All that remains is the music.
The Extreme 35 boasts an efficiency rating of . Let that number sit with you. A standard bookshelf speaker might be 85 dB. The Extreme 35 is so sensitive that a 1-watt amplifier will produce sounds loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. You can drive these things to concert levels with a flea-powered 300B tube amp putting out 8 watts. Avantgarde Extreme 35
Does it have flaws? Yes. It is physically imposing. It is ruthlessly revealing of bad gear. It costs more than a Porsche 911. All that remains is the music
I am happy to report that after spending 72 hours with the new Avantgarde Extreme 35, my anxiety is gone. It has been replaced by something far more unsettling: the realization that I have never actually heard a recording before. A standard bookshelf speaker might be 85 dB
The second thing is the . That 35-inch horn covers 150 Hz to 2,000 Hz. This is the golden zone—the human voice, the cello, the guitar. Thom Yorke’s voice on Nude was holographic. It wasn't coming from the left and right. It was a phantom figure standing 15 feet in front of me, breathing.