Intro
Contents
How do you review a speaker that is trying to deny its presence? You try to discover where the speaker’s limits are. With this Audio Physic Spark (6) those limits are far, far away.
The Step 35 speaker stood out in the multitest. This is due to its responsive and very coherent playing speaker units, with no transitions between low, mid and high. It is audible that Step and Spark are related, but by limiting yourself to this observation, you do the Audio Physic Spark speakers a disservice. Unquestionable transparency is what sets these two apart. Precisely that transparency, as if they are not present, is what this review is about.
Technique
The Spark is a three-way system packaged in the form of a large monitor. It is hardly a secret that most Alpha reviewers have a fondness for two-way monitors, because most have a clean and coherent reproduction, and a chiseled stereo image. Confronted with a speaker that belies everything we ever thought we knew about passive three-way systems, we are intrigued.
The Sparks for review have glass panels. That sounds strange for speakers, but Audio Physic has a design where the glass panels actually dampen all resonances. The cabinets do not color the sound. They are also available in wood, but we don’t know if that makes any audible difference.
Most unusual are the speaker units, including the “spiderless” units. For sake of simplicity, the spider is the spring that holds the cone, the center of a speaker unit that moves back and forth, in place. That spring, the spider, has mechanical resistance to movement. A unit without a spider responds faster to impulse than a unit with a spider. It provides, in theory, more transparency in playback, more detail, as well as less coloration of the sound. If done correctly, of course.
Interesting. Appreciate the clarity and the imaging, but just found this sound sterile and aloof, like it just doesn’t want to get riled up about anything happening in the music. I agree that something is lacking. The test for me now after so much test listening is the Mammal Hands cut. I got up and retrieved a water out of the fridge. The JBL 1600s over the little D Nilai moved me more. So…positive takeaway for this newbie: more money doesn’t necessarily buy you what you want. It pays to pay attention. Thx for making this test available.