Reviewer: Srajan Ebaen
Financial interests: click here
Sources: Retina 5K 27" iMac (4GHz quad-core with Turbo boost, 32GB RAM, 3TB FusionDrive, OSX Yosemite. iTunes 12.2), PureMusic 3.02, Qobuz Hifi, Tidal Hifi, Fore Audio DAISY1, COS Engineering D1, Aqua Hifi La Scala MkII, Fore Audio DAISy1, Metrum Hex, AURALiC Vega,
Preamplifier: Nagra Jazz, Esoteric C-03, Vinnie Rossi LIO (AVC module)
Power & integrated amplifiers: Pass Labs XA30.8; FirstWatt SIT1, F5, F6; Crayon Audio CFA-1.2; Goldmund Job 225; Gato Audio DIA-250; Aura Note Premier; Wyred4Sound mINT; AURALiC Merak [on loan]
Loudspeakers: Albedo Audio Aptica; Sounddeco Sigma 2; EnigmAcoustics Mythology M1; soundkaos Wave 40; Boenicke Audio W5; Zu Audio Submission; German Physiks HRS-120; Eversound Essence
Cables: Complete loom of Zu Event; KingRex uArt, Zu and LightHarmonic LightSpeed double-header USB cables; Tombo Trøn S/PDIF; van den Hul AES/EBU; AudioQuest Diamond glass-fibre Toslink; Black Cat Cable redlevel Lupo; Arkana Research XLR/RCA and speaker cables [on loan]
Power delivery: Vibex Granada/Alhambra on all components
Equipment rack: Artesania Audio Exoteryc double-wide 3-tier with optional glass shelves, Rajasthani hardwood rack for amps
Sundry accessories: Acoustic System resonators, Verictum Silver X block on preamp and amplifier
Room: Rectangular 5.5 x 15m open floor plan with two-storey gabled ceiling, wood-sleeved steel trusses and stone-over-concrete flooring
Review component retail: €12'000/pr


Alexander the Great. Even if they may hesitate about where on the global map to point at Macedonia, exactly—it's surrounded by Serbia and Kosovo in the north, Bulgaria in the East, Greece in the south and Albania in the West—most people remember it from school's history class as the ancient home of the young warrior king Alexander. Tutored by Aristotle, he ended up defeating the Persian army under Darius III to conquer the entire Achaemenid Empire. He subsequently crossed the Indus into India to rule a short-lived empire of enormous proportions. Planned campaigns to conquer Arabia next were abandoned when he died in Babylon at the young age of 33.


Meanwhile 21st-century fans of so-called Bulgarian wedding music most certainly know of Ivo Papasov, Yuri Yunakov, Petar Ralchev and Neshko Neshev. What they may not know is that they all rose to stardom at the annual Skopje music competition in the Republic of Macedonia. To square our developing circle, today we're being introduced to Vesselin Teoharov as the founder of the eponymous hifi company also based in Skopje. With it we connect world dominion to Macedonian speakers in one easy paragraph. From the Teoharov Model 2 back to world dominion could be a lot harder. Can the hifi market support yet another new brand? Just so, one Vladimir Dobrasinovic, of Serbia's Art Audio Acoustic distributorship in Belgrade, wanted first steps taken. So here we are.

Our connection came about when Vladimir drove to Switzerland to purchase and pick up a pair of Audio Solutions Rhapsody 200 speakers I had for sale a few years back. Having since been tasked with leading Teoharov's marketing and knowing of my love to 'discover' new brands, he contacted me for a review to help put them on the map. With its kinked cab whose head leans forward whilst its dual-woofer body leans back, Vesselin's middle model even borrows cosmetic cues from my prior speaker. In that it also shares design cues with the 'open vertebrae' Focals. His cabinet exploits multi-lam walls with sheep's wool filler and polyurethane D4 adhesive.

When I was first contacted, the Model 2's final drivers were still open. Vesselin had two versions. He wanted Vladimir's help to decide during a joint audition in Skopje. The right option combined Scanspeak's 56mm² Revelator tweeter with a Wavecor 129cm² ExoticLine BalancedDrive mid and dual 150cm² Scanspeak sliced paper-cone Revelator sym-drive woofers. The left replaced the tweeter with ScanSpeak's ring radiator and Scanspeak's two woofers with Wavecor equivalents.


Still at final decisions, Vesselin had also beefed up the aluminium plinth for the left one to sport two 10mm aluminium layers around a 19mm glass core with M8 machined aluminium spikes. Which of the two Model Two would go into production and be reviewed? Would final R&D demand further changes?


As it happens, Vesselin Teoharov's semi-active top model shown at left takes up the flared Focal concept with even more rigor. The resultant concave baffle is pursued also by Gryphon, albeit there with a somewhat shallower curvature. Either way, it shows concern over the time domain and focused dispersion. And it reiterates how rather than consecutively bigger and bigger woofers, our Macedonian designer prefers to parallel smaller ones to maintain narrower baffle width.

Alexander The Great monument in downtown Skopje