Sirius
The subject of this review is the Sirius, a four-way speaker based on a Visaton design. It uses a mix of compression drivers for treble and midrange and conventional drivers for the lower midrange and bass.
This system’s size, heft, and weight pose quite a challenge for a review. For this reason, I was asked to review these speakers in the customer’s carefully honed system. The customer in question is Michel Warlop, who many will know as an audio distributor for the Benelux. After retiring from this position, Michel focused on installing this dream speaker system in his dedicated audio room.
The Sirius speakers are imposing in size yet friendly and elegant. Their segmented nature provides all the adjustability benefits of a modular system, while the total absence of a metal frame or any metal interconnecting parts exudes a decidedly natural vibe. In speaking with the designers, it was emphasized how each component is implemented such that it performs most naturally while carefully avoiding any resonance or ringing.
The levels are adjustable for the mid, upper mid, and treble units, allowing precise calibration of focus and coherence.
Designed to enable optimal tonal characteristics, the Fidelity speaker cable and Synapse interlink contain strip conductors made of solid copper with a mixture of gold.
System Context
The system consists of the Taiko Audio Extreme music server, Aries Cerat Impera Reference preamp, Aquablue GM70 amplifier for midrange and treble, and Heremans HAV2508 amplifier for bass. All cabling is by Velikinac Audio Lab. The room is heavily treated to ensure the equipment performs at its best.
Turntable: Primary Control Kinea
Music Server: Taiko Audio Extreme
Tonearm: FCL en Reference
Cartridge: Lyra Atlas Lambda SL
DAC: Aquablue (NOS Philips TDA)
Phono Preamp: Phasemation EA1200 with additional power supply
Preamp: Aries Cerat Impera Reference (8dB gain)
Power Amp for mid/treble: Aquablue Odyssey (SET, using GM70 tube)
Power Amp for bass: Heremans HAV2508 (based on Hypex Nilai Class-D modules)
Power Cables: Signal Projects (various models)
Interlinks: Velikinac Audio Fidelity
Diffusers: SMT S-wings Diffusers (side walls)
Diffusers: SMT V-wings (corners)
Diffusers: SMT Flower wings (front wall)
Diffusers: SMT Diamond panel (ceiling)
Resonators: SMT V6 x 4 and V4 x 2, and custom-built
Next: Listening and Conclusion
