I'm not sure what to make of these. Its sort of like some kind of weird wooden brief case with valves poking out through the lid. It appears you can get custom 'lids' depending on your decor or mood.
Big room and a big crowd
Avantegarde
I rather like the Copland gear and the designer is a very pleasant chap too.
Kef still knock out a decent speaker but if we now start comparing audio performance of the gear that I did manage to hear at the show then these were at the entry level but they were price wise as well.
They look very nice though.
On the subject of fidelity, here is the reference. Some of the best, if not the best music reproduction I have ever heard happened in the MBL room. It sounded big, clean and very real. I vote MBL the best sound at the show by a fair margin. Just stunning!
Serious bucks though! A member of the audience asked how much for the system and suggested half a million. The pleasant German chap from MBL said Oh No not that much, perhaps a third of a million! Euros we're talking of course. (approx half a mill AUD$)
A big crowd also appreciated the fine sound emanating from the oddest looking speakers on the planel. they weren't leaving either. The crowd in the room just kept on building. Lots of ooing and ahhing as the system made a mockery of one testing track after another.
They really are odd. The help to prove the theory that cabinets can add some nasty sounds of their own. These were particularly clean right up to nightclub sound levels. More MBL and horns on the next page.