At Home in The Car 2
Issue IX of Driving Sounds featured a review of a pair of Audison Prima APX 6.5 coaxial speakers mounted into a pair of KEF Q70 home Hi-fi speakers. We wanted to see what happens if you go up a couple of steps, so we fitted a pair of Audison VOCE AV X6.5’s in their place.
The reference for this article is one which appears in the last issue (At Home in Your Car -Issue IX) and on our website. I have tried to write this so that you don’t have to refer back but, it may make more sense if you do!
I have always had a bit of a love hate thing going on with the KEFs in my home. I use them predominantly for the telly but, increasingly for 2-channel audio. As with most people, my living room is somewhat less than perfect as a listening room as it is a little undersized and furniture layout is necessarily inconvenient. However, I do know good sound when I hear it.
Largely due to the poor room layout, I wanted to try some car speakers as they are designed to play well off-axis – A necessary attribute of all car speakers. Circumstances took me to a pair of Audison Prima AP X6.5’s. Initially, I was very impressed with the upgrade they offered over the original coaxials provided by KEF. Dispersion at high frequencies was much improved and mid-range was far tighter and punchier. However, with time, I felt that the high-end could become a little “hazy” with certain genres. Tinkling cymbals were sounding a bit “shishy” and lacking that vital front-end percussive edge. The rest of the drum kit sounded fine in most cases however, high-energy rock lacked crispness and punch and the mids got a bit overrun at times.
I have always been a massive fan of Audison Voce speakers. I enjoy a relaxed and smooth musical sound. These attributes are very useful when listening to Hi Res music files and help to close the “warmth” gap between digital listening and vinyl for instance.
Whilst on paper, there is only 4mm of difference in the tweeter cone diameter, the Voce tweeters both look and sound much larger. On first listen, the definition is far more precise and the handling of complex high-end sounds seems much more competent. The Voce tweeters use the mysterious “Tetelon” as a cone material. This behaves to my ears, very like a silk-dome tweeter. It is very difficult to find out what this material actually is but, all Hertz and Audison products that feature it, tend to perform very well in the high-end stakes. The Neodymium magnets are incredibly strong and again help with accuracy and efficiency.
Voce woofers use a triple wave surround. This maintains linearity over large excursions and certainly at high levels they never sound restricted or “pinched”. Cone material is of pressed paper combined with cotton fibre. Mid bass is exceptionally detailed and “tight” which suits a lot of musical genres. I often listen to classical and jazz as well as complex electronic music alongside my passion for acoustic guitar. These speakers handle such music with exceptional neutrality. This is useful, as I really have no idea if I have mounted them into boxes that match the speaker’s electro-mechanical (Thiele Small) properties. However, I am yet to find a genre that doesn’t play well on my freshly upgraded KEFs.
One of the key listening tests I have done is putting music on in the lounge and listening from the dining room with the door between the two rooms open. This is a trick I picked up from a sound engineer when I worked in Studioland many years ago. Even under these conditions the detail is exceptional, particularly with hi res music streamed from Qobuz.
In conclusion, I love the Audison Prima speakers in my car. In the house they also performed really well considering their cost. The Audison Voce upgrade would cost in the region of £120 more at today’s prices. I am happy to report that the upgrade is well worth the money if your budget reaches that far.
Visit your local Audison reseller and ask for a demonstration using your favourite music and see if you agree.
Top Five Audition Tunes
Ravel’s Bolero – Herbert Von Karajan – Deutsche Grammaphon
Jazz at the Pawn Shop – Limehouse Blues
Rosie Frater-Taylor – Think About You
Led Zeppelin – Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You
Bicep – Atlas
Find out what our partner, The FOUR MASTER Network, can do to bring Hi-Fi quality to your car. Simply put some brief details into the form below.
Not ready for that yet? You can use the same form to book a demonstration at your home, place of work or with your local FOUR MASTER
