The German R&B duo from the late 80s consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus as lip-syncing frontmen whilst the real vocals belonged to Brad Howell, John Davis, Charles Shaw, Jodie and Linda Rocco. Before their lip-sync gig was up, they bagged a Grammy award for Best New Artist in 1990. French auteur Stéphane Even doesn't pretend of doing any singing on Lilli, his new micro monitor under his Neodio brand. That work goes to Gallic driver maker Kartesian here with a 28mm soft dome and 4"/100mm long-throw carbon-fibre mid/woofer. Stéphane is the impresario of this show, pulling all the strings from behind the stage via 2nd-order filters, a rear port, metal/viscoelastic dampers on the enclosure cheeks and minimalist banana terminals. The hookup wiring is his own Fractal 8 and whilst only 82dB on the efficiency metre, Lilli retaliates with a promise of 50Hz bandwidth all from a cab 15.4cm wide, 21cm tall and 27cm deep weighing 5kg. There's an optional 3-point stand with optional footers for it. Without those accoutrements, prepare to lay out €4'500/pr.
Like Virtual Hifi's recently reviewed Viper monitor with a Dayton Epique in the mid/woofer seat, Lilli's driver too mimics a miniature subwoofer of bodacious throw. Like Viper, Lilli wants to offer serious performance which people with kids, pets and shared multi-purpose living rooms will find complete to work as TV or stereo speakers off a simple 40wpc integrated. Why get all precious and poncy when something far simpler and smaller will do just fine? It relies on knowing our actual usage, not hosting raves in a future which never comes. If we don't crank up crazy-loud boomtastic fare, why put up with two noise-making refrigerators in our sitting lounge? Lilli proposes a far less intrusive way. Whether it delivers as promised will be for first owners and reviewers to share…
