Price Paid:  $3000.00 from Rage Audio

Summary:
I'd been very unhappy with my audio setup for quite a few years. I could never get the right sound, nothing was quite right, but I was sure it was possible.

I diddled for a few years then decided it was time to upgrade again :-( I wanted to buy all Australian (cheaper for me as I live here, and promotes local talent), and I didn't want to spend a mint on top quality gear.

I decided to get rid of my aplification as a start so I baught an ME 200 power amp (2 x 90W). Wow what a difference it made! I'd ditched my dac, preamp and poweramp and it sounded better than it ever had, but my speakers, oh, they sounded so bad now :-(

Time to audition some new ones. I really didn't know where to start. I talked to quite a few people about speakers, listened to a few then stumbled over the Ambiences. I dug up as much as I could about them, and all the reviews were good. I found a local dealer, grabbed a bunch of CDs and went and auditioned them.

Well I was pretty impressed, but I was concerned with one CD that seemed very boomy, it was completely different to how I had ever heard it before. I figured it was something to do with their set up.

I did a bit more looking, a little haggeling, and finally negotiation with the better half and baught a pair. I was in business, A$4000 for an awsome front end. I didn't have a pre amp, so I baught a good quality volume control and switch and wired them up myself (about $90 extra).

The were made to order, and sent straight from the manufacturer to me, in a big wooden coffin. They weigh quite a bit and have quite a large footprint. The front panel is 1400mm tall, attached to the back at the bottom is a vented enclosure for low frequency driver. I opted for the thrid order crossover after consulting with the dealer. They are bi-wirable by default, if you want to use only one pair of cables then you have to make your own link.

So how do they sound. I played the CD again that I didn't like the sound of in the store with my audition. I listened very closely and, well damn me if it was the way it was supposed to be! I gave myself a headache on the first day I had them, I played so many tracks from so many CDs, all of them revealing things I'd never heard or felt or percieved before. Wow, amazing! I did a bit of placement experimentation and toe in (these babies are highly directional) and after a week they were in place and I was happy.

I think the best sign that these things are great is this; I've not touched them since I set them up (week 2), I don't even think about them when they are playing. No tweaking, no obvious 'here I am' noises no nothing. I've almost forgotten that they are there. If you have the money, go buy a pair (make sure you buy a decent amp to drive them!), if you're not Australian then these suckers are going to cost you next to nothing as the A$ is about US$0.50!!!

Do it, you know you want to! :-)

Strengths:
Sound Great

Weaknesses:
Need space and can look a little out of place in the wrong room.

Similar Products Used:
Never owned ribbons beofre, have owned B&W and ProAc

Price Paid:  $2667.00 from Hi-Fi Attic

Summary:
I really like these speakers, as they provide life like reproduction of music. The reed instruments (ie: saxophone) is especially striking...you can hear the air just before the raspy attack note. It sounds like the player is in the room in front of you. They have amazing transparency. I like the way the sound flows throughout the room. This is due to their bipolar construction. I don't hear harshness or nasalness in the voice in the crossover range that plagues some speakers. As I understand it, ribbon speakers have normally had that problem, but Tony Moore (Australia) seems to have come up with the secret as to how to put the ribbon and SEAS driver together. I actually also heard the 1800's super slim Ambience at Hi Fi Attic in Vernon. Boy...now there's a treat. Can't say enough about the life like production on these babies.

Strengths:
Great detail and imaging. I have never heard this type of detail to recordings. It's simply superb.

Weaknesses:
I prefer a deeper bottom end, but these are just the babys in the Ambience collection

Similar Products Used:
none

Summary:
For those music lovers out there who thought a very good Hybrid Ribbon Speaker System was beyond your financial reach, have a listen to these speakers and then ask the price. Producing a successful marriage between the ribbon and bass section of a hybrid speaker system has always been the "clincher" for most speaker designer/manufacturers. The designer of the Superslims has hit the mark by producing a Hybrid that has a sound that is COMPLETE. The pin point accuracy/placement of musicians when you play any piece of music is uncanny. Soundstaging and imaging is just marvelous, so give these speakers a room and the space they deserve and it will reward you with a sound that brings you back to listening to music rather than analysing the sound. I found myself going through my collection looking for vocal recordings, as these Superslims just reproduces this style of recording with so much realism that it seduces you into wanting to hear more. In saying that, it's equally capable at playing most genres of music, probably not "rap/thrash" though. I originally went into my local Hi-Fi dealer with my 6 personal reference point CDs ( Amy Grant, Eric Clapton, Yello, Royal Phiharmonic Orch., Chris Issak, Jennifer Warnes )to audition these speakers. The intension was to play 1 track from each CD and if it could accomplish each with the same verve, a deal would be done. The sound was so seductive and musical that I ended up listening to most tracks on each CD until the store was due to close. If you do intend to purchase these wonderful speakers, make sure you team it up with suitable amplification and source components of equal quality to really get the best sound possible.
My System comprises: -
Audiolab 8000Q pre-amplifier
ME 550 Mk1 Power amplifier
Sony XA5ES CD player
van den Hul D102 MkIII interconnects
Tara Labs Prism Bi-Wire speaker cables

Strengths:
Great soundstaging and almost 3D holographic imaging. Excellent sonic marriage of ribbon and bass driver with high build quality at an affordable price. Very musical !

Weaknesses:
Bass transparency can be slightly improved on, but at this speaker's asking price it is a very minor qibble.

Similar Products Used:
I have up to this stage used/owned traditional bass reflex loudspeakers such as Jamo 507, Sonus Faber Concerto's, Energy 3.1, Infinity RS series.

Summary:
These relatively small speakers have made me rethink quite a few recordings - technically and musically. The ribbon system delivers inner detailing on a level i never encountered in any other transducer. This includes the Maggies, big Genesis, and the German Physiks DDD- driver, and diverse dynamics, and electrostats. Incredibly transparent - resonances seem to be (almost) absent, and it covers all the mid/upper ranges from 420 Hz up. The (relatively small) bass driver delivers a very good foundation, integrates very well, and makes the speaker musically eminently satisfying, also for large scale music. It does not reach the bottom octave though, and it will be limited in the lower ranges to a high, but not insane soundpressure level. Bass/ lower midrange is not on the ribbons world-class, cost-no-object level of transparency: Very good, but not more.
These speakers reproduce a piano grand with astonishing realism (compared to eg a real Steinway), as they do voices, choirs etc.
To put it simply: They have a compelling combination of startling quickness, dynamics and musicality.
And they are aesthetiacally pleasing: 140cm high, 20.5 cm wide, ca. 40 cm deep (bass), upper part 4cm, nicely made.
I give it (on an absolute level) 4 stars, because there are bigger brothers and sisters of these systems - they take more space, but are even better.

Strengths:
Stunning, incomparable 'you are there'- transparency. Exceedingly musical, exceedingly transparent. Excellent integration of dynamic bass and ribbon system. Aesthetically pleasing - not dominant.

Weaknesses:
a very slight prominence in the 'cupped hands' region slightly reduces its realism. The dynamic lower midrange/bass system has not quite that level of transparency.

Similar Products Used:
Magnepan MG 3.3, MG 0.5, Genesis 2.5, Spica TC 50