Bache Audio Sonata EX Loudspeakers – HIFIPIG review

By: editor | Tags: high-end audiophile speakers | Comments: 0

BACHE AUDIO SONATA EX LOUDSPEAKERS REVIEW

Bache Audio is a small manufacturer of loudspeakers based in New York that makes a handful of products using wideband drivers that are enhanced by more conventional drivers. Stuart Smith takes a listen to the $2780 Sonata EX standmount loudspeaker.

Bache Audio may well be a new name on the audio scene and I for one had never encountered them before until, by chance, I stumbled across them on social media. Bache is based in Brooklyn, New York and originally started creating loudspeakers for their own use but liked what they heard so much they made them available as a commercial product. All their speakers are based around wide-band drivers, which was cause enough to pique my initial interest, and these cover the frequency range from about 100Hz to 10kHz to which Bache say our hearing is most sensitive. These are the only standmounters in the Bache range where you will find four floorstanding models that start at just over $3000.

The speaker we have here is the $2780 Sonata EX which is an upgraded version of their previous Sonata-001 loudspeaker.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

I said that it was the wide-band concept that initially caught my eye and the speakers we have here are based around a 3” bamboo driver that is run full range, that is there is no crossover used on this driver. However, it is not this driver that dominates the front panel and there is also a 5.25” composite cone driver that has a very simple crossover. Bache call this driver an “Assistant Bass Driver”. In addition to these two drivers there is a 1” AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeter which again is called an “assistant”.

This whole layout id pretty unusual to say the least and I’m not sure I’ve come across anything quite the same, although I have put together DIY wideband speakers that have been aided by horn tweeters in the past, and with very good results. The given thinking here is, as mentioned, that the mid-band is where we are most sensitive to sound, but it is also the frequency range that many audiophiles like to talk about being the most important to them. However, what I think will be interesting with the Bache speakers is how that tweeter and bass (assistant) units integrate with the 3” wideband driver. So, despite what this speaker may look like at first glance, it is neither a 3-way nor a 2-way design. Rather, it’s better to think of these as a sort of a single driver loudspeaker that is getting a bit of help from a bass driver (only one coil in the path), and the AMT that operates only above 10 000Hz and with just one Mundorf Capacitor in the path. The latter does away with the whizzer cone often found on wideband loudspeakers.

The speakers weigh a healthy 27lbs and so given this weight and depth, a pair of sturdy loudspeaker stands are the order of the day. They come with a pair of magnetically attached grilles.

The speakers are made in MDF but you can also get 200mm plywood or bamboo versions for an additional $200. The finish on the pair was a sort of dark brown stain which I actually quite liked, and the speakers are certainly put together very well. Around the back is a single pair of good quality speaker binding posts on a solid metal plate. Looks-wise they are going to divide opinion and they are pretty idiosyncratic in their appearance, though I quite like that difference from the run-of-the-mill. Being hypercritical I think the badge on the front top looks a bit DIY and detracts from the speakers’ look.

SOUND QUALITY

I have enjoyed and owned a few pairs of single driver loudspeakers and they certainly have their benefits, the main one for me being the lack of crossover colouration, plus speed and purity of sound.

I’m going to say now that I have my worries about these speakers, though I try to go into any review with an open mind and a willingness to embrace the different. Greg, the owner of Bache, mentioned in conversation the speakers and their reproduction of voice and piano, and that led me to think that perhaps they would be all audiophile-midband and little else. Let’s see!

CONCLUSION

The speakers are speedy and tight which is something I like in better standmounters. They are also very nicely balanced from top to bottom.

They don’t go uber-low but the bass that you get is quite special in how taut and tight it is. I didn’t try a sub on these but suspect that a well-integrated one would flesh out that very bottom end a good deal – I didn’t feel the need, even with dub and gabber.

There is a simple and enticing purity to the presentation of the Bache’s that really draw you into a recording, and whilst that pretty much open AMT tweeter can at times be a little much, and can get harsh when pushed, it presents a level of detail that allows you to see into a recording and the recording space.

The level of detail and emotion they manage to project into the room with vocals is wonderful and I particularly enjoyed listening to a good deal of simply recorded folk music, where the recordings were uncomplicated and honest to the tunes being played and sung. I found myself really getting lost in these tunes – tape hiss and all.

They are not the prettiest of loudspeakers and whilst actually being well put together they look a bit like they have been assembled from off the shelf components – they have, to be fair. Some may think that because of this that the speakers are pretty pricey!

They also benefit from careful placement, with particular attention needing paying to the height of the tweeter.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Very nicely put together and very solid but they do have the air of small production about them in the way they look.

Sound Quality:

Pretty even throughout the frequencies with a nice emphasis on the mid-band. This emphasis, In my opinion, lends the speakers a propensity to being better with simple music. I’d expected them to be bass-light but they are not overly so, and what bass is there is very tuneful. The AMT tweeter can be a little much on some music. Detailed and even overall.

Value For Money:

There is no doubting these are nice speakers but they are certainly not cheap and that will reflect in the award these get.

We Loved:

Open and detailed mid-band

Tight and tuneful bass

Really rather special at low volumes

Open and with a good sense of space and the room

Pretty truthful to the recording and with no place to hide for poorly recorded or mastered tracks

Much more dynamic a speaker than their size would suggest

Sensitive enough to get on well with most amplfiers

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Quite expensive

Look a bit “handmade”

Can be a tad harsh on some material at the very top end

Some will want more bass oomph

Price:

$2780

Elevator Pitch Review: Quite a big standmount loudspeaker that may be difficult to accommodate stand-wise. A lovely open and well-projected mid-band with tight and very tuneful bass. They can sound a bit harsh at the very top end on some recordings. If you play a lot of fairly simple music these are a very worthwhile audition.

Stuart Smith

Review Equipment: Auralic Aries G1 streamer, Leema Libra DAC/Pre, Merrill Audio Thor amps. Cables by WAY, Atlas, Tellurium Q, and Cardas

Specifications: