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On the first weekend of this month, we exhibited our Borderland Mk IV loudspeakers at the High End Mässan audio show in Stockholm in Sweden. This was the first time in two years that this normally annual show had been held. It is run by our new distributor in Sweden, Audio Concept. Held in two venues in central Stockholm, there was a wide selection of exhibits from a number of other distributors, dealers and audio makers. It was surprisingly well attended, though presumably this being the first audio show in Sweden for nearly 18 months, there were plenty of frustrated audiophiles champing at the bit to get out to see and hear what is new. The system we used comprised a MBL N31 CD player and Spectral DMC 30 preamplifier and DMA 300 power amplifier. Spectral electronics is phenomenally fast and transparent and is an excellent partner for the DDD driver in the Borderlands, which due to its very low moving mass, has an exceptionally fast transient response. You could hear this very clearly on the Stevie Ray Vaughn track Heavy Weather, where the snare drums had a convincingly realistic crack to the edge of the transient and the attack on Stevie’s guitar was impressively life-like. Besides SRV, we played a range of jazz, choral and classical music, all of which was very much appreciated by visitors to our room and we received a lot of positive feedback. Not bad for a new pair of loudspeakers that only arrived in the country two days before the show opened and that were still running in. A pleasingly large number of visitors came over to talk to use about the Borderlands and how the DDD driver worked. Swedish audiophiles appear to be very well informed and fortunately for us, they also speak excellent English. At 115 sq m, the room we used was larger than the 90 sq m that we normally recommend as the maximum room size for the Borderland, but despite this they produced more than adequate levels of clean and well extended bass, together with a realistic and well defined stereo image. The overall sound improved as the still new loudspeakers settled down. All lot of visitors were fascinated by the Borderland’s ability to produce a stereo image that could be enjoyed almost anywhere in the room - as you would experience in the concert hall. Many people walked around the room as they listened to test this - some even going behind the loudspeakers. One visitor dragged a chair forward so that he could listen in the loudspeaker’s near field. When he got up others soon moved over to try this out. As this proved quite popular, we left the chair where it was. A number of our customers listen this way. One has taken it to the extreme and uses our Unlimited model set either side of his listening chair and describes it as “the best open back headphone in the world”. It is an interesting experience, as it virtually eliminates the room from your listening. We are looking forward to going back to this show next year. Click here to visit the Borderland Mk IV web page. Click here to visit the Audio Concept web site:
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