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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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. |
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. |
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 |
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! |
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'. |
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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