I finally sat down to write a review about these speakers.
I’ll immediately skip ahead to the conclusion and say these speakers are superb. “Luxurious” as Al describes them, is an excellent adjective. The LXII’s possess detailed extended highs (while never harsh), smooth and enveloping midrange; deep and textured bass.
The LXII’s sound is effortless and smooth in all aspects. I’m most impressed by the midrange and high frequencies. The RAW ribbon never leaves me feeling fatigued. I can listen for hours to all types of music, whether it be audiophile quality Telarc symphonies, or ACDC cranked up as the kids and I boogie around the room...and they’re not shy about asking dad to turn it up a notch!
No matter what the recording or volume the speakers deliver a very enjoyable listening session. Subtle nuances are easily extracted from any recording. I found myself hitting the rewind button countless times, because I picked-up subtleties that I never thought existed. Ambient and spatial queues were particularly remarkable. Under tones and quiet reverb from the recording venue clearly defined the space, while instrument harmonics faded into blackness. A melody can be easily isolated down to an individual note on a particular instrument, but despite this detail, their sound is coherent and incredibly listenable. I’d often plan a short listening session each evening, only to have my wife find me, past mid-night, unable to let myself turn the music off.
Imaging is another strong point of the LXII. The soundstage is very large & defined, particularly the soundstage depth. Al briefly demonstrated the Apex II for me last summer. The ambient rear firing tweeter was very well implemented and added a dimension I had never heard before. Although very good, neither his HT3 nor his HT8 reproduced the sound stage depth as convincingly. However, the LXII was nearly the equal of the Apex in this regard. Quite surprising considering it doesn’t have a rear tweeter. The LXII stage depth is very similar to a live stage concert. The vocalist is placed centered between the speakers. It is clear that a drum kit or rhythm guitar and percussion are behind the lead vocalist. What’s fun is when the lead guitar goes into a solo. I can clearly hear the lead guitar on a separate layer in front of the vocalist. I never heard this before from my Ellis speakers because the vocalist is always so prominent and forward on the stage.
I did witness the LXII’s this summer, while only clad in bare MDF. Their construction is rock solid and they tip the scales at approx. 120lbs each. I regret I can’t comment too much on the fit and finish of the demo pair. They unfortunately have some flaws due to a bad batch of veneer (Al can elaborate on this). I can easily see the lacquer is applied very well and all veneer joins and edges are tight and nearly seamless. Al uses a semi-luster lacquer which doesn’t draw too much attention to the speaker. I think this would be a good attribute should you wish to use these speakers in your HT system where a high-gloss speaker might be distracting.
The VB8 spikes supplied with the demo pair were a real eye-opener for me. I took Al’s advice and listened to the LXII’s for a few days without the spikes installed. The deep bass at times was smooth to a fault. It lacked focus, and transient edges were slightly rounded over. I could pick this up easily because this was a contrasting attribute to my Ellis 1801’s. I installed the spikes and gave them another listen. They did the trick! The LXII’s now have regained the low end snap that was missing before. I have to admit I was hoping for something even more remarkable. I was hoping for chest smacking bass; alas their bass is tuneful and extended, but won’t replace a sub-woofer if that’s your fancy. Those people who use Solid State or digital amplification should have better results in this regard. I enjoy the textured bass reproduction of my Jolida but it won’t have the same control as a well designed SS or Digital.
I took advantage of the independently adjustable spikes to tilt the speakers slightly forward. Without spikes, the tweeter would fire about 5” above my ears, in part due to me being a wimpy 5’6” tall, and due to my softly upholstered sofa that I sink into. The spikes were easy to adjust correcting the listening angle to fire directly at my ears. I did notice a slight improvement in the mid range as a result. Subjectively, female vocals presented a slightly fuller body.
In my opinion, the VB8 spikes are a very worthy tweak, and for someone who doesn’t usually buy into tweaks, this was a refreshing observation.
I’m very pleased to have had this time with the LXII. They were very appealing to me in many ways. I highly recommend you take an opportunity to listen to these and any of Al’s other designs, if you’re in the market for a highly musical and refined, “luxury” speaker, the LXII should be on your short list.
Kind regards,
EP
Musical tastes:
All types of genres including classical, folk, rock, jazz, blues, dance and even pop. I like anything that will stir an emotion in me. If it makes me happy, sad, shocked, excited, cranky, etc. then I’ll listen to it. Not too much Country or Rap in my collection, though.
System:
Wired SB2 feeding WAV files from my digital library
No preamp
Heavily modified Jolida 801A amplifier - push pull tube amp
-NOS Mullard 12AT7 preamp tube
-GE 6SN7 Drivers
-Svetlana KT88 Power tubes
Ellis 1801 monitors, atop heavily damped DIY stands
Interconnects are all various DIY recipes. All 99.99 silver/teflon conductors. Eichmann copper and silver bullet plugs. Depending on the system config, I interchange these and tubes to taste.
Speaker wires are Goertz Pythons - 9 awg copper foil
8th Nerve Adapt corners (4)
Room is 8' tall x 13/15' wide x 19' long (there is a 2' bump-out with a window in the center of one long wall)
System is oriented on the short wall
Speaker baffles' centre line are usually 7' apart and 3' from side and front walls
Listening position is usually 13' from the speakers, or 3' from the back wall.
Recent equipment I've owned, but no longer have:
Sony XA777ES sacd player
Sony C555ES sacd player
BASIS AUIDIO 1400 Turntable - Monolithic PS1 - Grado Gold
Energy Veritas 2.1
Bryston 4BST
Odyssey Stratos - standard version, with cap upgrade
Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp
Sonic Craft SCC300 stereo sub woofers, powered by Parts Express plate amps.
Marchand XM44 electronic xo
