Audience ClairAudient 1+1 mini-monitors Review & Interview

In Conclusion

My time with the ClairAudient 1+1 was transformative, both for me and for the design of the speaker. Both of us became better for the experience of working together. One question I’ve not addressed is the value proposition. There are a lot of great speakers out there in the $3k to $4k range, so why the 1+1 V5? Regardless of price, I’ve never heard a 2-channel set of loudspeakers that delivers such a convincing and engaging soundstage, especially without compromising in some other critical area, like tonality, pitch definition, or dynamics. If detail, focus, soundstage, and imaging (with good tone) are essential to bringing listening sessions to life for you, I can think of no other speaker system that matches the ClairAudient 1+1 V5. I would go so far as to say that every serious audiophile should have them on-hand for reference to hear what’s really going on in their music. That knowledge may inform listening sessions with larger, less precise speaker systems. Like seeing a blurry photo after studying the original, you’ll be able to recognize partially obscured details that you might otherwise have missed.

I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to listening to multi-way speakers with passive crossovers, even systems as nice as my Fritz Carrera 7 BE. At least not without feeling that I’m missing much of what I know is present in good recordings. I have several friends who feel the same way. Until now, I’ve brushed off their comments that passive crossovers were holding back the performance of my system. They now have my attention, thanks to Audience and my time with the ClairAudient 1+1.

Q&A with John McDonald

John McDonald, co-founder and CEO of Audience, was gracious enough to answer a few questions during an interview we had in August.

David:    The problem space in loudspeaker design is massive. For evidence, one need only observe the incredibly widely varied array of solutions. To narrow the space, I’ve observed that most designers tend to focus on an aspect they feel is of particular importance. For some, it’s matching piston area to frequency ranges. Others focus on moving mass or inert cabinets. What experiences or events led the Audience team to focus on the ubiquitous crossover as the greatest compromise in most speakers?

John:      It’s not just the crossover; it’s the crossover placed at the most critical of all listening ranges around 2 kHz where mids cross to highs. This is the range where spatiality and soundstage placement are conveyed most critically. This is also the critical region in voice frequencies where the ear is very sensitive to phasing anomalies from crossovers and disparate drivers. When this frequency range is split up, there is just no way to put it back together in its original form. Sure, there are some great loudspeaker designers that have done a great job of this. However, I am a purist and nothing compares to just leaving it alone in the first place. I.e., instead of working around the problem, we eliminate the problem. The result is coherency and an absolutely smooth transition from mids to highs. In my opinion, it is the ultimate solution.

David:    Wideband drivers come in all sizes. I’ve noticed that 6.5 and 7-inch drivers, some with whizzer cones, are popular. A three-inch driver seems like an improbable solution due to the obvious challenges of moving air using such a tiny piston. How did Roger Sheker determine that the A3 design was the best solution for achieving the Audience vision?

John:      Certainly, those whizzer cones are a good attempt, but they are still compromised because of limited and uneven high frequency response. Roger’s concept was to use a small driver in order to maintain good high frequency dispersion. The larger the cone, the narrower the HF dispersion. The challenge of moving air is achieved by designing extreme excursion of the piston and cone. That was accomplished with a dual gap motor structure. The Audience A3 drivers have the longest excursion of all 3” drivers in the world at 12mm, half of which has a flat impedance curve. The A3 has an excursion one would expect from a 6” woofer, so they can move a lot more air than their size would otherwise imply.

David:    When I saw the A3S2-16 driver, my first thought was, “I bet these would make an amazing line array.” Months later, I read about the ClairAudient 16 and 16+16 Mark II. Those must have been incredible loudspeakers to see and hear. Whatever happened to the Audience line arrays? Do you think you’ll ever add them back to your product line?

John:      Actually, the very first Audience loudspeaker was an active 16-driver array made using 50mm Bandor full range drivers. Each pair of drivers had a 100 watt Audience AB amplifier on the back side of the speaker. In later years these morphed into a passive 16-driver line and then a 16+16 bi-pole system. There were multiple issues that led to the demise of these loudspeakers: 1) the enclosures, in particular, were difficult to manufacture and our supplier was sketchy; 2) the drivers were hard to source and the QC was not good; and 3) Audience had shallow pockets. We just did not have the wherewithal to pull off such an ambitious product. So, we put that one to bed and came out with the The ONE and 1+1 loudspeakers, using newly designed Audience drivers, which was much more manageable. After the last several years of making small speakers, Audience is poised to release a new groundbreaking full range system that is going to turn heads, in my not so humble opinion. I will not spill any beans on that subject. However, to answer your question more directly, yes, we plan to offer a line array again in the coming near years.

David:    Audience has two loudspeaker models in its current product line, the ONE V4 and ClairAudient 1+1 V5. But Audience offers many more products, including complete lines of power cords and power conditioners, digital and analog interconnects and speaker cables, guitar cables, DIY components, and more. How did your business evolve into these areas?

John:      It started first in 1979 when I was VP of Sidereal Akustic Audio Systems, Inc. That company was also started to make loudspeakers. It was not successful for producing loudspeakers; however, the capacitors that we designed for ourselves were picked up by many other manufacturers at that time, so SAAS became an OEM supplier rather than a maker of loudspeakers. That company failed in 1985 when my partner, Richard Smith, wanted to split up and go his own way. Then over the following years, while I went onto a different career, Richard struggled. He came up with a line of cables to make a living. He came back to me in 1997 wanting to rejoin forces and start a new company along with Roger Sheker. So Audience has a long history during which numerous products have been developed. Though, the highest goal has always been to produce outstanding loudspeakers.

David:    The voicing circuit that Phil Ducote created for the 1+1 V5 transforms that speaker. Will Audience offer it as an upgrade option for owners of previous versions? If so, what will the upgrade process cost? Will owners send their speakers in for service?

John:      Yes, previous owners of the 1+1 can send their speakers to Audience for one or more of the improvements between the original 1+1 and the current version. Because there are numerous options, I would prefer to quote those costs to customers as needed.

David:    What do you think is next for the Audience brand? Is there anything you can share at this time?

John:      Since Audience has such a wide array of product lines, there are always new innovations in the wings. However, the one that I am most excited about is our new full range loudspeaker. I tell people this has been my dream for a great many years and I am feeling extremely satisfied with this new design that we plan to release in coming months. As an aside, it employs some new potently beneficial patented technology that is groundbreaking.

Copy editor: Dan Rubin