Min kompis Jaspal var här på besök från
Stockholm. Han är på jakt efter högtalare och hade fått nys om Podium på
något sätt och blev därför ombedd att kontakta mig för en provlyssning.
Efter sitt besök skrev han om sina intryck och som jag med hans
tillstånd väljer att publicera på originalspråk.
Jaspal flög ner från Stockholm, besökte mig i fyra timmar för att lyssna på
Podium för att sedan åka hem igen. Hifi är seriöst och vi hade en
ytterst trevlig lyssningssession.
Läs hans egna reflektioner här intill. |
"To be
honest it's been 3 days since I listened to them and so a lot of
details I have forgotten.
Calle started off playing some of his own stuff from vinyl
(perhaps acoustic Japanese jazz -- his current favorite). It was
exceedingly smooth. I sat at first just right of the sweet spot and
I thought I noticed the voice was coming slighly more from the right
speaker. I then repositioned to be centred and I noticed the voice
(female) was coming from the centre. I thought the Podiums were
sweet spot independent. Calle then proceeded to play 2 more vinyl
tracks (all so far) I did not recognise. At this stage it was
difficult to say if the bass was better or if the midrange had more
clarity, etc.. compared to my Kef 103/4 speakers.
Anyway, we went on to play some of my music via the Denon/Northstar
combo. I started off playing the first track (By your side) from
Sade's "Lover rock". I play this track since the bass in my room
seems to be a bit overbearing. I noticed on the Podiums that the
bass was less than my Kef 103/4 speaker but not by much. The overall
thing I noticed was that the sound was not relaxing. It seemed that
the sound had been compressed and muddled. Next I played some Celine
Dion from the CD 'A new day has come'. We played tracks 1, 8 & 16
(I'm alive, Prayer & A new day has come). Again overall, it felt
unrelaxing and muddled although listenable.
I think at this stage Calle was interested in Yello. So we played
from their CD (The eye), track 5 (Junior B).... Plenty of bass on my
system. However, here was the first time I noticed (or was I really
looking out for it) that the bass was not up in the air and around
me. It was up in the air but hanging between the Podiums, less
projected and less intense to what I was used to. Maybe the vocals
were a little recessed too and not as forward as in my system. It
was hard to say what this was due to. I then suggested some live
music via Sade (Lover's live CD). I like this CD but I'd admit the
CD is badly recorded. We played the first track (Cherish the day).
Again I thought a bit difficult to listen to comparing mainly to the
earlier vinyl stuff played on the Podiums. I think at this stage it
was clear... badly recorded pop does not sound good on the Podiums
(and in a revealling system, like Calles)" |
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"We played
some Van Morrison (some best of CD). I thought here the
two tracks we played seemed not as detailed as say when I heard them
on the all Lyngdorf system. Also I was expecting to have a better
image of seeing where Van was in the soundstage. In the all Lyngdorf
system it appears on some tracks that Van was clearly visible,
distinct. Not what I noticed with the Podiums.
At this stage, Calle reverted to some of his own cds.... These
included some acoustic, classical and blues ... well recorded
stuff... Really fantastic... especially on classical. The Podiums
are made for these genre.
Then Calle wanted to play some track and I half expected to be some
classical or blues. But no. It was an electronica/kind of techno
track. It had a tight fast baseline and the beat coming from the
speakers was hitting us both very quickly. I must say I didn't
notice one part of the music, i.e bass, treble or voices, being more
than the other. Everything just seemed to blend together but arrived
at lightning speed without ever being overbearing. You could feel
the high energy in the track. So the Podiums can (based on that
track) do justice to Electronica (perhaps techno also).
Calle also played some well recorded drums music. Quite amazing...
it really felt like the drums were played right in front of you.
Fantastic experience.
At this stage I thought unless I start to listen to more acousitc
jazz, blues and classical then the Podium 0.5 are not for me. I just
thought that the Podiums would show up the bad recordings of cds
(pop) in my system which if I'm honest are okay to listen to on
my present system. We then went back to more of my stuff....Eva Cassidy
(Songbird), I skimmed through some tracks and found it was very easy
going (as one would have expected with the Podiums). Then some Norah
Jones. Again I thought here that there was perhaps less detail as
well as not being able to make out very clearly Norah as a single
image compared to the all Lyngdorf system I heard. However, I did
prefer the sound overall of the Podiums with Norah Jones. It seemed
more effortless and dare I say it nearer to a live performance on a
recorded cd. It was easily overall the best Norah Jones I had heard
on any speaker/system.
At this stage, and after some repeated nudges, Calle suggested I
play the Pearl Jam CD (Ten) i.e rock. I thought why not... I know
what to expect. However, I was surprised. The tracks I played seemed
least as good as on my system if not better. Both Calle and myself
were surprised at this. In fact, Calle then spent a few minutes
hunting down a Metallica CD whose name escapes me but has an all
black cover. We played track 1 (Enter Sandman). Here everything
seemed to hang together and I didn't feel I was missing anything. I
didn't sit there trying to figure out how much bass or the
soundstage. It was just effortless listening but without loss of
dynamics or pace/energy of the music. Then we played track 5
(briefly, a ballad). Again similar traits. So sorry to say that, for
me, read that again, for me, that the Podiums were more than good
enough on rock. I do, however, understand that if you're used to a
lot of bass from your rock music then you will find the Podiums
lacking but in other respects they make the 'rock' experience more
enjoyable, more coherent. Well goes in general for the Podiums.
I then played some 'Brand New Heavies' and some Eros Ramazotti and I
also revisited the Sade live (badly recorded) CD. This time it
sounded better and especially on the other tracks on Sade's CD. I
was confused... as time went on I found the Podiums to my liking.
They were doing more right than wrong although they weren't doing
much wrong anyway... just replaying good or badly recorded music.
We finished off with more vinyl chosen by Calle which included some
Elvis. Again totally smooth.
So overall, I would like to have a longer audition in my home if I
could. As time went on I got used to the boxless Podiums, something
which I noticed when I arrived home. Also the Podiums seem to lift a
considerable veil (something I again noticed when I got home)
compared to my system. Perhaps the thing that I was left with most
is if the bass from the Podiums maybe infact too much in my room
(4.5x5m). I'm guessing but I think Calles room is about 4.5mx9m.
//Jaspal" |
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Slutsatser |
Podium .5 visar att sanning
inte är generell utan specifik. Högtalaren kommer prestera oerhört
imponerande i de flesta system, med den mesta musiken och för de
flesta lyssnarna. Den är så speciell i sin direkta, öppna,
oansträngda och engagerande spelstil att den inte lämnar någon
oberörd. Jag tror det blir en högtalare som delar oss i läger, och
den som söker en högtalarupplevelse i prisklassen 50.000 kr ska
definitivt ge dem en provlyssning.
Jag har
endast provat dem med rör, och jag har en känsla av att det är en
fördel. Högtalarna är hyggligt lättdrivna och kräver således inget
monsterförstärkeri. |
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| Lyssningsrummet är 3,6x7.3x2.4m och uppbyggt av gipsregelväggar, gipstak på träbjälklag och parkettgolv på betong. Systemet står på kortsidan. Rummet är något akustiskt behandlat med 4st 800x1200 dacronplattor, 4st 600x600 Vicoustic diffusorer i tak, 4st kvartvågspipor och Michael Greens RoomTune TunePak i hörn och kanter. Möblering med soffa, fåtöljer, mattor, tavlor och bokhyllor. |
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