There are few more famous names in HiFi than Chario. An Italian speaker manufacturer supremo, and yet, your probably thinking - “the name rings a bit of a bell, but I’m not sure”.



The main reason for this is because they haven’t been available in the UK for many a year because of a major upset with the then importer for the UK who decided… shall we just say, to not be forthcoming with their orders and things. This left a rather bitter pill for them to swallow, and they vowed to leave the UK. So, successful though they have been across the World, in the UK they have been conspicuous only by their absence.

But, just because the British public has been without what was a gorgeous range of speakers, hasn’t stopped the top chaps at Chario from seeking to improve them even further. So what was a great speaker before, is now even better still.



They have decided however, that time has passed, and so they have asked a very select range of dealers to represent them back in the UK. Fortunately for us, we were picked to be amongst the few.

Four or five months ago we invested in five pairs of differing models, as well as a couple of centre channels, so that people could get a feel for them. All we can say is, WOW.

They look absolutely gorgeous with their hand finished wood finishes, and they sound incredible. Even the relatively diminutive floor standing speakers have great depth and authority. They seem to match very well with valves as well as solid state, leaving an open door of choice with which they can be partnered. The range is vast, with something for almost everyone. Stand mount speakers start at just £599.00 a pair, and floor standers go all the way to the simply incredible Serendipity model at £26,999.00



They have a sensible layout of ranges, starting at the Piccolo Star, then the Syntar and Syntar R, followed by the best selling Constellation series and then topped off with the range heading Academy S Series.

In between these are obviously a whole range of wonderful choices, and they also produce some very nice sounding and extremely cute looking satellite speakers for surround use with a matching subwoofer.



We’ve already sold several sets, and no one who has heard them hasn’t instantly fallen for their great looks and even better sound quality.

They’re in, they’re set up, and they’re waiting for you to listen to, love, and take home. See you soon.

Only once in a very long time do we get something that takes our breath away. For 2010 it’s arrived in the shape of a speaker from our favourite cable manufacturer - Shinpy.



Regulars will know that (in our humble opinion) the best interconnects and speaker cables in the World come from Shinpy in Italy. Shinpy also manufactures speakers and amplification under the guise of Claravox and AudioVolta. Around a year ago, they decided to combine the AudioVolta/Shinpy/Claravox name to just Claravox and AudioVolta. This adds to the clarity of brand awareness, and fortunately for us, gives us access to some wonderful products from Claravox we otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

The Dogma speaker is a speaker par excellence that quite simply takes your breath away even before you get a chance to hear them.

They are a grand speaker in every sense of the word. At almost six feet tall, they’re no icon of discretion, but then these speakers make a statement. This are not petit wall flowers to be hidden in the corner behind a potted plant. They are the kind of speaker that becomes a centre piece of your room, and rightly so. Further more, there is no finish that you can imagine that you can’t have. The paint finish, the front baffle make up. It is all yours to choose. Want it in Ferrari red (well Ferrari did for their factory reception area!) - then feel free. Want metallic purple - why not. Would you like the front finished in Carbon Fibre - that’s no problem. These speakers are totally customisable to your personal specification.



So, we’ve established that they look like no other speaker - in the best possible way. But you’ll be please to know they sound like no ordinary speaker either - in the best way possible.

They possess an openness and depth of sound unlike no other speaker we’ve ever heard. Because of their vast sound stage, they seem to produce detail and information from the air. A whole landscape of sounds paints a portrait that Constable would have been proud of.

Of course, this kind of exclusivity and complete attention to audio and visual detail never is. At £50,000.00 it’s one of the most expensive speakers we’ve ever tested. But as a true measure of their capabilities, we would have to say, if we had the money, there isn’t any other speaker we would spend it on in preference.

However, all is not nirvana, as it never is. They are a very limited edition. The run of just 99 pairs Worldwide will take a while to get through. But even so, it means at some point, they’re going to be gone. The very sad part about that is, someone, sometime, is going to hear a pair and be able to afford the matching price tag, and they’re going to want them, and they’re going to want them bad, but they will be gone. And, like the best dreams, they will fade into the ether, and you’ll know they were there, but you just cannot go back to it in anything but a memory.

...Meet what is (within the bounds of reason) one of the finest loudspeakers you may ever hear.

The Vienna Klimt series only has one model at present, the aptly named "Music", but what a speaker that is.

This incredible looking tower features a number of innovative design principles that make it a speaker that is really up there with the best.

As with all Vienna Acoustics speakers the build quality is without peers. Detailing, cabinet work and veneer as well as driver quality are all exemplary.





But the sound, ahh the sound, is truly something else. It's an expensive speaker, sure, but that is in no way a guarantee of final sound quality. There are plenty of expensive speakers out there, but they are certainly not all reference quality sound reproducers.

The Musics however most certainly are.

Strangely for such a big speaker they don't suffer from an overwhelming bass like many can do when subjected to less than perfect placement or room sizes. Instead they just seem to "be" in any room you want to put them in.

The best description of their whole sound presentation would be that of a great electrostatic speaker, but with a rich musically bass and without the worries of two metres of clear air needed behind them.

Looking at them alone seems to be a statement in authority, they seem to give the appearance of solidity not unlike perhaps the way you would look at Mount Everest and think 'that looks fairly stable'

Their vise like grip is uncanny with a level of realism few others approach.

The cleaver design of the cabinet enables you to site the speaker where it's best for you, and yet still aim the tweeter independently by means of a worm screw device at the back of the speaker. So you need never be out of the hotspot just because you cannot aim the bulk of the cabinet straight at you.



So it would seem, music by name and music by nature.

Now here is a speaker that is exactly not what it appears to be, it's not even what the manufacturer makes it out to be for the most part.

JBL's Array series speaker is a big, and to many, ugly piece of furniture which looks like it's going to be full of overwhelming bass and ear piercing treble. But that is so untrue as to be almost criminal.

What the really do have is a great sound with stunning separation and realism. Ok, yes they do have a well endowed bottom end from their huge 14" driver, but it's never more than musical even when it's growling with the sound of a low organ note. Their top end presentation is exemplary. The large horn loaded design gives real insight into the music and yet is never busy or cluttered. There's more than a hint of the ultra stunning K2's about these with their super tweeter hitting the 40kHz mark.

So maybe they're not going to win the award at next years beauty pageant, but that becomes a small side issue once you've heard them. In a Home Cinema format, as JBL advertises them, I'm sure they are simply stunning. However I have to tell you though, if you dismissed them as an audio two channel speaker you'd be missing out greatly.

What is a shock is quite how much we've grown to love them since they arrived. There is a genuine possibility that these could end up in my own home, and trust me on this, I don't say that very often at all.

JBL seems to be going from strength to strength at the moment with their higher end speakers. If this is a product of this new rise then long may it continue.

JBL are 60 years old. There's absolutely no doubt that they have produced (and continue to produce) some absolute milestones in the history of speakers.

Indeed their current top of the range K2 9800 series speakers are reckoned by many to be one of the best speakers in the World. Having heard them and indeed sold them, we would certainly find it hard to disagree with that statement. They are awesome.

However, coming back down to Earth, it's not only the £20k section of the market that JBL can do well. Long term customers of ours will remember the TiK range. A beautifully crafted speaker with incredible dynamics and vast openness. These received no rave reviews and no press standing ovations, but, for the wise Hi-Fi shops (and there were just a few) that took the significant amount of time required to run them in, they found that they were a great all round speaker. In fact better than great. Sadly though, they stopped the manufacture of these over four years ago, and nothing since has quite captured our imagination in the same way.

Until now.

For it's 60 birthday JBL have decided to produce something special. Something to show off their vast knowledge. Now, most companies would bring out the most expensive speaker that they have ever produced. Full of cutting edge technology in a beautifully crafted cabinet that they would sell for an astonomical price, and they really wouldn't expect to sell more than a few. It would be their statement. And who could have blaimed them.

JBL obviously didn't want to buck this trend. They have bought out the TL260 Celebration. A technical tour de force with a beautifully crafted hand finished cabinet in a luxurious Piano black, and, they sound fantastic.

But..........!

To read the rest of this review (and you really should) click Here