Room 1521 at AXPONA this year featured a company with which I was not familiar: Consonus Audio. They were presenting their super cool Tide speakers, listed at about $80k/pair. These are American-made, partially-open back transducers, and I was wowed by the sound. Historically I haven’t loved open back speakers, usually finding them tubby for lack of a better word. These, however, were very tight and not bloated at all, with a very sharp sound that loaded the room appropriately.
Words and Photos by Matthew Partrick
I was also extremely impressed by their planar ribbon tweeter and open back midrange transducer, mounted on the top of the bass reflex cabinet. This hybrid design seems to take advantage of open-back airiness with the mids and highs, and removes the disadvantage of flabby bass. As a bonus, Consonus finished the back of the tweeter and midrange module and the overall fit and finish are supreme. The mid/tweeter top half of the speakers are passive, and the bass cabinets have active amplification.
Signal and power in this room were provided by Mytek, using their flagship Empire streamer/DAC and the new Empire Monoblocks powering the top cabinets. The streamer retails for $25k, and the amps for $10k/pair. The signal was clean, smooth, and powerful.
I had a chance to listen to quite a few tracks in the room, including a cover of Metallica’s “Fade to Black” by Apocalyptica, a string quartet with a penchant for heavy metal. This great track was able to emphasize the Consonus speakers’ ability to blow away the listener. I was hearing smooth but not sibilant violins and violas, with some wonderful cellos in the bass register. The next track was “Some Room to Breathe” by Dominique Fils-Aime. I love going into show rooms and discovering new artists, and this track was a fantastic example of the midrange female voice. The speakers imaged almost perfectly and was a transporting experience.
Keep Consonus Audio on your radar because I certainly will.
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2024, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
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