he Diamond 25 is a smaller version of the Diamond 28 model, both made by Pylon Audio. The loudspeakers are quite large, but due to a narrow front baffle and tilted cabinet they look very light. The Diamond series is still based on transducers purchased from external subcontractors, but modified for this specific application. In the future, all Pylons will feature company's own transducers. The tweeter was bought from the Danish Scan Speak, and two low- midrange drivers from the Norwegian Seas. There are three drivers altogether but it i

The loudspeakers look very nice and feature a solid construction. You can choose among many colors of natural veneer, RAL color varnishes and high gloss (black and white varnishes) finishes. The grilles are mounted on magnets, so after removing them one doesn't see ugly holes for grill's pins. Pylon decided to use high quality components. In the point-to-point crossover, there are only polypropylene capacitors and air core coils and powder cores.

I used the loudspeakers together with spikes and washers included in the set. Then I placed them on the Acoustic Revive RST-38H platforms. The Pylon Diamond 25 replaced my Harbeth M40.1 taking exactly the same spots and were toed-in so that their axes would cross exactly on my head. My experiments proved that a powerful solid state amplifier is a better match for these speakers. The manufacturer suggests they are best fitted for room of 18-32 m2. It seems to be true as I did not notice any limitations in their performance, such as compression, and despite high volume levels sound remained clear.

What does an "own sound" of an audio product mean? The answer would seem straightforward, because it could be said that these are sonic features that are unique to this single device, loudspeakers, cables, etc. But how does one extract them? This part of the issue is the most troublesome. Fortunately, what helps us in this matter is a "differentiation", a concept that determines the scale (size) of changes that a given product presents when moving from one recording to the other. And only then combining these two things, ie, differentiation and “own sound”, allows to describe a given product. But at the very end, one still has to say what are the most important features of this product and why it is interesting.

When approached in this way the Diamonds 25 very quickly turned out to be loudspeakers delivering uniquely spacial presentation. The scale of the sound that we get is huge and for this price level it is especially worth emphasizing. It's not true that only mini-monitors can throw at us a holographic, endless space. This anachronism has its origins in the days when most designers of large loudspeakers focused on other aspects of sound, especially on tone and dynamics, leaving the spatial aspects to a pure luck.

Smaller speakers gain from it because of their size, ie narrow front walls, small diffraction, rigid cabinets, no coloration from bass, simpler crossover, and often thanks to the higher class components used in it, gave them an advantage. It was not really their quality, however, but it rather emphasized issues of the floor-standing speakers.

In fact, to build a credible space a proper volume of the sound is necessary. And it comes from the bass and its harmonics. That is why the Diamond 25's are incredibly convincing in this regard - they deliver very, very coherent sub-ranges and pretty extended bass. So firstly, what we they offer, or at least what is worth noticing, is space. It is large, huge even, with a large sound volume. The instruments are not crowded on the stage and they have a lot space to breathe, or a distance and depth in one.

Unlike with other loudspeakers with narrow front baffles, to achieve this effect I had to toe-in Diamonds so that they pointed directly at my ears. Typically, the better the effects are achieved with even more toe-in when the speakers' axes cross in front of me. The loudspeakers set up in this way sounded too dark, the treble seemed “extinguished”, and in the case of these speakers this part of the range is very important as it decides about overall tonality. Perhaps it is a result of the combination of the small dome and a specific filter in the crossover, I do not know - I know, however, that these speakers must "look" directly at us.

The tone is then fresh and open. These are speakers intended for those listeners who like to hear a lot and are not interested in a warm sound. Open does not mean bright. Yes, the treble is rather strong, but not even once with different recordings did I notice any sharpness of the sound. And I listened looking for some hints of harshness for example to OMD's English Electric, which is a highly compressed material with expressive high tones. With other recordings the amount of treble is changing, and its tone changes. The latter doesn't change as much as with higher class speakers but enough to show, for example, a difference between a Master CD-R version of the Polish Jazz Quartet recordings from a regular CD version.

A nice saturation of the midrange helps with that. Along with the very clean treble, we get an open midrange with its upper part slightly tempered. This is why there is no brightness nor harshness in the sound. And the weight of this part of the range helps to set the presentation on a good basis, assisted by a very well-tuned bass. The clarity of midrange-treble parts is, I would say, above average. To confirm that one could listen to Tempest, the opening track of the Sohn's album Tremors. This is as good electronic music as it comes, released by a renown 4AD record label. Vocal surprised me with harmonics, consistency and – let me repeat - its scale.

And then there's the bass. There was plenty of it with this recording, just as required, and it was well controlled. But in this area Diamond 25 show a bit of their own character. Their mid-bass does not have the same energy and dynamics as the midrange and the lower part. This is not a big difference, but it is sufficient to slightly shift the tonal center of gravity; it is one of the reasons why we have this impression of freshness and openness of the sound. The lowest part of the range is supported by bass-reflex, which become obvious with recordings where the bass is not particularly well controlled. This was the case with Depeche Mode track Where's The Revolution. The basic version of this song is quite warm, low-set, but the bass could be better focused. The Pylons conveyed this accurately, slightly losing control of the lowest part of the range.

Dynamics is good, but the limited by the drivers, ie the price. The large scale of the sound I mentioned overcomes it though, so we will have the impression of unfettered sound. Resolution is good, really good, because one can hear not only the differences between different releases, but it is also easy to tell what are these differences. For example, it takes just a few seconds to tell why the first CD issue of Komeda recordings released by Polish Recordings in 1989 is not a very good one, while the latest remaster prepared by Jacek Gawłowski from 2016 is stunning.

Summary

The Diamond 25 do a lot of things very well, and only a few just well. Like every design, this one also required specific decisions based on one hand on a specific vision of the sound, and on the other hand, on the means that could be used to achieve a targeted price. These are loudspeakers that deliver perfect imaging, build an expansive, well-arranged soundstage. They combine instruments within it, but they leave enough room for them to breathe.

Their tonality is fresh and the sound is open. These are not "romantic” sounding speakers. The bass is well extended but is not always controlled in equal measure. I would say that the best match for them is a powerful solid-state amplifier. It will allow user to utilize the extraordinary clarity of the sound of these speakers, to control the bass, and to not “bleach” the vivid tonality. The resolution is good, but the drivers used here have their limitations. This is a well thought-through, coherent, open sound with a very universal expression. You can listen to any music, and enjoy the same set of features each time.

The Pylon Audio Diamond 25 is a 2.5-way, three-driver, floor-standing loudspeaker with bass-reflex cabinet. It's pretty big, nice design with a narrow front wall, tilted slightly backwards. Apparently it was about phase alignment of the transducers, but also to minimize the impact of the standing waves inside the enclosure on the sound. The cabinets are made of MDF and reinforced inside with two horizontal rims, improving rigidness of the construction. The loudspeakers can be ordered in natural oak veneer, ennobled with the oil-wax. The oak can be covered with a clear lacquer or one of four wood stains: wenge, black, walnut or cherry. They can also be ordered with high-gloss finish, white or black, or in any RAL color varnish.

The Diamonds 25 feature a small plinth, separated from the main body with a strip of polished steel. The plinth is a decorative element, but is also a part of the whole structure: it stabilizes the cabinet that is tilted back. High steel spikes are screwed to the plinth from underneath, pads protecting floor are included in the set. One could later replace these with bigger once. Included are black grills, that are fixed on magnets hidden under the veneer.

These loudspeakers feature a small 19mm textile dome by Danish Scan Speak, midrange and bass are reproduced by a pair of 150mm SEAS drivers with a coated paper membrane. Both have been modified by manufacturers for this particular design, so they carry the "company" names: Pylon Audio PST 19.T (Scan Speak D2010 / 851300) and Pylon Audio PSW 15.8.CA (2 x SEAS CA15RLY).

For the damping manufacturer decided to use bituminous mat (back and sides) and natural wool – for the bottom of the cabinet. The crossover is assembled on a plate screwed to the rear wall at a low- midrange woofer level. It features high quality elements such as: air coils and powder coils as well as very good Jantzen Audio polypropylene capacitors. OFC braided wiring was used for internal connections.

A nice looking name plate with single, solid speaker terminals is placed on the rear of each speaker. Above you can see a large bass-reflex port. This is a solid design utilizing very good components.

Specifications (according to manufacturer):

Impedance: 4Ω
Frequency range: 40 – 20,000Hz
Nominal power handling: 100W
Maximum power handling: 200W
Sensitivity: 88dB
Dimensions (W x H x D): 165 x 942 x 290mm
Weight: 19kg / pc
Warranty: 3 years + 1 year upon product registration
Available finishes:
- Natural veneer OAK, ennobled with the oil-wax - 11 decors
- Natural veneer OAK, colorless lacquer: wenge, black, walnut, cherry, natural.
- High Gloss: white HG, black HG.
- Lacquer Mat - white, black.
- Individual orders with RAL colors.