ou have to be some sort of audio freak to create speakers like Eva. Usually they build first pair for themselves, than for their family and friends and finally, providing all goes well, they start to build them for other people. Other audio freaks I mean. These are high-efficiency speakers, so can be driver even by some low-power amplifier, but that convinces mostly a very particular group of audiophile – class A, SET amplifiers lovers. By low-power I mean 2 to 8 W. When you commit to such speakers you need to be sure that you look exactly for what they offer, accepting that there are things they can't provide.

One of the key advantages of such loudspeakers is lack of crossover as that is a “loudspeaker's curse” that many engineers and hobbyists have been fighting with from the very beginning of audio history. A crossover introduces phase shifts, muffling some spectrum fragments and emphasizing others. Few drivers in one enclosure means also that such speakers is not a point sound source, it does not spread spherically like it does in reality with an exception of multi-driver coaxial units like KEF's Uni-Q, for example.
Problems of such designs are limited extension of treble and bass, limited power handling and dynamics in macro scale; the excursion of wide-range speakers is not too big. If one takes a look at measurements given by manufacturers one would have a problem to realize these limitations, especially in treble area. On a chart it all looks fine, especially in axis. But a short demo will prove that there is some shortage of energy in the treble comparing to classic designs with tweeters.
How one will perceive lower end depends more on the driver and enclosure used in particular case. There are many different types of enclosures but the most popular seems to be some sort of: bass-reflex design, horn or labyrinth.

These are speakers that will attract attention even of those who normally disregard this type of design. They evoke a lot of emotions, and the people who design them make a very colorful, “noisy” group of enthusiasts. Interestingly it seems that there is a lot of such products made in Poland and „High Fidelity” reviewed most of them.
From my perspective Closer Acoustics is the newest addition to that specific group of manufacturers. Company is run by Jacek Grodecki, Lenco turntable fan and a member of LencoHeaven – Lenco's fan-club – check out his blog. He is a great fan of French music and, if I understood correctly, of France in general. So it seems that a choice of drivers that come from Supravox wasn't coincidental. Mr Grodecki became also a Polish distributor of this French brand. Supravox's history is quite long already – it was founded in 1956, but some “roots” go as deep as to before Second World War – and quite eventful. What many people probably know in 1964 Supravox won a tender and supplied RFT studios, i.e. Radio Télévision Française. Speakers with 215 mm wide-range drivers called 215 RTF 64, were delivered to ORTF, RAI, RTL and EUROPE 1 studios.

Today Supravox still manufactures and sales this type of drivers, offering several versions. Eva speakers, one of two Closer Acoustics models, sport Supravox 215 Signature Bicone. The enclosure was designed by Mr Jacek, and is made by his brother, carpenter. Maybe that is why these speakers emanate love and passion that was put into building them. These are surely not another “me too” speakers.
Evas are large and heavy. They have quite a characteristic shape and surely don't “disappear” in a room. I think it was the idea to give them a distinctive look. A fan of wide-range speakers is proud of them and surely doesn't want to “hide” them; they are not only a tool that delivers music in a favorable way but also a totem, a symbol.

So we are dealing here with a serious heavy weight contender – both literally and figuratively speaking. I think that both Grodecki brothers realize that. The way they carried these speakers to my fourth floor proved they it wasn't the first time they had to do it – I guess that they had visited more than one potential customer with these speakers before. And to be honest – they have something to show to customer as the make&finish of these speakers is perfect. One of the problems of new companies is packaging of their products – usually not of high quality at the beginning. But not in this case – custom made boxes wit company's logo on them seem to ensure a safe arrival to the customer. Shipment packaging differentiates firms from FIRMS, boys from men. In this particular case designing and having made proper boxes was even more difficult because of irregular shape of these speakers.

A few simple words…
JACEK GRODECKI | designer, owner

I planned to go back to listening to vinyl records and I ended up with building loudspeakers with my own hand. This one sentence perfectly describes genesis of foundation of Closer Acoustics. Love for music and proper sound quality I inherited from my father, when I was still a young kid. In the late 1970ties we had at home a beautiful, black Radmor 5100, that I, even today, considered one of the most beautiful audio devices ever built. System included also a Daniel turntable, Dama Pik reel-to-reel tape recorder and Tonsil's loudspeakers. I know it wasn't really a high-end system but at this time in Poland it was one of the best system man could get. Time passed by, system changed, music library grew, music media changed. Introduction od CD Players and discs brought a great quality change. It took years to realize that CDs sounded really good, very much more convenient to use than vinyl records, but the truth was that at the time I didn't have any decent vinyl system to compare quality of playback with CD. After years I decided to go back to the vinyl records and more or less at the same time I really got myself into classical music. So I decided to look for a decent turntable. At the beginning I thought I would chose famous Linn Sondek LP 12, but before I made my choice by some improbable chance I came across a classic Swiss idler – L75, or should I say – I learned what could be done with such a drive.

Soon after that my audio adventure started. After I finished my first SuperLenco and equipped it with a nice tonearm and cartridge I took it to Beauvechain, Belgium for a Lencoheaven meeting. I met there a lot of true music fans who appreciated not only music itself but also high quality reproduction. It was there where I met a German engineer who came to demonstrate his minimalist system with quite specific loudspeakers using old wide-band Phillips drivers. For me it was some sort of revelation. I always perceived speakers as the ultimate element responsible for what we hear from our system. That led me to an idea of experimenting with my own speaker designs. And since if I take on some sort of a job I have to know everything there is to know about the subject, I started to read everything I could put my hands on connected in any way with the history of drivers, loudspeakers, acoustics and psycho-acoustics. I read many books, the ones written recently but also the older one, even those issued right after Second World War. I took an old-school approach to the problems that were of special interest to me – I built prototypes to measure them and listen to them. Luckily my brother was a carpenter dealing also with antique renovation so I could use his knowledge when building my speakers.

I knew exactly was I was looking for. I wanted a lively sound, the one that allows listener to feel the music, instrument;s soul, ambiance and a presence of performers. I was looking for proper wide-range drivers, that would fulfill my expectations. When I came across currently produced Supravox drivers I knew that my search could be over. Why paper cone wide-range drivers? They offer very vivid, lively sound, amazing stereophony and soundstaging, which is due to the absolute coherence of the sound of single driver, which is not the case when multiple drivers are used. When implemented in a proper enclosure this driver can be quite enchanting. So what I needed was this proper enclosure that would expose all advantages of these drivers offering a very natural sound, clear, good quality bass, that also wouldn't decrease sensitivity of these drivers. I had my preferences as for the type of enclosure. Using elements of “vintage” designs with a very modern solutions I designed an enclosure built completely of wood, using no damping materials at all. Luckily I was able to combine technical requirements with an interesting look. After few trials Supravox widebanders I finally heard a sound that allowed me to believe that I was very close to achieving my goal. I put a stop to all other projects and focused my efforts on to projects that after few adjustments to enclosures became Adam and Eva.

Today, when I listen to Itzhak Perlman's or Joshua Bell's violin, Witold Rek's double bass, or Mariza or Anna Maria Jopek voice I am a very happy man. I truly enjoy listening to my favorite music composed end of XIX and beginning of XX century. Whether these are a dynamic pieces from Strawinsky, or cameral pieces of Gabriel Fauré, I can easily feel the vibe, the atmosphere of these wonderful musical pieces. I could talk about it for hours. And since many of my friends here in Poland but also abroad shared my vision of sound and supported me in many ways I decided to create a brand for my speakers and offer them to other music fans. I am really proud that these speakers are hand-crafted in Poland. When my friend engineer from Germany, after listening to both Eva and Adam, told me that my application of Supravox drivers was perfect, the only thing left for me to do was to found CLOSER Acoustics.

Recordings used for this test (a selection)

• Paganini For Two, Gil Shaham, Göran Söllscher, Deutsche Grammophon/JVC 480 246-5, XRCD24 (1993/2009).
• Stereo Sound Reference Record. Jazz&Vocal, Stereo Sound, SSRR4, SACD/CD (2010).
• Stereo Sound Reference Record. Nobu’s Popular Selection, Stereo Sound, SSRR5, SACD/CD (2010).
• 2 Plus 1, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, Sonic Records Son 115, CD (1997).
• Bill Withers, Just As I Am, Columbia/Sony Music Japan, SICP-2633, "Natural Soul Collection", CD (1971/2010).
• David Gilmour, On An Island, EMI Records 3556952, CCD (2006).
• Elvis Presley, Elvis is Back!, RCA/BMG Japan BVCM-37088, “Living Stereo”, CD (1960/2002).
• J.S. Bach, The Complete Goldberg Variations 1955 & 1981, wyk. Glen Gould, Sony Classical/Legacy S3K 87703, 3 x CD (1956, 1982/2002).
• Jean Michel Jarre, Essentials & Rarities, Disques Dreyfus/Sony Music 62872, 2 x CD (2011).
• Jean-Michel Jarre, Magnetic Fields, Dreyfus Disques/Epic EPC 488138 2, CD (1981/1997).
• John Coltrane, Expression, Impulse!/MCA Victor MVCZ-39, “Master of Jazz”, K2 CD (1967/1996).
• J.S. Bach, Cello suites Nos 1,3&5, wyk. Mischa Maisky, Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music LC (Japan) UCCG-50085, SHM-CD (1999/2011).
• Ludwig Van Beethoven, Piano Trios Op.70 No.2, Op.97 ‘Archduke’, wyk. Alexander Mielnikov, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Gihen Queyras, Harmonia Mundi HMC 902125, CD (2014).
• Mendelssohn & Brahms, Violin Concerto, wiol. Hilary Hahn, "Best Classics 100", Sony Classical/Sony Music Japan, SICC 30088, Blu-spec2 CD (1997/2012).
• Patrick Noland, Piano Gathering Light, Naim naimcd011, CD (1994).
• Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Mixed Company, wyk. Theatre of Voices, London Sinfonietta, Paul Hiller, DaCapo Records 8.226114, CD (2014).
• Roy Orbison, Lonely and Blue, Monument Records/Sony Music Japan, SICP-3113, “Roy Orbison Paper Sleeve Collection”, CD (1961/2011).
• Waylon Jennings, Waylon Jennings, Stockfisch SFR 357.4801.2, “Analog Pearls Vol. 1”, SACD/CD (2014);

Japanese issues available at

„Using words to describe sound seems impossible. I'll leave that to poets.” – that's what you'll find under „Closer” bookmark on manufacturer's web page. There is no use in discussing this statement – everybody has a right to his opinion. I would only like to point out that if that were true there would be no literature, sculpture, music, architecture, nor any art critics. But as we all know there are a lot of them and they produced a lot of interesting, valuable texts that allow people to find out more about their favorite art. Same goes for audio – our industry has developed quite a good trade language, so most reviewers use similar descriptions and although there is still some interpretation margin readers can usually learn from a review whether particular product could be interesting for them or not. So while not being a poet I shall still try to describe a sound of these Eva speakers for you and I hope that you will understand what I will try to tell you about them.

Especially considering that in the field of wide-band loudspeakers these ones offer truly high performance, with relaxed, coherent and forgiving sound. In this type of speakers a quality of treble is defined by a quality of a driver, wiring and speaker posts. They are not influenced by crossover nor any other drivers. To some point they are influenced by the type of cabinet, its shape, and the way it is coupled with the floor it stands on. Room doesn't have any significant influence and the small horns radiate sound waves in a very narrow beam. As you can see there are much less elements that influence treble in this type of design, than there is when it comes to multi-way loudspeakers.
That also means that these speakers will show any distortion or coloration provided by a source, amplifier or cable even faster than any other speakers. So despite the fact that as for high-end standards Evas are rather inexpensive they will strongly benefit from high quality system delivering signal for them – the better the system the better speakers' performance. Maybe that is why Mr Jacek, Eva's designer, uses a 300B SET amplifier – in other words quite an uncomplicated design.

So when the signal is provided by a high quality system Polish speakers will deliver sound with a dominant element that will be something “behind” the sound itself. I really appreciated a moments of silence between notes, or the “air” behind tones. Each note enters air so smoothly that it all starts to make immediate sense no matter what's the quality of a recording are we listening to. But this way of presenting music promotes certain recordings, especially the ones made in a simple way, without significant post-processing, like Waylon Jennings' album recently reissued by Stockfisch, that was recorded on four-track analogue tape recorder in 1964, like Patrick Nolland's piano, recorded with stereophonic Nagra by Ken Christianson, or John Coltrane's Expression, the last album of a great master recorded shortly before his death. This is a very relaxing presentation. Evas, and any other good designs with wide-band drivers always promote simplicity and high quality. Such speakers don't really appreciate compressed material, reducing scale of such recordings. I'd heard it before and I could hear it this time too. Why is it happening? I think that compression that should in theory be helping drivers with short excursion with hard suspension, as compression means leveling dynamics, actually doesn't. Fine “classic” speakers (the ones with more than one driver) are able to deliver richer lower midrange and they can better differentiate tonality and dynamics than single driver speakers. The latter are faster with better leading edge. But when they received some compressed material the attack is still fast but sound isn't rich enough. So these speakers are able to show only most distinct features of the sound and others, like Harbeths can add something more – maybe without such a precise attack and leading edge, but with more “body”.

That's why I really liked more the way Evas played jazz records, Roy Orbison's, Elvis and Bill Withers' than for example Jean Michel Jarre’s, 2 Plus 1 and some others. On the other hand I loved the way albums of Lipnicka, Jakubowicz and Me Myself and I sounded like. There is something to the way voices are presented, something that should fully satisfy fans of cameral and vocal music.
The presentation seems quite direct, close, with large volume. Significant size of these speakers translates directly to large sound. Also a large front baffle plays its role here. Other important thing is bass – it's quality, as for a wide-band driver, is really good. The intelligently designed cabinet does its job very well nicely integrating sound coming directly from driver with the one coming from cabinet. Listener “receives” it all at ones and bass performance seems natural, not forced to sound better or different than it really is. And its role is to complete/support midrange. The lowest notes of electronic instruments or bass guitars are compressed and lack the energy so can't really be called “natural sounding”. But I guess nobody hoped they would – that is one of obvious compromises one has to accept when choosing this kind of speaker.

Polish speakers present soundstage in an interesting way. They prove that a large baffle offers specific advantages. Soundstage is large and very stable. The part in front of us seems deep and expansive at the same time. The elements at both side are more “attached” to both speakers due to narrow sound beam delivered by a small treble horn. It's not a real problem though, it does not effect comfort of listening. Narrow front baffles of modern speakers improve precision of spacing due to a better definition of leading edge (attack). Wide baffles can't do that but on the other hand they give more body to each phantom image making them more real, more palpable. Summa summarum I personally prefer this type of presentation offered by Evas as it is closer to what I hear in a real world. I wish they offered a bit more detailed images that would help me to find each source of sound in space quicker, more naturally. Both types of presentation are just some approximations of real world and I definitely prefer the one offered by Evas, Harbeths M40.1 and some other speakers coming from a good old BBC school.

Summary

One doesn't have to be a reviewer to quickly realize that these are not speakers that could be accepted by everybody, or to be perfectly honest that will be accepted by few. All you need is a reason and some knowledge of contemporary audio market. I can tell you a bit about what sort of sound they offer. Those few who prefer a lack of any nervousness in the sound, lack of some sort of muffledness introduced by crossovers in most multi-driver designs will be delighted with the level of performance these speakers offer. It's a very direct presentation with warm vocals, with some emphasis around 2 kHz, which usually is not associated with a warm sound. They offer sophisticated imaging and simply sound really good.

Bass does a good job supporting midrange, while being coherent with the upper range and it's definitely not a boomy type. In this particular case a large enclosure was used properly which means not to simulate lower bass, because it's not really possible to achieve it with a wide range driver, but to expand/enforce lower midrange. Sound was somehow similar to what other two Polish loudspeakers had to offer, namely: J.A.F. BOMBARD and Acuhorn SUPERLEGGERA GIOVANE85. Each of them is different, of course, but the level of performance is similar and the target group (of customers) is the same.

These Closer Acoustics loudspeakers seems to be perfect for cameral music, single instruments, or music with leading vocals. Any compressed recordings, the ones rich with bass notes, electronic music will sound correctly but won't display Eva's real capability. In other words these a highly specialized, sophisticated tools for playing certain sort of music.

The most important album in this founded in 1969 in Warsaw Medyk club band's history is Mrowisko (SXL 0756 Polskie Nagrania MUZA). It was released in 1971 and it included music written for a ballet spectacle also titled Mrowisko. This album belongs now to Polish rock canon and in fact it was the only music of this band, apart from their debut EP Klan, released in these years with a band in its original cast. By the end of the same year, after a series of concerts, group ceased their activity for many years. They reactivated the band for a short period of time in 1991, but not in original cast, and released a new album a year later, called Po co mi ten raj (CD DIG 129 Digiton, 1992). Their music was usually described as „progressive”, with surrealistic texts.

In 2011 GAD Records released an album called Senne wędrówki that included material recorded by the band in February 1971 for Polska Kronika Filmowa. It included new version of band's hits like Z brzytwą na poziomki, Automaty), fragments of Mrowisko (Kuszenie, Taniec głodnego), and previously unreleased pieces. This material was complemented with a tune called Szkoła, that was prepared for a Tomasz Żygadło's documentary Szkoła podstawowa.

Recordings for Senne… were remastered by Andrzej Poniatowski – the drummer from band's original cast, but also a valued sound engineer, who worked with groups like Maanam, Budka Suflera, VOX or with Zbigniew Namysłowski. It's the same Andrzej Poniatowski, who remastered two previously reviewed by me Alex Band albums (see HERE), that he also recorded himself as sound engineer.

Nerwy miast is a second GAD Records release of Klans music. This time material used for this album was recorded by a band for radio use. It includes the first, nowadays mostly forgotten version of Z brzytwą na poziomki, found after many years Trzeba było mnie nie budzić, early takes of some fragments of Mrowisko, as well as the fragment of the same spectacle that had been cut out of the original release. Plus there are three demo recordings, including one inspired by Blood, Sweat & Tears Winter and Spinning Wheel cover. This material has also been remastered from original tapes by Klan's drummer, Andrzej Poniatowski. Surely also a booklet included in this release is worth noticing – it is truly beautiful and except for some information of pieces included in the album in also includes many many elements from private collections of band's musicians, like, for example, 40 years old letters from fans and pictures of band's photographer, Henryk Kotowski.

Even this remastered version could correct many shortcomings of original recording that was made in times of a great deficit and limited resources of tapes, recording equipment and studios. It's “dry”, lean, and “flat”. But on the other hand you can hear and feel the energy, the drive. Recordings come from short sessions giving us a chance to hear how this band sounded during concerts like. It's a documentary and as such it is hardly debatable. When listened to using high quality system it won't offer deep, rich sound, but it there will be proper clarity and purity. For band's fans it is a mandatory position.

When it comes to loudspeakers with wide-range drivers it all comes down to proper application of proper driver. It is as important to choose a proper driver as it is to choose a proper loading for it. Differences between good and poor designs are much bigger than among “regular” multi-way speakers.
Mr Jacek Grodecki chose a driver coming from a French company Supravox, 215 Signature Bicone to be exact, that is a changed version of a classic model 215 RTF Bicone, used for speakers used in French radios and televisions in 60ties (RTF = Radio Télévision Française; Bicone = double diaphragm with a treble horn). A 215mm cone is made of paper. The upper suspension is made of impregnated paper. The center of the driver sports a paper horn that improves/amplifies propagation of treble. The linear excursion is of +/- 4mm and sensitivity is of 93 dB. Cones is driven by a heavy ferrite magnet, that together with a cast basket gives this driver a significant weight of 3,3 kg. Signal is delivered to regular speakers bindings. Very short cables come, at least I think so, from Supra. The speakers binding are product of CMC, they are made of copper and gold-plated.

Enclosure is made of Birch plywood. Same material is used by companies that have ties to BBC, like Graham Audio for example. Pair delivered for this review was finished with natural teak veneer. Manufacturer offers a possibility to order a special version with some painting on the enclosure. The enclosure Is quite large and its walls are not parallel – the back wall is tilted in such a way that speaker is wider at the top and than enclosure narrows towards its bottom. This particular shaped is used for company's logo.
The driver is loaded with sort of labyrinth enclosure. It is not a classic labyrinth, as no damping material was used. The internal walls improve design's rigidness. The output of a labyrinth in form of a narrow gap is placed near the bottom and on the bottom of the speaker. So it is very important to ensure o proper distance from the floor using adjustable, brass spikes. Manufacturer delivered also his spike bases but I preferred SPU8 Acoustic Revive ones. Spikes were made upon order for Closer Acoustics with a sharp tip on one end, and rounded one, for stone platforms/floors on the other.
I placed speakers on Acoustic Revive RST-38H platforms and toed them in so that the sound was pointed directly at listener. Sound seemed more coherent when my ears were at level with the treble horns. Speaker posts are mounted on the brass plate. There is another plate with company's logo on the front of the speaker. Fit and finish is very good. Speakers are really heavy which improves their stability, but moving them requires at least two people (even three if you need to place spike bases under spikes).