what testers in Canada think about the Oskar Aulos speakers:
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/heil_aulos.htm
Sound stage: I liked the Oskar Aulos a lot, .... are they
for everyone? Yes if everyone wants accurate, enjoyable sound of which they
will never get tired. And if you want a high-tech conversation piece bearing
the name of a certified electronic genius gracing your listening room, these
are defenitely your babies. Neil Walker
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
51 Canada Dec. 1999
---
Albert Simon....
I don't say it often and I never say it lightly: at their current price,
grab them! And then take a couple of days off.
I don't have too many listening notes. I just couldn't write much while the
music played. There was something so right about the sound that I just wanted
to stop thinking, drop everything and listen.
The music filled the room effortlessly with a rich, natural sound and nothing
remained hidden in the clear rendition of familiar pieces. Nothing was artificially
emphasised either or pushed forward. And, just as actually happens in a live
performance, when musicians played louder the sound just swelled and filled
more space.
Instrumental timbres and voices were accurately rendered and each distinctly
heard through the complex yet transparent textures. What a treat!
Their lack of emphasis of certain sounds kept the field slightly drawn back
and, consequently, seemed to create less depth than the reference. I still preferred
them because music seemed more natural. The overall balanced sound was so satisfying,
from the finely detailed highs to the mellow midrange and the deep lows.
I was truly impressed by the Kithara/ the Aulos' larger sibling at the Montreal
show earlier this Year, and I recognise the same superb class in this Model.
---Reine Lessard Thrilled! That word alone sums it up, but
I know you'll want me to fill in some more
words to explain the state of pleasure to which I abandoned myself during this
test session. So let me speak first of the magnificent timbres, and of the remarkable
naturalness of the harmonica, the cymbal, and even the piccolo, which is mischievous
in its flowing smoothness. Voices, both male and female, were warm and gorgeous.
The subtlest of inflections came through faithfully. Depth was remarkable, the
image extraordinary, the attacks full of authority and the tempos tight, the
rhythm languorous or dazzling depending on the music, the bass rather solid,
and the fidelity to both composers and Musicians excellent.
Gerard Rejskind I know you've figured it out: I liked these Oskars.
This test session reminded :me of something I already knew: conventional tweeters,
even the best ones, don't work right. They all have resonances right in the
audible range. Good designers work damp the resonances, so that the speaker
stop resonating as quickly as possible, but the anomalies are there, and you
always hear them.
So what you notice with the Oskar is what isn't there. No peaks, no valleys,
no unwelcome shrillness or artificial "detail." It's like what you
notice when you take off a pair of cheap shoes: it doesn't hurt anymore.
I have in the past been accused of being against innovative speaker technologies.
Not guilty, you're Honour. But innovation isn't enough. Any new technology is
a wild beast that needs taming. Oskar has finally done what I had hoped someone
would do: place this great little invention in a speaker worthy of it. Nice
work!
---
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/ Swiss Air Motion . It is that lack of a mechanical origin to the sound that makes it work so well. Alice in Chains and Tom Waits by contrast sounded emasculated, although the warmth and grace of the Aulos still proved impressive even in this much raunchier material.
Alvin Gold hi fi news
and record June 2000.... Musically, the Aulos Impresses with its quiet competence
and horrible word, so forgive me musicality. What came over was
less the things it did; like the bass, the treble, the detail; than the fluid,
organic way it presented them
La nouvelle REVU DU SON 217 march 98 General: Jean HiragaOne is
surprised by the size, which these speakers are able to reproduce. The conjunction
across an equilibration, dark side "physio" ( to take as a positive
term) a great quality of sonic timbre with a sort of articulated definition,
which betters simple or complex music messages like voices or large orchestra
formations. A large plus is the possibility to sustain a surprising power capacity
without any problems. Sometimes it seems, depending on the listening conditions,
(source material "Martin") one can notice a bit of excess in bass.
(one could attribute this to the first impedance curve) One could correct this
with having a small undulated carton pushed into the bass reflex tubes, which
could equalise the two amplitudes of the impedance curve. The bass response
should be better then. But attention, this modification is not necessary better
in all situations.
Robert Lacrampe Attention, this speaker can give his best or worst, depending
on the acoustical environment in which these are used, as well as with what
equipment these are used. Attention to the small modification, one can use the
bass reflex modification. After some initial listening, we were able to extract
a substantial great sound. This speaker maybe has some heavy bass, but what
a presence, what a profoundness (volume), like a bluff. .Stereo
Germany Stereo 2/98 The succeeeded match between direct and reflecting sound conjure a equilibrated precise and roomly impressionable sound, which has an impulsive liveliness and at the same time delicate and exhaling. Still everathing remains in its correct size and on the floor. For the price of DM 4000.-- (pair) the Aulos is an excellent Loudspeaker.
Sound 11/93 in the test the Swiss exotic with its fantastic sound volume
and the natural sonority as well as the outspoken room it reproduced in its
sound characteristic.... The Aulos surprises us with its divine, refined sound,
which will please above all the classical or Jazz Fans....
HI FI High end 95 Exotic and refined, short and to the point. Lovers
of even most complex classical works or Jazz, will be very well satisfied by
the Aulos. This amazing combination of a conventional woofer and the exotic
mid range/tweeter is recommendable all around.
Nouvelle revue du Son 12/93 It is difficult to find a speaker with such
small dimensions, which can reproduce such an enormous volume, without becoming
aggressive or reproducing a forward soundstage. A remarkable price/quality relation.
Fedelta
del Suono 9/95 The reconstruction of the room in
any respect is of extraordinary quality. The individual instruments are all
in their place. A remarkable speaker with a high Technical standard and a great
personal sound.
JUNE 2000 HI-FI NEWS
8 RECORD Review
.....SOUND QUALITY: The Aulos impresses with its quiet competence and - horrible
word, so forgive me - musicality. What came over was less the things it did,
like the bass, the treble, the detail, than the fluid, organic way it presented
them. Bass reproduction worked because the box and the driver coexist in a kind
of natural harmony. Treble, in particular the mid-treble which is the root of
what is often described as the `presence band', appears to coalesce in the air,
apparently without corporeal intervention. It's almost spooky.
It must already be
clear that the Aulos is refined beyond its station in life. It has an open,
singing quality that unsurprisingly works brilliantly with recorded vocal material,
and again there is that articulation, of everything happening in step, which
is very different from the slightly dislocated feel that is a common experience,
in one way or another, even with quite costly loudspeakers. The obverse of this
coin is that the Aulos is not as obviously detailed as some. There is likely
to be some foundation to this beyond the inherent smoothness and freedom from
audio band resonances, and my guess is that there is some rolling away in output
towards 20kHz. If so, the effect is not large because the Ergo certainly isn't
dull tonally, nor is the harmonic overtone structure of violins, woodwind and
so on obviously suppressed. The effect is rather like the kind of observation
often made about the best valve amps, which is that they reproduce the music
without underlining or emphasising detail. The Aulos embodies that kind of holistic
approach to its role and is totally without the usual hi-fi gloss or sheen;
The music is all there. It would be unfair to omit the point that although the
Aulos works better than I had expected with rock music, its special attributes
seem to chime best with acoustic material, which for this listener meant a broad
range of classical material, but also mush artists like Diana Krall, whose latest
magnum opus, `When I look in your eyes', passed by in a blur of mindless pleasure
and, ah yes, involvement. It is that lack of a mechanical origin to the sound
that makes it work so well. Alice in Chains and Tom Waits by contrast sounded
emasculated, although the warmth and grace of the Aulos still proved impressive
even in this much raunchier material. Prices Heil AMT Aulos loudspeakers £1499.99
January 2001 Sound stage Oscar Heil Aulos Loudspeakers by Neil Walker
By now, I was beginning to plot and scheme: "They'll have to fight me for
it. This speaker is staying put. Maybe I can change my telephone number. Maybe
I'll just hole up and make them come and get me." Then I played Mozart's
clarinet concerto and clarinet quintet recording (English Chamber Orchestra;
Jeffrey Tate, conductor [Hyperion CDA66199]), which features Thea King playing
basset clarinet. The timbre of the basset clarinet's deep notes, the woody,
roundness of sound I treasure in the clarinet, the way in which the ECO leapt
to life, all added to my appreciation of these speakers. I began building a
fortification around the door to the cold cellar. "Let them just try to
get their speakers back," I grunted to myself as I started to stockpile
provisions.
Leaving the world of my militia-inspired fantasies, I would sum up the sound
of these speakers as detailed, but not overly so, with an overall musicality.
The pleasure you derive from these speakers grows the longer you listen to them
because they do what a good speaker should do: involve you in the music they
reproduce. ...., the Oskar Heil Aulos are candidates for the winner's circle.