eden's Tômei monitor—which maps out what 'box sound' actually sounds like and does.

As befitting their semi-legendary status, the Avanti IV could pull off a real Houdini. They could jump out of their cabinets and leave them behind like shed snake skins. While superior small monitors can as well, they don't do this bass unless fortified by a sub. And that'll be mono unless there's two; and even then perfect integration isn't assured. Again, getting sound between and behind speakers is child's play. It's how stereo works. Getting it outta the box... that's a lot harder when you're actually using boxes. The Avanti did this very well. Before you protest that "well, hell, of course they would like you had 'em set up"... ahem, not! A far lesser vanishing act happens a lot in exactly the same spots. Don't confuse big staging with leaving the box behind. It's a different thing and perhaps best called in-room presence. Though the sound is still behind the speakers where it belongs, it's in the room as well. Your attention needn't move forward to make contact. The sound makes contact with you; right where you sit. Yet it's not sonic forwardness. Just like a band or orchestra (and not surround sound that wants to put you on stage encircled by musicians, yikes!) the musical action remains in front of you. Simultaneously, it simply fills the room with tangible energy. And that communicates and reaches out. "Avanti, avanti; ándale, ándale."

After capacious staging and filling the room, the second big draw made hay from the company's motto "no loss of fine detail". Like the Codex, the Avanti's ability to burrow deep into the digital grooves (I don't do vinyl) was fantastic and rhythmically adroit. That and the accompanying speed are what can lead to perceived leanness and a whiff of brightness when ancillaries aren't happy mates. How easily this was addressed I alluded to earlier; replacing solid-core silver with Litz copper cable. The rest of the final rig was iMac, PureMusic, Aqua Formula, Wyred4Sound STP-SE II and Linnenberg Allegros. For very similar sound at equivalent coin, I could have used the Goldmund Telos 590 NextGen integrated and Soundaware SD card reader shown between the German monos above. But the actual chain had the edge so that's what I used. The upper midrange/treble region of the Avanti was so superbly articulated and extended that any amp swaps which stole just a skoch from it were instantly outed. In our arsenal, that included everything but the Linnenberg. Whilst their bass wasn't as heavy as with the Pass, control over its slightly bloomy attitude was actually better.

Tabula rasa? As I'd written about the Codex, this is a blank-sheet type transducer. It pretty much becomes whatever you write on it with your choices of gear and cabling. Such responsiveness indicates low coloration and only remnants of personality rather than a big signature. With Audio Physic's pre-stressing of their aluminium-alloy diaphragms, via a damper ring behind the surround, first break-up modes are upshifted well outside the pass band. As a result, these drivers behave/sound different than the famous Accuton ceramics. Add their black anodizing which disguises the makeup. Listeners without prior tech exposure will express surprise that they were listening to metal diaphragms. Whilst very precise enunciation/diction might have suggested those, absence of subtle hardness would have guessed against them. It's why ultra-wide bandwidth amplifiers à la Goldmund and Linnenberg worked so well. They tapped their innate speed without going nowhere fast. They also demonstrated how even premium class D's treble still plays second fiddle or third Bratsche. Though the Avanti's cachet doesn't include recognizable Accuton ceramics which show up in crazy-money boxes to inherit special status, they're none the less for it except money.

Grill à la mode - with black glass; or cloth-covered MDF (included).

Opening gambit. Game? Big game. For standard spaces of ~4 x 6m or 5 x 8m, the Avanti should indeed be all you'd want to play the actual room, not unrealistic ambitions. A good 50wpc like Linnenberg's Allegro are perfectly adequate. At $1'699 delivered, a Goldmund Job INT would sing like the fat lady. Already at its fourth life, the sharp but simple-looking Avanti benefits from the 28 years of experience won during its prior three incarnations. Decisively streamlined over its precursor, it demonstrates top performance with fewer simpler ingredients - the firm's very own 3rd-gen hyper-holographic tweeter and midrange which are decoupled from their sub baffle via neoprene dowels. For an empty marketing word, that's actually rather descriptive. Set up properly, holographic is where these go and what they do. Where they eclipse your typical monitor speaker? With a cleverly loaded subwoofer-type 8" long-throw woofer that breathes in a bigger box than your stand(ard) mount, few of which are 3-ways to begin with. It adds reach and power which simply play it grander. In my book, that makes Audio Physic's latest Avanti a both smart and very stylish choice.

Audio Physic website

Elite Audio UK website