Ikon Akustik Avara Final Edition Floorstanding loudspeakers

Of course, the excellent surface quality of our test speakers contributes to this: The structure of the bubinga veneer of the baffles has apparently been matched in my couple and, like the multilayered mother-of-pearl white paint on the rest of the speaker housing, has a nice optical depth. My white Spendor D9 (yes, yes – who buys Spendor loudspeakers in a non-veneer version …?) Look downright dismal in direct comparison.

If I had something to complain about with small minds, it would be that a Bubinga baffle was not brought onto the housing frame with accuracy to a tenth of a millimeter, which, however, is somehow to be seen as a sign of manual work. Otherwise: Quality wherever you look. Screwable pole terminals from the upper shelf of the Essen specialist WBT including self-made aluminum terminals, high-end bass drivers and mid-range speakers with ceramic membranes from Accuton / Thiel from Pulheim and a “real” ribbon that starts from 3500 Hertzof the Berlin provider Expolinear. In terms of ribbon technology, this is not the end of the flagpole, but what is more important for Ikon is that the tweeter, together with the broadband (from 250 Hertz) 14 cm ceramic mid-range driver, emits an acoustically optimal unit and transmits linearly up to an airy 30 kilohertz. By the way: I’ve had good experiences with mid-range speakers that work with a broadband range and I’m definitely a fan of such concepts.

Last but not least, Ikon Akustik appreciates the impulse behavior of the ceramic drivers and the associated time behavior. The Ikon developers consider the tonal sharpness or harshness, which is often assumed to be the case with this material due to its resonances, as completely unfounded if one takes appropriate care in the design of the frequency crossover. We will hear.

I have already mentioned the crossover frequencies, the electrical 12 dB (acoustic> 12 dB) steep switch setting for the frequency ranges of the three-way system is carried out by freely wired “SilberGold.Öl” capacitors, copper flat band and zero-ohm coils, all of which come from Mundorf , as well as a shielded and silver-plated pure copper internal wiring. In my experience, good engineering is about pure ingredient quality – not least my Spendor D9 are audible proof of that – but with a view to the housing, the drivers and electronics of the Ikon Avara – Final Edition, one thing is certain: even in view of the advanced price range in which move the loudspeakers, the South Hessian manufacturer offers a fair physical equivalent, which is definitely worth an extra praise.

Ikon acoustics?

Ikon Akustik Avara – Final Edition: Sound Test & Comparisons

I sit on the sofa and look at two ribbons and six ceramic drivers. What ideas do you get when you start the listening course? Exactly, to really feel the dynamic abilities, the speed and the resolving power. After a few Frickel Metal records (I just can’t help it) I finally put the Open Form for Society , created around the German drummer and composer Christian Lillinger , into the playlist.

Short notes, great art

The track “Aorta” seems improvised when you first hear it, but it is a through-composed, only apparent chaos, which one could probably best put in the category of “free jazz”. A song cannot be more rhythmically complex and dynamically demanding, if one disregards the powerful coarse dynamics: In addition to Lillinger’s distinctive, fast-paced, yet not in the foreground drumming work with its 16th and 32nd notes pearls and rushes piano, marimba, Vibraphones and synthesizers across the stage, the bass accents of the acoustic and electric basses create the necessary counterbalance and there are also synthesizers and cello as a greeting from the kitchen. Inedible over the car radio, definitely irrelevant over mediocre systems, unfolds over my nimble onesBryston 7B3 Ikon Avara fired an unbelievable tension and desire for concentration.

One is tempted to chase after each and every one of the innumerable fleeting tones and greedily grab the next one at once. In my opinion, such a highly accurate transient reproduction is one of the highest honors of good high-ends, and neither my Sehring 903 nor my Spendor D9 can keep up with the Ikon Avara: The Berliners sound rounder, they lack the shimmering of the top a little bit Icon. And the English seem a bit more diffuse.

So background music works differently. Big dynamic cinema but exactly as it is shown by the Ikon Avara – Final Edition. Especially since they don’t make the mistake of overdoing it on the attack side or neglecting the sustain, as one might fear in view of the driver assembly trimmed to impulse precision. No, unpleasantly analytical, brittle, wiry or sallow – the typical symptoms of an overly “attacking” vote – it never sounds. On the contrary: I think that the Ikon Avara organically capture the subtle, kaleidoscopic textures and timbres in the transient cosmos of “Aorta”.

Who can can …

Those who can (fine) dynamics can also resolve. And so the spherical electro sounds in Bourbonese Qualk’s “Temporale” sound almost unlimitedly ethereal, one can subtly trace the fragility of Julia Stone’s voice in “Here We Go Again” and the Avara reveal the typical snarling of the snare in Red Sparows’ eight- minute minutes with the appropriate long title “Alone And Unaware, The Landscape Was Transformed In Front Of Our Eyes” differentiated in an exemplary manner. (The albums for the three tacks: On Uncertainty, A Book Like This, At the Soundless Dawn ).

Mind you, without any unpleasant analytical overtones. Even the “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel, which at least in the version available to me sounded like plastic, only annoys me a little more in the sibilance and treble range than through my somewhat more forgiving work speakers. They, in turn, show a little less complexity in the other tracks than the Ikon Avara Final Edition. The Audiaz Cadenza (28,000 euros, soon to be tested) proves that it can be even more complex at the top and in the middle than with my speakers and even finer-pixelated than with the Avara.

Calibration tool

Tonally, the entire mid-high range of the Ikon Avara is almost neutral in terms of calibration instruments and therefore comes from the same school as my Sehring 903 (slightly less shiny than the Avara) or a Wilson Sabrina, while my Spendor D9 (now there is a 9.2) one Tick ​​sounds more present and makes voices appear even more direct. Which, by the way, can be seen as a real strength, especially in combination with the slightly larger image. The Avara, however, is not impressed by the bean and gives James Skelly’s throaty voice in “Wrapped in Blue” ( Curse of Love , one of The Coral’s best albums) lined at the bottom and as present at the top as I know it from absolutely neutral speakers.

The authentic, organic voice reproduction of Ikon Akustik is quite a surprise to me. With a view to their driver equipment, I would have never expected the Avara – Final Edition to work out textures precisely: Voices appear very multifaceted, therefore more interesting than many other loudspeakers, even in this upper price range. But the seamless and coherent interaction of the ribbon and ceramic driver amazes me a little.

So we let the Ikon Akustik Avara breathe with a half-open bass reflex opening: On the one hand, it rewards the listener with a very crisp attack on the bass side, individual bass impulses swing in exceptionally jagged, and on the other hand with a depth that, for example, downloads “Outafter” (album: The Eyes of Stanley Pain) can be literally felt: You feel the very bottom of the electronic bass runs more than you hear them, you think you are physically aware of the pressure changes in the room and you get the vibrations of the sofa. Cool! Nothing booms there, although I have the middle bass the Avara tonally a little finger breadth – and really nothing more! – would be located above sea level. To put it into perspective : A Focal Sopra No 3 or AudioSolutions Virtuoso M have a much stronger bass side.

The Ikon Avara – Final Edition can only be lured out of reserve with music with very dense bass impulse sequences, such as in Free the Robots’ “Turbulence” (album: Ctrl Alt Delete). Then it doesn’t bubble and bubble so contoured, “countable”, not as differentiated as I know it from loudspeakers, especially with passive membranes – for example my earlier Thiel CS 3.7 or the current Sehring 903. In my opinion, the decay behavior of the two 18-note basses of the Avara plays a role here.