• HifiVoice
• Audio
  • Milestones
    • Inspiration Stage
    • Ceramique Stage
    • Wooden Stage
    • Acoustical Stage
    • Measurement Stage
    • Electrical Stage
    • Financial Stage
    • Information Stage
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgements
  • Classic 25
  • iPod
  • DIY DAC

Conclusions

Many people ask me how the Milestones compare to other speakers, and whether they are worth their investment. A speaker is a personal thing, and everybody has his own priorities. If you prefer a very smooth, warm and relaxed sound, these speakers are certainly not for you. I also have no clue how a poor-mans-version of the speakers will sound, with a simpler cabinet, cheaper filter components, or with different units. My opinion is that this speaker can compete with other high-end designs.

Sound characteristics

In this section, I try to make an accurate description of the sound of the speaker as possible. Though I’m aware I’m the builder of this filter myself, many people who have listened to the Milestones share the following observations. The observations are supported by good technical properties, like a flat response, good phase alignment and a good off-axis response. I’ve double-checked my observations with several other speakers and headphones (e.g. Sennheiser HD 650 and Etymotic ER-4S), to exclude getting used to a certain timbre too much.

- Speed: The speaker makes a very "fast" impression, meaning the attacks of drums and snare instruments are instant; the decay of sound is hardly disturbed by resonances. Bass is “dry” and solid, but with a lot of push and punch. There is some “boxiness” at some frequencies, and the unit grills do resonate at some points. This only occasionally pops up, only when playing very loud.

- Energy: The speaker communicates a lot of energy. Instruments with enclosures, like piano or guitar, have a "push", whereas "small" instruments or instruments recorded in large concert halls do sound more "airy".

- Resolution: The speaker has an enormous resolution, comparable what you can find with for instance electrostatic loudspeakers, but combined with the dynamics of traditional units.

- Timbre: Pretty homogeneous if you ask me. Though the timbre is "warm", it is not "smooth" or "romantic", but rather direct.

- Bass: Deep, solid, and well controlled. Due to physical limitations, it misses punch in the very deep bass regions, but it makes an overall energetic impression in the whole range (e.g. acoustic bass makes the couch vibrate, base drums build up quite some pressure). The lowest registers of an organ are clearly present. I’ve heard some speakers around that might have more kicking or faster bass (mainly dipole speakers), but overall the Milestones are on a high level concerning their bass performance.

- Treble: Crisp, brilliant and detailed. Different cymbals all have their own specific sound characteristic, and depending on the recording technique they either sing, or sound blunt. Sibilant recordings are played without mercy, so with some closed-miked recordings the speaker may sound somewhat aggressive. Due to the wide off-axis response, sibilance gets quite some “attention”, so it will be apparent (e.g. recordings of Katie Melua are overdone, and will sound like it). Treble is well integrated with the rest of the sound, so it never sounds “loose” or “out of pace”.

- Mid: Voices have a natural appearance, close to what I liked so much about my previous Audio Note E speakers. The only draw back of the Milestones is when it is played loudly with soprano/barton voice or sax, the mid can become prominent or "shut in/closed/guttural sounding". This is a caused by the mid unit characteristics and the interaction with my living room acoustics. I've tried a lot of filter tweaking in this range (up to 10dB suppression), but without any success.

- Spatial image: In my humble opinion, incredible! Very wide, deep, and airy. Direct sound and reverberant sound is easy to distinguish. Instruments in big concert halls slowly fade away in a dark distance. With classical orchestral music, there is the sense of an orchestral hall in a living room. What is especially striking is that sound sources are accurately and stable positioned, despite any change in frequency or amplitude.

- Musicality: This is where it is all about! When playing tracks to "check the outcome of a filter change", I find myself listening to whole tracks or to complete CDs, instead of quickly browsing. In rare cases, mid prominence can distract my attention, but as the room interacts heavily it is often a matter of lowering the volume a bit, so that the disturbing room reflections drop below some threshold.

Finally

I’m rational enough to realize that the perfect speaker does not exist, and though I’ve spend a lot of time to optimize the performance of the Milestones, they have their strong and weak points. I’m very enthusiastic about the present result, and can live with the weaker points.

Most important, the speakers give me a portal to he musical scene, like through the frame of a painting, and give me the opportunity to hear very clearly how artists are involved in their specific interpretation. What else can you wish for?



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