The Sound
Contents
How does an aluminum monitor with roots in the studio sound? Like a Stenheim Alumine Two? Well, uh… it’s kind of like that… The Stenheim also sounds incredibly clean and fast. Remarkably fast. But, uh… there is a substantial difference in the presentation of the middle / high frequencies. That’s because of the Mundorf AMT. The Stenheim has a dome tweeter. It radiates larger and wider than the AMT. The AMT plays much more ‘straight forward’.
Now both systems have advantages and disadvantages. The dome has a nice big and airy presentation. But also has (much) more trouble with the side walls and reflections from ceiling and floor. An AMT presents something less broad and grand… but it also suffers less from reflections. So you see… the perfect formula isn’t there yet.
Precise and fast
Now we already know the Mundorf AMT from another speaker: the Daudio S1. There the unit hangs free in the air (and is something modified). However, we detect the same signature: fast, open precise. It’s a really nice AMT. And it seamlessly connects to the ScanSpeak Revelator woofer in this case. We hear – and measure – no transition at all.
We’re playing lot of music for this review. Think of: Steven Wilson, Tool, Heather Nova (new album is very nice, especially Vincent), Faithless… The Acelec Model One processes it all without a murmur…
What is striking while playing, is that the low-end is particularly rich and generous. Bands like Faithless just need a nice foundation to stand out. This works very well with the Acelec Model One. It’s just absolutely not thin or overly clean in the lower frequencies. Our Focals are able to build up a little more pressure in the large room, but if we listen critically, they do not go much deeper than the Acelec. In short: in a more compact space, that pressure difference would no longer be a problem.
And that’s what we hear when we connect the Model One to the Hegel Röst. That combination is just delicious! We’ve been playing with these Acelecs in the typing room for at least a week. And of course during that week all kinds of things will come along on our office flac-stream. Mostly Radio Paradise to be honest. What is striking is that during the ‘Acelec’-period we pay much more attention to the music. With the other system that normally plays, it’s just noise. Not exciting… and in our opinion that’s a requirement of a hi-fi system: involving the listener in the music. Excitement… transmit the emotion. That works out very well with this Acelec Model One.
