[JemHadar]

For a hobby project to grow into a marketable product of demonstrated maturity is no mean feat considering this is the outcome of two brothers’ passion and relentless drive. Regardless of the merits of the LEMS Driver you have to give them credit for that.



Right off the bat, the listening conditions were not ideal, the sloped ceiling and reverb triggered by the open attic trap hall made it difficult, if not impossible, to assess measured against perceived performance. And yet, Bart and I agreed that the strong and not so strong points of the design shone through. We did have some previous impressions of the Magister speaker during a show in Brussels earlier this year.



I recommend checking out their website, which is quite restrained as far as marketing hyperbole goes but throws down the gauntlet nonetheless. During our visit the discussion was quite spirited at times, but this is only a testament to the designer’s passion for his creation and love of music. Ilumnia stays true to their Vision and Mission and one can only applaud them for that.



Using electromagnets instead of permanent magnets in driver design is nothing new. The electromagnetic suspension is just a means to an end for achieving the claimed linear response of the electric motor. And linearity is where the secret sauce of Ilumnia is to be found.



The whole design paradigm of the Magister speaker is the antithesis of the Kii Three speakers. Where Bruno Putzeys relies on brute SHARC DSP power to remedy the shortcomings of mechanical design and cabinet constraints, Tom Nuyts embraces them and makes them key elements in his quest for best performance. It is great to have a choice between such radically different visions.



The LEMS Driver is by no means a widebander but as it is used to transduce mid and bass frequencies, I kind of expected a Rethm or Voxativ like folded rear-horn/transmission line design. Nope, just a ported bass reflex cabinet.



I preferred the Magister speakers playing with the Gamut amplifiers and it became very obvious that the LEMS Driver really does well in the mid range, the speakers as a whole presented a nicely outlined soundstage and the whole presentation sounded musical in the sense that timbre of acoustical instruments was truthful as far as the listening conditions would allow. For sake of comparison, they reminded me very much of ATC Softdome midrange units.



I was not convinced when the Michael Hedges track Aerial Boundaries came on. About 4 minutes into the track the tapping and plucking on the low strung guitar produces some pretty low notes with strong transients engulfed in a wash of rich harmonics courtesy of the higher tuned strings. When played very loud, this is an excellent track to compare the mettle of amplifiers and the reach of speakers. For my taste there was just not enough of the richness I know is contained within the track.



The tuning of the cabinet, by design subtly more lively than inert, leaned more to a one note bass emphasis than desirable, but that could have been the room, so hard to tell.



It violates the original design paradigm, but I would love to hear the LEMS Driver used in a more traditional three way configuration, limiting the bandwidth to where it performs best. The irony is that DSP marvels like the ILLUSONIC IAP or DEQX pre amps would probably lift the performance to another level in an active bi-amped setup or fast sub / monitor combo.



The Nuyts brothers have done the high end audio community a great service by providing this new technology. Compared to tweeter tech, there are not that many choices in midrange design philosophies and the LEMS Drivers surely are an interesting addition. As with anything, there certainly will be room to improve until the law of diminishing returns unapologetically draws a line in the sand.



Is it the best driver in the world? No, but then none of the contenders are. If we see past the marketing bravado one can be confident there is an audience for the LEMS Driver and the Magister speaker as they offer a unique approach to experiencing music. I for one wish them all the success and good fortune they aspire to.