Having watched very good reviews of these speakers, I must say that I find yours Tarun the most thorough explanation into the technical insights. This is a very useful and instructive video. Thanks!
This is the best coverage of the Sibelius. Thanks for explaining the concepts. My closest experience with a single driver is my pair of Zu Dirty Weekends I have owned for 10 years. It's a love/hate relationship. I do have to go back to multi-drivers after a month of listening to them. Then, I miss the glorious mid-range and wide soundstage and bring them back on. They have been weaving in and out for 10 years, and I intend to hold on to them for a long time.
I have been researching these speakers for a year. You discussed everything in 20 minutes that I spent hours to research. I can’t bring myself to buy these without listening to them first. There’s not a place to listen in the United States. Great job on your review.
You are a 100% correct to wait until you hear them in your own space… probably to most important lesson I have learned in audio…. I take no ones opinions… I need to listen in the room before deciding… luckily the dealer near me lets me take any thing home before buying!
Have been waiting for your review of sibelius. Your explanation is just remarkable and very musical to listen to and is only getting better after each review.
Thank you Tarun. I would not buy speakers this expensive but really appreciate such reviews to help to understand what is available. Your description of the products you review is top quality.
Thanks for the very thoughtful review. You asked for discoveries we might have made. Mine isn't so much about new gear, but a discovery of sorts about my existing gear. I have a pair of B&W 804 D3s in a smallish space (15'x12') and I use a sub. I've had them for quite some time, and have moved them in various positions to get the best possible sound stage and imaging. I surprised myself by going against the general suggestions (including B&W) and pointed them straight ahead with only maybe a 1/4 inch inward toe. They are in an equilateral triangle of 92" (tweeter to tweeter, tweeter to ears) and tweeters 52" from the front wall. This has created for me the most amazing listening experience. It is like having a new stereo, it's that much better. I guess I am passing this along for those that might be struggling with their sound. It's possible to improve your system to an amazing degree by experimenting and not necessarily following "norms". And the nice thing is, it cost me nothing but time.
I had my eyes on them since I watched few album recommendation by pearl acoustic, Harley always replies even Any sort of questions.. brilliant review once again
Hi Tarun, to answer your questions what interesting stuff I have come across .. I tried to get a somewhat audiophile listening experience in my home. But .. my home is a 47 foot sailboat. So, room is limited (nothing freestanding), environment a bit less friendly (humidity), and power is challenging (whilst at anchor or sailing). So I set out to create system that fits in that context. I came across the Gallo Accoustig D'Avia satelite speakers which I absolutely love. I power them using a Focal Car hifi amp (the FPX 4.400 SQ) since that runs on 12 volts. I built a passive subwoofer using a Focal P 25 FE speaker in marine grade wood, built into the settee, powered by channel 3&4 of the FPX 4.400. I stream music via a marine boat hifi unig (Fusion Marine AV7550 which is good, but I am intending to replace shortly by a more audiophile solution (.. not sure what yet). So far I am sure I have the best sounding boat in the marina :-) I love the sound!
Excellent review of the Sibelius CG loudspeakers! You speak of several caveats of the speakers which I appreciate, because being able to play a bit loud was one that is a deal breaker for myself, that and the price. Thank you very much for an eye opening review.
Once again Tarun another stimulative, concise and informative review. I fully understand the Pearl Acoustics, they’re specialised speakers designed purely for certain genres of music. Classic, Jazz, Acoustic, Rhythm and Blues. I’ve watched a few of Harleys videos also, his favourite CD players, how many watts do you need? Etc. At what they’re designed for they’ll be exceptional.
I'm lucky enough to own a pair of horn based loudspeakers, from Tommy Horning, so I found this review particularly interesting - largely (and a bit embarrassingly) because I had no idea how my speakers worked - so I'm very grateful for you for doing this. The impression you gave is that you had just as much fun doing it as I did watching it - fabulous! Thanks Tarun 👍😁👍
Dear Tarun, it was a highly informative and honest review explained in a way that even non rocket-scientists could understand the physics behind it. Congratulations! In my opinion this is the secret many reviewers tend to forget about. Since you asked: here on the continent Bladelius amplifiers and Vienna Acoustics speakers are highly regarded. Would be nice to hear your opinion about them. Keep going!
I tried the Markaudio Alpair 7ms drivers in a Pensil enclosure and agree with the main characteristics you shared in the video. Remarkable, these full ranges. Cost me ca. GBP250 plus my own time to build 'em. They just can't play loud though. Dynamics are clearly limited and I wouldn't want them as the only pair of speakers in my home. My new project is a Joseph Crowe No.1786 (15" + 600Hz Horn), not yet finished...
I've been following Pearl Acoustic's work for a while and really appreciate the effort and knowledge being served around to viewers of that channel. Sibelius is out of my budget 😬 but it sure pulls the curiosity strings in my audiophile journey! Keep up the wonderful work Tarun ✌️
@@user-xg6zz8qs3q I have great speakers. Advance Paris KC800. I think they are even more underrated 😜 But since my room is rather small (16m2) i am on the hunt for B&W Nautilus 805. I just have to sell mine AP first.
I’ve always loved your reviews, and am grateful you have reviewed Harley’s speakers. I enjoy his channel, and his approach. Although the speakers will not likely find their way into my house, I really admire the simplicity of the design, and am glad you gave them a highly recommended.
I use Magnepans for 30 years! I have a set of Zu 6, for about4 years. I have had Sibelius speaker plugged into a Rogue audio tube Amp hooked to a Geshelli Preamp I can tell you it is magical!
About 3 years ago I built (from a kit) a pair of Frugelhorn Lite speakers which used the smaller 2" Mark Audio full range driver, the bass loading was similar to the Sibelius, the main difference was they vent to the rear, the low end and dynamics was unbelievable for such a small driver and cabinet going to under 40hz in room, the only thing which let them down was limited low bass power handling. Midrange, treble and imaging was first rate, the Mark Audio drivers are tremendous imo. A couple of years previously I had a pair of Jordan VTLs, also amazing bass and dynamics from the 4" full range drivers, the Jordans have a bit of a cult following unfortunately I couldn't live with their unfortunate severe FR dip in the upper mid lower treble region, the drivers now are very expensive 😮
Ah, the vagaries of the YT algorithm’s timing of delivery of viewing recommendations- I’m seeing this in mid May ‘24. I happen to be one of the members of the team that originally developed the FH series, and built initial prototypes of FH1 through to XL, using mostly Fostex and MA drivers, as well as many of Scott Lindgren’s Pensil and Megalith and V-bomber series. After almost a decade, I’m still enjoying the 10.3 in the Pensil enclosure, which while bearing a nominal visual similarity to the Sibelius, is quite different internally. It (Pensil) is basically an MLTL, a very simple enclosure to build - the Frugels and most of Scott’s other manifold design, on the other hand take a bit more time. If I was asked to name my favorite Mark Fenlon designed driver, it’d probably be the original MAOP7
My Voigt enclosures are back in service. The large flat panel speakers alluded to in a previous post are no more. I just missed treble so much. So now my wife and I are enjoying these Voigts once again while I continue the D'appolitos for which I've made new enclosures using the original robust front baffle. However, I do love the simplicity of Voigt Full range single driver speakers. The 4 inch Fostex used probably aren't the last word in single driver goodness, but I like 'em. A lot.... I can see why Tarun likes these Sibelius speakers...
There is a lot of gray areas when naming a design - and transmission lines *can* be straight - or tapered in either (or both) direction(s). The terminus opening on the Sibelius is certainly smaller than the interior sections of the cabinet, so is effectively tapered down toward the open end. So, suffice it to say that the qualities you mentioned - the extended and controlled and articulate bass and the clear and clean midrange, are qualities that I have found in mass loaded transmission lines. (I have never heard a Voigt Pipe speaker.) The other way to know that the air column behind the driver is being coupled with the cone, and it's mass is being added to the driver *in the bass* - is to look at the driver's Fs and the fundamental frequency of the speaker. In the midrange, because the cabinet is effectively open (very little air spring), you get performance similar to an open baffle (but with a much lower Mms driver than a typical open baffle speaker). And you get progressively more and more air coupled with the driver as the frequency goes down.
Hello, I was just presented with this video thanks to the algorithm. I very much liked your description of these speakers as it aligns very closely with mine. However, I cannot speak to the stereo aspects since I only have one Sibelius SG. Yes, that's correct; I use a single Sibelius in a dedicated mono system. A couple of years ago, I became interested in what a HiFi system from the 1960's would have been capable of. To that end, I assembled a tube(valve)-based system and in my search for an appropriate speaker ran across the Sibelius. As you describe, the design was certainly known in 1960 and when I reached out to Pearl Acoustics they very kindly worked with me to produce a single speaker. I can say that a HiFi enthusiast of that era (with means) could have enjoyed remarkablely good sound. Of course, the, in my opinion, excellent Sibelius is a major factor in that sound. Thank you, and I will check out other videos of yours. All the best.
I came along the 4 inch full range Tang Band 4W1879. Placed in open baffle with a Aurum Cantus Ribbon used as supertweeter (6dB/octave @22kHz without resistor), driven by SET tube amp, giving wonderful results.
I have a pair of single driver speakers that I pop into my system every now and then.These are the Omega compact floorstanders with 6.5 inch alnico drivers , these include a whizzer cone.These are very engaging indeed and clearly demonstrate the effect of crossover components in the signal chain.Lively and engaging with an open midrange, massive soundstage(if that’s your sort of thing) , and great timing.Brilliant for low to medium level listening but if I want to play loud their shortcomings are obvious.Single driver speakers are usually very efficient and mate well with low power tube amplification (the Sibelius isn’t particularly efficient though) The Sibelius is an interesting speaker and I have yet to hear them although the pricing may be a little off putting.
This is an exceptional review. It is a detailed mixture of advantages and disadvantages of the speaker and a perspicuous rendering of the sonic qualities which make it distinct from many other types of speakers. Given the cost of the speaker, it was refreshing to hear an honest evaluation as to whether or not it represented a good value, and for whom. I think the advice offered to the company, namely, to try to bring down the cost incurred by some of the labor, is worth serious attention by the owners. One difficult fact for a company like this to get around is the cost of living and labor in a developed country such as Belgium. No doubt those standards of living are similar in places like Denmark (with their famous speaker makers, e.g. Dynaudio, Dali), but since they make things at scale (outsourcing, in part, to other countries), they manage costs in a way hard for Pearl to duplicate.
Excellent review! I have been living with a pair of Sibelius CG for 1.5 years and really love them. The stands though pretty good was no match for the Townshend podiums which I already had when I bought the speakers. Transparency, soundstage and bass improved with them. Coincidentally I have just installed the Stack Audio Auva 100 isolators onto the Sibelius original stand 3 days ago and I’m quite surprised at the difference they made especially in the upper octave. Paul Rigby’s (The Audiophile Man) review is spot on. I guess the word that describes the Sibelius best for me would be ‘musical’. Really enjoyed your detailed review.
Beautiful speaker and great review. My 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup with almost 300,000 mi has six delco bose 4” full range drivers. Sounds coherent and easy to listen to while not high definition. I’ve always loved it. Don’t laugh. The cd mechanism has to be replaced periodically since that’s really all I listen to. I don’t want to part with this truck.
Another post if I may. Having just finished the project of fitting The Mark Audio CHN 110 drivers into my PMC FB1's (tall transmission line) I realised I have come full circle. My first real hifi speaker was design made in Melbourne by Graeme Rodwell that featured the 8inch JBL LE8T. This was a magnificent full range speaker. Amazing. I used Dynaco kit amps. I loved them for years and wish I still had them. My brother still has his. By the way the PMC FB1"s with the CHN 110's just keep getting better. I will never go back to Xovers. Cheers.
Tarun, you’re by far my favorite reviewer on You Tube. I have watched them all, more than a few times. This was an excellent description of this speaker. You explained the design very well. I am building my own folded quarter wave Voigt pipe speakers using different full range 6.5” paper cone drivers. I believe if Pearl Acoustics had used a natural fiber/paper based material the tonal accuracy could have been better. These full range drivers in a QWVP (quarter wave Voigt pipe)enclosure have amazing bass and are extraordinarily revealing. It’s like an instrument to test all your upstream equipment, except it’s the very best instrument because it allows your own ears to be the judge. Differences in upstream source, amp, preamp, cable, interconnect, and recordings are very clearly audible. It’s quite amazing actually. But it makes perfect sense. The best crossover is no crossover when it comes to speaker design. “Less” is definitely “more” in this case.
Thanks a lot for the review. The first time I actually saw a cross section of the speaker! I own a pair for about a couple of years, pair them with a PrimaLuna EVO 300 pre and a PassLabs XA25 pure class A power amp. All your points were spot on and agree with my listening: great presentation and sound stage, revealing of sub-par recordings, rather for quality low volume listening than for window rattling bass, sensitive to toe in and also firing ~over shoulder. I cranked them up to excessive sound level in my 18x18 ft room (diagonal set-up), and speaker cone barely moved. So I think you can actually drive them quite hard/loud, if you really want to. I added a REL T9/i, but the sound lost cohesion so after trying everything I knew and crawling on the floor, I disconnected the REL again. Did not know about the painted version, have the natural oak finish in hour home surrounded by oaks. In terms of genres, I tried them with baroque strings, arabic rebec music, to darkwave, synth pop, indie, grunge and even punk. No problems anywhere. Some of those Homestead records (e.g. Nice Strong Arm's "Reality Bath") are spectacular on the Sibelius. I found your remarks on mediocre show sound revealing. Recently went to my first audio show (T.H.E. in California) and was rather underwhelmed: too loud and not great quality. Saw one cool TT, the M1 from Ars Machine, never mind the $38K price tag! Still intrigued ...
The cross section of the Voigt Pipe is a design I found online that is very similar to the Sibelius but not exactly the same dimensions. Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Great review; again. I have fitted a pair of Mark audio CHN110's in my PMC FB1's. They sound amazing. Playing the sound track to the movie Interstellar really shows how this design works with really low bass.
@@jedi-mic Hi, The tweeter is just there to fill the hole. No Xover. They sound better than the original speaker ever did. All the qualities that ABA described. Class A amp.
I’m trying to imagine the buyer for the speakers and it’s an older gentleman that likes jazz and classical pieces not too loud but well done. Great review.
Good to see a design concept well executed - thank you for your review Tarun, with a concise explanation of the concepts with the pros and cons. As for special products I lived with for some 10 years are the Elipson 1303 in white fibreglass. A similar pair even ended up in the New York Design museum. A 3 way design with a difference. The rear port used the Helmholtz resonator principle. The large enclosure volume for the bass unit was split in 2 chambers of the same volume, separated by the bass driver in a horizontal position. The resulting bass was very fast. Also the tweeter was special as mine had the Foster tweeters. I passed them on to my late father, who used them for another 20 years. The sound was excellent for classical music with a natural timbre and lots of detail. The workmanship was not perfect, as something annoyingly rattled at a resonance frequency. Definitely they were special.
Thank you, 🙏 Tarun. That Pearl CG, along with the Larsen 9, The Ohm Walsh 5000, The Audioplan Konzert IV, and Paradigm’s Persona 7f are my dream speakers that I simply ADORE! Their sophisticated engineering mark them as true set, and forget references anyone would be proud to own. My vision, in having my own private concert hall, powered by both ASR, and Luxman will indeed take mega-million$, and at $7700 U.S. so far, I’ve only gotten luke-warm in my Lotto winnings. -wish me continued luck
Excellent review as always! I've always been curious about these speakers. I picked up a used Quad S2 today, a tiny bookshelf with ribbon tweeters. Paired it with a Hegel H80 and now I want these tweeters on my ATC SCM19s! I'm surprised how much I liked the Quads, they remind me of a pair of Raidho xt1s I had on loan for a while, without the refinement of the Raidhos of course. The Quads turned out to be a very 'musical' speaker with a hyper detailed top end which is still somehow relaxed and enjoyable. It's only let down by it's rather 'honky' mid range driver. It's almost as if Quad was selling a pair of tweeters, with the mid drivers thrown in for show. I added a very capable sub (Kreisel dxd808) and have been enjoying the setup a lot! I love discovering overlooked speakers for not a lot of money, and having them surprise me. Thanks for all your hard work, never miss your videos.
Another very good review from Taran. As regards the speakers, mmm.... They remind me of Celestion, although I am a big fan of transmission line speakers which has some resemblance as they have vents rather than ports. However, the price will put them out of most people's pockets. The most inventive speakers I've demoed were ones I've mentioned before: Monopulse S32. Stunning with the right amplification. Designed to work with low powered tube or SS amps, despite the weird cloth cloaking them.
I’ve not considered myself any kind of audiophile, I can’t say I’ve listened to enough speakers, but one of the best setups I had for a while was a NAD preamp with a good processor in it, feeding a QSC stage amplifier at 200watts into 8ohm into a pair of old BNW Matrix 804 floor standers made in England. If you could out one word on this setup it would be “resolving” I think. Thanks for your videos, I’ve learned a lot.
Thanks Tarun, great review. Even though these are out of my price range I thoroughly enjoyed your review and it should have given anyone interested in buying them a good idea if they'd be what they're looking for. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Tarun for your honest review, you're one of the few reviewers who tells it like it is in a day when most reviewers cater to manufacturers, that is highly appreciated! At a price almost equal to my Dynaudio Heritage Specials I find it hard to rationalize the Sibelius speakers. I really like Harley, he's a wonderfully generous man with his time and energy but my thinking is that these are boutique speakers, that's not to say that I wouldn't like to audition them, in fact I building a clone with the basically same speaker. Since I'm absorbing the labor cost they'll run under ~$5 or $6 hundred dollars which make it worth it for me. I'm not sure Pearl is concerned about the extra cost of the painted cabinets, they have a specific and loyal audience. For me the upside is the low power amps required to spin them and that's what I want to explore with my clone. Rob
Thank you for this fascinating review. I would love to listen to the Sibelius one day, but I doubt that these are the speakers for me. This reminds me that the designs for a transmission line speaker, the "MLTL-6 Mass Loaded Transmission Line Speaker", are for sale. It looks a bit complicated, but if I ever have access to a CNC machine, I would be very tempted.
Great review, was looking forward to it! Didn't know its voigt pipe design, now i am even more intrigued to hear it live:) Built long time ago one cheap DIY voigt pipe speaker, and still remember that coherent, nice and musical sound that i enjoyed very much. Maybe i should build another one again, until budget allows for Sibelius:)
There are so many speakers I'll probably never hear to audition in my life. Some have been around for decades. The Pearl Sibelius is on my list. Trouble is, I live in a rural area of a laid-back province in Canada where a drive to a larger centre with a lot of serious audio stores is a two day journey each way. (And I am sure there are very few Sibelius's in Canada privately held, let alone as demos in showrooms.) A single driver design intrigues me. But your review covers their limitations, and I know they are not at all cheap. A speaker that cannot go effortlessly above 100 is not a deal breaker, but it is nice to know you can let it rip when the occasion calls for it. My fleet right now includes a pair of vintage Leak 2060s and a pair of 2030s and some early KEF Concords. The smaller Leaks I found years ago in a Goodwill Shop for £5. Best audio value I ever had! Cheers.
Hi Tarun, thanks for this review, I have been looking forward to it. I think you hit the needle on the head with this review. A lot of your observations correspond with what is discussed by people who build Voigt pipes. And that they can be brutal with flaws in amplifiers makes a lot of sense. I personally like these kind of speakers a lot. To answer your question, a more unusual audio device I have is a vintage (early 70's) Trio (Kenwood) KP-5021, this is a vintage belt and idler turntable. Similar to the Thorens TD 124 but much cheaper if you can find it. It has an amazing build quality and sounds very quiet but with the dynamics of a direct drive turntable. This is typical of belt and idler turntables. It is not flawless though and it runs a bit to fast, so it is in storage until I have the time to build a frequency converter for it to give it speed control.
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Kenwood is not the best for receivers. But they have made some very good turntables that are not burdened by the Marantz tax, quite the opposite actually.
I have recently built a pair of speakers with Alpair 12p, bigger brother of Sibelius Alpair 10. Sounds exceptional, if you like specific, full range speaker "feel".
Excellent review Mr Tarun! Surprised when Harley told me that the painted Baltic birch cabinets would be more expensive. (I wonder if they will do a tardis blue🤔 ) I'm with you on the desirability of solid oak! I hope to get to hear these next time I'm in the UK I have a 1999 set of oak veneered Rega Naos transmission line speakers occasionally use with an el34 tube amp. I t takes a couple of days to appreciate after the step down from maggie LRS with custom oak frames and RELs 😅
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Yes. No bass bump.The bass output is evenly spread.... They just go lower and lower. The 27hz lowest note coincides with one of my room's nodes however. I'm not complaining 😂
I imagine the only 'chuffing' sounds audible with these speakers were coming from Tarun having to carry these out to his back garden! Thanks for an interesting and well composed review - as always, a pleasure to watch.
Thank you, Tarun. I've been curious about these for a while. Never heard Lowthers but Art Dudley wrote about them. My biggest surprise(s). The absolutely 3d soundstage put up by the Celestion 600s and your Proacs. Heard them an audio show and was gobsmacked. And this in a hotel room. Thanks as always.
I have to say it seems counterintuitive that Baltic Birch and a lick of paint costs a grand more than solid French Oak, but Harley is a very decent chap and wouldn't mess with his customers, so they must cost more to build. I note a few commenters have mentioned Frugelhorns. A Frugel build is definitely on my bucket list.
Another great insightful review of a very interesting, & sublime product design. The technical history is most appreciated! I have communicated directly w/Harley in the past and frankly would love the chance to own a pair of these unique speakers. I believe their design attributes would exactly suit my personal listening tastes and penchant for minimalist audio equipment as reflected in my current system. Now if I could only win the lottery here in the states! Take care Tarun.
I recently purchased vinyl recordings from Pearl acoustics. Wonderful to follow the musical production process until final product delivery. I own extremely similar Jean Marie Reynaud loudspeakers that adopted the same design theory. I know what pair will be my next ones.
In May my wife and I were treated to the unveiling of the B&W signature line in Nautilus Blue. One set driven by the Classe Pre and Delta mono's (800D) and the other the McIntosh MA 12000 hybrid integrated (805D). It was wonderful but beyond my needs or wants. As this was one moth before they went public we were asked to not do a reveal.
🤗 TARUN,I AM VERY HAPPY YOU AND HARLEY CROSSED PATHS AND WERE ABLE TO REVIEW THEM, AND DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS AS YOU ALWAYS DO TO HELP OTHERS 🤔…PERSONALLY I LOVE ❤️ SOLID WOODS …MADE LIKE A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF FURNITURE AND QUALITY AS THE PRIORITY…AND WITH PASSION…JUST LIKE 👍 HARLEY HAS DONE AND LIKE THOMAS ALSO DID WITH THE GALION TS 120 SE🤩🤩…and from what I see described about both…A PERSON COULD FINE TUNE A SYSTEM / KIT FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT TASTES 😋😁💚💚💚
Man…so we’ll done. Great review and presentation as always. The fine addition of the history behind the science only enhanced appreciation for this design and approach. Peeked my curiosity! Also better justifies the price. Wonderful surprise in the equipment pairing, too 👍🏼🙏🏼👌🏼
Excellent review. I am intrigued by these and have followed Harley for some years now. I’d love to hear a pair and agree that the wood finishes are more pleasing for me.
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been watching and reading about the Sibelius for a couple of years now. My biggest concern is ordering them, not getting on with them and having to sell. I live in Brandon, MB, Canada and I don’t think I could even sell them to someone who lives in my province so there’s some risk involved.
Hi Tarun. Thanks for this review. Its great to see a commercially developed and manufactured TQWP. This design has been justifiably popular with DIY speaker builders for decades. The pair I built are now in the hands of my son. They have been used with budget and more upmarket (Fostex) pulp cone full range drivers but sounded marvellous when using Jordan metal cone drivers. We addressed the tall cabinet/tiny footprint issue by bolting them to concrete paving slabs. My own current speakers are heavily Voight influenced, I listen to Lowther horns. Their high efficiency is better suited to the single-figure power output figures from the single triode amplifiers I prefer. I would describe their presentation as "unflatteringly transparent", they really let you hear the rest of the components in your system. I'd love to see you review a pair of the current Lowther 117s if you can lay your hands on a pair.
Highly enjoyable review.. this will be on my shortlist for my next 2 channel upgrades. Harbeth 30.2 was my target but perhaps I just need to save a bit longer for these.
What interesting products have I come across? Most recently, the CARDAS AUDIO Clear Reflection Interconnect. Many years ago, I owned some Cardas cables, but neither my hearing nor my system were well-developed enough for me to know what they were doing. A month or two ago, when I found that my Yamaha R-N2000A and Monitor Audio Silver 100 7Gs (my "desktop" system!) sounded too dry and thin, I remembered Cardas. The Cardas interconnects brought smoothness to the treble and kind of evenness and organic quality that is hard to describe. The metallic harshness was gone, the sound is more full-bodied, and the soundstage might just be deeper too. That was really a great investment.
I believe Harvey likes to use the Sugden A21 Signature with the Sibelius. I saw that you reviewed that one two years ago. If you are into mid range the combination should be a winner. Watching the two year old review was an interesting experience comparing it to your reviews now.
As good a speaker review as I have seen. My own speakers use the paper cone Alpair10P in a different configuration. A Voigt pipe loudspeaker isn’t so hard to manufacture once you arrive at the magic formula. It takes a long time and I think the Pearl’s price reflects this along with the super premium materials. This model took a long time to develop and test. I have listened to single driver speakers for many years and find that in my smallish listening room and considering my musical tastes they fulfill my needs very well. Paul Voigt’s legacy does indeed deserve to be carried on.
Interesting speaker, I'm surprised at the frequency range of that single driver. As to recent finds on this end I recently moved some things around and needed a new pair of interconnects between my Rogue RP5 preamp and the PS Audio M700 monoblocks. Interconnects are important but I share your jaded view on mega priced interconnects. There has been some talk of the WBC (World's Best Cables) so i looked them up. They were very reasonably priced and seemed to use quality parts so I bought a pair of 10ft RCA interconnects from Amazon for $39 the pair. I'm not sure I could buy the separate parts to build these myself at that price. My source was the PS Audio tranport through the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (mark 1) These use Gotham four conductor (plus a shield) star wire and lower end Neutric Rean RCA's and seemed very well built for the cost. I pressed them into service and was very happy at how good these raw cables sounded, very open, good imaging and full range sound from my slightly modified Elac AF -61's that are paired with a pair of Sumiko S9 subs driven from the M700 output binding posts into the high level inputs of the Sumiko 350w internal amp. I look forward to how these interconnects sound after they have been used for a couple of hundred hours.
Excellent as always Tarun. A speaker that I haven’t heard but find very interesting and am very curious about is the Linkwitz LXmini kits. They look unlike any other speakers and might be a fun diy project. Thanks!
I have heard the DIY versions of these…very good but need filtering to deal with shouty upper mids lower treble. I like the paper version of this driver.
Well done, Tarun!
Sean!
Your review was also great 😊
Take care of yourself!
Thank you Sean. Glad you enjoyed it 👍
@carlitomelon4610 Thought I might see you here, Carlos. Definitely a Sibelius fan.
I'm glad you guys can agree with one another.
Sean, Tarun and Harley on the same page. Nice!
Having watched very good reviews of these speakers, I must say that I find yours Tarun the most thorough explanation into the technical insights. This is a very useful and instructive video. Thanks!
Thank you kindly 😊👍
This is the best coverage of the Sibelius. Thanks for explaining the concepts. My closest experience with a single driver is my pair of Zu Dirty Weekends I have owned for 10 years. It's a love/hate relationship. I do have to go back to multi-drivers after a month of listening to them. Then, I miss the glorious mid-range and wide soundstage and bring them back on. They have been weaving in and out for 10 years, and I intend to hold on to them for a long time.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊👍
I think 🤔 you’re on the right track of exploring the differences different loudspeaker designs bring to one’s ears 👂.
Can multi driver sperakers have the same mid range as single driver spreakers, just use the same woofer in each cabinet.
I have been researching these speakers for a year. You discussed everything in 20 minutes that I spent hours to research. I can’t bring myself to buy these without listening to them first. There’s not a place to listen in the United States. Great job on your review.
Thank you kindly 😊👍
If you have the budget available, I believe they offer the option to try them at home and return them if you don’t like them.
I live near New Orleans you can come here and listen to mine. also have zu and Magnepans all set up and running!
You are a 100% correct to wait until you hear them in your own space… probably to most important lesson I have learned in audio…. I take no ones opinions… I need to listen in the room before deciding… luckily the dealer near me lets me take any thing home before buying!
@ I was unaware of any dealers in the US. Are you in USA or somewhere else?
Have been waiting for your review of sibelius. Your explanation is just remarkable and very musical to listen to and is only getting better after each review.
Thank you. That is very kind of you to say 😊👍
Thank you Tarun. I would not buy speakers this expensive but really appreciate such reviews to help to understand what is available. Your description of the products you review is top quality.
Thank you David. Much appreciated 😊👍
Wow Tarun, I must say, you are just getting better and better at this aren’t you!
Excellent review. Maybe even better than Harley himself! 😉
Thank you kindly. That is very encouraging 😊👍
I have been wondering about these speakers. Thank you for the informative review!
Thank you for watching 😊
I respect your opinions and approach, thanks for reviewing this pair!
Much appreciated 😊👍
Thanks for the very thoughtful review. You asked for discoveries we might have made. Mine isn't so much about new gear, but a discovery of sorts about my existing gear. I have a pair of B&W 804 D3s in a smallish space (15'x12') and I use a sub. I've had them for quite some time, and have moved them in various positions to get the best possible sound stage and imaging. I surprised myself by going against the general suggestions (including B&W) and pointed them straight ahead with only maybe a 1/4 inch inward toe. They are in an equilateral triangle of 92" (tweeter to tweeter, tweeter to ears) and tweeters 52" from the front wall. This has created for me the most amazing listening experience. It is like having a new stereo, it's that much better. I guess I am passing this along for those that might be struggling with their sound. It's possible to improve your system to an amazing degree by experimenting and not necessarily following "norms". And the nice thing is, it cost me nothing but time.
Thank you Bob. Great to learn about your experiences 👍
Another fabulous review, if you play classical and jazz at moderate volumes, these are cracking speakers!
Thank you Adrian 😊👍
A very thorough review Tarun and interesting to boot.
As always, I enjoyed it immensely.
Thank you Shane. Much appreciated 😊👍
I had my eyes on them since I watched few album recommendation by pearl acoustic, Harley always replies even Any sort of questions.. brilliant review once again
Thank you my friend. Harley and his team have been very straightforward to deal with from my perspective too 😊👍
Hi Tarun, to answer your questions what interesting stuff I have come across .. I tried to get a somewhat audiophile listening experience in my home. But .. my home is a 47 foot sailboat. So, room is limited (nothing freestanding), environment a bit less friendly (humidity), and power is challenging (whilst at anchor or sailing). So I set out to create system that fits in that context. I came across the Gallo Accoustig D'Avia satelite speakers which I absolutely love. I power them using a Focal Car hifi amp (the FPX 4.400 SQ) since that runs on 12 volts. I built a passive subwoofer using a Focal P 25 FE speaker in marine grade wood, built into the settee, powered by channel 3&4 of the FPX 4.400. I stream music via a marine boat hifi unig (Fusion Marine AV7550 which is good, but I am intending to replace shortly by a more audiophile solution (.. not sure what yet). So far I am sure I have the best sounding boat in the marina :-) I love the sound!
@@martijn2m that is a great. An interesting puzzle to solve. Well done 😊
Excellent review of the Sibelius CG loudspeakers! You speak of several caveats of the speakers which I appreciate, because being able to play a bit loud was one that is a deal breaker for myself, that and the price. Thank you very much for an eye opening review.
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Once again Tarun another stimulative, concise and informative review. I fully understand the Pearl Acoustics, they’re specialised speakers designed purely for certain genres of music. Classic, Jazz, Acoustic, Rhythm and Blues. I’ve watched a few of Harleys videos also, his favourite CD players, how many watts do you need? Etc. At what they’re designed for they’ll be exceptional.
Thank you Richard. Much appreciated 😊👍
If you were in the market for slim floor stand speakers, would these be first on your list? Near the tope?
@@josephfranceski1041 me personally no because my genres of music wouldn’t suit
Thanks!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
I'm lucky enough to own a pair of horn based loudspeakers, from Tommy Horning, so I found this review particularly interesting - largely (and a bit embarrassingly) because I had no idea how my speakers worked - so I'm very grateful for you for doing this. The impression you gave is that you had just as much fun doing it as I did watching it - fabulous!
Thanks Tarun 👍😁👍
Thank you. You are right. It was fun listening to them and doing the review 😊👍
Hornings use the Lowther 4”. Great speaker. I’m an Acousta fan myself.
Great technical explanation. Good job Tarun.
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
I've been curious about these from watching their videos. Thank you much.
Thank you for watching 😊
Another good and honest review. Thanks Tarun!
Thank you 👍
Dear Tarun, it was a highly informative and honest review explained in a way that even non rocket-scientists could understand the physics behind it. Congratulations! In my opinion this is the secret many reviewers tend to forget about. Since you asked: here on the continent Bladelius amplifiers and Vienna Acoustics speakers are highly regarded. Would be nice to hear your opinion about them. Keep going!
Thank you kindly 😊👍
I tried the Markaudio Alpair 7ms drivers in a Pensil enclosure and agree with the main characteristics you shared in the video. Remarkable, these full ranges. Cost me ca. GBP250 plus my own time to build 'em.
They just can't play loud though. Dynamics are clearly limited and I wouldn't want them as the only pair of speakers in my home.
My new project is a Joseph Crowe No.1786 (15" + 600Hz Horn), not yet finished...
The Voigt Pipe is also an integral part of how the Sibelius sound. Great to learn about your experiences 👍
Finally! Totally worth the wait. The review gets an Outstanding! Cheers to Harley too.
Thank you Jeremy 👍
I've been following Pearl Acoustic's work for a while and really appreciate the effort and knowledge being served around to viewers of that channel.
Sibelius is out of my budget 😬 but it sure pulls the curiosity strings in my audiophile journey!
Keep up the wonderful work Tarun ✌️
Thank you my friend 👍
If the Sibelius is too costly, then I wholeheartedly recommend the Closer Acoustics OGY (1500€). This is the most criminally underrated speaker.
@@user-xg6zz8qs3q
I have great speakers. Advance Paris KC800. I think they are even more underrated 😜 But since my room is rather small (16m2) i am on the hunt for B&W Nautilus 805. I just have to sell mine AP first.
You can buy mark audio driver unit and diy
I’ve always loved your reviews, and am grateful you have reviewed Harley’s speakers. I enjoy his channel, and his approach. Although the speakers will not likely find their way into my house, I really admire the simplicity of the design, and am glad you gave them a highly recommended.
Thank you my friend. That is much appreciated 😊👍
I use Magnepans for 30 years! I have a set of Zu 6, for about4 years.
I have had Sibelius speaker plugged into a Rogue audio tube Amp hooked to a Geshelli Preamp I can tell you it is magical!
That is great 👍
About 3 years ago I built (from a kit) a pair of Frugelhorn Lite speakers which used the smaller 2" Mark Audio full range driver, the bass loading was similar to the Sibelius, the main difference was they vent to the rear, the low end and dynamics was unbelievable for such a small driver and cabinet going to under 40hz in room, the only thing which let them down was limited low bass power handling. Midrange, treble and imaging was first rate, the Mark Audio drivers are tremendous imo.
A couple of years previously I had a pair of Jordan VTLs, also amazing bass and dynamics from the 4" full range drivers, the Jordans have a bit of a cult following unfortunately I couldn't live with their unfortunate severe FR dip in the upper mid lower treble region, the drivers now are very expensive 😮
I built something similar and they can be very good. Also the La Grande design here on youtube is taking off.
Great to learn about your experiences Steve 😊
Ah, the vagaries of the YT algorithm’s timing of delivery of viewing recommendations- I’m seeing this in mid May ‘24. I happen to be one of the members of the team that originally developed the FH series, and built initial prototypes of FH1 through to XL, using mostly Fostex and MA drivers, as well as many of Scott Lindgren’s Pensil and Megalith and V-bomber series. After almost a decade, I’m still enjoying the 10.3 in the Pensil enclosure, which while bearing a nominal visual similarity to the Sibelius, is quite different internally. It (Pensil) is basically an MLTL, a very simple enclosure to build - the Frugels and most of Scott’s other manifold design, on the other hand take a bit more time.
If I was asked to name my favorite Mark Fenlon designed driver, it’d probably be the original MAOP7
A single cone in a box for £5,000 is ridiculous.
They are 8 grand now.... ridiculous 😅
Interesting speaker and excellent review of it, as always. It really sounds like this is the right speaker for a very precise set of needs.
Thank you. Very well said. That is exactly what it is 👍
My Voigt enclosures are back in service. The large flat panel speakers alluded to in a previous post are no more. I just missed treble so much.
So now my wife and I are enjoying these Voigts once again while I continue the D'appolitos for which I've made new enclosures using the original robust front baffle.
However, I do love the simplicity of Voigt Full range single driver speakers. The 4 inch Fostex used probably aren't the last word in single driver goodness, but I like 'em. A lot....
I can see why Tarun likes these Sibelius speakers...
Thank you 😊
Wow, spot on fantastic review!
Thank you kindly 👍
Great review, as always! These are very special, very musical speakers!
Thank you kindly 😊👍
There is a lot of gray areas when naming a design - and transmission lines *can* be straight - or tapered in either (or both) direction(s). The terminus opening on the Sibelius is certainly smaller than the interior sections of the cabinet, so is effectively tapered down toward the open end. So, suffice it to say that the qualities you mentioned - the extended and controlled and articulate bass and the clear and clean midrange, are qualities that I have found in mass loaded transmission lines. (I have never heard a Voigt Pipe speaker.) The other way to know that the air column behind the driver is being coupled with the cone, and it's mass is being added to the driver *in the bass* - is to look at the driver's Fs and the fundamental frequency of the speaker.
In the midrange, because the cabinet is effectively open (very little air spring), you get performance similar to an open baffle (but with a much lower Mms driver than a typical open baffle speaker). And you get progressively more and more air coupled with the driver as the frequency goes down.
Thank you for sharing Neil 😊
Hello, I was just presented with this video thanks to the algorithm. I very much liked your description of these speakers as it aligns very closely with mine. However, I cannot speak to the stereo aspects since I only have one Sibelius SG. Yes, that's correct; I use a single Sibelius in a dedicated mono system. A couple of years ago, I became interested in what a HiFi system from the 1960's would have been capable of. To that end, I assembled a tube(valve)-based system and in my search for an appropriate speaker ran across the Sibelius. As you describe, the design was certainly known in 1960 and when I reached out to Pearl Acoustics they very kindly worked with me to produce a single speaker. I can say that a HiFi enthusiast of that era (with means) could have enjoyed remarkablely good sound. Of course, the, in my opinion, excellent Sibelius is a major factor in that sound. Thank you, and I will check out other videos of yours. All the best.
Thank you. I hope you enjoy my content 😊
I came along the 4 inch full range Tang Band 4W1879. Placed in open baffle with a Aurum Cantus Ribbon used as supertweeter (6dB/octave @22kHz without resistor), driven by SET tube amp, giving wonderful results.
That is great 👍
I think you can turn anyone into a 2 channel enthusiast with your great reviews.
Thank you my friend. Much appreciated 😊👍
I have a pair of single driver speakers that I pop into my system every now and then.These are the Omega compact floorstanders with 6.5 inch alnico drivers , these include a whizzer cone.These are very engaging indeed and clearly demonstrate the effect of crossover components in the signal chain.Lively and engaging with an open midrange, massive soundstage(if that’s your sort of thing) , and great timing.Brilliant for low to medium level listening but if I want to play loud their shortcomings are obvious.Single driver speakers are usually very efficient and mate well with low power tube amplification (the Sibelius isn’t particularly efficient though)
The Sibelius is an interesting speaker and I have yet to hear them although the pricing may be a little off putting.
Thank you for sharing 😊
This is an exceptional review. It is a detailed mixture of advantages and disadvantages of the speaker and a perspicuous rendering of the sonic qualities which make it distinct from many other types of speakers.
Given the cost of the speaker, it was refreshing to hear an honest evaluation as to whether or not it represented a good value, and for whom. I think the advice offered to the company, namely, to try to bring down the cost incurred by some of the labor, is worth serious attention by the owners.
One difficult fact for a company like this to get around is the cost of living and labor in a developed country such as Belgium. No doubt those standards of living are similar in places like Denmark (with their famous speaker makers, e.g. Dynaudio, Dali), but since they make things at scale (outsourcing, in part, to other countries), they manage costs in a way hard for Pearl to duplicate.
Thank you. Very good points 😊👍
Excellent review! I have been living with a pair of Sibelius CG for 1.5 years and really love them. The stands though pretty good was no match for the Townshend podiums which I already had when I bought the speakers. Transparency, soundstage and bass improved with them. Coincidentally I have just installed the Stack Audio Auva 100 isolators onto the Sibelius original stand 3 days ago and I’m quite surprised at the difference they made especially in the upper octave. Paul Rigby’s (The Audiophile Man) review is spot on. I guess the word that describes the Sibelius best for me would be ‘musical’. Really enjoyed your detailed review.
Thank you. Great to learn about your experiences 😊
Beautiful speaker and great review. My 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup with almost 300,000 mi has six delco bose 4” full range drivers. Sounds coherent and easy to listen to while not high definition. I’ve always loved it. Don’t laugh. The cd mechanism has to be replaced periodically since that’s really all I listen to. I don’t want to part with this truck.
Thank you Damian 😊
Another post if I may. Having just finished the project of fitting The Mark Audio CHN 110 drivers into my PMC FB1's (tall transmission line) I realised I have come full circle. My first real hifi speaker was design made in Melbourne by Graeme Rodwell that featured the 8inch JBL LE8T. This was a magnificent full range speaker. Amazing. I used Dynaco kit amps. I loved them for years and wish I still had them. My brother still has his. By the way the PMC FB1"s with the CHN 110's just keep getting better. I will never go back to Xovers. Cheers.
Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Tarun, you’re by far my favorite reviewer on You Tube. I have watched them all, more than a few times. This was an excellent description of this speaker. You explained the design very well. I am building my own folded quarter wave Voigt pipe speakers using different full range 6.5” paper cone drivers. I believe if Pearl Acoustics had used a natural fiber/paper based material the tonal accuracy could have been better. These full range drivers in a QWVP (quarter wave Voigt pipe)enclosure have amazing bass and are extraordinarily revealing. It’s like an instrument to test all your upstream equipment, except it’s the very best instrument because it allows your own ears to be the judge. Differences in upstream source, amp, preamp, cable, interconnect, and recordings are very clearly audible. It’s quite amazing actually. But it makes perfect sense. The best crossover is no crossover when it comes to speaker design. “Less” is definitely “more” in this case.
Thanks a lot for the review. The first time I actually saw a cross section of the speaker! I own a pair for about a couple of years, pair them with a PrimaLuna EVO 300 pre and a PassLabs XA25 pure class A power amp. All your points were spot on and agree with my listening: great presentation and sound stage, revealing of sub-par recordings, rather for quality low volume listening than for window rattling bass, sensitive to toe in and also firing ~over shoulder. I cranked them up to excessive sound level in my 18x18 ft room (diagonal set-up), and speaker cone barely moved. So I think you can actually drive them quite hard/loud, if you really want to. I added a REL T9/i, but the sound lost cohesion so after trying everything I knew and crawling on the floor, I disconnected the REL again. Did not know about the painted version, have the natural oak finish in hour home surrounded by oaks. In terms of genres, I tried them with baroque strings, arabic rebec music, to darkwave, synth pop, indie, grunge and even punk. No problems anywhere. Some of those Homestead records (e.g. Nice Strong Arm's "Reality Bath") are spectacular on the Sibelius.
I found your remarks on mediocre show sound revealing. Recently went to my first audio show (T.H.E. in California) and was rather underwhelmed: too loud and not great quality. Saw one cool TT, the M1 from Ars Machine, never mind the $38K price tag! Still intrigued ...
The cross section of the Voigt Pipe is a design I found online that is very similar to the Sibelius but not exactly the same dimensions. Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
Great review; again. I have fitted a pair of Mark audio CHN110's in my PMC FB1's. They sound amazing. Playing the sound track to the movie Interstellar really shows how this design works with really low bass.
Sounds good did you keep the tweeter and what did you cross over at?
@@jedi-mic Hi, The tweeter is just there to fill the hole. No Xover. They sound better than the original speaker ever did. All the qualities that ABA described. Class A amp.
Thank you. Cool stuff 😎
I’m trying to imagine the buyer for the speakers and it’s an older gentleman that likes jazz and classical pieces not too loud but well done. Great review.
@@CashGravel thank you 😊
I am a big fan of Harley and his discussions, loved your review
Thank you 😊
Good to see a design concept well executed - thank you for your review Tarun, with a concise explanation of the concepts with the pros and cons.
As for special products I lived with for some 10 years are the Elipson 1303 in white fibreglass. A similar pair even ended up in the New York Design museum. A 3 way design with a difference. The rear port used the Helmholtz resonator principle. The large enclosure volume for the bass unit was split in 2 chambers of the same volume, separated by the bass driver in a horizontal position. The resulting bass was very fast. Also the tweeter was special as mine had the Foster tweeters. I passed them on to my late father, who used them for another 20 years. The sound was excellent for classical music with a natural timbre and lots of detail. The workmanship was not perfect, as something annoyingly rattled at a resonance frequency. Definitely they were special.
Thank you. I enjoyed reading about your experiences 😊
Thank you, 🙏
Tarun.
That Pearl CG, along with the Larsen 9, The Ohm Walsh 5000, The Audioplan Konzert IV, and Paradigm’s Persona 7f are my dream speakers that I simply ADORE! Their sophisticated engineering mark them as true set, and forget references anyone would be proud to own. My vision, in having my own private concert hall, powered by both ASR, and Luxman will indeed take mega-million$, and at $7700 U.S. so far, I’ve only gotten luke-warm in my Lotto winnings.
-wish me continued luck
Thank you and good luck 👍
I know this video is a year old but I just had to comment. This was a fantastic review!
@michaeldina1103 thank you kindly 😊👍
Excellent review as always! I've always been curious about these speakers. I picked up a used Quad S2 today, a tiny bookshelf with ribbon tweeters. Paired it with a Hegel H80 and now I want these tweeters on my ATC SCM19s! I'm surprised how much I liked the Quads, they remind me of a pair of Raidho xt1s I had on loan for a while, without the refinement of the Raidhos of course. The Quads turned out to be a very 'musical' speaker with a hyper detailed top end which is still somehow relaxed and enjoyable. It's only let down by it's rather 'honky' mid range driver. It's almost as if Quad was selling a pair of tweeters, with the mid drivers thrown in for show. I added a very capable sub (Kreisel dxd808) and have been enjoying the setup a lot! I love discovering overlooked speakers for not a lot of money, and having them surprise me.
Thanks for all your hard work, never miss your videos.
Thank you my friend. Enjoy your new speakers 😊👍
Great review. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching 👍
Another very good review from Taran.
As regards the speakers, mmm....
They remind me of Celestion, although I am a big fan of transmission line speakers which has some resemblance as they have vents rather than ports.
However, the price will put them out of most people's pockets.
The most inventive speakers I've demoed were ones I've mentioned before: Monopulse S32. Stunning with the right amplification. Designed to work with low powered tube or SS amps, despite the weird cloth cloaking them.
Thank you for sharing 😊
I’ve not considered myself any kind of audiophile, I can’t say I’ve listened to enough speakers, but one of the best setups I had for a while was a NAD preamp with a good processor in it, feeding a QSC stage amplifier at 200watts into 8ohm into a pair of old BNW Matrix 804 floor standers made in England. If you could out one word on this setup it would be “resolving” I think. Thanks for your videos, I’ve learned a lot.
Thank you for watching and sharing 👍
I love these speakers great review Tarun
Thank you 👍
Thanks Tarun, great review.
Even though these are out of my price range I thoroughly enjoyed your review and it should have given anyone interested in buying them a good idea if they'd be what they're looking for.
Keep up the good work!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Thanks Tarun for your honest review, you're one of the few reviewers who tells it like it is in a day when most reviewers cater to manufacturers, that is highly appreciated!
At a price almost equal to my Dynaudio Heritage Specials I find it hard to rationalize the Sibelius speakers. I really like Harley, he's a wonderfully generous man with his time and energy but my thinking is that these are boutique speakers, that's not to say that I wouldn't like to audition them, in fact I building a clone with the basically same speaker. Since I'm absorbing the labor cost they'll run under ~$5 or $6 hundred dollars which make it worth it for me.
I'm not sure Pearl is concerned about the extra cost of the painted cabinets, they have a specific and loyal audience. For me the upside is the low power amps required to spin them and that's what I want to explore with my clone.
Rob
Thank you kindly Rob 🙂👍
I'm really starting to enjoy "listening" to you from Canada////You sound like a true two channel sound expert! 😊😊🎧🎧
Thank you my friend 👍
Reallly really great review, Mr T👍🏼
Thank you kindly 😊👍
Nice job, hope to hear them someday, I've been rocking kef ref model 3's for 25 yrs.dont see a change coming soon! Thanx Tarun..
Thank you. I hope you get a chance to hear them 👍
Thank you for this fascinating review. I would love to listen to the Sibelius one day, but I doubt that these are the speakers for me.
This reminds me that the designs for a transmission line speaker, the "MLTL-6 Mass Loaded Transmission Line Speaker", are for sale. It looks a bit complicated, but if I ever have access to a CNC machine, I would be very tempted.
Thank you 👍
Great review, was looking forward to it! Didn't know its voigt pipe design, now i am even more intrigued to hear it live:) Built long time ago one cheap DIY voigt pipe speaker, and still remember that coherent, nice and musical sound that i enjoyed very much. Maybe i should build another one again, until budget allows for Sibelius:)
Thank you Hudo. That would be a fun project 👍
We have forgotten more than we have learnt about speaker design. Highly relevant.
Thank you 😊
Great review. Love the comparison to other speakers.
Thank you. Much appreciated 👍
There are so many speakers I'll probably never hear to audition in my life. Some have been around for decades. The Pearl Sibelius is on my list. Trouble is, I live in a rural area of a laid-back province in Canada where a drive to a larger centre with a lot of serious audio stores is a two day journey each way. (And I am sure there are very few Sibelius's in Canada privately held, let alone as demos in showrooms.) A single driver design intrigues me. But your review covers their limitations, and I know they are not at all cheap. A speaker that cannot go effortlessly above 100 is not a deal breaker, but it is nice to know you can let it rip when the occasion calls for it. My fleet right now includes a pair of vintage Leak 2060s and a pair of 2030s and some early KEF Concords. The smaller Leaks I found years ago in a Goodwill Shop for £5. Best audio value I ever had! Cheers.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Hi Tarun, thanks for this review, I have been looking forward to it. I think you hit the needle on the head with this review. A lot of your observations correspond with what is discussed by people who build Voigt pipes. And that they can be brutal with flaws in amplifiers makes a lot of sense. I personally like these kind of speakers a lot.
To answer your question, a more unusual audio device I have is a vintage (early 70's) Trio (Kenwood) KP-5021, this is a vintage belt and idler turntable. Similar to the Thorens TD 124 but much cheaper if you can find it. It has an amazing build quality and sounds very quiet but with the dynamics of a direct drive turntable. This is typical of belt and idler turntables. It is not flawless though and it runs a bit to fast, so it is in storage until I have the time to build a frequency converter for it to give it speed control.
Thank you. I haven’t heard a Kenwood turntable in ages. Thank you for sharing 👍
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Kenwood is not the best for receivers. But they have made some very good turntables that are not burdened by the Marantz tax, quite the opposite actually.
I have recently built a pair of speakers with Alpair 12p, bigger brother of Sibelius Alpair 10. Sounds exceptional, if you like specific, full range speaker "feel".
Cool 😎 thank you for sharing 😊
Excellent review Mr Tarun!
Surprised when Harley told me that the painted Baltic birch cabinets would be more expensive.
(I wonder if they will do a tardis blue🤔 )
I'm with you on the desirability of solid oak!
I hope to get to hear these next time I'm in the UK
I have a 1999 set of oak veneered Rega Naos transmission line speakers occasionally use with an el34 tube amp. I
t takes a couple of days to appreciate after the step down from maggie LRS with custom oak frames and RELs 😅
Thank you. There is something special about the bass in a transmission line speaker 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314
Yes.
No bass bump.The bass output is evenly spread....
They just go lower and lower.
The 27hz lowest note coincides with one of my room's nodes however.
I'm not complaining 😂
Great review. Would love to hear them next to a pair of Lowther Acoustas. Something lovely about speakers becoming part of the room.
Thank you. Lowther, what a blast from the past 👍
Nice review. Pernell Sweet Pea Whitaker RIP. One of the greatest :)
Thank you 😊
Good products should go to solid channels and reviewers - good job tarun!
Thank you 👍
I imagine the only 'chuffing' sounds audible with these speakers were coming from Tarun having to carry these
out to his back garden! Thanks for an interesting and well composed review - as always, a pleasure to watch.
Considering I hurt my back two days earlier. There was plenty of chuffing 😂😂😂
Thank you, Tarun. I've been curious about these for a while. Never heard Lowthers but Art Dudley wrote about them.
My biggest surprise(s). The absolutely 3d soundstage put up by the Celestion 600s and your Proacs. Heard them an audio show and was gobsmacked. And this in a hotel room.
Thanks as always.
Thank you Gerald 👍
I have to say it seems counterintuitive that Baltic Birch and a lick of paint costs a grand more than solid French Oak, but Harley is a very decent chap and wouldn't mess with his customers, so they must cost more to build.
I note a few commenters have mentioned Frugelhorns. A Frugel build is definitely on my bucket list.
I can also confirm that they are good guys to deal with Pearl. A Frugelhorn kit build is something I should do too 😊
Superb video Tarun, thanks and subscribed. I've been fascinated by these single cone speakers.
Thank you mark. I appreciate your support 😊👍
Great review of some interesting speakers! As far as "interesting speakers" I'm in love with my pair of Quad S2s.
You never miss 🐐
Thank you kindly 😊👍
Very balanced, informative review. Bravo!
Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍
Would love to hear them. Good review.
Thank you 😊
Another great insightful review of a very interesting, & sublime product design. The technical history is most appreciated! I have communicated directly w/Harley in the past and frankly would love the chance to own a pair of these unique speakers. I believe their design attributes would exactly suit my personal listening tastes and penchant for minimalist audio equipment as reflected in my current system. Now if I could only win the lottery here in the states! Take care Tarun.
Thank you. I hope get to listen to them one day 👍
Like Harley, you are a thoughtful and independent thinker. I enjoyed the review, though I doubt I would prefer them to my DeVore Fidelity O/93s.
Thank you kindly. I hope you get to listen to them one day 😊👍
Thoroughly enjoyed this review. Thank you. I would look forward to your review of the new SVS ultra evolution bookshelf speakers.
Thank you 😊
I recently purchased vinyl recordings from Pearl acoustics. Wonderful to follow the musical production process until final product delivery. I own extremely similar Jean Marie Reynaud loudspeakers that adopted the same design theory. I know what pair will be my next ones.
Cool 😎 Thank you for sharing 😊
In May my wife and I were treated to the unveiling of the B&W signature line in Nautilus Blue. One set driven by the Classe Pre and Delta mono's (800D) and the other the McIntosh MA 12000 hybrid integrated (805D). It was wonderful but beyond my needs or wants. As this was one moth before they went public we were asked to not do a reveal.
Cool 😎
🤗 TARUN,I AM VERY HAPPY YOU AND HARLEY CROSSED PATHS AND WERE ABLE TO REVIEW THEM, AND DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS AS YOU ALWAYS DO TO HELP OTHERS 🤔…PERSONALLY I LOVE ❤️ SOLID WOODS …MADE LIKE A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF FURNITURE AND QUALITY AS THE PRIORITY…AND WITH PASSION…JUST LIKE 👍 HARLEY HAS DONE AND LIKE THOMAS ALSO DID WITH THE GALION TS 120 SE🤩🤩…and from what I see described about both…A PERSON COULD FINE TUNE A SYSTEM / KIT FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT TASTES 😋😁💚💚💚
Thank you 😊
Man…so we’ll done. Great review and presentation as always. The fine addition of the history behind the science only enhanced appreciation for this design and approach. Peeked my curiosity! Also better justifies the price. Wonderful surprise in the equipment pairing, too 👍🏼🙏🏼👌🏼
Thank you my friend. Much appreciated 😊👍
Excellent review. I am intrigued by these and have followed Harley for some years now. I’d love to hear a pair and agree that the wood finishes are more pleasing for me.
Thank you Billy 👍
Like a lot of folks, I’ve been watching and reading about the Sibelius for a couple of years now. My biggest concern is ordering them, not getting on with them and having to sell. I live in Brandon, MB, Canada and I don’t think I could even sell them to someone who lives in my province so there’s some risk involved.
That is understandable 😊
Hi Tarun. Thanks for this review.
Its great to see a commercially developed and manufactured TQWP. This design has been justifiably popular with DIY speaker builders for decades. The pair I built are now in the hands of my son. They have been used with budget and more upmarket (Fostex) pulp cone full range drivers but sounded marvellous when using Jordan metal cone drivers. We addressed the tall cabinet/tiny footprint issue by bolting them to concrete paving slabs.
My own current speakers are heavily Voight influenced, I listen to Lowther horns. Their high efficiency is better suited to the single-figure power output figures from the single triode amplifiers I prefer. I would describe their presentation as "unflatteringly transparent", they really let you hear the rest of the components in your system. I'd love to see you review a pair of the current Lowther 117s if you can lay your hands on a pair.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Highly enjoyable review.. this will be on my shortlist for my next 2 channel upgrades. Harbeth 30.2 was my target but perhaps I just need to save a bit longer for these.
Thank you. I hope you get to hear them 👍
What interesting products have I come across? Most recently, the CARDAS AUDIO Clear Reflection Interconnect. Many years ago, I owned some Cardas cables, but neither my hearing nor my system were well-developed enough for me to know what they were doing. A month or two ago, when I found that my Yamaha R-N2000A and Monitor Audio Silver 100 7Gs (my "desktop" system!) sounded too dry and thin, I remembered Cardas. The Cardas interconnects brought smoothness to the treble and kind of evenness and organic quality that is hard to describe. The metallic harshness was gone, the sound is more full-bodied, and the soundstage might just be deeper too. That was really a great investment.
Thank you for sharing 😊
I believe Harvey likes to use the Sugden A21 Signature with the Sibelius. I saw that you reviewed that one two years ago. If you are into mid range the combination should be a winner. Watching the two year old review was an interesting experience comparing it to your reviews now.
Thank you. Hopefully, I am improving 😂
As good a speaker review as I have seen. My own speakers use the paper cone Alpair10P in a different configuration. A Voigt pipe loudspeaker isn’t so hard to manufacture once you arrive at the magic formula. It takes a long time and I think the Pearl’s price reflects this along with the super premium materials. This model took a long time to develop and test. I have listened to single driver speakers for many years and find that in my smallish listening room and considering my musical tastes they fulfill my needs very well. Paul Voigt’s legacy does indeed deserve to be carried on.
That is an excellent point. Thank you very much 😊👍
Interesting speaker, I'm surprised at the frequency range of that single driver.
As to recent finds on this end I recently moved some things around and needed a new pair of interconnects between my Rogue RP5 preamp and the PS Audio M700 monoblocks. Interconnects are important but I share your jaded view on mega priced interconnects. There has been some talk of the WBC (World's Best Cables) so i looked them up. They were very reasonably priced and seemed to use quality parts so I bought a pair of 10ft RCA interconnects from Amazon for $39 the pair. I'm not sure I could buy the separate parts to build these myself at that price. My source was the PS Audio tranport through the PS Audio DirectStream DAC (mark 1)
These use Gotham four conductor (plus a shield) star wire and lower end Neutric Rean RCA's and seemed very well built for the cost. I pressed them into service and was very happy at how good these raw cables sounded, very open, good imaging and full range sound from my slightly modified Elac AF -61's that are paired with a pair of Sumiko S9 subs driven from the M700 output binding posts into the high level inputs of the Sumiko 350w internal amp. I look forward to how these interconnects sound after they have been used for a couple of hundred hours.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Great review. would love to hear your take on Totem Acoustics Element Fire V2
Thank you 😊
Excellent as always Tarun. A speaker that I haven’t heard but find very interesting and am very curious about is the Linkwitz LXmini kits. They look unlike any other speakers and might be a fun diy project. Thanks!
Thank you Bryan 😊
Well presented and knowledgeable. Thanks
Thank you 👍
Hi Tarun , I’ve been looking at the Sibelius for some time. Your review has made my mind up. Great video.
That is great. Please let me know how you get on 😊👍
I have heard the DIY versions of these…very good but need filtering to deal with shouty upper mids lower treble. I like the paper version of this driver.
Thank you for sharing 😊
Very nice review. Appreciate it.
Thank you 👍