Colibri Acoustic C2 horn hybrid compact loudspeaker Review

Colibri C2 Woofer in black gloss

System #2, major upgrade

I kept the TEAC VRDS-701 and CG-10M-X in place but reconfigured the power schema by using my recent discovery, the dual horizontally bi-amped PS Audio Stellar Strata Integrated Amplifiers. If you take the time to read that review, you’re in for a treat! I turned system configuration on its head and obtained a higher level of performance from a pair of stereo integrated amplifiers than from traditionally strung together separate components. Consider that the best sound I elicited from the C2 was when using these integrated amplifiers in the novel system configuration. That is becoming par for the course with a variety of speakers.

Not only the power schema for this system is unorthodox, as is the subwoofer and stand mount configuration. Here is a heretical thought; consider stacking DACs! I had not spent much time playing with daisy chained DACs, but now I wil! The VRDS-701 and associated clock tenderized the signal plenty but putting that digital signal through the “Strati” added spice and cooked it up! The C2 came alive with this configuration, gushing prodigious amounts of minutia in the music with aplomb I had never heard with any of the tower speakers I have used (It’s becoming a refrain).

The C2’s 1.5” driver may not scratch out every frequency above 22kHz, but what it does within its band is remarkable! It seems to be the anti-super-tweeter. The C2 is succinct but mellow, one of the very few horns that sounds correct to my ears. I’m not sure whether to be offended or elated that Avantgarde is treating the C2 like a lifestyle speaker, not one of Avantgarde’s proper audiophile speakers. I’ve concluded that is a good thing, because they will continue to price it accordingly and the masses can sneak into upper end sound quality on the cheap.

How? How can this relatively affordable two-way horn hybrid speaker make Craig Chaquico’s steely guitar on “Acoustic Highway” so gentle, yet so voluminous? How can Warren Wolf’s vibes ring so true, so gloriously fat and full when they are mere metal slabs pounded by hard mallets? How can this shorter stand mounted speaker compete with my affection for big sound stage created by speakers nearly twice the height? As evidence, I submit “The Planets, Op. 32: Mars, The Bringer of War”, directed by Andre Previn, with the London Symphony Orchestra and The American Singers. Huh? How is this smallish setup sounding so big? Talking about big, Michel Godard’s “A Trace of Grace”, as heard through the C2 is absolutely cavernous, which is appropriate considering it was recorded in a cathedral. The tenderness of Renaud Garcia Fons’ “40 Diaz” on the album Arcoluz comes through in the gentle interplay between acoustic guitar and violin. The C2 is deft, simply deft!

I am finding as I listen that I want everything I historically overlooked; horn hybrid, smallish stature, and shallower bass performance (of course, with the subwoofers). The genres of speakers I thought were hindering have combined in this product to confound me. If it sounds like this, I want a horn hybrid. If it sounds like this, I want a shorter speaker. If it sounds like this, I want shallow bass response.

A different class of large bookshelf

It’s difficult to call the Colibri C2 a bookshelf speaker, especially since it sits on its own stand. In terms of mass, the speaker is not that much larger than the Wharfedale Opus 2-M2 that I own. The Opus 2-M2 is one of the better bang-for-buck large bookshelf speakers, with an 8” woven woofer, 3” soft dome midrange, and 1” soft dome tweeter. I enjoy the solidity of the bass and especially the breadth of the 3” midrange. The midrange holds to the pattern that a larger driver is more generous sounding. By looking at the speakers, one might think that the Wharfedale would have a more impactful and fuller sound quality. Not so. The C2 is by far the richer and more robust speaker, with more efficiency to boot, meaning it plays with more impact. Do not always trust your eyes when it comes to design of speakers. To experience which is more capable, speakers need to be compared in your room.

I was trying to hold to the pattern of the larger speaker when I chose the Opus 2-M2, as it has a larger woofer and midrange. Yet, the 6.5” woofers and 1.5” tweeter of the Colibri outperform handily in every parameter except bass extension. That is not an issue, as the Perlisten subwoofers handle those frequencies and do so with more finesse than the Wharfedale. The surprising aspect is how much greater the C2’s resolution and detail retrieval are beyond the Opus 2-M2. Like the tweeter of the Optimus Pro LX5, which seems impressive on its own, once the Colibri starts singing, these others fall well short. I feel for those who have paid tens of thousands of dollars for speakers with 3” soft dome midrange drivers, because the schema used by Colibri seems to operate at a higher plateau of sound.

One mild caveat.

One performance caveat to the experience of using the C2 is not a deal breaker for me. The C2’s high efficiency and horn can cause a high intensity when playing lesser recordings with a great deal of upper end energy. When a recording is well-balanced, I can play it at higher levels. But if there is unpleasant amount of upper frequency in the recording, when played back at higher level, the C2 may make it intense and less relaxing. Not shrill, just intense. I hasten to add that this is not the fault of the speaker but of the recording.

Nevertheless, it did cause me to dial back some tracks that simply had too much intensity when played louder. Even so, the C2 was presenting the music with more fullness and tonal balance than speakers like the Opus 2-M2. If this is a problem, it’s the kind of problem I want to have because it originates in the exquisite capacity of the speaker. A speaker that would not have such profound capacity for dynamics and transients may not be so intense with these recordings, but that would mean much of the grandeur of the speaker would be sacrificed. Staying with an animal analogy, when it comes to performance, it is a far better thing to have a thoroughbred that can race than a workhorse that will never run in a derby.

This issue of too much intensity has always been a concern for me. One of my friends owns the Volti Alura along with Border Patrol electronics; he essentially bought the system displayed at AXPONA several years ago. As I listen to the C2 and Perlisten combo, it has a great deal of the character of his setup, as would be expected due to it being a horn hybrid like the Alura. My friend prefers more output from the mid-treble on up than I do. Whenever I visit his home, I feel the upper end energy is too much, and whenever he visits mine, he feels I could use more of it. If I had his gear, I would be looking for ways to tame the upper energy, and if he owned mine, he would be trying to enhance it. To each his own!

Ergo, as I have always been shy of what I consider to be unnecessary loudness and find no good reason to play back music at perceived live levels, this concern may not apply to most audiophiles. Judging from the demos at shows, some of which I exit the room when a certain SPL level is attainted, a lot of listeners can take it. So, take my caveat with a grain of salt.

My recommendation

What do I think, bottom line, about the Colibri? I know a group of retired audiophile enthusiasts who are in an upgrade phase. One man recently flipped systems for the third time, working with a dealer to crank through some heavy hitting gear. He has found his magic with an estimated half million-dollar rig featuring Magico speakers, and MSB digital front end and amplification. I heard the system, and it was very nice.

His friend is considering a substantial speaker upgrade and is looking into brands like Zellaton, Rockport, YG Acoustics, Tidal, and Vivid, all notable speaker brands I have heard several times in beautiful systems at shows. Toward the end of this review, I contacted him and recommended he consider the Colibri C2 and premium subs (as a reviewer who bought the review samples, I’m partial to the Perlisten subwoofer line, but I suspect the Colibri C18 would be dandy). Since the C2 has showed up, no longer will I advise a large tower speaker as the first option for a premium HiFi. Large towers are a compelling option, but so is the C2 when set up properly.

Owners of premium larger tower speakers may be laughing. Don’t laugh. Topology of components and speakers, and system configurations are far more critical to a system’s performance than you may think. From the Colibri website, “Our goal in designing the Colibri was to create an ultra-high-performance loudspeaker that delivers incredible performance in a small package, reproducing music with the lowest levels of distortion technologically possible. A compact speaker that combines audiophile sound quality and professional super performance, far outperforming even much larger speakers.” Yup, that’s it. That is what I have been saying when I groused that this lightweight is besting the big tower speakers in many parameters of sound quality.

Who would have thought the subwoofer-big satellite system would make a comeback and push hard against big tower speakers? I get it, I’m hearing the advantages on several levels. Am I playing with the future system configuration of the affordable-elite listener? I can’t say for sure, but if this tracks like my novel dual integrated horizontal passive bi-amp setup, then I’m running a trend-setting system.

As for me, I’m elated with what Colibri has done for the horn hybrid genre of speaker. About two months ago, I was opining to the local audio group that I hadn’t found horn speakers to be as compelling as other genres of speakers. Has that changed! In my room, the C2 is a hummingbird and the D212s is its huge feeder. I will spend many hours enjoying the acrobatics of the C2 horn hybrid high performance loudspeakers because they are not leaving my home!

For those with limited space, the C2 is a dream speaker. For those considering medium sized towers with a price tag around $25-50K, you should think twice. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the Colibri C2 and a audiophile-grade set of subwoofers. For those who build systems of a variety of speakers with subwoofers or have a fine HT setup, you will want to consider how the C18 might be suitable for such applications. Perhaps a discussion with American Sound of Canada, the distributor for Colibri in North America, is in order.

Associated Components:

Digital Sources: Bricasti M5 Network Player, PS Audio AirLens, TEAC VRDS-701 Dual Monaural USB/DAC CD Player/Pre-Amp/Headphone Amplifier and TEAC CG-10M-X Master Clock Generator

Streaming Music Service: Tidal premium; Qobuz

Interface: ROON; Audrivana

DAC: (Placeholder) Eastern Electric Minimax with discrete opamps rolled in

Preamp: (Placeholder) Cambrige Audio Azur 840E

Amps: Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra

Integrated: Heaven 11 Billie Amp Mk2 (two units used in horizontal bi-amp configuration); PS Audio Stellar Strata Mk2 (two units used in horizontal bi-amp configuration)

Speakers: Legacy Audio DSW Clarity Edition; Kings Audio King III electrostatic speakers; Pure Audio Project Trio15 10” Coaxial 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

Speaker Cables: Iconoclast Series 2 TPC Speaker Cable; Iconoclast Series 2 SPTPC Speaker Cable

Digital Cables: AudioQuest Digital Coaxial Carbon 1.5m; AudioQuest Digital Coaxial Coffee 1.5m; Iconoclast RCA or XLR 2m Interconnect used as digital link; Audioquest

USB: AudioQuest Cinnamon USB 1.5m; Audioquest Coffee USB 1.5m; Clarity Cable Supernatural 1m

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

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