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Whether he had similar misgivings or sensed mine I couldn't know but the good-natured Elia proposed one final round back at the Absoluta facility.
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I'd already seen his large 4-way coffins earlier. Yet Elia then had shrugged them off as nothing but personal one-ups which he'd designed over a three-month stretch a few years ago on a lark and to experiment with certain ideas. Ideally he'd replace the large port with two short ones but he'd never gotten around to it. Did the man protesteth too much? As it turned out, absoluta.
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After all, this room did not suffer from excessive geometry-incurred bass boom and portliness as the Sonus Fabers had rather convincingly suggested. With heftier artillery and higher output potential on hand now, common sense would have predicted more mud and congestion. Au contraire. These nameless boxes made the magic. They recreated the general flavor of sound I'm used to in Casa Chardonne but allowed higher volumes than I usually get away with and portrayed a bit more warmth. Now there was fleshiness and excitement galore while the upper-band transient thrills compared to the earlier Armonia panels took only minor steps backward. Importantly the sound was of-a-piece integrated and balanced. Dhafer Youssef, Dulce Pontes and Luciano instantly choked me up to make the crucial point that this type of embodiment did not equate to politeness or mere prettiness. The adrenaline had been added. Because the low end was finally handled properly on both presence and articulation, I could also fully appreciate why Absoluta had added 'space' after 'sound' to its name - very clever and far from capricious.
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As far as an informal audition in unfamiliar environs can, I'd arrived at personal conviction. Absoluta Sound and Space do deliver sonics which are commensurate with their loudly luxurious countenances. Once the HighEnd Munich 2010 show concludes, one expects to learn what kind of initial international representation this company can sign on during these economically troubled times. Italy and Taiwan are already served. If this product does not enjoy success right away or later, it won't be because of the product. Of that I'm sure. For Giulio Salerno and his investors, the first, second and third hurdles—appearance, build and performance—have been successfully cleared. How the market will respond is anyone's guess of course. I'd be surprised though if particularly Asia took long before it found itself strangely attracted.
On that note and with thanks for their hospitality, I now conclude this report on Absoluta Sound and Space until their Partenope integrated amplifier has gone into formal production and a review loaner been dispatched. Then we'll get into circuit specifics and technical highlights. For now, visit their website to learn more. |
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