˻ PREMIERE ˼

⌈ PHONIA is one of the youngest Polish companies, founded in 2018 by Mr. PIOTR KUROWSKI. It specializes in loudspeaker development and is based in Wronki. We are PREMIERE testing the three-way, seven-driver (!), floor-standing GRAVIS 400. ⌋

AUDIO COMPANIES COME AND GO. One look at the list of Polish brands detailed in the introduction to the September issue of HIGH FIDELITY will give you an idea of the scale of this phenomenon. We are primarily interested in those that come to the market, because they are the ones that have a chance to bring something new to our world. And that's because the vast majority of the founders of new brands declare that they designed their speakers because they couldn't find anything suitable for them on the market. And should translate into enriching the market offer. This is also the case with Phonia.

Bearing an identical name to an old, really old brand from France, it comes before us from the start in a mature form. This is not DIY, “enhanced” DIY, or even the first trial. Looking at the tested speakers, one can, with a high degree of probability, assume that they were preceded by a long time of testing and a whole bunch of prototypes. And that's because the speakers look excellent and are equally well made and finished. I don't see anything accidental or “disregarded” about them. This is a great piece of information that I can proudly share - by the way - about more and more Polish manufacturers. Hallelujah!

The nomenclature used by Phonia also does not appear to be accidental. Notable in it is the use of Latin. The company's name is borrowed from the Latin word 'fonia', which in turn is an inheritance from Greek culture, as the Greek φωνή means 'voice'. The names of the three models offered currently also have ancient Roman origins. The smallest, the entry-level Pacto 200 speaks by name of “understanding,” the Gravis 400, which was tested, are “serious” speakers, and the Apertus 600, which means “open,” informs of an open mid-high section.

We are testing the middle model, or the “serious” one. It's a powerful, three-way, seven-driver floor-standing design with a bass-reflex cabinet, featuring a ribbon tweeter and paper drivers for the rest of the range. As you can see, the designer cared about big sound and dynamics.

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| A few simple words…

PIOTR KUROWSKI
Owner, designer

⸜ A rendering showing the inside of the speaker; note the reinforcements and the surface of the side panel

“PRODUCTION OF SPEAKERS that will meet the requirements of professionals” - this, briefly, is how one could describe the task set by our company Phonia. Where did the idea for such a business come from? The answer is simple - from passion. Initially, we were engaged in creating loudspeakers as a hobby. After many tests in the backyard workshop, that is, after several modifications and enhancements to our designs, we decided to start a professional company. A brand was created that guarantees the high quality of each product that leaves the workshop.

Our designs were created for expressive, natural and detailed reproduction of recordings, with a particular focus on jazz and big bands, and classical music. We prefer three-way designs. We try to use drivers with the lightest possible diaphragms, and therefore choose ribbon drivers as tweeters. In the midrange section, we use small drivers with paper diaphragms.

⸜ A rendering showing the design and ribbing of the lower part of the cabinet along with the plinth and spikes

Phonia speakers certainly distinguish themselves from their competitors. We take an individual approach to each customer, as each of them has different expectations. We provide a customized finish: piano black lacquer, classic oak, or maybe some exotic wood? - No problem, Phonia is open to customer suggestions. It is their satisfaction that is the measure of the brand's success.

The appearance of the speaker is our original idea. It is not avant-garde, but rather references to the elegant classic designs. Both the design and technical execution of the sets are perfect. On request, the speakers can be prepared with various finishes. We also offer modifications to the shape of the cabinet (precise execution on CNC equipment), as well as the material the details are made of, such as metal shells in natural color or anodized. The company takes is open to the customer's creative ideas. PK

⸜ A crossover for Gravis 400 – high quality components and neat assembly

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▌ Gravis 400

PHONIA GRAVIS 400 are one of the most interesting designs I have encountered in recent years. That's not all. For they are among the best-made Polish speakers I have encountered recently. You see, among DIY manufacturers you can find fantastic ‘freaks’ testing more and more new solutions that wouldn't have occurred to any rational thinking designer. Only that it is these “crazies” who push the audio world forward and often achieve great results.

Things start to get complicated when it comes to commercializing the product. That is, when you need to prepare a PRODUCT, not a “working prototype”. It turns out then that almost all of them, but also the DIY industry in general, is not able to do it, that these wonderful, crazy, exploratory speakers - because that’s what I am talking about - are not just an idea, a sound, but must be followed by proper execution, finishing, and then sales. Without all this, the company will disappear from the market faster than money from the account.

And it is against this background that Phonia speakers seem particularly interesting to me. And this is because they are made absolutely professionally, and also, that the solutions used in them are not a “one-time shot”, but seem to be part of the designer's “method”. This can be seen well throughout the series, where the solutions chosen are repeatable and scalable. If I were to find an equivalent of such speakers somewhere, they would be closest to the design of the American company → LEGACY, and it would be based on the following similarities: ribbon tweeter, d'Appolito arrangement of the mid-high section and two bass woofers.

Here’s what the company says Gravis 400:

It is a three-way bass-reflex design with a low-tuned resonance system with a large cross-section. The cabinet uses special surface grooves on the inner walls and selected damping materials to minimize distortion coming from the bass-reflex system (sub. - ed.). The size of the enclosure and the use of a minimum amount of damping material are suitable for the woofers we used, and ensure excellent bass dynamics.

⸜ Gravis 400, → www.PHONIA.pl, accessed: 17.09.2024.

DRIVERS • As we said, the treble is reproduced by a ribbon tweeter, a product of Viawave Audio. As the manufacturer says, it is a Sealed Ribbon Tweeter design with a strong magnet achieving an efficiency of 98 dB with flat curve characteristics. It continues, “The range of this driver in our designs starts at 2.7 kHz and reaches 30 kHz. The diaphragm has an area of 7 cm2 and a weight of 0.018 grams.”

The midrange drivers are full-range ones, which is a rare solution in multi-way speakers. The closest thing to this solution would be what is offered in their designs by another Polish company, → AVATAR AUDIO. In Phonia's case, these are Fostex drivers with conical diaphragms made of a mixture of long and short kenaf (hemp ketmia) fibers with a touch of mineral ore. The suspension is quite stiff, as it's a soaked fabric. The materials sent by the manufacturer read:

The design and very low weight of the diaphragm ensures perfect propagation velocity while maintaining high rigidness and low harmonic distortion. We use 3-inch and 4-inch drivers operating in our proprietary variant of the d'Appolito system in the band from 270 Hz to 2.7 kHz. The diaphragms weigh 1.4 and 2.5 grams, respectively.

Each speaker uses as many as four such drivers, but they are not all exactly the same. Two of them have a smaller diameter, and two have a larger one. And yet they work together, with no bandwidth filtering between them.

The lows are reproduced by two drivers with a diameter of 240 mm (9 ½") each. These are great, drivers from SB Acoustics' Satori series. As their manufacturer assures, “they are on the level of Scan-Speak's Revelator models”. Their diaphragm is made of rigid paper, they feature rubber suspension and a solid, cast basket with ribs shaped to circulate air as smoothly as possible. Their load is a very large enclosure and a bass-reflex outlet. Its tunnel has an exceptionally large diameter and is quite long. The manufacturer says that this system is tuned very low.

CABINET • What makes these large speakers look so good is the excellent workmanship. The cabinet is made of MDF boards and solid wood. The actual enclosure is a cuboid made of MDF, in the test unit with a layer of solid wood glued to the sides of it. This part is black, and the wood is available in three different colors. Such a large structure requires reinforcement, therefore:

The rigidity of the cabinet is improved by plywood struts. The sides of the speaker are made, depending on the version: from solid wood or MDF veneered with wood slats and cladding. We offer many versions of surface finish. Trim components are made of brushed anodized aluminum and brass. All components are manufactured using CNC technology and assembled by hand.

The aluminum mentioned by the manufacturer is a strip of this material on the front panel. On the one hand it stiffens it, and on the other it masks the screws the drivers are fix to the cabinet with. Brass, on the other hand, is found in the spikes that are made in-house and screwed into the feet that protrude beyond the speaker's outline.

CROSSOVER • You can see how much attention Phonia pays to detail by watching a video posted by this manufacturer on YouTube; you can check it out → HERE. Towards the end, you can see the crossover of, I believe, the Apertus 600 model, which, however, is probably similar to that of the Gravis 400.

In the tested speakers the crossover is located on the rear panel, slightly above the woofers. The manufacturer says that it uses second-order passive RLC filters “made of high-quality components,” because this solution “provides us with perfect phase alignment of the speakers.” Among the components used, he lists:

• air coils and “c-core” type in the woofer section,
• MKP polypropylene capacitors, silver ones for the tweeter band,
• non-inductive resistors,
• volume control switches with silver-plated contacts and minimum resistance.

The whole is built on a board with gold-plated tracks additionally coated with a layer of silver-doped tin. Connections to the speakers are made with silver-plated braided oxygen-free copper cables with Teflon insulation - these are cables from the Polish company Melodika, model BWC2150. The signal is fed through very good dual speaker terminals. Next to them, the manufacturer has placed two switches that allow user to adjust their characteristics to the acoustics of the room. With them we can change the treble and midrange levels by -2 dB.

We should add that Phonia uses the slogan “Feel the real sound” in its materials.

▌ SOUND

HOW WE LISTENED • The Phonia Gravis 400 speakers stood at a distance of 250 cm from the listening position and 225 cm apart (counting from the center of the front panel). They were 75 cm from the rear wall, counting from the center of their back panel. The speakers' tweeter was at a height of 107 cm. During the test, the speakers were toed-in so that the axes of the drivers crossed in front of my head.

I determined the distance between the speakers and their leveling using a Bosch PLR 50 C. For more on speaker positioning, see the article Mikrodostrajanie. Czyli ustawiamy głośniki, HIGH FIDELITY № 177, 1 January 2019, → HIGHFIDELITY.pl, accessed May 10, 2022. For more on HF listening room acoustics, see the article Pomieszczenie odsłuchowe „High Fidelity” w oczach Mariusza Zielmachowicza, HIGH FIDELITY № 189, January 1, 2020, → HIGHFIDELITY.pl, accessed 12.07.2022.

In the test, they were driven by a SOULUTION 710 power amplifier, and the signal was sent via SILTECH TRIPLE CROWN speaker cables. The reference point was the HARBETH M40.1 loudspeakers, and the music was played through an AYON AUDIO CD-35 HF SACD player and a LUMIN T3 file player. On a separate occasion I listened to them driven by a 50 Watt Aura VA-40 Rebirth amplifier.

» RECORDINGS USED FOR THE TEST ⸜ a selection

⸜ TSUYOSHI YAMAMOTO TRIO, What A Wonderful Trio!, First Impression Music FIM DXD 079, Silver-CD (2008).
⸜ THE WEEKND Dancing In The Flames, XO | Republic Records/Tidal, SP, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ STEVE WYNN, Make it Right, Fire Records/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ SARAH VAUGHAN, Sarah Vaughan, EmArcy/UMG Recordings UCGQ-9053, „Acoustic Sounds SACD Series”, SHM-SACD (1955/2004).
⸜ FRANK SINATRA, Sinatra’s Sinatra, Reprise/Stereo Sound SSVS-017, „Audio Masterpiece Collections” | „Stereo Sound Reference Record” SACD/CD (1963/2021).
⸜ BELLA MILLER, JESSE REYEZ, Feels Like Home, Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024).
⸜ QUEEEN, Queen, EMI/Tidal, FLAC 16/44,1 (2024). (1973/2024).

» The recordings featured in the test can be found on the HIGH FIDELITY playlist on TIDAL → HERE

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IN THE WORLD OF AUDIO EVERY NOW AND THEN THE DISCUSSION about the advantages and disadvantages of stand-mounted speakers, so-called “monitors”, resurfaces. Their proponents point out that only a minimalist, small design is able to integrate the drivers so that they sound like a single or point sound source, and that only small forms are able to convey space and its subtleties in a convincing way. And that, they are the ones that bring the most joy to listening to music.

I respect this opinion, there is a lot of truth in it. But not all of it. In my experience, indeed, small, high-end loudspeakers are capable of producing extremely credible sound. And more easily than the big ones. It is so believable that we suspend our disbelief, silencing doubts, letting our attention and sometimes emotions take over. In many cases, only such, stand-mounted speakers are able to offer the expected results, as I was able to hear a few times (regards to Andrew!).

But it is also the case that only large designs like the Gravis 400 convey sound that is not only believable, but realistic. On the surface, not much separates these two categories - credibility and realism. But only on the surface. In reality, they describe a different type of sound. Realistic is the kind of sound I heard with the tested speakers that I get every day with the Harbeth M40.1, but also that I once got with a top-of-the-line speaker system from Göbel.

This relies on the fact that when we play an album, a window opens in front of us to something else, some new reality. The sound is not transported to us, to our acoustics, and it is we who are transported to a completely new space. The Gravis 400 did this trick out of the blue. With the confidence of a professional. Thanks to this, let me start with this example, I had an incredibly detailed insight into the Puget Sound Studios recording studio in Seattle, where the TSUYOSHI YAMAMOTO TRIO album What A Wonderful Trio! was recorded. And I'm not talking about some details, particulars, but the real “being-there”, a new dimension, a new space opened up to me.

Seeing so many drivers, first in a photo and then in real life, I had my doubts about the wisdom of this venture. Admittedly, I am well acquainted with Dynaudio speakers with just as many drivers, and have listened many times to the large Legacy speakers and others, but we are, after all, talking about a Polish, completely unknown manufacturer that still has time to make mistakes and correct them. And yet - the Gravis 400 sound as if this first stage took place long before the finished speakers were presented.

I say this because they play like a single transducer. Large, dynamic, agile, but single. That’s not an exaggeration, I do not hyperbolize, and finally - I do not sweeten the designer up. I'm sitting in front of these powerful speakers, and it's as if they are not in the room. The sound is rendered by them between them, it does not come out of the sides. Instead, it has very great depth and is very stable. Color-wise they are very neutral designs. But not bland. This is a common mistake of designers based only on measurements. Here you can hear it as if indeed the technical part of the design is most important, but also as if it is later gently corrected by listening.

Because Yamamoto's piano, recorded with three Neumann U-67 microphones, had excellent attack, sonority, but was not glassy or bright. Yes, it was powerful and attacking, but that's because the Japanese pianist is known for just that way of playing, not because of the abnormal behavior of the speakers. These maintained a stoic composure. They showed the attack, dynamics and depth of the instrument, while conveying the timbre of the instrument beautifully. This is really something!

The presentation was incredibly spacious and in that spaciousness also natural. At the same time, the speakers are not “picky”. When I played STEVE WYNN's magnificent What Were You Expecting, from his new album Make it Right, the music drew me in just as much. And after all, it's an almost monophonic performance. The performer is a legend of the American underground scene (critics categorize it as part of the so-called alt-rock movement), so it's not about how the recording was made, but about emotions. And they were exceptional.

Just give a listen to this lazily rolling but pulsing track with an underlying bass, with the Rhodes organ underneath, if I hear it correctly, then also with the sound of an electric guitar far ahead, set really far into the scene, with a long reverb, and you will know what I am talking about. The Gravis 400 speakers played this piece with equal composure as the jazz trio before. In the sense that they didn't impose their character on it, which is extremely subtle, but rather let the music resound.

The same was true of THE WEEKND's new song Dancing In The Flames. It’s a pop production, dense arrangement, low bass, and over that a clear, pure vocals from the Canadian (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, amh. አቤል ተስፋዬ). The important thing is that while it was clearly audible that this was a recording with several times lesser resolution, that the production went in the direction of unifying the sound and boosting the subjectively perceived dynamics by compressing it, it was not an unpleasant or piercing sound.

I could hear it perfectly that the large enclosure and two bass woofers serve not to “punch up” the bass, but to relieve the midrange. Yes, to unload it. Not in terms of timbre, because in this respect they are very, very good speakers, but of “loading”. That is, it is about such an action that removes the emphasize of the bass from the drivers that reproduce the midrange. Usually their loading results in a thickened sound with not quite good selectivity. Here it is excellent. And yet it doesn't devolve into hyper-precision.

It is the case that over and over again it happens that designers look at the measurements and say “this is good,” and as a result they get jazzy sound. Here a balance has been struck between technical requirements and elegance, the way I see it, and how the speakers sound not in an anechoic chamber, but in a real room. For when I played, difficult to reproduce in this respect, the SARAH VAUGHAN CD, recorded with trumpeter Clifford Brown and released in 1955 by EmArcy, I heard yet another story, yet equally credible, equally realistic.

On the technical side, it's not a very good recording, because it's a bit bright, because it's a bit harsh, because it's not very saturated. It certainly doesn't help that Vaughan sang into an RCA 44-BX, ribbon microphone, with a strong peak in the upper midrange, but the production also went right along with it. However, when I heard the first sounds of ˻ 1 ˺ Lullaby of Byrdland I knew it was beautiful. The speakers showed the elements I'm talking about right away, there was no dimming, or artificial warming of the sound. But they also didn't exaggerate it and went deep enough into the structure of the sound that the whole was shaped by consonance and by emotional credibility.

▌ Summary

PHONIA GRAVIS 400 are, as you might have already figured out, extremely versatile speakers. The manufacturer mentioned jazz and classical music, but I wouldn't think of them through that prism. Together with a nice-sounding amplifier, be it Trilogy, Audio Research or - even - Aura, it won't matter what kind of music we listen to. Their intrinsic character is well hidden, and they are all about the best possible rendering of dynamics, the leading edge, and depth of the sound. They differentiate recordings perfectly, without artificially taking them apart.

They are large designs, but their size is used to make the sound as free and unconstrained as possible. The bass goes very low with them, although it is not “pumped”. It sounds rather dry and fast. The midrange is clean, even very much so, and has a rich texture. It is supported, very subtly by the tweeter. It is not bright or harsh, so it sounds different from many designs where the designers have gone for a ribbon driver. It is accurate and quite sonorous. It doesn't have the “weight” of sheet metal shown as clearly as the best dome or AMT drivers, but this is not a problem.

That's why both some super audiophile releases and simple garage recordings will sound great. And when you listen to something like a remix of the ˻ 6 ˺ The Night Comes Down track from the QUEEEN's debut album (the entire album has just been announced), you'll want more and more. I listened to the speakers using their “flat” characteristic, with both switches set to the “0 dB” position. But if your room's acoustics require it, they will cancel out the brightness and harshness very nicely.

Big, yet subtle, powerful, but very fast. I wouldn't expect warm sound from them. Nor “dense” in the sense in which the Harbeth M40.1s play. Rather, it's a presentation that goes in the direction of sound opening and selectivity. It's perfectly clean, but without brightening. These are cool, really nice sounding speakers. And they look great, too. ●

▌ Technical specification (according to the manufacturer)

Nominal impedance: 6 Ω
Frequency range (in anechoic chamber): 27 Hz - 30 kHz
Frequency range (40 m² room): 19 Hz - 30 kHz
Recommended amplifier output: 20-400 W
Sensitivity: 90 dB
Grill: No
Spikes: Yes
Dimensions (W x H x D, incl. plinth): 1370 x 305 x 340 mm
Weight: 45 kg/pc.

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THIS TEST HAS BEEN DESIGNED ACCORDING TO THE GUIDELINES adopted by the Association of International Audiophile Publications, an international audio press association concerned with ethical and professional standards in our industry, of which HIGH FIDELITY is a founding member. More about the association and its constituent titles → HERE.

→ www.AIAP-online.org