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INITIAL OBSERVATIONS & GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
After experimenting with placement, I found
the Audio Acoustic Sapphire loudspeakers
performing their best at 3.5 feet from the
sidewalls to the center of each speaker and
just slightly less than six feet from the
rear wall. This was complemented with slight
toe-in which results in the speakers firing
directly at the sweet spot. This placement
provided a sound that was best in terms of
soundstaging and overall tonal balance.
Initially, there was a slight over emphasis
in the bass, seemingly due to the
interaction of the Audio Acoustic Sapphire’s
port with my room. But once the speaker
placement was optimized, this condition
diminished significantly and for all intents
and purposes, became a non-issue.
At only 89.5 dB efficient, with a 4 Ohm
impedance told me these babies may like
power and the Bel Canto Ref 1000s might be
the ticket. First thing I noticed was how
wide and open the soundstage appeared. This,
with imaging that proved spot-on
particularly where music emerged in a very
dimensional manner and gave an authentic
impression of real instruments and voice.
Experimenting with the Nano Pucks placed
under the Audio Acoustic Sapphires proved
the overall bass performance could be
altered slightly. By contrast, with the
speakers spiked directly to the floor (i.e.,
carpeting over a concrete slab), the bass
seemed to go deeper and with good control.
However, with the pucks in place, the sound
had a slightly more neutral tonal character
and without any loss of control. After going
back and forth, my final overall preference
was to listen with these shiny discs in
place.
Next on my list of observations had to do
more with the midrange and how well it
integrated with the upper mid/bass region.
This seamless transition enhanced the
overall coherency of sound. In addition,
speed, articulation and detail retrieval in
the mid-band frequency also proved
outstanding. Rich musical colors emerged
effortlessly and with a high degree of
accuracy. Listening to different
instruments, whether acoustic bass or piano
was quite revealing. Similarly, different
brands of cymbals were easily
distinguishable as well.
Moving on to the higher frequencies, I was
treated to a sound that was open, pure and
extended. There was also plenty of detail,
air and delicacy, with no apparent cutoff at
the higher frequencies. Again, the
integration with the midrange was seamless,
with a level of natural coherence that
helped the speakers provide a wave of sound
that was musically authentic and convincing.
These were my initial impressions and as
good as things were, the best was yet to
come. With additional system tweaking
including cable break in and substitutions,
room treatment via the highly effective
Shakti Hallographs, and various other
tweaks, the sound continued to improve.
At this point, a quick comment about the
impact of installing the Audio Acoustics
cables is in order. Clearly and without much
hesitation, the differences over any of the
cables I had in place prior to installing
the Audio Acoustics cables, was nothing
short of shockingly good. In fact, the
overall improvement was so noticeably
better, that I quickly understood why the
designer wanted me to have these for the
review.
With everything now ready for prime time, I
started inviting other golden ear
audiophiles and various music-loving friends
over for a listen and they were all
impressed. Even those who tend to be the
more critical admitted that this was
certainly one of the most impressive speaker
systems they had ever heard. In my opinion,
although the Audio Acoustic Ti-C SE’s are
indeed a two-way design, their level of
musical performance is so impressive that
you’ll believe that it’s a full-range
employing far larger drivers.
BEYOND
FIRST IMPRESSIONS - GETTING DOWN TO SERIOUS
BUSINESS
Although it’s been some time since I had the
wonderfully musical ESP Concert Grand SI
loudspeakers at my place, for the most part,
this is the sound that has stayed in my head
and serves as a reference point. Given the
fact that the design of both ESP and Audio
Acoustic speakers are quite dissimilar I was
quite curious as to how well the Audio
Acoustics could bring back the immense
musical pleasure I had experienced with the
ESP speakers. As time went by, and I learned
more about the Audio Acoustic speakers, my
level of understanding increased making my
overall assessment that much more
interesting and equally enlightening.
One area where these loudspeakers aren’t
fully capable of competing is in the very
lowest frequency range where the dynamic
impact and slam isn’t quite on par with that
of much larger speakers. Overall bass
performance is quite good and extends deeply
with great pitch, articulation and
musicality. If you want to really push them
to achieve significantly higher volume
levels, there will be a slight dynamic
compression of the lowest bass fundamentals.
For me, it was an issue of quality vs.
quantity, and as much as I would perhaps
enjoy just a bit more umph in the lowest
frequencies, what I got kept me plenty
satisfied and hardly ever did I notice any
real deficiency. Realistically, there’s just
so much dual seven inch drivers can do in
reproducing lowest bass octaves. However,
they do go quite low and what they provide
is so pleasingly good that it’s easy to
overlook that one area of their performance.
Instead the Audio Acoustic Sapphires provide
the right type of bass that is bothy highly
musical and serves as a reasonable facsimile
of the live event (or recording).
 A
great example of acoustic bass through the
Audio Acoustic Sapphires loudspeakers is the
Ray Brown & Laurindo Alameda recording
“Mondscheinsonate/Round About Midnight” from
their CD Moonlight Serenade [Jeton].
The sound is deep, round, robust, full and
thundering when called upon, but also
delicate, clean and articulate. Listening to
other superb acoustic bass players also
easily reveals similar sonic capabilities of
these speakers. Try listening to Charlie
Haden on Quartet West [Verve], track
2 titled “Body & Soul" for a splendid
performance or Christian McBride on the CD
by the James Williams Sextet featuring Clark
Terry, titled Talkin’ Trash [DIW Records
470150], the authority as well as the timbre
accuracy on both recordings will most
certainly capture your attention.
From the mid bass through the higher
frequencies, music from the Audio Acoustic
Sapphires was authoritatively lifelike, with
a solid tactile quality through and through.
The very special qualities of transparency,
speed, resolution and ambience retrieval are
all of such high levels that I found it
relatively easy to fall under their hypnotic
spell. The Audio Acoustic Sapphires easily
reveal the quality of source material and
can help determine whether you have things
right with your upstream electronics, cables
and other aspects of your system.
 In
particular, listening to various tracks from
jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s wonderful
CD titled The Blessing, was so
enticing that it leads to repeated
listening. In addition, it was also very
easy to discern the subtle movements and
shifting of the pedals as well as any other
movement by the performer. Throughout this
recording, piano fortissimo held together
and stayed totally cohesive. The overall
effect is one of holistic linear coherency
with no discernable gaps across the
frequency spectrum. At higher volumes, the
stage holds together with a nicely organic,
tactile feel and hardly any observable
compression.
 Female
vocals are rendered through these speakers
so beautifully that I found myself looking
for more and more of the really good
recordings by a variety of singers. In
particular, listening to the sassy Sarah
Vaughn’s recording titled Crazy and Mixed
Up [Pablo], is an excellent example of
hearing one of the most expressive voices in
jazz history. Through the Audio Acoustic
Sapphire, all the subtle nuances that make
Miss Vaughn’s singing style so unique were
easily laid out before me. Similarly, both
the vocals and piano playing contained on
Diana Krall’s CD Only Trust Your Heart
[Verve], came through the Audio
Acoustics Sapphires most convincingly. In
particular, the transient attack, fullness
and left to right completeness of the
keyboards along with imaging transition are
revealed most accurately.
 On
other instruments such as brass or sax,
again the Audio Acoustics Sapphires shine.
Listening to the sensational trumpeter Sean
Jones on his CD titled Roots [Mack
Avenue], or the high energy and very
talented Jeremy Pelt on his CD titled
Close to My Heart [Max Jazz], the Audio
Acoustic Sapphire’s capture every little
nuance of the trumpet as well as keeping
full control of the blat and splat of their
respective styles.
Overall, the Audio Acoustic Sapphires
clearly demonstrate an ability to get out of
the way and are clearly one of the best
loudspeakers I’ve heard in this regard. As a
result, the stage becomes transparent
allowing various instruments (and voice) to
simply hang in the air with their own
acoustical space around them. Each is then
integrated into the whole for a full and
complete musical presentation.
CONCLUSION
My overall assessment of the Audio Acoustics
Ti-C SE speaker is easy. Based on my
experience with them, I can easily say the
Audio Acoustic Sapphires are truly special
transducers. Strictly as a music-lover, I
have found their performance to be well
beyond what I would have imagined. In an
attempt to categorize these loudspeakers,
I’d consider them among the finest made
today. As for its elevated price tag, it
will no doubt be accessible to only the most
discerning and well-heeled of individuals.
However, solely based on the merits of their
performance, these speakers warrant serious
attention if you can afford them.
During my time with the Audio Acoustic
Sapphires, I have enjoyed them immensely and
had many hours of musical pleasure, as have
my wife and many others. In my opinion, the
Audio Acoustic Sapphire Ti-C SE loudspeakers
provide the gestalt of music playback in the
home and are undeniably convincing. Their
overall musicality conveys a special spatial
wholeness that is absolutely thrilling. My
one regret is not having been able to hear
them with the type of amplification the
designer strongly encouraged me to try. In
particular, single-ended (SE) tube amps such
as those from Wavac. Still, I can assure you
that the Audio Acoustics Sapphire Ti-C SE is
one of the very finest and most
sophisticated speakers I’ve personally
heard. They excel in providing music as it
should be heard and for that, I am extremely
pleased to have had the opportunity to hear,
live with and enjoy them. When they leave,
it will be a sad day for sure.
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: Two-way floor-standing loudspeaker
system
Dimensions: 290W x 1226H x 390D mm
Frequency Range: 19Hz – 33KHz (+/-3 db)
Bass-Mid Drive Units: 2x133cm2 sapphire
ceramic; titanium voice coil
High Frequency Drive Units: 30mm High
Resolution Wide Dispersion Ferro fluid
Sapphire ceramic concave
Key Features: Six-layer treble membrane
laminate enclosure; sapphire tweeter;
sapphire diaphragm bass/midrange with
titanium voice coil, ‘Resonance Base’ silver
wired; optimum vented airflow control port;
custom wound crossover components to
specific tolerances; ‘nine-nines’ wiring.
Sensitivity: 91db/1W/1m
Impedance: 4 ohms (nominal)
Amplifier Compatibility: 30W or more
Nominal Power Handling: 100W
Weight: 300 lbs per system pair
Price: $128,000 U.S.
Standard finishes: Advanced Specialist 16
coat Gel Suspension Finish™ – Carbon Black,
Titanium Metallic a, Krystal Metallic a,
Mirabelle Maroon
MANUFACTURER
Name: Audio
Acoustics
Designer: Shabir Bhatti
Address: 30 Gramere, Sawyers Close, Royal
Windsor, Royal Berkshire SL4 5HJ, United
Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)7968 388118
Fax: +44 (0)1753 842173
Web Site:
Sales Information:
mail@audioacoustics.co.uk
E-Mail:
mail@audioacoustics.co.uk
Homepage:
www.audioacoustics.co.uk
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