As an owner of open baffle speakers, I must compliment Pure Audio Project (PAP) on their modular / flat-pack shipping business model. They have overcome most of the major obstacles to marketing such speakers, including the SAF (spousal approval factor). I have heard several iterations of their speakers at previous shows and have always been favorably impressed. At this show, they had the TRIO15 CLASSIC, which is the same as the Trio15 modular loudspeaker, but is a fully assembled version (i.e., not a flatpack kit) with a tastefully designed grill cloth (the raw driver look is often off-putting to those sensitive to home decor/aesthetics). The same midrange driver options are available and this one was using the wood-cone AC-PiFe Voxativ driver ($8,995 including U.S. shipping). Apparently, this was the same system used at the Chicago AXPONA show, which was described by my colleague, Marc Phillips. The Luminous Audio Technology passive attenuator and PAS Labs 160.8 amps combined with a VPI Prime turntable, computer files and Tidal into a Roland Super UA sound card (DAC on board).
In a followup email, the host of the room, Ze’ev Schlik, explained that even though the speakers are of high efficiency (96 dB sensitivity), they wanted to show how they work with high-powered amps. Duly noted, but my favorite PAP show demo was with the higher model Quintet 15 Horn 1 paired with the Whammerdyne Truth 2A3 SET amp. Their web site also states that they can do custom builds to mate with various brands of midrange-oriented drivers, modern or vintage. I wonder how this would work with a pair of vintage Altec 755 drivers for the mids?
— Steve Marsh
