Truly excellent though they are, Mears’ first commercial speakers do require the listener to make some compromises. Depending upon what music genre you listen to, and what breadth of frequency range you are used to hearing at home, these concessions will either be trifling, or a potential deal-breaker. The Ucellos are physically large, and yet while the bass they offer is fast, clean and informative, they go no lower than the sonic territory inhabited by some stand-mounted speakers.
So am I saying they’re not worthy? Well, if you’ve read this far and haven’t got what they’re about, then I really can’t help you.
But if you’re like me, and you do get it, then you’ll likely be in a real bind right now. For while the Ucellos’ mid and top end is truly wonderful, the lack of full range might be an issue. Of course, the same finger can be pointed at many contemporary speakers, and a good number of elderly, but still highly-regarded designs including, for example, Quad ESLs.
This, then, is a generic observation about all speakers that do not plumb the depths. On some material when the listener is bracing themselves for the low-bass body blow, what happens is a “thuu”, rather than a “thuuuuuuddd”. There is a surprising amount of ‘you are there’ information in these low frequency air movements; if you are used to feeling it, you miss it. As a matter of physical fact too, recorded notes below a speaker’s hard-deck are simply not reproduced in their entirety. One hears perhaps the second harmonic, but not the fundamental. If one knows the material, one’s brain compensates, but it still doesn’t feel right.
I am used to full-range speakers – my AN-Es produce useful energy at 20Hz in my room – and I like my music full-fat, rather than semi-skimmed. I listen to a lot of organ music, and I appreciate the extra dimension created by speakers able to really move air in the room.
Mears is sensitive to such observations. “This is a tricky issue as horn loaded bass is an entirely different entity to other methods. It would have been easy to front load for lower bass as others do – it will not surprise you to know that I tried it too – but therein is another compromise. I have never heard this solution keep up or knit successfully with the horns above them in other vendor’s speakers and I couldn’t make it work either. The bass goes low but is not clean. ”
The Ucello is Mears’ first commercial speaker and his purist approach has resulted in top-to-bottom sound that is agile and musically engaging in a way that only horns can achieve. There. I’ve said it. I am a convert. But wait! There’s a larger, meatier version of the Ucello in development that Mears says will get much closer to being full range, plus a horn-loaded active sub-woofer. Personally, I’m really looking forward to hearing that combination.
The Ucellos are £10,500 including UK tax plus packing and delivery. This buys standard oak, maple and walnut veneers, with other combinations and types priced accordingly. One option will be external crossovers in hardwood cases. Five pairs of Ucellos have already sold to British customers.
Some people say that today there is very little truly mediocre audio. I could not disagree more. Too many manufacturers are guilty of slaughtering audio values on the altar of accountancy. Find a vendor that doesn’t subscribe to this practice and who, moreover, wants to convert people to the enjoyment they themselves get from audio, and that’s where to look for treasure.
The Ucellos are, in my view, a real gem. They are the honest, straight-from-the heart expression of a quiet and unassuming, yet very clever man who evidently has an uncannily acute ear for musicality. They are indeed an homage to Paul Klipsch and the Belle, but they are not a backwards look. They are history jump-started and brought bang up to date.
Not in a million years would Simon Mears say this of his own work, but I can: I think that Paul Klipsch and the horn pioneers would approve.
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