| PREMIERE |

⌈ LEMON AUDIO is a young Polish company from Krakow, which prepared its first prototypes in 2017. Back then it was actually still called Lituus Audio, but the name was changed literally a few weeks ago. Its founder and designer is BARTŁOMIEJ PŁÓCIENNIAK, a man of many skills and talents. We are testing the three-way MEZZOFORTE speakers as the first magazine in the world. ⌋

OPENING AN EMAIL FROM BARTŁOMIEJ PŁÓCIENNIAK, in his caption we will find: “The chef of the Twój Kucharz project. Culinary workshops, events, business dinners ”. It is because he is one of those restless, artistic spirits who realize themselves in many different ways.

We met, however, not on the occasion of cooking, but of audio. One of his passions is constructing loudspeakers. For a long time he did it mainly for friends and acquaintances, and his company was called Lituus Audio. However, as he says, the name seemed too complicated for many, hence - Lemon Audio, which is to symbolized something joyful, cheerful and bright. We are the first to present his MEZZOFORTE loudspeakers.

There is no need to beat the bush: the Mezzoforte Lemon Audio loudspeakers will be a choice of people who are not afraid of challenges. For one, these are exceptionally large designs, and therefore heavy, and two, their shape and size dominate the room. These three-way designs consist of two modules - mid-treble and bass ones - stacked on top of each other.

Their cabinet is made in such a way that as few sides as possible are parallel, which makes them quite bulky. Their edges are cut in such a way that the waves emitted by the drivers on the sides interfere with the main signal as little as possible. And there is also the matter of setting the drivers in such a way as to equalize their phase relations.

Each of these elements can be found in dozens of different designs. Together they occur much less frequently which is why they are so characteristic. If I were to point out similarities to well-known brands, I would first of all point to the American WILSON AUDIO. It was its founder, David Wilson, who in 1985 at an exhibition in Chicago showed a small studio monitor called WATT. When he developed a bass module for it, on which WATT rested, the WATT-Puppy speaker was created, which still „lives” in the Sasha DAW model.

There is yet another lead, but also an American one - the Avalon company. While the Mezzoforte loudspeakers are linked to the Wilson by the modular design of the mid-tweeter and bass systems, the kinship with AVALON ACOUSTISC would be based both on the mechanical correction of the angle of inclination of the drivers, all of which are angled to the listening position, and in the shape of the body. To this group one could also add the French FOCAL.

In every field of technology and art, and perfectionist audio is at their intersection, inspirations and even imitations are something natural, and even good. Subsequent designers use the achievements of their predecessors, basing on cumulative knowledge. But also the really good ones bring something new to the pool of knowledge, transforming the existing "material" in their own way. In this way, new ideas are born, even if at first glance they are similar to the existing ones. I think, that’s the case of the Lemon Audio loudspeakers we tested.

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| A few simple words…

BARTŁOMIEJ PŁÓCIENNIAK
Owner, designer

⸜ BARTŁOMIEJ PŁÓCIENNIAK with Mezzoforte speaker at “High Fidelity”

MY ADVENTURE WITH AUDIO AND MUSIC started in music school in the class of percussion instruments, vibraphone and xylophone and on the percussion set that I played for many years later (all emphasis - ed). As a child, I also spent a lot of time in my father's carpentry shop. He was a violin maker, and he made electric guitars at the time, so naturally - I started helping him with it.

Then there was the "club" episode and for around six years I was a part of the club scene in Krakow playing heavy house, minimal and dnb party music. The return to my roots and jazz pushed me towards higher and higher class audio equipment. Finally, after a few years of hobby learning, I started designing loudspeakers in cooperation with Audiosynergia.

The Lituus Audio company - now Lemon Audio - was founded from a combination of love for music, beautiful form and advanced engineering. Appreciating classic elegance, we developed a tasteful design that harmonizes with technological perfection. Work on prototypes started in 2017 in cooperation with the already mentioned Audiosynergia company, which has been designing crossovers and loudspeakers for the "custom high-end" market for 15 years.

Each project is a separate, closed concept. From the very beginning, we have been guided by the specific sound effect that we intended to achieve, as well as the needs of the customers to whom the project was dedicated. We subordinate these assumptions to the topology, the selection of drivers and the crossover tuning as well as the cabinet design. This differs significantly from classic products, where manufacturers study drivers in depth and base entire loudspeaker lines using them, we approach each set individually.

⸜ LEMON AUDIO’s workshop

Mezzoforte loudspeakers are designed for those who want to enjoy large-format and full-scale sound. Hence, the choice fell on the top beryllium tweeter, very fast mid-range airgel woofer (from Audax) and a 12" bass driver. The choice of drivers dictated the construction of the cabinet, where every aspect, even seemingly a designer one, was rooted in technology, physics and acoustics.

We divided the speaker into two sections so that even the smallest vibrations from the bass module would not affect the middle and high tones. The front panel has been designed in accordance with the "time coherent" principle, hence the front baffle is appropriately tilted, so that all drivers have their acoustic centers aligned in space. It is a huge advantage over loudspeakers that have an ordinary vertical front baffle. The lack of any right angles and large slants are designed to eliminate reflections and standing waves inside and outside the cabinet, thanks to which the speakers practically disappear in the room like small stand-mount monitors.
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▌ MEZZOFORTE

MEZZOFORTE ARE BIG, THREE-WAY FLOOR-STANDING SPEAKERS. They are 122 cm high, 48 cm deep, and 40 cm at their widest point. This widest part is located just below the 30 cm woofer, placed in a separate bass-reflex enclosure. The outlets of the two ports are located on the bottom of the cabinet, so the speakers should be fairly easy to place in the room because the load BR is constant in them - this is the distance from the outlet to the floor.

A special feature of the Mezzoforte model is its modular design - the midrange woofer and tweeter are housed in a separate, closed cabinet, and the bass woofer, as already mentioned, in the second one. As one of the assumptions was to prevent standing waves, the loudspeaker chambers were made in such a way that there were no parallel baffles in them. This forced the upper part of the bass module to be tilted, and thus the smaller module has to be mounted on two wooden studs protruding from the lower part of the cabinet. To decouple these two modules, the top one rests on four anti-vibration feet.

⸜ DRIVERS As I said, we are dealing with a three-way design. Driver selection is a reflection of this particular case, and is not part of a larger designer’s "philosophy". In each of his projects, he uses drivers that correspond, according to him, to the specific requirements. The Lemon Audio’s lineup is therefore not a "scaled" one, where we there are similar drivers, mounted in larger and larger cabinets. It is rather a "targeted" offer in which each model is a separate entity.

The Mezzoforte uses drivers from three different manufacturers, rarely seen side by side. The treble are reproduced by a large beryllium dome, the Satori design by SB Acoustics. The midrange was entrusted to, it seems to me, the favorite driver of the designer of these loudspeakers, i.e. the airgel Audax. In turn, the low tones are reproduced by the Ciare HW321 woofer. The manufacturer declares that thanks to this choices he has achieved "a very pleasant and detailed midrange" and "a crystal-clear and very vibrant treble".

⸜ CROSSOVER The drivers are connected to the crossover, and the latter to the input sockets, by means of three different cables - Litz, solid-core and tapes. According to the manufacturer, they were selected during listening sessions. Both modules have their own terminals, and the manufacturer can provide connection cables, exactly the same, as those used inside. In the tested unit, the woofer module sockets were placed close to the floor, so since I wanted to use my reference cables, i.e. the Siltech Triple Crown, I had to use cables provided by the manufacturer, which acted as jumpers, connecting the bottom module with the top one.

However, the loudspeakers are also prepared for a different configuration, with short jumpers - just below the upper module there is a metal plug, where you can move the woofer terminals. And the terminals, let's add, are the excellent WBT Nextgen. The crossover is features very good components using the point-to-point method. As the designer says, the printed circuit board is "a waste of quality".

▌ ODSŁUCH

⸤ HOW WE LISTENED The Lemon Audio Mezzoforte loudspeakers were placed in the place where most of the loudspeakers in my room sound best, that is at a distance of 215 cm from each other and 230 cm from the listening position, measured from the tweeters. They stood 65 cm from the back to the wall behind them, and less than 30 cm to the bookshelves behind them. During the test, the axes of the loudspeakers crossed at the listening position. The loudspeakers stood on their spikes and Acoustic Revive pads. However, I believe that this class of designs should be placed on feet such as Pro Audio Bono, Franc Audio Accessories or Finite Elemente.

I determined the distances between the speakers and their leveling using the Bosch PLR 50 C device. More about speakers setup the article, Fine tuning. Speakers setup (HIGH FIDELITY № 177, January 1, 2019, HIGHFIDELITY.pl, accessed: 28/10/2021).

Mezzoforte were driven by the Soulution 710 power amplifier through Siltech Triple Crown cables. During the test, I listened to SACDs and CDs.

Recordings used for the test | a selection

⸜ ARNE DOMNÉRUS, Jazz at the Pawnshop. Vol. I, II & III, Proprius/Lasting Impression Music LIM UHD 071 LE, 3 x UltraHD CD + DVD (1976/2012).
⸜ VANGELIS, Blade Runner, Atlantic Records/Audio Fidelity AFZ 154, „Limited Edition | No. 2398”, SACD/CD (1998/2013).
⸜ ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS, First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings, Blue Note Records/Universal Music LLC (Japan) UCGQ-9028, SHM-SACD (2021).
⸜ SARA K., Don’t I Know You From Somewhere?, Stockfisch-Records SFR 357.6055.2, CD (2008).
⸜ YES, Fragile, Atlantic Records/Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab UDCD 766, Gold-CD (1972/2006).
⸜ KORTEZ, Bumerang, Asfalt Records JB 029 2CD, CD (2015).
⸜ AUDIOPHILE ANALOG COLLECTION Vol. 1 + Vol. 2, 2xHD Fusion 2HDFT-C1143/1167 | 2 x CD (2020).

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IT WAS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, from the very first test strike of the drums opening the ARNE DOMNÉRUS’ Jazz at the Pawnshop. Vol. I, II & III album, that the Polish designs sound completely different than a large part of the high-end offer and that they were much closer to, say, HARBETH M40.1, FINKTEAM BORG and DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE 50 than to speakers from Wilson Audio, Focal or Avalon Acoustics.

The thing is that they have incredibly dense timbre based on the lower midrange. There is a large scale, momentum and breath in their presentation. The scale, however, comes not from the "unfettered power", as their size would suggest, but from the frequency response that is even down to the really low bass. I think that it was what the designer wanted to achieve when he chose a 30 cm driver and matched it with a large bass-reflex cabinet.

With these components it is easy to go in the direction of punch, mass and "kick". It is also an idea for the sound - an idea that goes towards the stage effect of "here and now", where dynamics and fast attack are the most important. The Mezzoforte loudspeakers are also fast, they are very fast, they are also dynamic, very dynamic. All of this, however, is presented in the spirit of the Harbeths. So we have, above all, depth, a complex structure of harmonics, and underneath them a dense, saturated sound.

We get a slightly warm sound placed close to us. The leader's vibraphone had a large volume, it was clear, but it had a rather “sweet” finish, similar to the cymbals on the percussion. Perhaps that is why the Polish loudspeakers reproduced the depth of this instrument so well and the lower sounds, usually dimmed by audio systems. With the Mezzoforte reverb was perfect.

Low sounds were very interesting. The concert in question took place in a small, crowded 80-seat club, with the musicians crammed into a small stage in the corner of the room. The material was recorded on two Nagra IV-S tape recorders using Dolby modules. So the microphones were placed close to the instruments, but four additional - Neumann U47 - ones were placed at a certain distance from the stage, with two of them directed towards the audience.

But let's get back to the bass - the double bass was connected to a small guitar amp placed on a chair and it was "taken" by a single microphone. The Lemon Audio loudspeakers showed perfectly its slight thickening and the advantage of the "box" sounds over the sound of the strings. Analytical speakers aiming at "revealing" as many details as possible go the other way. The Mezzoforte showed this instrument in such a slightly veiled way, in great communication with other musicians. They simply conveyed the atmosphere of this event in an extremely suggestive way.

This behavior is not common. Large loudspeakers tend to enlarge the instruments and emphasize their dynamics. Usually it is good for the sound, but not for the music, because it compensates for dynamic and size differences - everything is just big and with a "kick". The Mezzoforte are completely different.

When there was a small club, the microphones placed close to instruments, the sound was presented close to me, big, but also very natural. In turn, when at 1:07 time of the soundtrack VANGELIS wrote for the Blade Runner, released on the SACD disc by Audio Fidelity, developed it all went far beyond the loudspeakers, the room was filled with sound, but in all directions, not only on the axis. Thanks to the combination of scale and distance, the loudspeakers fantastically conveyed the voice of Dekker, played by Harrison Ford, instructing the computer with voice commands. It was neither small nor dry, despite the fact that the frequency response was clearly cut off at the top and bottom (this is how the dialogue tracks were recorded).

The beat of the drum that spatially "opens" the first track was deep and low. These are large loudspeakers with a large woofer, and we are aware of that. Even so, the Mezzoforte don't overdo the weight, that is, they don't make the walls tremble. They probably could, but they stop at what I would call energizing the air, not the building’s structure. The space in the listening room was "compressed", and thus the sound was palpable, not coming from somewhere "out there".

Despite the fact that the loudspeakers stood relatively close to the listening position, and the HF listening room is of medium size, I did not have an impression of being overwhelmed with sound (more about the acoustics of this room in the article by MARIUSZ ZIELMACHOWICZ http://highfidelity.pl/@main-981&lang=en ). On the contrary, they left me, the listener, a choice. Even if the sound was captured with closely positioned microphones and it was a mono sound - like on the ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS’ First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings disc.

This material was recorded on monophonic Nagra III tape recorders in the large 2,000-seat concert hall of the Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo. Mono recordings can sound thin and light - but not with the Mezzoforte. Art Blakey's drums, from the first, strong beat on that opens the album, through the entire solo of the band leader, had a lot of volume and sounded dense. But they weren't pushed too close to me. After all, it is a live performance in a large space, which was shown very well. So I had a combination of intimacy and breath - something really hard to get.

The bass on this album repeated something that I heard both with the double bass on the Jazz at the Pawnshop album, and with the electronics from the Vangelis disc, and then I checked it with the four-string baritone guitar by SARA K., recorded during the concert, issued later on the album Don't I Know You From Somewhere?. The point is that the bass is not as clear and so selective as from other high-end designs. For me it is a perfect compromise between richness, saturation and speed, but it is not the only option, and even less "obligatory" one.

Mezzoforte will show the scale and momentum of music, but without a "kick" in the chest, without a clear "slap" in the percussion membrane or "shot" of an electric guitar. They deliver full sound, with the scale, with saturation - this is their most important skill and this is what gives them an advantage over many other well-known loudspeakers. But it also clearly defines their potential recipients. Certainly it will not be someone who likes fast, open, clear, selective sound. The Lemon Audio loudspeakers do something else: they slightly round the bass, warm it up and saturate it. They focus on sustaining, not attacking phase.

▌ SUMMARY

AUDIO IS A WORLD OF MANY PARALLEL PATHS that all lead to the same goal. Each of them is equivalent as long as it does not exceed the "margin of error". The fact is, however, that we are personally, even emotionally connected with this or that way of playing music. For me, what the Lemon Audio Mezzoforte loudspeakers show is closer to the "truth" of the recordings than the sound of many other high-end designs.

I prefer saturation to transparency and tangibility over distance. I put naturalness of timbre before spontaneity. I love the dynamics that are part of something bigger than just revealing all, even the smallest, movements of a drumstick. I know that this is my preference and it is not universal, but with time I’ve noticed a growing and stronger tendency to think of it as the "right" one. Anyway, audio is the art of compromise, and in my opinion the compromise achieved by the designer in the tested loudspeakers is an extremely attractive one.

Therefore, I suggest you give the Mezzoforte a chance, combine them with a high-class, powerful amplifier, sit down and relax with a selected recording package. Take your time, don’t hurry. Enjoy the music, because these loudspeakers push technology into the background. They are resolving, so they will show differences between releases, remasters, etc. effortlessly. But even then they will try to bring us closer to the performers - emotionally and spatially, not to the technical side of the recordings.

And only those of you who prefer open and direct sound can easily start looking for something else, this is not the sound for them. And that's good - after all, we all strive for the same thing, that is, to read the emotions contained in the recording and become saturated with them. Mezzoforte do it their own way and they do it perfectly.

▌ DESIGN

LEMON AUDIO MEZZOFORTE ARE THREE-WAY SPEAKERS composed of two modules; the woofer is loaded with bass-reflex, and the mid-tweeter one is a closed design. The cabinet is made of MDF boards reinforced inside with aluminum elements and dampened using bituminous mats. The whole thing is finished with natural veneer and the front is painted black. The upper module rests on four feet, and the whole rests on four spikes.

⸤ DRIVERS SB ACOUSTICS TW29BN-B Beryllium, i.e. the aforementioned tweeter, is an expensive driver - costs almost PLN 1,400 a piece. Designer placed the 29 mm beryllium dome, suspended on a thick fold, which is why it is called the "Ring Dome", in a small cavity (waveguide). The driver features a solid housing made of two aluminum elements decoupled from each other, and the dome is protected by a metal "spider" - beryllium is an extremely fragile material.

Mid tones are reproduced by a driver of the French company AUDAX, model HM170Z18. This 17 cm driver has a diaphragm made of a material developed by the company called HDA AeroGel. This material was created from a combination of gel based on acrylic polymer with Kevlar and carbon fibers. The driver features a perfect, stiff and strong basket and a large magnet. Although it is intended for applications in which it processes low and medium tones, it is eagerly used in systems where the woofer section is cut quite low. We can also find it in horn loudspeakers, for example in the No. 28 by Odeon.

And finally, there is the woofer of the German company Ciare. It has a diameter of ø 30 cm and features a coated paper diaphragm and a ø 50 mm coil.

⸤ CABINET The mid-tweeter part in a closed enclosure was damped with felt and additional light material. The bass module, apart from internal reinforcements, was built using as a sandwich made of 40 mm MDF boards, 3 mm butyl mat and 10 mm felt. As the manufacturer says, "it resulted in a complete lack of resonances and stability of the structure, which translated to a well-controlled bass without coloration".

⸤ CROSSOVER Only high-class components were used in the point-to-point crossovers: Jantzen Wax and Litz ribbon coils, Mundorf Ultra series resistors and - as I read in the text sent to the editor - "internationally recognized, one of the best available capacitors for audio applications ”: KPAL and MKP10 by Miflex. Neotech's monocrystalline copper wiring has a different cross-section and structure for each of the drivers.

The Mezzoforte loudspeakers were priced at PLN 59,000 per pair and are - according to press materials - "dedicated to hi-end electronics to show the class of both their own and expensive amplifiers and sources". ■

▌ Technical specifications (according to the manufacturer)

Power handling: 300 W
Nominal impedance: 6 Ω (min. 4 Ω)
Sensitivity: 93dB
Frequency range: 27 Hz - 40 kHz
Recommended amplifiers: 8-200 W
SPL (peak): 112 dB
Crossover frequencies: 500 Hz, 3000 Hz
Dimensions (H x W x D): 1220 x 400 x 480 mm
Weight: 61 kg/pc.