AudioAficionado.org - YG Acoustics Sonja 2.2

I figured it out; Yoav Geva, the YG in YG Acoustics doesn’t design, build and sell loudspeakers. He invents and markets Teleportation Devices. They just look like loudspeakers. When silent, they command the room. A trait they probably share with their distant cousin, the 2001 A Space Odyssey monolith. When electrons start flowing, spins align and voice coils energise, translating energy into motion, they will teleport you to Elysian Fields of musical bliss as I experienced firsthand at the September XFi show.

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photo, courtesy of Bart

The XFi show offered the stage for the Low Lands debut of the Sonja 2.2 loudspeaker. Bart and I set out to discover how Hailey’s bigger sister would fare. As far as my experience with YG Acoustics goes, there is a BH and AH period marked by my first audition of the Hailey at the 2017 New Music HiFi show. The After Hailey Period comes equipped with a brand new set of expectations and benchmarks as this rather compact speaker rewrote the book back to cover on what an exceptional speaker should be capable of. It would be interesting to find out what Sonja brings to the party.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I find the Sonja to have an elegant, somewhat understated, appearance. Its gentle curves making you forget that you are looking at “form follows function” at its finest. The finish is meticulous and exudes craftsmanship of a level setting standards for others to aspire to.

Kerry St. James, of YG Acoustics, surprised Bart and me with a virtual tour of the factory. The attention to detail and relentless pursuit of higher yields without compromising on the finest of tolerances could easily be the subject of an advanced engineering master class. People, working on the workshop floor, are so attuned to the racket of the CNC machines that any machine going off spec will immediately be identified by sound alone.

It is kind of fashionable for audio companies to flaunt the “milled from a single billet of aluminium” concept. YG Acoustics doesn’t need to flaunt anything; they just take it next level, pushing the envelope, leaving pretty much everybody else behind giving them ample pause to contemplate the relative nature of their boasts. Kerry kindly gave us permission to share a picture of a typical delivery of aircraft grade T6061 aluminium at YG Acoustics. Suffice it to say, business is booming.

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photo, courtesy of YG Acoustics

All components of the Sonja, or any other YG speaker for that matter, save for resistors, capacitors and some inductors are made in house. The Sonja 2.2 benefits from technology introduced by the yet bigger sister Sonja XV; ViceCoil and BilletDome.

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photo, courtesy of YG Acoustics

(from the YG Acoustics website) Sonja 2's bass crossover uses a brand-new technology: ViseCoil™ inductors are CNC-wound in-house, then encased in a vise-like milled structure to eliminate vibration and tighten tolerances. Residual loss is reduced by 24%, and linearity is improved by 60%. The result is better control over the woofers, far greater bass impact, and an easier job for most amplifiers. In a private “Don’t try this at home” video the effectiveness of a ViceCoil inductor was demonstrated by applying 120 V 60 Hz from a mains outlet. It definitely makes a huge difference, QED.

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photo, courtesy of YG Acoustics

BilletDome, if not for the fact that it exists in the real world, would be classified as “Mission Impossible” by many. The airframe is the pinnacle of CNC machining, a feat of manufacturing unrivalled in the industry and worthy of the highest accolades. (from the YG Acoustics website) a resonance-free soft dome is supported by a stiff, light airframe machined from aluminum billet. The airframe weighs a mere 30 milligrams (a thousandth of an ounce), but its critical sections are up to 14 times thicker than a typical hard dome, so its structural strength is vastly superior even to domes made of the most exotic hard materials. Finally, a tweeter that ends the age-old debate of hard dome versus soft dome, combining the best of both. When it comes to dome tweeter technology, I guess YG has thrown down the gauntlet.

It is refreshing and reassuring that YG’s loudspeakers are grounded in sound physics (no pun intended) and state of the art engineering. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts might as well be YG’s mantra.

On a side note, but relevant nonetheless, this little snippet on value. On the web I had stumbled on a somewhat special Sonja XV variant. After some detective work by Kerry, it became clear that this pair started life as Sonja 1.3’s. Kerry eloquently elaborated on this case “So, this pair of speakers is a great example of YG Acoustics upgradability and expandability. It has been our practice to make technical upgrades available to older modules when new technologies are introduced. As you can see, not only did the customer upgrade his speakers with new technologies, but he also expanded his original pair by adding modules. This is a great value for our customers. It protects their original investment and it allows them to expand as finances allow.” Once again YG sets a standard for the industry.

The tag-line for Sonja is “Pure Seduction”. Dear AA Fellows, that is what is called an understatement of epic proportions. I have learned by now that auditions of YG speakers should come with a warning “Can you handle the truth?”. That is exactly what Sonja offers, the truth in the recording. If the recording has captured the body and soul of the performance, you will be teleported away from your earthly besognes and connect with music in ways you did not deem possible.

Many a fine loudspeaker strut their stuff at the show. All but one left me wanting for something more. Only one could seduce me with a presentation that ticked all the boxes. That doesn’t mean the Sonja is a jack of all trades; no, that would be doing it a great disservice. It means that the Sonja excels, even raises the bar, on pretty much everything one can expect from a transducer.

Two features, compared to the amazing Hailey, stand out; Transients and Bass.

Transients are absolutely stunning. The most lifelike I have heard to date. The way energy is contained, or rather conserved, in the attack of notes contributes to a realistic rendition of musical instruments more than I expected. I can only assume we have the BilletDome tweeter and the DualCoherent crossover design to thank for that. It makes you realise how many speakers smear out transients compromising spatial cues and tonal balance in the process.

The bass is brutally honest. It is a joy to hear every nuance in the lower frequency range without emphasis or de-emphasis of certain frequency bands. I always listen to the notes played on a bass guitar to gauge the full range capability of a loudspeaker. A bass guitar is a full range instrument with quite a gamut of higher frequency harmonics, contributing more to the complete picture than most would give it credit for. I’m delighted to report that the integration of the bass with mids and highs is Flawless, and yes that is with a capital F.

As expected the imaging is pinpoint accurate. Sonja and Hailey tend to project a stage in front of the listener, providing the best seat in the house, rather than putting you on the stage like a MBL Radialstrahler. It comes down to personal preference which approach suits you best.

The Sonja is, no doubt, a precision instrument. However properties like analytical or cold absolutely do not apply. Feed it a crap recording and you will exercise your cringe muscles. Feed it a great recording and be teleported. The level of realism the Sonja is able to project is indeed next level.

To date, I have had the pleasure of hearing two models each from two out of the three great American Loudspeaker brands. Only one European brand, that I'm familiar with, plays in the same league and that is the aforementioned MBL. I can totally understand why someone would opt for a different approach and presentation, but for me YG Acoustics takes the crown.

The Sonja is as much an object of desire as it is exceptionally capable of doing its job, transducing an electrical signal into sound. Craftsmanship, aesthetics and finish blur the lines between the exquisite sculpture that it is and the triumph of engineering and mastery of science that made the Sonja 2.2 possible.

If the planets align, there is chance I will have a date with Sonja at the next New Music Show. It will get rough though; Nine Inch Nails, Opeth, Meshuggah, amongst others, are eager to push Sonja to extremes.

I sincerely congratulate all present and future owners of a pair of Sonja 2.2 Loudspeakers. It is an exceptional speaker worthy of all the accolades bestowed upon it. I’m confident it brings great value and enjoyment to the owners.

If you have an opportunity to audition the Sonja or any other YG Acoustics loudspeaker, go for it. If you are even remotely interested in high end audio, this is bucket list material. Maybe Sonja will not seduce you, but you owe it to yourself to experience YG speakers, even if it is only once.

If you do fall for Sonja’s siren song, know that she will rewire your brain and that you will never listen to a pair of speakers again as you did before.

Bravo, YG Acoustics with this tremendous achievement.

Check out the full XFi Show photo report by Bart here

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