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Clarisys Audio Minuet planar ribbon speaker system Review

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Listening impressions

+ Solid 2-way Dipole

The Minuet carries a more dense, solid character than other dipole speakers I have used, such as models from Magnepan, King Sound, or even Sound Lab, and that’s a good thing when it comes to room interaction and precision. There is enough reflected sound from the head wall that the sound of the Minuet is recognizable as a dipole speaker. But because it also seems to moderate bass reflectivity, the primary wave launch is heard predominantly, less influenced than fully open dipoles by the reflected rear wave. This aids the sense of outstanding resolving capacity of the Minuet.

I try not to let my enthusiasm for the wonderful Perlisten D212S Subwoofers overtake other reviews. These have been terrific subwoofers with dipole speakers, and they are one of the very few brands of subs from which I detect no perceptual lag when used with panel speakers. But as all technology and system setups have their own sets of parameters, adding even these super, smart subs brings a potential issue that occurs with all subwoofers, namely the possibility of the LF output being high enough to draw attention away from the delicate performance of the main speaker’s bass and midrange. Note that I am talking about output, not lag. Real time comparison, effected through the D212s software, allowed me to adjust the build-up of LF and attending reduction in overtness of the Minuet’s mid-bass and midrange, or conversely, the reduction of LF and increase of the Minuet’s mid-bass and midrange. These changes take place on a continuum. Since the subs can be controlled precisely to blend with the mains by .5dB increments, one can reduce any perceived unpleasant overage of LF.

I share this not to suggest that there is any deficiency in the bass of the Minuet — quite the contrary! It has the best low-end extension of all the dipole speakers I have used, which is remarkable given its size. Because the Minuet has such good bottom end down to 25Hz, there is less reliance upon a subwoofer, and I can confidently state that listeners of erudite, quieter music, or listeners of any genre of music at less than live levels, will not be disappointed and wondering what happened to the bass.

An example of its cleanness in the bass was heard in Charles Berthoud’s “The Last Ride.” Berthoud’s finger work is split second, and while the King III with its line source array of bass panels can’t keep from stepping (even if lightly) on the transition from note to note, the Minuet delineates such passages better. Even at such a blistering rate, the micro-moments between each plucked string reveal themselves a bit more through the Minuet. The scale of the King III is larger and a touch more relaxed. However, the punch, the slap or pluck of the bass comes through more cleanly with the Minuet.

 

+ Big, But Not Enormous, Scale

The largest speakers, such as the King III, the Legacy Audio Valor Speaker System, and the Legacy Audio V Speaker System, put out an abundance of sound across the entire front of my room on a scale that the Minuet cannot match. Nor should anyone expect the height of its soundstage to match that of the larger speakers. The Minuet is the introductory offering from Clarisys, yet it plays with commendable scale. Unless one had these others in their room or had experience with large speakers, they might conclude that the soundstage of the Minuet approached the theoretical limit for size of the soundstage of dipole speakers.

The effect of the height of the Minuet’s soundstage is realized immediately when one exits the listening seat and stands. Typical of most dipole speakers, the wave launch of the Minuet is more directional than that of a dynamic speaker. Regardless of its fine pedigree, the Minuet is not the best model of Clarisys speaker if you want to listen to it while standing or milling about in the direction of the speakers. To do that, you will need to move up the line to the taller models. This speaker is ideally suited to the listener who wants to sit in front of a captivating speaker for long periods of time. The Minuet captured my attention easily for hours, even after weeks of listening to it. Over time, a new speaker is either going to grow on me or grow boring to me. The Minuet grew on me, so I spent considerable time sitting in a desire to hear it more.

Because the back wave is partially blocked by the metal grid and magnet assemblies, the Minuet’s soundstaging is not perceptually as infinitely deep as with truly open-backed dipoles. It avoids the boxy coloration caused by a cabinet and has a degree of room interaction as expected of this type of speaker. Relative to its size and design purposes, the Minuet scratches the itch to hear a panel speaker, but with a nod toward the beloved punch of a dynamic speaker. From my recollection of the Sound Lab Ultimate 4ia (renamed to 545), I think the Minuet is comparable in its ability to scale the music.

If a panel speaker is put too close to the head wall, destructive reflective waves become obvious. Regarding positioning of a panel speaker relative to the head wall, there is a tradeoff between perceived depth of the sound field and cleanness of the sound. I usually move dipoles forward or backward from 6” to 12” relative to the seating position and rarely place them closer than 4’ from the head wall, especially since I have my equipment rack and subwoofers in that zone. The primary effects of moving the speakers closer to the head wall and farther away from the listening seat is a perceptually deeper sound stage with greater bass reinforcement. Conversely, when pulled closer and away from the head wall, panel speakers lose some of the depth of the sound stage and pick up a touch more cleanness. I was limited in how close I could push the speakers toward the head wall since my equipment rack and subwoofers occupy that four-foot-wide zone across the front of the room. Therefore, I cannot comment on the Minuet’s interaction with the head wall if placed closer to it. Given my room limitations, I spent my time aggressively building systems to assess the speaker’s character with a variety of gear.

One should also consider the listening triangle, including the distance between the speakers. As the distance between the speakers increases, the soundstage becomes broader and the center image less dense. As the distance between them decreases, the soundstage is less broad and the center image denser.

While this may seem critical, it is not. A dipole speaker’s legitimacy is not determined by its positioning, and preferences regarding location are highly subjective. Each listener will find the position that pleases them the most. Remember, the closer to the head wall, the more the sound stage will seem to recede past the performers. The closer the speakers are to you, the more you will feel yourself approaching the performers. The space between the speakers determines the breadth of the soundstage.

 

+ Superb Resolution

One would expect no less than superb resolution from a transducer made in the image of the early Apogee speakers. Perhaps I am cold and calculating, but normally I don’t tolerate vintage speakers, for every time I relent and try a vintage speaker or component, they disappoint, especially in terms of resolution. I did not hang on to the old set of Caliper speakers for long, as they did not have the requisite resolution and fortitude I have come to expect. Had the timing been different, I would have been tempted to conduct a repair using Clarisys replacement drivers. I’m certain the outcome would have been an upgrade to the original speaker.

Apart from the infrequent pull of nostalgia, I have not been motivated to pursue speakers older than ten years. That opens a conundrum, as several of the speakers I enjoy are approaching their first decade. I never thought I would own any speaker that long! Now that I am creeping into my sixties, I am less motivated to move speakers that weigh hundreds of pounds. Is it comfortableness with them or laziness that makes the speakers I own seem to have improved over time? Improved components to build systems has been a factor in my continuing love affair with my speakers. Case in point: the rousing Aurender A20 reference analog output network player experience is making me salivate to hear speakers of different genres and given the notable performance improvements with the Minuet, I presume that dynamic, coaxial, omni, and line source speakers’ performance will all be elevated. I am strongly motivated to haul speakers in and out of my room to hear that! The Minuet is not the kind of speaker you simply pop up onto a hand truck and roll in and out of the room. It’s a piece of art that is too unwieldy to move freely. Otherwise, it would be in and out of the system at least twice as I did comparisons with other genres of speakers. As it is, I have a strong baseline for comparison from using the other speakers in dozens of systems.

Vintage speaker fans claim a lot of things, including better performance, relative to newer designs. When I have done comparisons between vintage and newer gear, those claims fall apart. I wonder how many fans of vintage speakers grade them on a curve, with a great deal of forgiveness for their shortcomings due to their being cheaper. Insipid performance is defended by an appeal to diminishing returns, as though a newer, more costly speaker simply cannot sound that much better. I consider it one of the most common pre-judgement errors in HiFi.

Resolution is my sine qua non. If a speaker does not have the capacity to render the music in a highly precise fashion, then I’m not impressed regardless of what else it can do. When the final tweak was done, the best system established, the Minuet offered me higher resolution than the other panel speakers I have mentioned.

What about the Minuet’s definition as compared to a bookshelf dynamic speaker with a well-respected 3” soft dome tweeter? Speaker companies such as ATC and PMC have built a reputation on their 3” soft dome midrange as unassailably precise. A while back I procured the Wharfedale Opus 2-M2 monitors, which have 8” woofers and Wharfedale’s own 3” midrange driver. The robust and relaxed character of that 3” midrange remained with me long after the review, so eventually I righted the wrong I had done in not buying the speaker following the review.

But even with the ultimate buildout, using four channels of the Legacy amp, the Opus 2-M2 could not match the nuances and split-second transients of the Minuet. That ribbon, that glorious, fat, long ribbon tweeter of the Minuet, yields a million little moments to capture, even on slower vocals, such as Mandy Moore’s “Every Light” or Natalie Merchant’s “I May Know the Word.” Mandy’s and Natalie’s whisper quiet songs are marvelous contemplations of the female voice. They let their words linger and trail off, allowing the hearer to savor their performances like letting hard candy in the mouth drizzle away. With the Minuet it was easy to catch the queues indicating the nature of the recording venue, too.

 

+ Unafraid of Challenging Music and Higher-Level Playback 

When playing a dipole, I usually have a sense of awareness to not push it too hard. It is not easy to generate the same room pressurizing output with a panel speaker as with a dynamic or hybrid dynamic speaker without straining the panel speaker. The can lights in my room anoint the King III speakers sitting underneath in light, and from the right angle I can see the pulsating of the top bass driver’s membrane. Maybe it’s Post-Apocalyptic Electrostatic Speaker Disorder (PESD), the fear that, like early ESLs, one false move can result in the destruction of the speaker. If I recall correctly, my one-time Dagogo colleague, Lawrence Borden, found that when he drove the King II hard, it was bottoming out at a high listening level. I can’t imagine how loud that was, as I avoid “live” levels. Why? Have you ever paid attention to the distortion that accompanies such high-level listening?  I will not readily make a dipole dance to the wrong tune, that is, I won’t push it until it seems ready to pop.

If there was a dipole that strikes me as more resistant to that kind of abuse, it’s the Minuet. Granted, I’m not trying to beat the speaker to pieces, but when I take it up to what I consider a generous listening level, it is unstrained and undistorted. There are many dipoles for which I would suggest caution to fans of harder edged music or music with a lot of LF (low frequency). While I would never recommend driving any dipole as if it were a dance floor array, the Minuet seems suited to take a bit more domestic audio abuse than these others.

When our church was putting up temporary signs, we wanted some extra durability, so we added an extra blank sheet of vinyl to the back to make the sign double thickness. It allowed the signs to weather the elements better. I wondered if the double-sided nature of the mid-bass ribbons not only allow for more precision but also more durability. Florian indicated the double-sided nature allows for double the current in the magnetic field and therefore the driver is easier to control. Playing pieces such as Street Corner Symphony’s “Atomic Dog” or Trombone Shorty’s “What It Takes” reveals the robustness of the double-sided mid-bass driver. Bass drivers on similar sized dipoles are hopelessly inadequate for such listening. In addition, the Minuet has proved to be a wonderful speaker for enjoying recordings of larger groups, especially symphonies, big bands, and larger vocal groups. Because the speaker is so good at resolution, it makes use of all the scale it generates, filling the soundstage with noticeable activity.

 

+ A True Ribbon Speaker for Smaller Rooms 

My audio room is 13’ W x 23’ L x 7.5’ H and the Minuet fits and performs comfortably. I think even the 5’ (150cm) tall Clarisys Studio Plus would work fine in the room. I concur with the guidance about obtaining at least 4’ of space between the speaker and the head wall even though the backward firing bass is limited. The ribbon’s output is not limited, so I would not encourage pushing the speakers up against a wall or else the treble emphasis and smearing from a nearly direct bounce off the front wall might be unmanageable.

I like the vibe of Acoustic Alchemy; it fits my temperament and appreciation of guitar artists. For me, a critical test of a speaker is its ability to render the delicacy and deftness of a good acoustic guitar performance. A ribbon speaker seems well suited for such instruments. Acoustic Alchemy’s “Out of Nowhere” is placed comfortably before me with a soft spotlight on the guitar work. The sound of acoustic guitar strings needs to be particularly appealing to me, and the Minuet gets it right.

The Minuet is a dipole exceptionally well done. Take note of the exceptional upper-end electronics, much of it award winning, that Clarisys boldly recommends for its speakers. Rather than shying away from such recommendations, Clarisys challenges the prospective customer to back up the speakers with worthy electronics. In that, I failed. My electronics are but a fraction of the MSRP of those recommended by Clarisys. This article is testament that if you cannot imagine acquiring audio components used by the 1%, have no fear. The Minuet is rewarding, and you can be assured its charm will increase as you upgrade your system.

 

Tabula rasa

The Minuet is a blank slate, offering a wide range of possibilities to shape the sound to one’s taste. Rarely have I encountered a speaker so revelatory of even perfunctory changes and so amendable to a variety of systems. If one does not want the chuffing or woofing of a box speaker, or the typical low-end weaknesses of a dipole, the Minuet (and I presume also its sibling speaker) sits in the gap, offering an experience with reasonable dynamic impact but without the cabinet coloration. Please don’t believe high end dynamic speaker manufacturers if they tell you their speaker does not have such colorations. It may have less than the competition, but it will have cabinet contribution to the sound regardless of the material. The only way to escape it is to remove the closed cabinet.

The unique properties of the Minuet’s mid-bass driver allow it to assume much of the tonality of a larger dynamic driver. The ribbon tweeter is resolving enough that even if one uses less than laser sharp source or amplification, it will still hang together with a high degree of precision. It’s a great slice of dipole design and commitment to excellence in manufacturing, which results in an enviable panel speaker that will keep your toes tapping (or, if you prefer, your head nodding) for a long time!

 

 

Associated Components:

Digital Source: Small Green Computer sonicTransporter and SONORE Signature Rendu SE with systemOptique; Wireworld Starlight CAT-8 Ethernet Cable

Analog Sources: Realistic LAB 400 Turntable with Schiit Audio Mani Phono; Nakamichi CR-1A Cassette Deck

Streaming Music Service: Tidal

Interface: Roon

DAC:  COS Engineering D1 DAC Plus Pre-Amplifier; Eastern Electric Minimax DSD DAC Supreme with Burson, Dexa NewClassD or Sparkos Labs discrete opamps; Exogal Comet DAC and PLUS power supply

Preamp: Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Integrated Amp in dedicated Preamp mode

Amps: Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra; Kinki Studio EX-M1+ Integrated in dedicated Amplifier mode; Exogal Ion PowerDAC (used exclusively with Comet DAC)

Integrated: Redgum Audio Articulata; Kinki Studio EX-M1+

Speakers: Legacy Audio DSW Clarity Edition; Kings Audio King III electrostatic speakers; Pure Audio Project Trio15 10” Coaxial version and Horn1 version; Kings Audio King Tower omnidirectional; Aspen Acoustics Grand Aspen; Wharfedale Opus 2-M2 Monitors

Subwoofers: Perlisten D212s Subwoofers

IC’s: Iconoclast RCA and XLR Generation 2 with Ultra-Pure Ohno Continuous Cast Copper conductors; TEO Liquid Splash-Rs and Splash-Rc; TEO Liquid Standard MkII; Clarity Cable Organic RCA

Speaker Cables: TEO Cable Standard Speaker; Snake River Audio Signature Series Speaker Cables; Iconoclast

Digital Cables: Clarity Cable Organic Digital; Snake River Audio Boomslang

USB: Clarity Cable Supernatural 1m;

Power Cables: Clarity Cable Vortex; Snake River Audio Signature Series; Belden BAV Power Cord

Power Conditioning: Wireworld Matrix Power Cord Extender; Tice Audio Solo

 

Copy editor: Dan Rubin

 

8 Responses to Clarisys Audio Minuet planar ribbon speaker system Review


  1. Ken Basar says:

    My Audio Room is 17 x 25 x 8. Is this room too large for the Minuets?

  2. Ken,
    God’s Peace,

    My room dimensions are not far off from yours; 13’x23’x7.5′. The Minuet is plenty large for my room. However, have worked with several much larger speakers, such as the King Sound King III, the Legacy Audio Valor, V, and Whisper, Aspen Acoustics Grand Aspen, and the PureAudioProject Quintet15. So, my tolerance for a much larger speaker in a moderately sized room is high.

    The Minuet would presumably work quite well in your room, but if you wished to have the same technology/presentation but with a larger sound stage/scale, I suggest you consider the next model up, the Studio Plus.

    Blessings,
    Douglas Schroeder

  3. Ken Basar says:

    Douglas another question. How far out from the head wall did you achieve? I would prefer about 5 feet but I guess 4 feet would work.

  4. Douglas Schroeder says:

    Ken,
    God’s Peace,

    Think of the effect of reflectivity of the head wall as being on a continuum. I had the speakers about 5′ from the head wall. If you have the space and inclination, experiment with the distance from the head wall, perhaps ranging from 2′ to 5′ or more. The presentation will change holistically as a result of such placement. I did not place them very near the wall because my Perlisten subs are situated and tuned for the room, and I was not going to move them for any speaker under review. The Minuet blended well with the Perlisten subs and added extra power and depth to the system.

    Though it might not be absolutely necessary, I strongly recommend that fine subwoofers be used whenever possible with even larger dipole speakers. Some may disagree, suggesting that subwoofers cannot keep up with the speed of the dipole driver. I disagree, at least when it comes to the Perlisten subs.

    Blessings,
    Douglas Schroeder

  5. Ken Basar says:

    Thank you so much for your reply.
    I have a set on order, so sorry for the additional questions.
    1. How far should they be placed from the sidewalls?
    2. I have some Stillpoints Aperture 2 in the center behind my present speakers, and also some ASC tube traps in the corners, what do you think of having them in the room?
    Ken

  6. Douglas Schroeder says:

    Ken,
    God’s Peace,

    I would not place them closer than 1′ from side walls. Feel free to experiment with such things. The soundstage will change according to how far apart from each other they are.

    Do not overemphasize ancillary things such as footers. Tube traps are effective for the right purposes, but I would definitely try removing them also to see what the effect is on the presentation. The speakers will not create the LF of subwoofers, so if you do not have subs, then definitely try both ways.

    Feel free to experiment with all such things. The final result is like cooking a meal, so have fun.

    Blessings,
    Doug Schroeder

  7. Alessandro Chiocchetti says:

    I owned and got rid of a Legacy Audio iV2 Ultra Amplifier purchased solely trusting the dealer recommendation (huge mistake). To keep it short I found it being by far the least musical amplifier I ever owned during four decades.

  8. Alessandro,
    God’s Peace,

    Audiophiles have different taste and priorities. My experience is that the i.V4 Ultra continues to be one of the two or three very best I have handled among the tube, SS, or hybrid amps I have reviewed. I also have been at it for about 40 years. Congratulations on being a true long-term music lover!

    If the audiophile’s priority is for a very fat, rounded, and (what I would call) syrupy sound that is heavy in the mid bass and light on the treble (what some audiophiles would call musical. I’m not sure if that applies in your situation), then I would not expect the i.V4 Ultra to satisfy you. I find that audiophiles tend to fall into two camps, those who want the above characteristics and those who don’t. I’m one who doesn’t want that particular combination, as imo it convolutes the performance and is not as tonally balanced across the frequency spectrum as the i.V4 Ultra. I also have found the majority of amps called musical to be lacking in definition and resolution. We are speaking in generalities.

    For owners of Clarisys speakers or other dipoles, such speakers are going to potentially sound more bright and detailed to the ear than traditional dynamic speakers, especially those with a lot of cabinet resonance such as Audio Note or Harbeth. My experience with the attempt to make such speakers warmer is that unless an extreme tube amp that offers higher power is used, the performance of the dipole will suffer in terms of macrodynamics. To get a speaker like the Minuet to have warmth of a speaker like those above and with the dynamics of the i.V4 Ultra would take an extreme amount of money, imo. Note the high MSRP amps that are used by Clarisys. It’s pretty easy to get even a budget speaker to sound “musical” if that means tonally ripe. To get a speaker like the Minuet to be tonally ripe and still have excellent resolution and dynamics would be a challenge. Even then, you are not guaranteed to get the result you want.

    I hope that you are able to achieve the sound you desire!
    Blessings,
    Douglas Schroeder

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