Listening in the Alpha reference set
Contents
All impressions, as described previously, are confirmed: the Audio Physic Sparks play open, transparent, accurate, balanced and very detailed. They hardly color, they do not add anything in the timbre of instruments, but also do not leave anything out or magnify any particular aspect of an instrument.
The size and position of the soundstage is mainly determined by the HiFi equipment used. The difference in soundstage between what the Pasithea and the Volumio Primo produces with the Farad 10 as power source is obvious. The Sparks project it as the equipment produces it, without making a show of it.
“Monument” by Röyksopp & Robyn plays slightly forward. Sitting back and reading a newspaper is out of the question, the music demanding all the attention. Yet there is a lot of calmness in the sound. The percussion and the added reverb to the percussion in the mix, sounds very clean, precise and fast. The saxophone, blown with a lot of air, sounds tangible and close, but has body in the bass notes, despite the Sparks’ playback being airy and light.
The forwardness is gone when switching the Van den Hul Nova with the Driade Flow, but at the cost of some transparency in the midrange, a more diffuse bass and some loss of depth in the projection of the soundstage. The match with a speaker cable for these Sparks requires careful selection.
The carbon factor
We still feel that slight detachment from the music. You cannot quite put your finger on it though, because the quality level is already up there with the best. We replace the Grimm TPM between the DAC and preamplifier with a Van den Hul ‘The CNT’ cable. It is as if the last barrier between music and listener is pushed away.
The Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 recording made by Bert van der Wolf with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra is ear-pleasing, but it is the performance that matters most. What we hear is an outstanding performance, you feel the music. And yet, the Audio Physic Sparks still do not deliver full-out, there is still some room for improvement.
We connect the Pasithea DAC directly to the Pass Labs power amplifier, using the CNT cable and the final piece of the puzzle clicks into place. There is zen-like quality to the playback, a great three-dimensional space, boundless dynamics and every impulse is processed without resistance. The dynamics are like being in a concert hall; it is literally the same physical experience in the way the string sections swell. That is exceptional for a speaker of this price level.
Interesting. Appreciate the clarity and the imaging, but just found this sound sterile and aloof, like it just doesn’t want to get riled up about anything happening in the music. I agree that something is lacking. The test for me now after so much test listening is the Mammal Hands cut. I got up and retrieved a water out of the fridge. The JBL 1600s over the little D Nilai moved me more. So…positive takeaway for this newbie: more money doesn’t necessarily buy you what you want. It pays to pay attention. Thx for making this test available.