SNEAK PEEK: Lansche 4.1 Loudspeaker

My little 10-watt Berning Seigfried single-ended OTL amplifier just got a new playmate: Lansche 4.1 speakers

$50,000.00/pair USD

DISCLAIMER: I've received my first two pairs of this speaker as their appointed North American distributor. One pair has been shipped off to one of my dealers, the other you will read about below.

Specs: 99dB sensitive, 20Hz to 150kHz performance, can sustain 115dB with low distortion.

This pair is in a finely finished in high-gloss lacquer, gorgeous maple cluster veneer. The 4.1 radiates elegance without pretension or vanity. (it is also be available in other wood finishes). At 12" wide x 20" deep x 45" high, it won't overtake the real-estate in your listening area but will compliment your environment as a piece of exquisitely-crafted furniture might.

Feel free to break out the flea-powered tube amps or "First Watt" style solid state amps for this one, you won't need much to make the 4.1 come alive. My Seigfried's max output is 10 watts, and I doubt that I'm using half of that capacity to hit big sound pressure levels.

In my listening area (19' long. 14' wide, 20' high), which isn't huge but it's not too small, either, I can't get the volume control on the Seigfried more than halfway up before this becomes really loud. Initially I wasn't able to tell how loud it had gotten until I left the room and realized - whoa! That's pretty loud! I think I'll use an SPL meter to set volume in order to ensure that I protect my hearing. The sound is so clean that you want to crank it up to concert levels ... no signs of distortion at any point so far.

The plasma tweeter and midrange have been sewn together seamlessly in the crossover. This was my major concern as I anticipated the speaker's arrival, as it would live or die on that aspect alone. Moving up the scale on piano, pipe organ, vibraphone, cymbals, etc. evidenced no audible transition between the mid driver and the tweeter. Overtones on strings, brass, woodwinds, cymbals shimmer and glow beautifully, naturally. Snaps and slaps on acoustic bass didn't sound disembodied from the main of the instrument, but were rather entirely and organically integrated. Air and breath around brass and woodwind instruments were also properly attached to the instruments, with no sense of artifice. The speed of the midrange driver Lansche has developed seems to match extremely well to the lower registers of the corona tweeter.

I had my wife sit down and listen to a track from Arthur Grumiaux, one of her violin heroes. After listening she looked at me in astonishment ... she was saying that she could hear fingerings much more clearly, and that details of his technique were more apparent now. I can't say that I was able to hear THAT far into the recording, but then again - she's the violinist. To my ears, the violin's tone and presence are remarkably correct. Both string and body are lent a natural and effortless authenticity, with gorgeous shimmering harmonics creating an aurora radiating from the instrument but never detached from it.

Mind Blower: Paquito D'Rivera + United Nation Orchestra : "A Night In Englewood" - Track 1: Snow Samba:
This is a mammoth big-band sound with monster percussion. Regardless of the loudspeaker I've played this on, there are times at which the band sounds like one giant instrument instead of a coordination of a group of instruments. In the huge passages it becomes difficult to distinguish separate musical lines happening behind the main thrust of this massive brass ensemble. Not so with these loudspeakers. You can pick out everything, and it all seems very natural and unrestrained. The explosions from all the horns are startling, and you'd think when that mass of brass musicians are all blasting at once that some details might get obscured. Not so. The speakers offer all the detail and nuance you care to pick out of the soundscape, even when the whole band is trying to tear your head off with huge brass tuttis.

Vocal dynamics and nuances are even more thrilling. From Cantus singing in ensemble, "What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor," to Ricky Lee Jones swinging on "Up From The Skies" - dynamics, inflections, detail ... all adding an extra dimension to the music I hadn't really appreciated before. Vocal textures are exposed more clearly, revealing character that seems to have been previously masked. As well, the guitar work on the Ricky Lee Jones track is opened up and more alive while the acoustic bass walking alongside has power and detail, body and weight, and you can hear the minute abrasions of the bassist's calloused fingers as he plucks the strings.

Full symphony is treated with equal aplomb. One of my favorite tracks is from Joaquin Turina's "Danzas Fantasticas" CD, recorded by Bamberger Symphony/Antonio de Almeida. The track, "Orgia," has a fantastic dynamic range and nice bouquet of musical expression. This may not be the definitive performance or recording, but it's not chopped liver by any means. The orchestra whips up into a heroic whirlwind theme with the same kind of aggressive rhythmic authority you get from a proper Holst's 'Mars' vignette (and by "proper" I don't mean von Karajan's - I prefer Steinberg's BSO recording for its aggressive tempo and accent ). The loudspeakers really liberate the orchestra, which had, in hindsight, seemed to have been encumbered by the weight of a heavy winter coat. Aspects of separate musical lines become once again more obvious from within the whole symphonic organism. This is the kind of transparency I expect from ribbons, but the problem with ribbons has always been with loud and complex passages - where they can tend to lose control of the picture. The 4.1's show to me what is possible in that regard - lending that level of utter transparency to even the most complex and powerful passages without "losing it in the corkscrew" - (for you Laguna Seca fans).

General comparisons/impressions - first blush:

Vs. "Dynamic" speakers, the 4.1 soundly trounces every single one I've ever heard, bar none. They are no match for the transparency and dynamic acceleration and contrast possible with the 4.1 speaker. As well, there is a sensitivity offset that lands the 4.1 well ahead of that pack. Coherence is on a par with the very best examples of dynamic speakers.

Vs. ribbons and electrostats, the 4.1 matches or exceeds in transparency, microdynamics, and surely exceeds them when it comes to holding it all together in complex and loud passages.

Vs. horns, it matches dynamic contrast, acceleration, and sensitivity without that ultra-uvular and shouty midrange that horns seem to impart.

The Lansche 4.1 seems to be throwing down a formidable gauntlet and daring all comers to take their best shot. With the 4.1's sensitivity, speed, transparency, seamlessness, and overall authority ... challengers shouldn't take up the glove with anything less than grave respect and a meticulously prepared Last Will and Testament.

So far, I'm decidedly impressed with the out-of-the-box performance and strongly suspect that this loudspeaker has the potential set the performance-bar considerably high. How high I have yet to find out, but it is sufficient to say at this point that the sky may be the limit. After all, with a 20-Hz-150kHz bandwidth, it remains a singular example of extremely extreme performance. I haven't yet gotten the special burn-in CD from Lansche, said to further improve the performance of the midrange especially. I can't imagine what that will be like, but I look forward to finding out!