Paul and Tomasz had made the trek south and dropped in for a cuppa.
After we’d gotten their gilded carriage off the avenue and fed and watered their team of thoroughbred horses, we had a chance to do a bit of listening.
They’d brought with them some new Cubes, (as well as some other bits and bobs, of which more later.)
I already own a pair of the original Cube 1s and I love ‘em to bits, so I was giddy with excitement to hear the new version in my system. (I had already heard them in Paul’s system up north.)
As with the original, it’s got the simplest of crossovers (a capacitor and a padding resistor in line with the tweeter: and that’s all folks.) But where it differs is that rather than using a doped bass driver, they’ve opted for a custom jobbie that works perfectly straight out of the box. This new driver is lighter and more efficient than it’s older sibling, and the sonic difference is quite striking. The new speakers are undoubtably cubes. That is to say that they’re musical and give that “omni” stereo effect which gives a soundstage that hovers between and above the speakers. You won’t get ultra-pinpoint positioning, but you will get a convincing “presence,” as these speakers drive the room rather than fighting against it. Bloody lovely. These are faster and more resolving than the old ones. More “Hi-Fi” but in a good way. If you're a lover of the original Cube's presentation then you will appreciate these as being the same but more so.
But wait: Tomasz crossed his legs, put a hand on his chin and listened a bit harder.
“I can hear your stands.” He said.
“What? Is that even possible?” I was shocked.
My stands are a pretty bomb-proof pair of Atacamas with a single sturdy triangular pillar filled with sand. I believed they were inert. Solid. Silent.
Tweak no.1 was to place a set of Iso Acoustics pucks under the speakers. Yes, that was cleaner, a little bit of wooliness had disappeared from the lower registers. Wow. Yes, I could hear it. Then Paul got his footman to fetch a pair of Hi-Fi Racks Ltd wooden stands to replace the Atacamas altogether. Another difference. I can definitely hear an improvement. I play a couple of familiar tracks again. More of the same clearing away of muddiness. Bloody hell.
And then all too soon my guests were leaving and I had to put my system back as it was. And now I can hear the stands again and I didn’t even believe that it was possible to do that.
Bugger.
It’s going to cost me I’m afraid!
I've already ordered a set of Pucks, but I might look in to making my own stands....
