HE '08 Highlights
SoundStage! Network publisher Doug Schneider visits High End 2008 (HE '08) in Munich, Germany. There he talked to Ole Christensen, the chief designer for Finland's Amphion Loudspeakers. Amphion uses some innovative technology in their speaker products. In this first part of this two-part series, Ole describes the changes to the new Krypton2 and explains how the waveguide technology works. The Krypton2 sells for 12,000 euros per pair in Europe. This video was shot on April 27, 2008
Part I & Part II
28.2. 2008 Ion L tested in Holland
Ion L has been put through detailed measurement and listening tests by www.Hifi.nl
With Ion L Amphion delivers an excellent sounding loudspeaker, especially when you take their size into consideration. The electrical measurements we did also provided good results. The speaker has a smooth and nice finish and the price vs. quality is very good.
This speaker conveys plenty of detail and sounds fresh and clear. Don’t expect the very low from these women-friendly speakers, but you can add a subwoofer if you like.
The sound from the Ion L is of the best quality. Small but precious!
Patrick Hendriks
2/2008 Ion part of perfect audiophile desktop system
Headroom, a prestigious American headphone amplifier company, has chosen Amphion Ion as one of their favourite desktop speakers. The reason is selfexplanatory:
"We´ve selected a couple of speakers from the dozen´s we´ve tried that have stellar performance, but differing characteristics. The Amphion Ion is a trememdously clear and transparent speaker; not too warm, not too bright, just right. But the characteristic that will blow you away is its precise, holographic imaging. It's lower than normal crossover point and deftly engineered front baffle geometry are intented to develop a virtual point source for the emitted sound. We can´t measure that stuff -- we´re headphone geeks -- all we know is they sound damn good."
Headroom advertisement on page 82 of Stereophile March 2008 issue. Please read the story on how to build a perfect desktop system á la Headroom by going through the 2007 & 2008 advertisement material on Stereophile magazine
2/2008 - Stereo Germany test Prio 520
Matthias Böde, the Editor of prestigious German magazine Stereo gave Prio 520 rated that Price/Performance ratio of Prio 520 as "Exzellent" They also noted that "Die Prio spielt absolute bruchloss and stimmig. Ihre homogene Mittenwiedergabe setzt sogar den Standard in dieser Preisklasse." Prio sounds absolutely wholesome and harmonious. Its homogenic middle register sets a new standard in this price class.
Prio 520 Hifi Choice Best Buy
"Particularly inviting for long term listening" is what one of the UK's leading loudspeaker reviewers Paul Messenger said about Prio 520 and gave it Hifi Choice's Best Buy. Run synopsis also on UK leading technical related news site Tech.co.uk
1/2008 Stereophile runs article on Amphion waveguides
Paul Messenger wrote a detailed article on Amphion's innovative use of waveguides in January 2008 Stereophile magazine. Please read full text on page 21 under header Finland: Kuopio
Ion L receives praise from TM magazine Finland
The prestigious Finnish technical magazine Tekniikan Maailma (TM) tested Amphion Ion L and noted the following:
"The best loudspeaker to Finnish living room is small 2-way speaker with controlled directivity. Maybe this is the reason they are manufactured in Finland with such skill, that they are good enough for even Americans."
The original quote:Â
"Paras kaiutin suomalaiseen olohuoneeseen on pieni hallitusti suuntaava kaksitiekaiutin. Varmaankin siksi niitä osataan Suomessa tehdä sen verran hyvin, että ne kelpaavat vaikkapa amerikkalaisille".Â
Henrik Weckström, Tekniikan Maailma 21/2007
We presume that Mr. Weckström was referring to The Editors's Choice Award from The Absolute Sound.
9th October, 2007, High Fidelity Magazine Ion test
Amphion Ion receives an enthousiastic review by Johnny Sörensen from the Danish / Swedish High Fidelity Magazine www.hifi.dk
"The sound image is big and airy, and it's relatively unimportant where you are seated in front of the loudspeakers. You can sit to the left of the left loudspeaker, and still experience a reasonable stereo image-- hurray for waveguides!"
"So many things were done right during the development of this loudspeaker, that it destroys all previous notions on price/size/quality relationships, and it is to a rare degree uncomplicated to listen to."
18th September, 2007 TAS
Amphion Ion receives The Absolute Sound 2007 Editor's Choice Award
"From Finland, this quasi-nearfield specialist is a small of small-speaker transparency and soundstaging. boasting sensational image focus."
"inner detail and lowlevel resolution seemingly hardwired into this little speedster, it's ideal speaker for premium audio in smaller rooms"
Neil Gader The Absolute Sound, issue 170
August, 2007 - New Products released
Amphion releases Ion L, which is a big brother of popular Ion and totally new Prio range. The prototype of Prio 520 was shown in Munich - now experience the final product at a dealer near you! More information on the product pages shortly.
May, 2007 - Great reception to new products at Munich show
"Manufacturers seem to be concentrating on delivering a total experience. Whether it be the
Ion XL from Amphion or the giant Muon from KEF, more and more products have style and substance, and are put together using innovative construction techniques to achieve the companies’ goals."
Jeff Fritz, SoundStage, read more.
January 2, 2007 Amphion Ion tested in Sonicflare
Quest for a stellar home system: Amphion Ion a review
"Amphion makes notably attractive, fairly priced, extremely clean sounding speakers that have some magic in the way they float a tactile 3D image in front of you. They are voiced with considerable savvy and work as intended in rooms the way people place speakers -- a huge plus as far as I’m concerned."
by Robert Learner, Sonicflare
December, 2006 Ion tested in Image Hifi, Germany
"Siinäpä kivat pikku kaiuttimet".
Ion test by Michael Vrzal,
Image Hifi, Germany. Download test Also available in the review section
September, 2005 - Ion receives Respected Hyva! Design Award at Habitare
Ion was one of 12 favourite products (site in Finnish) of the Finnish Interiour
Decoration Journalists Association. The jury said as follows: (sorry, time to get the dictionary´s out)
Ion-kaiutin, Amphion:
Äänen laadusta tinkimättä toteutettu pienikokoinen kaiutuin, joka on helppo sijoittaa sisustukseen. Voi käyttää jalan kanssa tai ilman jalkaa.
- Kerrankin kaunis kotimainen kaiutin.
- Laadukas äänentoisto, kompakti koko ja lempeästi pyöristyvä muoto.
- Kaunis pinta, harvoin tekee mieli silitellä kaiutinta
December 2005 - Amphion Helium2 Runner Up in Stereophile's 2005 Budget Product of the Year
Amphion Helium2 receives a nomination for the Runner Up in
Stereophile's 2005 Budget Product of the Year 19th December, Prio received Best Buy from Hifi Choice
Amphion Prio 520 was awarded Best Buy nomination by prestigious Hifi Choice magazine. Test was written by maybe the most respected loudspeaker reviewer in UK i.e. Paul Messenger.
December 2007 - Inner World Audio tests laptop based highend systems
Finnish high class Inner World Audio magazine www.innerworldaudio.com published an interesting article on laptop based high end systems. Kari Nevalainen, who also writes for www.6moons.com, had put up and interesting system comprising of Amphion Ion L speakers, Lehmann Linear USB DA converter and Melody SP3 integrated tube amplifier. The conclusion was as follows:
"Overall the combination left little to complain about. It sounded like the equipment created plenty of synergy. This is not surprisingly, as all the system parts Amphion Ion L, Melody SP3 and Lehmann Linear USB DAC represent in some ways the best in their respective price classes".
and the same in original languageÂ
"Kaiken kaikkiaan yhdistelmä jätti varsin vähän huomautettavaa. Kuulosti kuin näissä laitteissa oli paljon toista tukevaa synergiaa. Tämä ei ole siinä mielessä yllättävää, että kaikki sen osat, Amphion Ion L, Melody SP3 ja Lehmann Linear USB DAC edustavat jossakin määrin oman hintaluokkansa huippua."
 Kari Nevalainen, Inner World Audio 3/2007
Amphion uutuudet nähtävillä seuraavissa tapahtumissa:
Habitare
1-5.9 Sept
Mikkeli Audiocenter
29-31 Oct
Jyväskylä Audiocenter
19-21 Nov
Kuopio Audiocenter
3-5 Dec
Ulkomaan messut englanninkielisillä sivuilla
