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-   -   Testing the all new Ilumnia Magister! (https://www.audioaficionado.org/showthread.php?t=42227)

bart 02-18-2018 08:32 AM

Testing the all new Ilumnia Magister!
 
Last weekend, my audio buddy Jacques (aka Jem666) and I went to Meerhout in Belgium, to extensively test/hear/admire the speaker developped by the 2 brothers Nuyts.

You can read about this unique project on their good website:

https://www.ilumnia.be

It took them 7 years of blood, sweat and tears to finalise their new driver concept.
It uses electro-magnetic suspension, which is the reason that the response is more linear than any other driver in the world.

Here it is:

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5372.jpg


The cone itself is incredibly light:

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5374.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5376.jpg

bart 02-18-2018 08:45 AM

There you have the driver, installed in the speaker:

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5378.jpg


This is the power supply, needed to generate an electro magnetic field for the cone to float in.
It resides on the Gamut pre-amplifier:

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5380.jpg


5 positions in the power supply, to influence the suspension tightness.
It is in fact a very stable (until 1/1000th of a Volt!) 3 Volt rating power source.
The speaker itself is 100% passive.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5381.jpg

bart 02-18-2018 08:51 AM

This is the set-up.
No room treatments, Tom Nuyts wants to create the same circumstances as there exist in most living rooms.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5382.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5383.jpg


Crossover happens at 7 kHz.
The driver goes to 12-13 kHz but the Scanspeak Illuminator takes over at 7 kHz (slope 6 dB).

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5384.jpg

bart 02-18-2018 09:04 AM

We started off with the Jadis integrated (2x30W), an EAR DAC, and the music came from streaming or an Accuphase DP-80 used as CD-drive.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5385.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5386.jpg


The speaker has a sensitivity of 88 dB, but is quite easy to drive.
I didn't feel lack of power in most tracks.
Jacques found the bass lacking with this combination.
But I'll comment later on sound quality.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5387.jpg


I tested EAR DACs some time ago.
I compared them profoundly against my Burmester DAC/CD player, and me and my wife found them very very similar.
I knew this would make an evaluation of this speaker more trustworthy.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5388.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5389.jpg

bart 02-18-2018 09:12 AM

We listened to a couple of tracks Tom chose first.

Then we went to the selection I brought.
Very well known tracks, that I have heard on multiple systems.
Before I left, I went through them, to really imprint my reference.

First:
Rebecca Pidgeon - The Raven

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1Sl3tsXu6L.jpg


Ben, from Acoustic Matters, learned me how to listen to track 12, 'Spanish Harlem'.
I noted: very fast transients, very clear and transparent sound. Mids and treble close to perfection.
But: bass a bit disconnected.
This is clearly not a point source like some reviews stated.

bart 02-18-2018 09:22 AM

Next track, a piece that Jacques knows by heart:

Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....-40_OU11__.jpg


Track 1, 'Aerial Boundaries' is bass heavy, and it is a complex bass to reproduce.
Jacques found there was not enough separation in the bass, it all became a bit a one tone fundament.


Next: Madredeus - Ainda

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1j7gQ9iwkL.jpg


Track 9; 'Ainda' contains a very low, steady note. I heard it during a live concert and was so disappointed that my system at the time could not reproduce it.
When I went with a sub, it could, but it was only with my current speakers, the Vivid G2 Giya, that the result was entirely satisfactory.
B&W 800 D2s were not able either to adequately transduce it, so it is a difficult track for loudspeakers.
Here we heard the tone a bit, but only a bit.
Tom said they measured output till 16 Hz.
So it is possible that the room was partly the cause of the bass a bit monotonous and/or lacking.
I also found the timbre of the singer's magnificent voice was a bit poorer than at home.

bart 02-18-2018 09:30 AM

Next: Muddy Waters - Folk Singer

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....BL._SX522_.jpg


Here I had to complement Tom!
Truly excellent.
I thought the ambient noise of the recording studio was even more apparent than at my place.
Wonderful.

Jacques and I agreed that the imaging of the speakers was brilliant, even in such a bad room.
That became even more clear in Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1BZofklBEL.jpg

bart 02-18-2018 09:40 AM

Liadov - Baba Yaga

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....1nCMFXYvJL.jpg


This orchestral piece showed that the Ilumnia can reproduce an orchestra quite faithfully, even the double bass section.


Forqueray - Pièces de clavecin

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....GL._SX522_.jpg


A torture track.
A harpsichord is difficult to transduce realistically.
The Ilumnia did again a great job on the mids and highs, but the lower notes were a bit muddled.


Gabrielli - La Nascita del Violoncello

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....VL._SY679_.jpg


This is a terrific recording.
And the Ilumnia did a terrific job.
A bit less coherent bass than at home, but very natural and drawing into the music.
Tom liked this album a lot.
He really is a MUSIC LOVER first of all!

bart 02-18-2018 09:48 AM

Ella Fitzgerald - Let No Man Write My Epitaph

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....kL._SX522_.jpg


Piano and voice, like in the fantastic song 'Black Coffee' were rendered beautifully.


Ella and Louis

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....2BrAv7A6TL.jpg


We listened to a couple of tracks.
Voices and trumpet again fantastic.
But I could again hear that the bass was a bit of a problem.
Especially the double bass made the enclosure resonate a bit.
Not like with Harbeths or other English speakers, but still a bit.
I'm quite sensitive to that phenomenon, and I don't like it.
Tom told us it was a choice they made, so that the speaker wouldn't sound too 'dry', or 'dead'.

bart 02-18-2018 09:52 AM

The second part of our listening session was with the Gamut pre and power amps.

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5391.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5390.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5392.jpg

http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5393.jpg


We clearly gained (a bit) of power, at the expense of musicality (for me, not really for Jacques).
I think a good tube amplifier can make these babies sing.


http://www.metazahren.com/photograph...e/IMG_5394.jpg


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